her, and, you know, she -- they -- they were her world. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." she was more than a high-powered businesswoman. she touched a lot of people's lives. >> no, no! >> i was devastated. i couldn't really go back there. >> he was rich. she was richer. the lawyer and the tycoon. lavish didn't begin to describe it. >> diane was very flamboyant. >> she was the life of the party. >> a good mix of wealth and

power. they knew how to live life. >> then came that deadly night. >> i hear a big explosion. i just knew immediately that i had to get out of there. >> a single gunshot, and she was gone. >> the love of my wife. >> you said tex was emotional and distraught. >> yes. he's never been the same since. >> what happened in that dark suv? and what was hiding beneath the surface? >> trying to cover up something. >> i just took my breath away. >> she said, i cannot trust anyone else. >> power and privilege. love and greed. >> she was in control of the money. >> this had to be an intentional act. >> did a secret lead to murder? >> i just looked at him and i said, i can't lie. >> all that glitters is not actually gold. hello and welcome to "dateline." diane mac i'ver was an atlanta

businesswoman who enjoyed an extraf began lifestyle with her husband, tex. then in a flash it was gone. a strange car ride through a dodgy neighborhood left one person dead and another struggling to explain how it happened. it was a mystery riddled with wealth, privilege, and power. but for investigators, it boiled down to one crucial question -- was this an accident or murder? here's josh mankiewicz with "deadly detour." >> all they wanted was to get home. turning off the interstate. to escape the crawling atlanta traffic. >> he says, girls, this is the wrong place, we don't need to be here, this was a bad idea. >> it's still hard to math tom what happened next or why. >> i was trying to figure out where the explosion was. >> but here's what's pretty clear. one wrong turn really can destroy your life.

>> to think that one moment in time you have an accident and you lose everything after that. >> our story begins and ends with her, diane mac i'ver. nobody knows her better than dani jo. >> she was brilliant. funny. >> she was drive penn very driven. >> diane was born in auburn, alabama, where she survived a sad and difficult childhood. she realized her dreams in atlanta, a place that matched her ambition. >> what was she looking for? >> she was looking for success. >> diane was barely out of high school when she went to work at u.s. enterprises, a company in atlanta. she was a bookkeeper, but soon caught the eye of her boss, billy corey. >> there were some people working there that weren't really doing their jobs, and she told him she could do their job and her job. i think he fired them and she did their job. >> it was back in the '80s when dani jo and diane first teamed

up. best friends and confidants. dani jo was a cosmetologist with a front row seat to diane's brilliant career. >> she loved crunching numbers. and along with billy corey, i think she learned how to wheel and deal. >> she rose through the ranks. and with her boss' blessing became president of the company. hiring, firing, and calling the shots. >> she would say, i don't want to hear about the labor pains, just show me the baby. >> jay grove waters a vice president at diane's company. >> when she started in business here in atlanta, there were not a ton of female executives. >> no. absolutely. and i think that's what -- one of the things that really set diane apart. i mean, she was a -- a woman in a man's world. >> she had a big personality, loved clothes, furs, hats, and kids. although she never had any of her own. she survived one bad marriage and was in her 50s when she met

tex mac i'ver. he was self-made too, a military brat from san antonio who earned a rep in atlanta as a labor lawyer and a champion of republican candidates. >> he had great relationships, he had everybody's direct-dial moab number. >> bill crane is a political commentator and consultant in atlanta and a long-time friend of tex. >> he was a gentleman, he as gentleman. both in terms of old courtly manners, standing when a lady enters the room. >> tex was divorced too. that's how he ended up living in the same condo complex as diane. >> they started going out. she said she started talking to him, but he was too short and too old. but obviously she got over that. >> it didn't hurt that he had this ranch east of atlanta. it was nice enough back when tex first bought it, but it was fabulous after die ongot through

with it. i had a pool, gun range, ponds, horses, saloon, and texas longhorn cattle. that's diane. they were there a lot. >> diane was a great hostess. she was the life of the party. >> soon tex and diane decided to make it permanent and a wedding date was set. november 5th, 2005. at the ranch. everyone at the rehearsal could tell this wedding would be over the top. and it was. >> it looked like something out of a disney movie. >> sheriff howard sills was on the guest list. >> there were hundreds of people here. people -- all aspects of society here. >> they'd both been married before and decided this time to keep finances separate. nearly a year later, their lives were blessed with a little boy. sort of. a couple of friends asked tex and diane to be godparents to

their baby named austin. diane's assistant, terry brown, says diane would do anything for that little boy. >> he was the sun for her. the moon and the sun, i guess. the stars. he was the whole thing. >> it's all about austin. >> that was never more obvious than at the birthday bashes she and tex threw for austin. an annual exercise in excess. >> we love you very much, don't we, darling. >> yes, forever. sxefr. . >> bye-bye! >> bye, i love you! >> three weeks after austin's 10th birthday, tex and diane, with their friend dani jo, were headed home after a weekend at the ranch. they were driving a king ranch ford expedition, virtually identical to this one, and they made a short stop for dinner. it was september 25th, 2016. the day everything changed. after dinner, they headed for

home. a trip of about 45 minutes. tex and diane had had a little wine at dinner, so dani jo drove. diane sat next to dani jo in the front seat and tex was right behind diane in the back seat, and off they went. >> well, we headed on into atlanta on i-20. as we got off of 20 to get onto the connector, it was just eight lanes of brake lights. >> dani jo says tex was dozing in the back seat as the two women decided to get off the interstate to avoid the traffic. >> as we're riding down the ramp, tex becomes fully awake, i guess. he looks around and he says, girls, i really wish you hadn't done this, this is a bad idea, this is a bad area. >> that's when tex mcivor made a request of his wife. >> and tex said, darling work, you hand me my gun? >> tex regularly kept a gun in that car? >> uh-huh.

>> it was right in the center condole, a smith and wess wesson .38-caliber revolver. >> and so she reaches down and gets it and hands it back to him. >> in a plastic bag? >> uh-huh. >> in minutes they were out of the sketchy area and moving up piedmont off to the cushier parts of midtown. everything was normal. unrema unremarkable. >> we were talking about politics and the debates. >> what is tex doing? >> he wasn't really talking. i kind of -- i thought that he had gone back to sleep. >> they were at piedmont and 14th street. >> we were just sitting there, still withiwaiting for the ligh turn. and i hear a big explosion. within seconds diane turn ad round toward the back and said, tex, what did you do? >> he say anything? >> he said the gun discharged. then she started moving. she started moving forward. and she kind of turned around. and she was moving funny.

and she said, tex, you shot me. >> what happened in that suv? a stunned diane is rushed to the hospital. coming up -- >> tex was calling her name, and she was kind of breathing panic panicky. >> he said, there's been an accident. >> tex faces questions from police. >> handling the gun. i didn't realize it was in my lap. i'm going to cry. the love of my life. >> when "dateline" continues. under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin. and, had significantly less itch.

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diane had just been shot. right at piedmont and 14th in midtown atlanta. what was crazy, impossible to understand, was that the shooter was diane's own husband, tex, sitting right behind diane in their suv. >> she started making these noises that i had never -- i had never heard before, and i -- i thought i was hearing her die. >> a street sign pointed the way to emory university hospital. tex told dani jo to head there. >> tex was calling her name, and he leaned forward and kind of grabbed her head, and she was kind of breathing panicky. >> they arrived at emory. that's tex in the red shirt. hospital personnel heard him yelling gunshot, and diane went into the e.r. less than an hour later a doctor came out to tell tex and dani jo

that diane was alert. >> and she said that diane had spoken and that her heart was strong. they had taken her up to surgery. >> by then police had arrived. they wanted to talk to dani jo outside. >> they wanted to drive the route. >> oh, they drove the route with you right then? >> yes. >> then they took her to headquarters for questioning. she told police what happened in the car. >> he woke up, and i guess he had it -- had it in his hand, and he just pulled the trigger. >> as she sat there, dani jo was still thinking diane was going to be okay, but then -- >> they had gotten a call, and they -- they both left the room. i was sitting alone, and then i get this text from my husband. >> no. no. >> that diane had died.

>> it turned out the gunshot wound through diane's back was catastrophic. the blood loss, too great. >> and i was devastated. i couldn't believe it. >> diane, so much larger than life in so many ways was suddenly gone. >> tex called me in the early hours of the i morning and he sd there's been an accident. and we lost diane. >> dixie martin, tex's sister. >> how long did you realize that the accident involved something he had done? >> later in the conversation. and he was very emotional on the phone.

i mean, we were both crying. >> whachs it like to break that news to people at the office?th >> it was heart breaking. >> diane's company put her picture up on their landmark tower in atlanta. all the while police were trying to figure out what exactly had happened in that car that night. three days after the shooting, tex and his attorney steve naples went to answer their question.r naples offered a preview. >> his only recollection is he had the brown paper bag -- i mean, plastic bag, and he's holding it down like this and he said he didn't play with the hammer. and he didn't pull it back to full dock. >> this is tex's attorney saying the gun wasn't cocked. you'll want to remember that. he went over the full story, explaining why he was so scared on that drive he felt he needed his gun. >> we went to an area i thought

it was particularly dangerous that night.er i had seen police vehicles there. it's a route i take from my office to her office. that's one i have a particularly high population of homeless people. i quickly said, this is a big mistake. we're in a place we don't belong. >> that tex said is when he asked for the gun. a few minutes later, the threat seemed to pass and tex said he fell back asleep. >> any way, it was time to wake up. she came to a stop, and i was handling the gun. i didn't realize it was in my lap and it went off. >> he seemed emotional as he recalled how doctors told him his wife was dead. >> two surgeons in scrubs and a chaplain come around the corner and started walking towards me. i actually looked behind me hoping it was somebody else. i'm sorry. >> take your time.

>> the love of my life. >> if tex had done nothing after that, if he had kept his mouth shut f he just grieved, we probably wouldn't be telling you this story. but doing nothing, that's just not tex. coming up, a media fire storm and tex provides the match. >> prtex's comment -- >> gets blown up into he's making this up to get out of the fact that he had shot his wife. >> could this be more than an accident? >> there were no tears. i never saw him cry. >> when "dateline" continues. n s

♪ the death of diane mciver at the hand of her husband tex was big news in atlanta. >> new at 5:00, an atlanta lawyer who says he accidentally shot and killed his wife. >> and with two wealthy, prominent people involved in a shooting, rumors were on everyone's lips. that's when bill crane, a public relations consultant, offered to help his old friend tex. >> social media was reporting a lot of wild rumors. >> yes, they were, particularly on facebook. >> for example? >> that mr. mciver was having an affair with the driver. >> and you weren't, there's nothing to that? >> no. >> you think there's a chance he was having an affair with someone else? >> i never thought so.

>> tex had given his at the same time to police but online rumors continued. there were more substantive questions like why would the gun just go off. according to bill crane, tex said it happened after the car jolted. >> it was part of tex's initial account to me, he was jarred awake by he thought a bump in the road. >> and why would tex feel threatened by a homeless encampment he had driven past many times before. >> and i asked him that. >> bill said tex was thinking of the recent black lives matter protests in atlanta and how protests in other places had gotten violent. >> so tex said to me, i didn't know looking at those people, were they homeless people, were they going to carjack us or were they black lives matters protesters, but i was concerned. >> tex apparently thought that would help explain to the public why he asked for the gun, so he told bill to give that story to the "atlanta journal constitution."

it didn't exactly work as planned. >> tex's comment that he didn't know whether the people around the car were homeless people or some kind of street criminal or a black lives protest -- >> gets blown up into "bonfire of the vanities," larger than life and he is making it up to get out of the fact he shot his wife. >> and it morphed into black lives matter. i was afraid. >> that's correct, which he never said and i never said that he said. >> the story with its racial overtones went viral. while tex was fighting to repair his public image, diane's colleagues were questioning his behavior after the death. >> there were no tears. i never saw him cry. >> ken rickert is the company's general counsellor. >> i never heard him say it was tragic accident. i'm so sorry. >> tex look crushed, sad? >> i didn't detect any of that.

he was -- he was just kind of matter of fact. >> diane's colleagues also thought tex seemed way too interested in how his financial situation would change now that diane was dead. >> and he asked a very strange question about did i know anything about social security, could he get any of diane's benefits. and i was shocked. >> tex's sister dixie says she was flabbergasted that anyone thought tex wasn't behaving appropriately. she says he was clearly devastated by diane's death. >> he cried all the time. i don't know why no one else has seen this. tears running down his face. he has never been the same since. imagine losing your loved one at your own hand, and that's what he had to face. >> in perhaps another effort to counteract the rumors and innuendo, tex decided on his own to take a lie detector test, administered by an examiner his attorneys hired. >> i think it is important to

note that he passed with flying colors. >> diane, love you and we're going to miss you. >> but a month after her death tex walked into the lion's deny at the company memorial service for diane. dixie attended with tex and it was an evening she came to regret. >> we walked in through a little gang plank-looking thing, and to the left is her jaguar with a light on it and a red rose on the hood. and i'm thinking, okay. >> they pass diane's car and entered a large room. >> and there's a mannequin with diane's clothes on it. >> with god son austin at his side, did tex even notice the under current in the room? dixie sure did. >> and as i'm walking around, i noticed that my brother's not in any of the photographs, not on the video. he's been basically erased from her life. >> no way that could be accidental?

>> oh, gosh, no. >> they removed him? >> yes. that was the turning point for me. i realized that they had turned on him. >> it was a not-so-subtle shift in attitude away from a man who was once considered diane mciver's loving partner and protector. maybe he noticed, maybe not, but his next move would get people talking even more. coming up -- luxury for sale. >> there were over 100 jewelry items. >> auctioning off diane's estate, another mistake? >> hey, this doesn't -- that doesn't look good. i mean if you don't have to do this right now, don't do it. >> and that frantic drive. >> wait a minute, he's telling you to slow down? >> yes. >> when "dateline" continues.

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dooim lindsey riser with the hour's top stories. the cruise ship that has been stranded off the coast of

california because of a coronavirus outbreak on board is headed for a port in oakland. captain made the announcement to passengers saturday night. the cdc says the ship will likely arrive on monday. joe biden and bernie sanders are making their rounds this weekend across the six states that will vote on tuesday. michigan has the most delegates up for grabs. now, back to "dateline." ♪ welcome back to "dateline". i'm natalie morales. tex mciver told police he shot and killed his wife diane by accident. he even took a lie detector test to support his story, but the wealthy widower's behavior in the weeks after diane's death was raising eyebrows. did tex want his wife dead? it was a question that would haunt diane's friends and lead investigators to a potential motive for murder. once again, here is josh mankiewicz with "deadly detour."

>> with police investigating, rumors flying and even old friends becoming suspicious, tex mciver seemed to be doubling down. about two-and-a-half mont after diane was killed, tex put her furs, clothes and jewelry up for sale. even though his friend sheriff sills told him, bad idea. >> i said, tex, this doesn't -- that doesn't look good. i mean if you don't have to do this right now, don't do it. >> but he did. >> never met a mannequin she didn't like? >> that's right. >> auction house owner robert ailers ran the sale and even he was impressed. >> how many pieces total. >> there were over 100 jewelry items, not costume, but real jewelry and one of the big lots were a pair of diamond studs that were several carats each. >> i heard people were lined up three and four deep to try on the jewelry.

>> before the sale started there were probably 150 to 200 people in line to get into the building. >> so the notoriety helped. >> the notoriety definitely affected the sale, yeah. >> did you tell him that unloading all of diane's stuff so soon after she died would be seen by some people as sort of callous? >> no, and i don't think it was callous. >> and more than that, tex's sister dixie says, it was necessary. diane was wealthy by any standard, but her estate was cash poor. selling her belongings raised money for diane's bequests. >> she left money to people that she didn't have. so the estate attorney said the quickest way to raise the cash is sell her things. >> so the idea to sell everything, that came from the attorney, not from tex? >> oh, absolutely. >> between the estate sale, the memorial service and those nonstop rumors, it would have been easy to forget that the police were still quietly investigating diane's death.

on december 21st, 2016, they made their move. tex mciver was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. those were, to be sure, serious charges, but they also made clear police believed tex didn't mean to kill diane. tex had dodged a murder charge, but his sister said tex didn't seem to get that. >> he just kept saying, but it was an accident. i said, but someone died. i don't know what he thought. who knows what was going through his mind at that point? >> tex mciver was released on bond, and while he seemed clueless about why he was charged with anything, diane's friends and colleagues wondered if he had been charged with enough. >> i was angry. it is like i didn't care -- i didn't -- i didn't care what i was angry, i didn't care what happened to him. >> in the months since diane's death, dani jo had become suspicious about tex's behavior during that final, fatal drive.

so we asked her to take us along the route they drove that night. this is the underpass where tex says he first began to worry about the homeless people in the area. dani jo says there was no danger. >> nothing that would have kept you from driving away, going on your way? >> no. >> just a few minutes later we came to where they made that fateful stop in midtown, atlanta. and it was, says dani jo, just a stop. >> we were sitting at a red light. >> no bump? >> no bump. >> you know the rest. diane was shot and dani jo took off for the hospital. she says she was frantic, but tex, she says, was calm. >> as a matter of fact, at some point a little bit farther up he told me to slow down and be careful, that there might be people out here with -- walking with baby carriages. >> wait a minute. his wife is wounded in the front seat here by his hand, and he's telling you to slow down?

>> yes. >> at the hospital diane was already in surgery when police showed up, and that, according to dani jo, is when tex said the weirdest thing. >> he looked past me and he said, i don't trust these guys. i hate to see you get wrapped up in this, dani jo. i've seen how these things can go down. and he said, you just need to tell them that you're down here as a friend of the family. >> wait a minute. you're here as a friend of the family and not as the person who was driving the car when the shooting happened? >> right. and so i leaned down again. well, i said, tex, i just drove you in to the emergency room. looks at me and he goes, well, they don't know that. i thought, what do you mean they don't know that? >> dani jo shared her misgivings with diane's co-workers. they were now convinced atlanta police hadn't dug deeply enough. jay grover was skeptical of tex's claim that the gun had just gone off. >> this does not make sense.

logically it just doesn't make sense. what are you saying? something wasn't right. >> it turns out fulton county prosecutor clint rucker was thinking the same thing. >> there was no malfunction with the gun at the time it was discharged. it was in perfect operating condition. it had 12 pounds of pressure needed to pull the trigger. >> meaning it is not easy to do. >> it is not easy to do. it became very clear to me this had to be an intentional act. >> diane's colleagues gave the da her computer and files, hoping rucker might find more evidence. >> and that is when the evolution of the motive then developed. >> rucker's investigators found documents suggesting tex was in financial trouble. what is more, diane's colleagues revealed she had been working on a new will. rucker wanted to find that will so he got a search warrant for the ranch and condo. no will turned up but something else did, a glock in tex's

condo. that was a violation of his bond, so tex went back to jail. the next day rucker filed new charges and the tex mciver cases escalated from careless accident to malice murder. it was according to tex's sister, dixie, preposterous. >> if you're going to kill your wife, is that how you would choose to do it? it makes no sense. >> who commits a murder with a witness sitting right there. that you can't control. >> exactly. absolutely an accident. >> dixie believes her brother's story, but will a jury. tex mciver goes on trial and secrets spill out. >> coming up, devoted husband -- >> they were very close, very affectionate. >> or desperate spouse. >> she would tell him in no uncertain terms, you're going to have to get your money situation together. >> diane could take control of the ranch by foreclosing on it if the defendant did not pay. >> when "dateline" continues.

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♪ the tex mciver case had it all, race, privilege, tragedy, and rich people doing dumb things. once the trial started in march of 2018, atlanta couldn't get enough. >> now, this is the case about maintaining an image of wealth and power that the defendant

created for himself and the lengths that he went through to keep it. >> in her opening statement, then assistant da selena griffin said the motive was money. the state's theory, diane mciver was carrying her husband financially. right before their wedding tex gifted diane half the ranch. later she loaned him $350,000 for which he put up the other half of the ranch as collateral. >> that diane could take control of the ranch by foreclosing on it if the defendant did not pay. >> with tex near retirement, prosecutor clint rucker said he was no longer earning the big salary he needed to pay all of the ranch expenses. >> her star was continuing to rise while his was continuing to fall, and she would tell him in no uncertain terms, you're going to have to get your money situation together. >> the state's financial expert testified diane's death made tex a richer man. >> so the day before her death,

$1.7 million, mr. mciver's net worth. the day after death, $5.9 or $6 million to $6.9 million. >> what is more, claimed the prosecutor, diane had quietly made a new will. receptionist rachel styles remembers making copies of a certain document around late 2014. >> i went back and handed 'em to her and she says, thank you so much, this is my new will. >> according to the prosecution, in the supposed new will diane wanted to leave the ranch to austin, tex did not, and that created a rift between them. a more concrete piece of evidence was the .38 that killed diane. prosecutors showed the jury the police interview with tex. >> i was handling the gun. uh, did not realize it was in my lap. >> right. >> and it went off. >> a gun expert from the georgia bureau of investigation told the jury how the gun worked.

>> if i sit down with it and hold it down here in my lap, will it just go off? >> no. >> if i handle it like this in any way, will it just go off? >> no. >> their god child -- >> it took the prosecution 66 witnesses and 16 days to make its case. the defense team had a shorter, simpler case, but they also had their hands full with a client who hadn't always acted in his own best interest. >> mr. mciver was just hellbent on defending himself at times. >> was one of your advice to him to stop quiet. >> absolutely. 100%. >> like i won't represent you if you don't stop opening your mouth? >> much more than that. physical consequences. >> amanda clark palmer, don samuel, bruce harvey, three of the best lawyers in georgia were

adept at using prosecution witnesses to bolster their defense. for example, they got the state's forensic's expert to agree in some circumstances the shooting could have indeed been unintentional. >> and, again, this weapon as well as any other weapons can be unintentionally discharged, correct? >> it can be, yes. >> tex's attorneys pointed out how prosecution witnesses testified tex and diane were happy together and planning to stay that way. >> as far as i can tell you, it was a very good marriage. >> they were very close, very affectionate. >> it was quite obvious they were very much in love. >> in fact, it was a prosecution witness who knocked down the argument that diane was going to call in that big loan and foreclose on the ranch. her colleague, ken rickert, testified that while diane could have done that she probably wouldn't have.

>> i'm not sure that that would have ever happened. diane would have avoided that, i believe, at all costs to try to keep the marriage together. >> as for the allegation of a second will, that was easy. >> it doesn't exist, that's why it was never produced. >> the receptionist testified she never actually saw the will, and prosecutor clint rucker admitted he never did find it, and he tried. >> you never produced the second will? >> never produced the second will. >> an er doctor called by the prosecution gave the defense one of the most intriguing bits of testimony. she said diane told her the shooting was an accident. >> and in the end it was clear she was saying he had the gun, correct? >> yes. >> in her coherent state she said it was an accident? >> yes. >> but the bottom line for the defense was that the murder scenario itself was absurd. >> we're going to drive back to atlanta, to our condo in buckhead, and on the way i'm

going to shoot my wife through the back of the seat with her best friend sitting there. what, are you kidding me? come on. >> finally, the defense offered a medical reason why tex might have fired the gun when he didn't mean to. for years tex had been treated for a sleep disorder which caused him to jerk in his sleep. it is called confusional arousal. >> is that normal? >> the defense called the sleep specialist who had been treating tex for a decade. >> he did have a previous study that was done at mayo clinic jacksonville in 2004 which did specifically comment about his moving his arms and legs in a sort of large amplitude movements while he was dreaming in the sleep lab. >> confusional described a lot of things in this case, but if jurors were hoping closing arguments would offer some clarity, they were about to find muddy water. coming up -- >> when he killed diane it is

like hitting the lottery. >> he is going to vilify tex mciver, we're going to muddy him up, that's their mission. >> accident or murder? a defendant under the gun and a jury all over it. >> we got to hold the gun. >> what would the verdict be? when "dateline" continues. that's our promise. now, you can skip the line with walgreens express, get in and out quickly with 24-hour locations, or have your prescriptions delivered whenever you need us, we're always just minutes away. walgreens. protect your pet with the #1 name in flea and tick protection. frontline plus. trusted by vets for nearly 20 years.

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prosecutors clint rucker faced the jury for the final time, with a mason jar of mud.

>> i'm going to make you a promise. by the time i get through with my argument and takie inine ini this jar will be clear. and it will be clear like each and every one of your minds will be clear about the guilt of this defendant. >> reporter: he drove home the prosecution's main argument one more time. and that accidental shooting? >> he intended to do it. a gun expert. arguing about this ranch. black lives matter is not about race. it's about the justification for having a gun in the backseat. >> reporter: at the end of his closing, despite his promise, the d.a.'s jar of mud was far from clear. not a good sign. thaao mud

that muddy water symbolized the state's plea. cook counsel drew harvey said they proved there was no reason to kill diane. >> tex was not broke. the state evaluation was $1.8 million before diane died. >> reporter: the jury took over the debate. and not many jurors were convinced by the prosecution case, especially when it came to motive. it boiled down to one thing. >> we got to hold the gun and feel the force. >> i did a same thing with a similar gun and the help of firearms expert, jay jarvis.

>> the hardest thing is cocking the gun. once it's cocked, firing it is somewhat easy. firing it uncocked requires more effort. >> about six-times the effort. >> the obvious question, was tex's gun cocked or not? >> we felt if it was cocked, it could have easily been an accident. >> the jury, again, asked to see the interview from tex's interview. >> didn't play with the hammer. and he didn't put it back to full dock. >> reporter: the only evidence they could find that was not cocked, came from tex's own attorney. jurors sent a message to the judge. >> we don't see a path to overcome our differences.

>> reporter: the judge refused a deadlock and sent them back to deliberate. a verdict had been reached. tex's sister sat anxiously on both sides. the case that had riveted atlanta, had come to an end. >> we find the defendant, not guilty. >> reporter: for the felony charge of shooting the gun at diane. >> guilty of felony murder. possession of a firearm. and try to witness danny joe carter. tex didn't mean to kill diane, but he did mean to shoot her. >> when you hear the first guilty? >> like, we got him.

>> tex's lawyers were mystified. >> it e's the result of a compromise. and i think it is just plain wrong. >> reporter: tex's sister, dixie, is still stunned. to think that one moment in time, you lose your wife. you lose your friends. you lose your money. you lose your house. you lose your career. you lose your dignity. you lose your freedom and your future. >> reporter: tex declared how much he would miss his godson, austin, the food at chick-fil-a. and finally, his wife, diana.

>> i know she is here. the presence is unspeakable. you brought me more joy and fulfillment than few men on this earth have ever known. thank you. we are together again. >> reporter: tex mciver is serving a life sentence. freedom for tex is a long shot. and dani jo is okay with in a. she misses her friend, diane, every day. >> i miss her. >> reporter: the beloved mciver ranch stood vacant. the lavish parties and celebrations, vie cant. remnants of a marriage many thought was as good as it gets.

but as tex settled into prison, an auctioneer sold it all to the highest bidder. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. first up on msnbc, major developments as coronavirus spreads. the infection hits a major u.s. city. and a big change in store for the passengers stuck onboard a cruise ship outside of california. lockdown. millions told to stay put for weeks. and a medical expert answers the most googled questions. ? two days to go before a critical contest for the democratic presidential hopeful. we begin with breaking news.