the mystery surrounding his killing still abides. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> i caught something out of the corner of my eye. it was my mom. she was laying on the ground. i went over expecting her to get up or to say something. i put my hand on her shoulder. i kinda turned her. and i could see blood everywhere. >> reporter: their family always made the best of bad times. >> my mom always looked for the good in everything. >> reporter: but no one could fix this. >> autopsy showed a total of five shots. >> she didn't deserve to die that way. >> reporter: detectives had a suspect. but not much of a case. >> i was told, "unless they can find the proverbial smoking gun,

they will not take this case to trial." >> this case did not have a lot. >> everything just kinda, like, went cold case. >> reporter: blow off the dust. fan the ashes. and even an ice-cold case can heat up again. >> when i read the file, my response was, "oh, my gosh. how's this guy walkin' around? how is he not in custody?" >> reporter: some worried answering that question could cost this d.a. his life. >> they tell me that he is making plans to murder you and your family. >> this is a guy who is on a mission. >> reporter: he killed once. would he kill again? >> when will he stop being dangerous to you? >> when he's dead. >> hello and welcome to "dateline." joan lockwood was an outgoing divorced multiple four four excited about her next chapter in life. she was packing her bags and moving to a new home when five

gun debt shots cruelly ended her plans. for police proving who killed joan was an ominous task. a killer was out there lurking and leaving joan's family living in near, but they weren't the only ones whose lives might be in danger. here's keith morrison with "the threat." >> reporter: on the southern bank of the columbia river, tucked away in a corner of this little cemetery is the final resting place of a woman called joan. barbara joan lockwood. she wasn't a famous woman, joan, wasn't rich or celebrated. she lived a quiet life in a quiet place and was buried here more than three decades ago, but if ghosts could rise from their graves, if joan could speak to us now, what questions could she answer, what advice for this man, this tough, aggressive

prosecutor who now fears for his life? >> this man is a threat to me. he's a threat, more importantly, to my family. >> reporter: in the anils -- sometimes they refuse to die. sometimes they lay and fester. >> it begins with joan. she lived when she lived 1,000 miles south of that little cemetery, a few miles from the beach in l.a. in a suburb called torrance. on a quiet street named sharon lane. there was joan, her husband bill bradford and their four children. this is joan's only daughter, shawn. >> people would describe her as the most caring, sweetest person they ever met. >> reporter: there were three boys, brett, the eldest. >> my mom loved her kids, we were first and foremost of what was important to her.

>> reporter: the whole neighborhood knew that. >> neighbors loved my mom and would flat-out say, we didn't even know your dad. >> maybe that was in part because of bill bradford's job. bill worked as an aerospace engineer, very high security, top secret clearance at a company called trw. >> trw back in the '80s was an aero defense firm. >> top of the top. >> top of the top. >> so his reputation as work, did you know much about that? >> i knew he was good at what he did, but he was also very secretive about it. >> you just don't talk about it. >> yeah, you don't want talk about it. >> reporter: in fact, bill bradford didn't talk much about anything to anybody. even his own family. >> he was just very much, you know, here's my role. i work, i come home, i eat dinner, and then he went to his

bedroom. >> just to be alone or what. >> to work on his stamp collection. >> reporter: exacting, organized, introvert. joan's particular opposite. and eventually that disconnect took its toll. bill moved out. joan moved on, filed for divorce. the kids grew up and moved away. and in the fall of 1988, joan sole the house on sharon lane. >> my mom was trying to finish up the sale and the move from torrance to start her life over again. >> reporter: it was a friday evening. joan was packing, getting ready. shawn and a younger brother called her on the phone, told her, "we're coming over." it was just getting dark when they arrived. >> so we opened up the door, went in, calling for her. nothing. as i went through the front living room, i caught something out of the corner of my eye. it was my mom. and she was laying on the ground.

and i could see blood everywhere. >> reporter: in a panic, shawn called 911 and then called her brother brett. >> she says, mom's been hurt. she's got a hole in her neck. she was frantic. >> reporter: then the police and paramedics arrived and cordoned off the place where she lay. >> i could see numerous bullet holes in the back of her neck. >> reporter: keith mason was a detective, torrance pd. >> in all my years i've seen people shot. >> mm-hmm. >> in homicides, but never this many times. never. five times. >> this is really an execution. >> definitely. >> reporter: what shawn had seen, her mother on the floor, had been so confusing. but now she saw nothing because they kept her away. >> one of the paramedics met me, and i looked at him and said, will she be okay? >> thinking that she was still alive? >> yeah. i wasn't processing. but he finally just looked at me and just shook his head no.

and that's when i realized that she was dead. >> reporter: had she seen what was coming? did she know her life was over? >> they had taken the body out. someone had taken a carpet cleaner to clean up the blood, and basically my last memory is a carpet cleaning of my mom's blood. which she didn't deserve to die that way. >> reporter: sweet, kind-harted joan bradford was 52. who did it? why? next to her body was a clue. >> i saw a bullet lying on the floor by her foot from a .38 caliber or a .357 caliber handgun and they both fire the same bullet. >> when the detective asked me if i knew anybody who owned a gun, my initial response was no. my brother turned around and

nodded, and he looked at me and said, dad has one. and i stopped and went, you're right. >> but where was bill bradford and his gun? coming up -- >> he did, in fact, own a model 66 smith & wesson handgun. we did find a box in his bedroom that was supposed to contain a smith & wesson but it was empty. >> and a peek inside that failed marriage. >> he pushed her down. her head hit a rocking chair and shattered it. >> at one point when i was 16, my father actually looked me in the eye and said, "life's a bitch and then you marry one." >> when "dateline" continues. it's the #1 vet recommended protection. and it's safe for puppies. nexgard. what one little chew can do.

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it looked like a mob hit. whoever murdered joan bradford clearly wanted to be absolutely sure. >> it was brutal. it was close up. it was very revengeful type of shooting. >> there was no sign of a break-in. her purse was untouched and no one in the neighborhood saw anything. so detectives turned their investigation to joan's inner circle. they asked her children about their mother, their father, and the marriage. shawn didn't hold back. >> it wasn't a good marriage. >> how long had you known that? >> it was obvious when i was a

teenager. they never hugged. they never kissed. they rarely spoke. >> reporter: and when they did speak, bill was controlling, condescending. >> at one point when i was 16, my father actually looked me in the eye and said, "life's a bitch and then you marry one." >> my parents got in a fight and then he pushed her down. her head hit a rocking chair and shattered it. i mean, that's what i grew up in. >> reporter: when they finally separated, the divorce was nasty. >> my father refused to pay child support. he refused to pay spousal support. everything he did was to extend the divorce. >> reporter: it took over five years for joan to get divorced. as part of the settlement, bill was ordered to pay alimony and child support.

he didn't make the payments so joan and her attorney were able to garnish that from the house sale proceeds. >> the total amount garnished was 40,000. >> not that bad. >> so it really wasn't that much. >> but it bothered him? >> it bothered him because she won. >> to lose $40,000? >> yeah. >> he lost control. my father does not like losing control of anything. >> reporter: bill never saw it coming. suddenly he was almost $40,000 poorer. and the day after bradford had all that money garnished, his ex-wife was dead. so, the cops went looking for bradford. trouble was he seemed to have disappeared, didn't pick up his phone, didn't answer the door at his apartment. detective mason went back to headquarters, inserted the name "bill bradford" into his database and -- >> he did, in fact, own a model

66 smith & wesson handgun .357 magnum. >> reporter: which just happened to fire the same kinds of bullets found at the crime scene. so detective mason got a warrant to search bradford's apartment. there was no sign of him or the gun, but -- >> we did find a box in his bedroom that was supposed to contain a smith & wesson, but it was empty. >> reporter: saturday passed. still no sign of bill bradford. police even put up posters hoping for leads. and then on sunday, two days after the murder, -- >> he came into the police department. >> well, well, well. >> myself and another detective asked him if he was aware of the fact his ex-wife was dead. >> i'm sorry to see her dead, but we never had a very good relationship. >> this guy just sat there and looked at me like i'm looking at you. i thought, boy, you are a cold, calculating guy. very nonchalantly, coldly, like who cares.

>> reporter: bradford confirmed what his children said. he was very upset about all that money from his share of the house sale that was suddenly sent to joan. so upset he left his apartment for almost two whole days. >> i went to redondo pier. >> spent the night at the pier? >> i spent all the time at the pier from then until this morning at 6:00. >> what the hell was he doing in the pier at his car? >> he didn't feel good. he wanted to be alone and think. i said, you live alone. he said, well, i didn't want to talk to people, i didn't want to talk on the phone, i just wanted to be alone. >> reporter: but alone at the redondo beach pier for nearly two days. police asked him about his .357 magnum. bradford admitted he once bought ammo like that. but as for the gun itself. >> i put my stuff in storage and i've been unable to locate it. >> where do you think you left it? >> i haven't the slightest idea

where i left it. >> did it strike you this fellow so well-organized would misplace a gun? >> yes, struck me odd. i knew right away he didn't misplace it. no doubt in my mind because of the type of fellow he was. >> reporter: bud bradford did have an alibi, a parking stub. sure enough, he entered the pier parking lot friday of the murder, 7:29 p.m., so he said he could not have killed joan. unless the detectives put together a timeline. joan answered a phone call at 7:00 p.m. but by 7:15, when shaun arrived, she was dead. >> we figured that's the timeline, 7:/7:15, right in that timeline. >> pretty narrow window. >> reporter: could bill have shot joan and arrive at 7:29 at the pier? they made the drive themselves. it took just seven to eight minutes. it all fit. >> when the detective said, your

father is a prime suspect, it's the only thing that made sense. there was no one who could hate my mom so much to want her dead except my father. >> reporter: so, just days after interviewing bill bradford, the detectives made their move. >> i arrested him. there was no way in the world i'm going to let this guy go. >> you have to be a dope not to think he did it, right? >> there was a ton of circumstantial evidence. >> yeah. >> all leading to him. >> murder solved. case closed, right? oh, no. it was just getting started. coming up -- >> i spent a number of months looking over my shoulder, wondering who was following me. i can remember cars following me at various times. >> a family living in fear with good reason. >> i was afraid that someone was after me. >> someone? >> my father. my father murdered my mother and

i don't know why he did it. would he murder me? >> when "dateline" continues. hi. uh, can you tell me how to get to i-70, please? o-okay, are you -- ah, yes. thank you. switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. you know, like the sign says. switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. saturpain happens. aleve it. aleve is proven stronger and longer on pain than tylenol. when pain happens, aleve it. all day strong.

september 1988, hot and hazy in l.a. beach weather. but bill bradford wasn't at the beach anymore. no view from a jail cell. and while he waited in custody,

detective keith mason went over to see the d.a. where he described his case and waited for the go-ahead to charge bradford with murder for killing his ex-wife. didn't quite work out that way. >> the head d.a. right away said, do you have the gun? i said, no, we don't have the gun. he said, do you have anybody who could put him at the house at the time of the homicide? i said, no. he says, i don't think we're going to do anything with this case. >> uh-oh. >> i was mad. i was upset. i knew i just let a murderer out the door. >> so bill bradford went home, went back to work at trw. but his children weren't celebrating. in fact, they feared their father. and worried they just might be his next victims. >> i spent a number of months looking over my shoulder wondering who was following me. i can remember cars following me at various times. and just kind of randomly

driving places, trying to figure out what was going on to lose who was tailing me. >> reporter: brett said he too was followed, so he installed a home security system, started sleeping with the lights on. >> i was jumpy. i would walk into my apartment and i would actually search it. underneath the kitchen sink, all my closets, i would look under my bed. >> why? >> because i was afraid. that someone was after me. >> someone? >> my father. my father murdered my mother and i don't know why he did it. so the next question is, would he murder me? >> reporter: the late '80s was a busy time for l.a. homicide detectives. murder rates were headed for their all-time peak around then. so, detective mason, no choice, really, moved on. a year passed then two.

the bradford case got buried. >> i would sit around and wonder, oh, you know, i'm going to grab that bradford case out and i'm going to read that again. maybe there is something i missed. maybe there is something i didn't do. maybe there is something i could do. >> reporter: but all thosing ises . >> reporter: but all those somethings led to a bunch of nothing. not one new lead. mason stayed in close contact with shaun, who by this time was engaged to be married. her father wasn't on the guest list but shaun was worried he'd show up at her wedding. >> we actually had plain clothes cops that were armed at our wedding. >> you were that nervous? >> yes. he killed once. my belief was, my father killed my mom. he's not welcome. i believe he did this. this isn't safe. >> reporter: and she felt nothing but relief when her father missed the wedding. his only daughter's wedding.

but he was around. bold as brass. >> i would go out to a big plate, there he'd be. he'd be walking around. >> wow. >> i would think right away, wow, you're free, but i hope not for long, i hope not for long. >> reporter: but it was long. very long. the john bradford case was ice-cold. the '80s turned to the '90s. and then the millennium. bill bradford remained free, sell betrayali celebrating the new year of the new millennium like everyone else. and then a few months later. >> i finally retired and there was no new evidence. everything just kind of, like, went cold case. so i left and went on to greener fields. >> reporter: by then, bill bradford retired, too. eventually moved to the desert, and by the look of it had plenty of money.

and one day together his children faced the facts. >> brett and i were sitting down, and he looked at me and said, "so, it's real. our father's getting away with mu murder." >> at that point there was nothing we could do. you know, what do you do in that situation? >> they didn't know, of course, how could they? what was going on in here. in secret. didn't know who else was thinking about their estranged father and what he may have done. coming up -- >> there's one person who would want her dead. >> closing in. >> you got to have some evidence. >> all that stuff hiding in plain sight. trying to read between line. i always think of it as death by 1,000 paper cuts. >> and authorities wondered whether others had been at risk. >> you really think he was going to go and kill a lawyer? >> no question. >> you're speculating? >> we don't leave our common

sense at the door. in this situation, we'd have to leave our common sense in another zip code. >> when "dateline" continues. cks chuck wood? hey you dang woodchucks, quit chucking my wood! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. your cold's gonna make you a zombie tomorrow. wrong. i'm taking a powerful nighttime cold medicine, so i can sleep great and wake up human. don't eat me i taste terrible! mucinex nightshift cold and flu. fight your worst symptoms so you can sleep great and wake up human.

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hi, i'm richard liu with your hour's top stories. the cruise ship stranded off the coast of california with the coronavirus outbreak is expected to dock today. 21 people on board tested positive, each passenger will begin a mandatory 14-day quarantine. and women marched in cities across the world on sunday to protest gender violence and inequality on international women's day. most protests were peaceful, but in some places like mexico city, things turned violent. now back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline." i'm natalie morales. back in 1988, joan lockwood has been murdered and detectives believed all signs pointed to her ex-husband bill bradford as the killer. but the d.a. did not think they

had enough proof to make a case, so the file went on a shelf. it had been more than a decade and joan's family held fast to their belief that the evidence was out there. they just needed someone willing to look for it. once again, here's keith morrison with "the threat." >> reporter: bill bradford's children were convinced their father had gotten away with murdering their mother joan, shot her in cold blood and walked away a free man. >> knowing that, all the evidence points to, unfortunately, your father, and knowing that he's going to get away with it, it didn't sit right. >> reporter: but something was being done. in 2000, about 12 years after joan's murder, an ambitious prosecutor named john lewan was poking through the unsolved files at the torrance pd. >> when i read the file my response was, oh, my gosh, how is this guy walking around?

how is he not in custody? >> it seemed so obvious. >> it seemed so obvious. >> reporter: but so difficult to prove, especially without any new solid evidence. so lewan called in cold case detective jim wallace, who seemed to have a knack for making sense of complicated cases. >> this case did not have a lot. we didn't have anything new. >> you got to have some evidence, so what do you do? >> you are looking for things hiding in plain sight, trying to read between lines. sometimes when we do cold cases like this, i think of it as death by 1,000 paper cuts where we are assembling big cumulative cases from a lot of little pieces that don't seem like much. when you put it all together, this is the best inference of evidence. >> wallace and lewan took a deep dive into all that original evidence, a file of mostly interviewed. with a theme. >> the first response always if it's from kids or friends or neighbors is william bradford. so there's one person who would

want her dead. it still doesn't mean he's the killer, but it does mean of all the reasonable options he is the most reasonable option. >> reporter: they learned all about the bradfords' troubled marriage, about bill's apparent need to be in control, about the contentious divorce, the money he was forced to pay joan. >> there was some court orders to pay about $40,000 to my wife's attorney, and i was very depressed from that point on. >> reporter: they microanalyzed bradford's police interview, dissected every word. >> i don't really talk about it that much. >> reporter: i'm looking at word choices in all interviews. i'm looking for deception indicators. >> do you remember anything particularly about that process in that interview? >> yeah, the investigators asked him how he felt when he first learned his wife was murdered. >> i'm sorry to see her dead, but we never had a very good relationship. >> that's a very unusual way to answer that, right? >> about your wife. >> yeah, you don't want to see

her dead. that is in some ways a tassett admission. you are the last person you could actually say you saw her dead. >> reporter: then there was bradford's strange story about spending two nights at the pier in his car. even had a parking stub to prove it. >> when you talk to his family and you brought up, hey, is your dad, is he that kind of, you know, beach meditation put on my sandals and relate to the ocean kind of guy? um, no. >> except he was very upset. maybe you doubt him, but it's a reasonable thing for a person to say. >> to sleep in their car for two days? >> reporter: they were both convinced there was another reason bradford stayed at the pier. it just happened to be where joan's attorney had an office. the very same attorney who helped her garnish that $40,000 from her ex-husband. >> by his own statement, he was pacing, walking up and down the

pier right in front of the lawyer's office. now, the lawyer, had he been there and bradford waited for him for two days, i have no doubt in my mind this would have been a double murder/suicide. >> you really think he was going to go and kill a lawyer? >> no question. >> you're speculating. you say no question, but, really, you have no idea. >> things are logical and reasonable. he's just murdered his wife. right after he murders her, he drives to a place he's never known to go and sleeps in his car for two days and just so happens the lawyer's office is right there. we don't leave our common sense at the door. in this situation, you know, we'd have to leave our common sense in another zip code. >> bradford had been beaten. this attorney made that happen. he had to die, too. >> reporter: and, wallace thought, he must have intended to use the very same gun with which he killed joan, the .357 magnum bradford said he lost. >> i haven't the slightest idea where it went. >> reporter: >> reporter: wallace did a

little research on the hollow tipped bullets bradford once had. remember, those were the same kind of bullets that killed joan. wallace discovered that particular type of hollow point is rare, less than 1% of all the ammo sold. >> wow, what are the odds? he's either the unlockiest person in the world that happen to align perfectly to make this perfectly innocent person look really guilty or he's really guilty. >> so, what you were wondering where it was. >> reporter: so with all those circumstantial clues and a clear motive and means, lewan and wallace drove out to the desert and arrested bill bradford. it was may, 2001, 13 years after joan was murdered. >> he had just popped open a beer. i don't think that bill realizes that you will never see this ever again. this is a guy we're just going to vacuum suck out of his life who has no idea. >> reporter: bradford was charged with first-degree murder. and one of the detectives phoned

shaun. >> my first reaction was, do you know what day today is. no. it's mother's day. and he stopped, and he said, oh, my gosh, i'm sorry. i said, no, that's fitting for the mother that he took away 13 years ago. >> reporter: bradford quickly lawyered up while his family braced themselves for a trial. would their father walk free or be locked up for life? >> i want to use the word apprehensive. after years, can a case be won? coming up -- >> we felt this burden. we'll never get another case like this ever filed again if we lose this one. >> a trial -- >> getting a little nervous at this point? >> well, i was because i didn't know how this would all fit together. i really worried. >> -- and a threat. >> his cell mate has come forward and he has said that bradford's very angry at you and he is making plans to murder you and your family. >> when "dateline" continues.

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bill bradford, former aerospace engineer, was coming back to torrance to be tried for murdering his ex-wife joan. it was 2002, and though 14 years after the murder, d.a. lewan had a pile of the same old circumstantial evidence, he charged ahead.

>> were you confident going into this trial? >> very confident. i thought that circumstancetial it was an absolutely overwhelming case. >> reporter: really? the original d.a. rejected it. weak, he called it. no smoking gun, no dna, no eyewitnesss. >> we felt this burden. >> getting a little nervous? >> i was. i didn't know how this would all fit together not having done a circumstantialal ca circumstantial case like this before, i really worried. >> reporter: nevertheless, in the winter of 2002, lewan and wallace took their first cold circumstantial case to court. >> the way we presented the case was this was a man who was an in an abusive relationship. he would not accept that hi wife wanted her fair share, and when he lost, to him it was the losing. he couldn't take losing. >> reporter: and so in a violent rage, said lewan, bradford

executed his ex-wife. bradford's children testified for the prosecution. >> that was probably almost as hard as finding my mom murdered. i didn't know until the trial that she had been shot execution style. >> reporter: her father's defense mostly centered on bradford's sterling reputation as a high-security aerospace engineer, loving father and family man, and pointed out the lack of physical evidence connecting him to the crime. and the jury kept suspense alive, was out for two days. and then on a cool april morning came the verdict -- guilty. finally justice for joan bradford. >> i went from suspecting that my father murdered my mom to having it confirmed. because there's always that

little point that still wanted to be daddy's little girl and wanted to believe that this was something else. >> reporter: it was shaun's birthday a few weeks later when her father was sentenced to 26 years to life. he'd be 85 by the time he was eligible for parole. >> i remember telling him daughter that this man's not going to last five years in prison. so i thought it would be a life sentence. >> i was a lot more relaxed. people kept saying, oh, he'll be dead in five years, so, you know, i'm safe. he's never getting out. >> reporter: safe? maybe not everybody. months later d.a. lewan got a call from the prison. about bill bradford. >> they tell me that his cellmate has come forward and he has said that bradford's very angry at you and he is talking

about making plans to murder you and your family. >> reporter: of course in lieuen's line of work, idle threats from resentful jailbirds were not exactly new, but this bill bradford guy caught his attention. he seemed as cold-blooded as they come. so lewan went to talk to the informant. normally if somebody comes to you with a story like that, they want time off their sentence or something. >> they want something. absolutely. >> not this guy? >> nothing. one of the first things i asked him is, why are you coming forward? and he said, i hate the guy. i couldn't believe how he would talk about his wife and how he killed her. now he said he's talking about, you know, killing someone else's family and i just couldn't stay quiet. >> reporter: lewan polygraphed the informant. he passed. and then added a warning. >> that bradford had said that he thought he was going to get out very quickly on appeal. >> on appeal?

>> when he got out either himself or somebody else, he was going to blow my family's heads off in front of me so that i could suffer and then he was going to kill me. so i immediately took it seriously that it was a credible threat. >> reporter: but then bradford lost all his appeals and gradually lewan stopped looking over his shoulder. he went on to successfully prosecute many more cold circumstantial cases, including several with jim wallace. the bradford case faded away until 15 years later, the fall of 2017. >> i come home from work and my husband says you have a letter from department of corrections and i went, okay, it's one of two things. he died. or paroled. i opened it up, and he's still alive. >> so, option number two.

his parole hearing at the prison was coming up, which meant that bill bradford, a convicted killer who once allegedly threatened to murder the d.a. and his family, could soon be back on the street. coming up -- >> i made a promise to myself that i would speak for my mom. i went to the parole. >> a decision -- >> i was stunned. >> -- but is it final? >> this is a very bright man. he has resources. he has motivation. >> when will he stop being dangerous to you? >> when he's dead. >> when "dateline" continues.

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welcome back. prosecutor john lewan had every reason to take bill bradford seriously. the fellow inmate volunteered that bill was boasting about plans to kill the lawyer and his family in he got out of prison. the bradford children also felt threatened by their father. with the parole hearing around the corner, could there nightmare become a reality? here's keith morrison with the conclusion of "the threat." >> reporter: the california health care facility, but don't be fooled by the name, this is, indeed, a prison. and home to bill bradford, who by 2018 had been in prison 16 years. was meant he was up for parole.

that january, two of bradford' children traveled to the prison for his hearing. >> i made a promise to myself that i would speak for my mom. i went to the parole. >> what was it like to see him there? >> i saw a man who has not aged well in the last 15 years. >> reporter: deputy d.a. john lewan went to the hearing, too, memories of death threats all too fresh in his mind. >> i understand the laws and law, and they have to look at parole for him. this man is a threat to me, he's a threat, more importantly, to my family. this is not personal in terms of any vendetta or about being right, this is about public safety and protecting those of us who sacrifice a lot to do the jobs we do, whether you're a police officers or prosecutors or judges. >> reporter: cameras weren't allowed inside the hearing, as the commissioners began asking

bradford about the brutal murder he committed. >> for the first time in 30 years, i heard my father admit to killing my mom. >> however, there's a reason for doing such a thing, which is that he has a chance to get paroled. >> yes, he did. however, the way he went about admitting it was very unique. the commissioner was asking about, where is joan, your ex-wife, now? he stops and goes, wait, is that the woman i shot? and the commissioner stops and said, tell us, did you kill your ex-wife? yes, i did. why? i don't remember. >> he appears to have dementia of some sort? >> yeah. >> bradford' attorney, maya emmig, told the commissioners that bradford's dementia and a basket of other health problems were getting worse and that john lewan has nothing to fear from a confused and frail old man. >> nothing has happened in 16

years. mr. bradford isn't connected to the mob or the mexican mafia or any prison gang, right? and, quite frankly, he didn't even know who john lewan was. >> in the room that day, didn't recognize him? >> didn't even know him. didn't remember his name. >> how did you know that? >> it was just apparent. he's not a threat at all the way that he is. >> the prison's own psychologist examined him and they came back with a rating there's low risk, moderate risk and high risk. he came back with a moderate risk. >> the issue that the commissioners are trying to focus on and wanted you to focus on, but you didn't want to, is he's not capable of harming you anymore. >> keith -- >> beyond being dangerous. >> his mind is very clear. the man knew, was able to recite numerous different issue. >> reporter: lewan says what he thinks the defense attorney calls dementia is really a severe case of selective memory. >> he denied remembering what he had done, anything about me. he just had selective amnesia

regarding this whole event, so the idea that he's helpful -- >> right. >> -- and doesn't have the capability to harm me or my family, it's absurd. >> when will he stop being dangerous to you? >> when he's dead. >> reporter: bradford's children, shaun and brett, also spoke up at the hearing and urged the commissioners to keep their dad locked up. >> i had to go through and explain what i was concerned about for safety, not only to myself, but to the general population. >> for several hours the commissioners questioned bradford and listened to lewan and the family and tried to determine if the old man was a risk or releasable, and then they went to their chambers to make up their minds, and later that afternoon, bradford's attorney and lewan were called in and were told -- >> the question about whether or not mr. bradford poses a current threat, the answer was no. >> reporter: threat meant yes to parole.

bill bradford would be released. >> i was furious, and i said, if something happens to my family, the blood is on your hands and you will own this. >> reporter: when bradford's children got the news, those old fears about their father suddenly returned. >> i was stunned. i couldn't believe they would tiss turn around and say he's not a risk. >> would i be a fool to say we are perfectly safe? no. my father killed once. >> reporter: the commissioner timed bradford's release for february 2019. by then he would be in his mid-80s. more than 30 years removed from when he pulled that trigger. could he really do it again? >> this is a very bright man. he has resources. he has motivation. it takes very little to find out where my family is. all he needs is a gun and an

uber. >> this is an 85-year-old guy who is on a mission. if he's able to still command his wits, we have a problem still because he is able to command his wits when he made the first threat. and here we are now. we have not done something that has lessened his anger. >> there was one more step before his release. california's then governor jerry brown would review the decision. and could reverse it. to keep him in prison. the l.a. county d.a.'s office wrote a letter to the governor urging him to do just that. so did bradford's family. >> i had contacted the governor's office. i wrote a letter. my brother wrote a letter. and i had two senators actually co-sign a letter. >> reporter: lewan acted, too, through the media. tried to persuade california governor jerry brown to keep bradford locked up. >> he's looking to even up scores before he dies. >> reporter: then a week after

memorial day 2018 came this letter from governor brown. the evidence shows that he, meaning bradford, currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison, therefore, i reverse the decision to parole mr. bradford. >> when it came in, it was a lot of shock, but also a lot of relief. >> reporter: that relief would be temporary. in june 2019, bill bradford was again granted parole. and like last time, that decision needed approval. this time there was a new governor in office, gavin newsom. but it was the same result. like his predecessor, he too reversed bill's parole. so, bill bradford remains behind bars. and the mighty columbia rolls by a little cemetery where a woman who loved life and her children and put up with a difficult husband is at peace.

>> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. this sunday, growing coronavirus fears. the covid 19 threat is going across the united states. >> across the country and around the world, northern italy now on lockdown. the death toll is rising. fears are increasing. and doubts about u.s. preparedness are growing. >> i'm not happy about the lack of the appropriate number of test kits, that's for sure. >> this amid concerns that the trump administration is not being honest with the public. >> anybody that needs a test gets a test. and the tests are all perfect. like the letter is