american dream, there's always a new beginning, no matter where you came from. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> it was all surreal. it still is. things like that don't happen to small town people. i was very scared. i was worried that i was going to be next. he was the friendly former about to make it big on reality tv. >> he loved being on tv. >> a success to celebrate after so much loss. his first wife killed in an awful fire. >> i was devastated. this is my sister. she was just this sweet, wonderful, giving person. >> they called it a horrible

accident. here's the thing -- accidents just seem to keep happening. deadly ones. >> came coming up, an intuition that something just was not right. >> wife number two had a growing suspicion, and she also had a plan. >> i had actually watched an episode of "dateline," and i had this revelation. >> a dangerous mission. was her own life at risk? >> this is a mystery novel that won't end. you couldn't write the storyline. ♪ hello, and welcome to "dateline." the death of a young mother in a house fire was almost too much for her family to bear. then years later, another devastating accident and another loved one gone. was this just a string of brutally bad luck, or the work of a calculating killer?

here's andrea canning with "deadly deceit." >> reporter: snapshots of a time gone by. capturing a life that could have been. now all that's left are the burned out remnants of a life that's gone. >> i've seen the destruction to my family. i've seen my parents fall apart. >> i didn't think my life was going to turn out like theis at all. had this not come to a head now, the mystery would have lived on. the carlson family would have always wondered what really happened. >> reporter: the story begins here around the finger lakes. a stunning part of upstate new york. this is where the carlson family put down its roots. >> all right, carl.

>> reporter: it's here that carl carlson brought his bride christina to meet his family in 1986. his brother, mike, took to her right away. >> she was small, tiny little girl. not very tall at all. a very simple, sweetheart of a kid. >> reporter: christina and carl had met in north dakota where carl was stationed in the air force. when he was discharged, they came to his home to make a life. was she a good fit to the carlson family? >> absolutely, yeah. she would give it out as well as take it. laugh on the way. >> stand right there, chris. carl, get with her -- >> reporter: they were a cute couple. christina, the little cheerleader from california, carl, the rough and ready country boy. christina's sister will toet liked the way -- colette liked the way he made her laugh. >> he was this barrel-chested guy. my further 4'11". >> reporter: it wouldn't be long before they had three kids. erin, levi, and katy.

>> she'd be on the floor playing with them or teaching them or instructing them or coddling them. and it wasn't just her kids, it was all of our kids. >> look at those two lovely people over there. >> reporter: christina seemed happy. but carl wanted more than a life working the quarry. and christina's father, art alexander, offered a ticket out. the job with a future working in his heating and air conditioning company. >> if you ever need a job, just come on out to california, and you'll have a job because you can work with me. >> reporter: so they moved all the way across the country to murphy's, an old mining town in the sierra foothills. carl found them they ram shackle house at the top of this long, winding road. it wasn't much, but it was closer to collette, and christina made it special. >> she went into home decorator mode and started painting, sewing curtains. wow, this looks good. >> carl? thank you, darling.

>> reporter: christina and carl celebrated christmas with christina's family in 1990. just a week later, their lives would change forever. it was new year's day, 1991. >> when i come outside, i saw the smoke from the house. i could see where the smoke was out there. >> reporter: carl and chris kt e christina's house was on fire. carl had been in the garage but rushed to the house. he pulled the kids out of their bedroom windows where they were napping. christina was trapped in the bathroom. flames raging just outside the bathroom door. the window was boarded shut from the inside. by the time art arrived, the paramedics were already on the scene. >> got in the ambulance, i looked around, said, where's chris? it's -- they told me one of the kids said she's -- she's with god or she's -- the angels took her. something like that. that's when i -- said to them --

she wasn't there. >> reporter: art could only imagine the terror of her last moments on earth. he then placed one of the toughest calls he's ever made. >> i need to tell you something. he said, there was a fire at chris' house. everyone got out but chris. and i said, are you kidding me? he said, no. >> reporter: back in upstate new york, the carlson family got the terrible news. so mike and his sister-in-law flew to california to help carl and the children, all under the age of 7. >> i said, i'll help when i can. tell me what to do. and he was just numb. he was more of a zombie. he just said, "i don't know." >> are you thinking how in the world is my brother going to take care of these three little kids? >> i -- i had no clue. >> reporter: carl spoke briefly with fire investigators. he said he wasn't sure how the fire started, but he knew why it

moved so fast. the pets had knocked over a container full of kerosene a day or two before. carl didn't share many other details with friends and family, and mike sensed it was hard for carl to deal with anything important. after a while, mike pressed him a bit. what are we doing? if we're going to stay in california, you need arrange for an apartment. you've got to get supplies, get the house settled because the kids need some form of stability here. and that's when he said, i just -- just want to go home. >> reporter: so four days after the fire, carl packed up his three children and flew back to upstate new york. it was yet another blow for christina's grieving family. >> my sister and i had made a commitment to each other that our kids were going to grow up knowing each other. and then it was stripped in five case. >> reporter: all christina's father had left of his beloved daughter was this box of collared photos that he rescued from the house.

reminders of her and the grandchildren he loved. >> after her death, i was probably more dead than alive. i didn't pay attention to a lot of things that i should have. but i did muddle through. i didn't care. >> reporter: hobbled by grief, he also felt a helpless and maybe pointless anger toward his son-in-law and wondered why didn't carl do more to save christina that terrible day. >> there was a pit laying in front of a tree in front. if somebody wanted to pull a board off the window, all they had to do was take it and pull it off. >> reporter: for the children, erin, katy, and levi, art would contain his anger and keep the family peace. but what happened in that little house on the hill would come back to haunt christina's family in the years come. another painful loss is about to hit this family. one that none of them expected. coming up -- >> we just got home. i don't think he's alive.

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the fingerlakes region of upstate new york was karl karlsen's family home. and now he was back to stay. here in seneca county he would rebuild his life among the farms, the fields, the vineyards and old friends. does everyone in this area know the karlsen family?

>> probably most of seneca county knows one or all of us. >> reporter: karl's wife was gone, but he still had his three little kids to think about. >> he went back to work at the stone quarry for a while. and he then saw an opportunity at a local glass manufacturing plant that had just opened. >> reporter: was there a lot of concern for karl having just lost his wife? >> i think everybody realized this poor guy isn't going to do it on his own. >> reporter: so people helped out. here in seneca county, karl was surrounded by an extended family where the name meant something. it seemed to come together for him when he met cindy best at a line dancing party in 1992. >> he had told me that he lost his wife in a fire, and he was a single dad raising three kids on his own. >> cindy got herself an instant family when she married karl in august of 1993. they bought a farm soon after

that. and between the farm and the glass job, karl was busy. cindy was desperate to have a child of her own, so she and karl went through in vitro fertilization. you were going to have the baby you'd always wanted. >> happiest time of my life, yep. >> and the big kids were happy, too, when their baby brother alex was born. >> reporter: as the years went by alex said he and levi developed a special bond. >> he was always there for me. we always loved to hang out together. >> reporter: levi, erin and katie's family stayed in touch. they even visited. their aunt colette got to know the girls and got a kick out of levi. >> levi had a quirky personality. he was a prankster, but he also had my sister's very sweet spirit. >> what's the matter, levi? >> reporter: but levi's life wasn't easy. he had problems in school. and he and karl started to butt heads. >> i think levi bucked the system a little bit.

he was a typical teenaged boy who knew all the answers. but it seemed the more levi struggled in his world, karl held him down rather than try to pick him up. >> reporter: the rift widened. in may of 2002 when levi was only 17, he left home. his uncle mike watched it happen with a tinge of sadness. >> he dropped out of school, which didn't help things at all. he jumped and didn't look where he was jumping to. so he didn't have a job. he floated from house to house, to different family members. >> reporter: levi eventually met a girl named cassie and was living with her when disaster struck the karlsen family again. it happened in november of 2002. as cindy remembers it, karl was just coming to bed. >> he sat upright and kind of looked out the window and said, oh, my god, call 911. the barn's on fire. >> reporter: cindy did call 911. and her brother-in-law. what did karl say to you when you arrived?

>> he mentioned that the horses were still in there. >> reporter: the karlsens had been breeding belgian horses. their loss and the loss of the old barn was devastating to the family. when levi got the bad news, he exploded. said some terrible things. and he and karl came to blows. >> levi got in his truck to get away from karl, and karl chased after him. i was yelling at karl, you know, just let him go, leave him alone, let him go. >> reporter: but levi was never able to stay away for long. he and cassie included karl and the rest of the family in their wedding in 2003. the young couple soon had two daughters. it may have been too much too fast. the marriage different last. >> it was just a bad divorce. neither one of them was nice to each other. >> reporter: but like many kids, levi started to grow up. he got his ged, started working and tried hard to be a good dad. and perhaps in being a father,

his anger with his own father began to soften. >> i think he had rounded the corner a little bit. could see some sort of a path and a direction for his life. >> reporter: levi had his own place now, but he would drop by the old house to see the family and help karl with some work. on november 20th, 2008, levi came over to work on a truck in cindy and karl's new barn. cindy remembers she and karl had just come home from a funeral. they'd been gone for about four hours. >> karl told me that he was going to go out and let levi know we were home and check on him. >> reporter: cindy went into the house. suddenly karl came rushing out of the barn. >> he came banging on the window and the door and telling me to call 911. >> what's going on? >> the truck fell on my stepson. coming up -- >> the truck was jacked in a very precarious, dangerous scenario. >> yet another deadly accident? ok. it was an accident.

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okay, are you with your son right now? >> he's not alive. >> is he breathing? >> no. >> he is not breathing. okay. >> another catastrophe had struck the karlsens, levi was trapped under a truck in the barn. >> his chest is crushed. >> his chest is crushed. >> his chest is crushed?

>> there's no -- he's probably been under here for hours. >> reporter: karl's brother mike rushed over. >> they were just bringing levi out on the stretcher and putting him in the ambulance when i got there. >> reporter: levi was taken to the hospital but the family knew it was hopeless. 17 years after his mother's terrible death, levi karlsen had died at the age of 23. cindy said karl came unhinged. >> he was actually like throwing himself up against the wall, and he was on the ground. >> reporter: so many tears and so many questions. how could levi have been so careless? >> we went into the barn to see the truck was jacked in a very precarious, dangerous scenario. no blocks under it. flimsy little jack holding it up. >> reporter: you're thinking levi should have known better than this. >> absolutely. >> reporter: he knows his way around. >> absolutely. >> reporter: now, once again, karl karlsen had to pull himself

out of the depths of tragedy. it would take a while, but this time he seemed to come out of it a changed man. karl got fired up by a new plan to start a gourmet duck farm and began raising thousands of ducks to sell to new york restaurants. he and cindy even found themselves starring in an episode of "pitchin' in" a food network canada series. >> i think he had these visions that he was going to be this famous person, rich and famous. >> reporter: cindy watched her husband's ego swell with all the attention. and she was happy for his success, but she says something was nagging at her. he seemed to be having the time of his life. was that normal? >> just an intuition that something just was not right. >> reporter: she kept thinking about the day levi died and how he died. >> reporter: it turns out mike was uneasy about it, too. what did karl say to you after

levi's death? >> not a lot. i went to the hospital, and i was in the room with levi. and karl came in the room. and i don't know what i wanted him to say, but he says, how do i explain this? >> reporter: what did he mean by that? >> no idea. >> reporter: mike didn't share his misgivings about karl with cindy, but she had plenty of her own. she fought them for a while until one day she had to admit to herself -- >> oh, my god, i think he did it. you know. but then i would also talk myself out of it. i would tell myself, you know, you're crazy. we weren't even home at the time. >> reporter: officials called it an accident. and yet -- >> again these thoughts kept coming up. kept sinking more into a depression. and eventually ended up using alcohol as a way to cope. >> reporter: cindy confided in a couple of friends. they dismissed her fear, but someone did suggest she call a private investigator. that's how she met steve brown.

>> she walked in the door and she looked very frail, physically. emotionally just sickly, weak. >> reporter: cindy told the private investigator about her crazy fear, that her husband had killed his own son. >> cindy proceeded to tell me what happened that day in 2008. >> reporter: and she remembered something. before she and karl left for the funeral, he went to the barn to see levi. and for a few minutes she was alone there with his son. >> karl said he wanted to check on levi before they left, and karl had came back to the vehicle and he drove off for the funeral. karl seemed fine the entire time. normal behavior. >> but when they came home, cindy noticed something else. >> we got out of the car, and the first thing that i heard was the radio in the barn. and it was very loud.

it was set on country music. and anybody that knew levi, he would not be caught dead listening to country music. >> reporter: whoever turned the radio on, it probably wasn't levi. could haveit have been karl? it set the investigator's mind race being karl. >> i was quiet the rest of the night, dissecting how could that be, how could somebody do something like that? >> reporter: cindy thought no one would believe her. but now private investigator steve brown did. he set out to examine phone records and insurance policies. but he also wanted to meet karl. so he and cindy came up with a plan, but it would require her to take a big risk. coming up -- >> i had actually watched an episode of "dateline," and i had this revelation. this revelation.

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here's what's happening -- the w.h.o. issuing a stark warn the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating globally. reporting a new single-day record of more than 150,000 cases. the warning comes as the u.s. moves ready with reopening despite a spike in cases in some states. one of the three louisville police officers involved in the death of breonna taylor will be fired. the emt was killed in march asleep in her home when officers executed a no-knock warrant and shot her eight times. now back to "dateline." welcome back. i'm craig melvin. it was a stunning realization, cindy karlsen believed that her husband karl had killed his son, levi. so did the private investigator she hired to look into the young man's deaths. armed with a few tactics, she actually learned from "dateline," cindy would take on

a dangerous mission -- confronting the man she feared. once again, here's andrea canning with "deadly deceit." ? november, they came up with an audacious plan. >> i said, what if i go undercover and befriend karl, if you will, as a marketer, promoter for your duck business. >> it was a giant step for cindy and risky. what if karl found out who steve really was? >> no clue this was a private investigator? >> correct. right. and when he came to the house, i had to pretend like i was just meeting him for the first time. >> i just said, you know, where are you now, where do you want to be in a couple of years. karl started telling his vision, his dream for the duck business,

if you will. >> reporter: after that, steve said he and karl would drive around the area talking business mostly. but one moment stood out when karl was talking about killing farm animals. >> he said, i like the old-fashioned way. he came up behind me and lifted my neck up and went like this with his hand. he said, messy, very physical, and i said, karl, we're talking about ducks and chickens, aren't we? >> reporter: steve didn't want to contact the police until he had more evidence. in february, 2012, the decision was taken out of his hands when cindy confided in her cousin. >> told her my suspicions, but i asked her not to say anything. >> reporter: despite that, the cousin promptly called the sheriff's office. john clear was the detective who took the call. he wasted no time in contacting cindy karlsen. how did that go? >> the first thing she said was, "thank god you called." >> thank god you called. i was so relieved. >> reporter: detective clear met

with cindy karlsen and steve brown and paid particular attention when they told him that levi, who never had much money, had taken out an enormous life insurance policy. >> the most useful piece of information was about a $700,000-plus insurance policy that was paid out on levi karlsen. >> reporter: detective clear learned that on november 3rd, 2008, karl helped levi sign up for the policy. the beneficiary -- karl himself. >> he actually takes him to see an insurance agent and takes out approximately a $400,000 life insurance policy with a $300,000 accident rider. 17 days later, the fatal accident happens. >> reporter: the money was supposed to go to levi's two daughters, but detective clear learned the girls never got a dime. >> there was money spent on a lot -- whole multitude of things, home improvement, and karl spent a lot on the duck

business. there were some huge payouts on that. >> reporter: as he dug deeper, detective clear discovered that karl karlsen had collected on a number of insurance policies over the years. in 1986, karl's new dodge charger caught fire. karl collected $10,000. the fire that killed the horses and took down the barn paid out nearly $115,000. clear also learned that karlsen had taken out policies on levi's two little girls. karl had no idea he was being investigated. cindy still wanted to get away from him so she moved out of the house. after she did, karl sent her a text saying that he heard she had been snooping around. she says it scared her. >> it was a threatening text. were i can't exactly what he said. it was enough to make me feel like i just couldn't do it anymore. >> reporter: she immediately called her son, alex, then 16, and told him they had to leave

town. >> see that came and got me. i came to the car and saw that she had packed all of our suitcases and our dogs were in the car. she had told me there was an investigation going on because they felt my dad had killed my brother. >> reporter: they started living in hotels. cindy dodged karl's calls, and so did alex. after a few months of that, cindy decided to do something a little more proactive. she had an inspiration. >> i had actually watched an episode of "dateline" where this woman was recording her mother. i had this revelation and said, you know, i'm going to start recording conversations with karl. i thought if i could just get him to confess about the barn fire that that would show his character. >> reporter: cindy knew karl wanted to see her, maybe get back together. she went to meet him at a local restaurant with a small voice

recorder tucked under her bra. >> i just started telling him that i was considering getting back together with him, but that i couldn't even consider it unless he started telling me the truth of things that he did. and he said to me, it sounds like you want me to say that i had something to do with levi's death. well, at that moment, i knew that we skipped right over the barn fire. i might be able to get him to confess about levi. i asked him, so, did you push the truck, or was it hard to push? and he said, no, it wasn't. >> reporter: was that a confession? cindy felt like it was. she rushed the recording over to the police, but it was inaudible and, therefore, useless. still, detective clear believed her enough to ask her to do it again. >> at our request, she agreed to be wired up to do a second interview under controlled circumstances. >> reporter: now she was working

with the police to take down her own husband. she got away with it once. would karl catch on the next time around? coming up -- >> i had to convince him that, you know, it wasn't a trap. >> but could she? >> but could sy stopped eating... then we found freshpet. now rudy's 13, and going on 3. ♪ hold on one second... sure. okay... okay! safe drivers save 40%!!! guys! guys! check it out. safe drivers save 40%!!! safe drivers save 40%! safe drivers save 40%!!!

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cindy karlsen was willing to play the sympathetic wife with the man she come to fear and hate.

that's how badly she wanted her husband out of her life and locked away. so when police asked her to wear a wire and meet him for lunch again, she jumped at the chance. >> i was actually calm because i knew that karl believed my story of wanting to get back together. >> reporter: abigail's restaurant near seneca falls would be the meeting place. it was mid-november, 2012. you had undercover officers in the restaurant? >> we had four in there. >> reporter: were they diners? were they waiters? >> diners. >> reporter: there was very little evidence against karl karlsen. so the detectives desperately needed cindy to get him to repeat what she claimed was his confession to levi's murder. obviously karl was suspicious. >> part of me feels like i'm walking into a booby-trap. >> yeah, i can imagine you would feel that way. i had to convince him that, you know, it wasn't a trap. i offered for him to check my purse. >> reporter: then she got him back on the subject of that day

in 2008. >> i asked you if you pushed the truck and you said yes. >> i didn't push the truck, i said. no, i said i had nothing to do with it. but i said i took advantage of the situation once it happened. and that is exactly what i said to you. >> karl, you told me that you didn't set it up that way, but when you were in there you saw the opportunity. >> no, after it had happened. then i panicked and saw the opportunity. >> reporter: the detective was struck by that exchange. how could a father call his son's death an opportunity? >> at that moment i felt understood him to a diaegree. he doesn't think like we do. >> reporter: that said, this exchange with cindy was no confession, and the evidence so far was circumstantial. the insurance, the radio, karl's visit to the barn. still, detectives believed they

had enough to bring him in for questioning. >> have a seat, karl. >> reporter: it was the moment of truth. if karlsen refused to speak or if he called in a lawyer, the case could evaporate. karlsend couldn't resist talking about himself. >> you know, you work -- i work multiple jobs and stuff like that. and i mean, i did. i worked my ass off. >> we were talking about his favorite subject -- him. >> reporter: karl said he found levi dead after returning home just like he told the police in 2008. >> went out there and found him. and that, you know, we went to the hospital. >> what do you mean you found him? >> i found him dead. the truck was on him. >> reporter: karlsen insisted levi's death was an accident. it couldn't have been anything else. >> you don't kill your son. you don't kill anybody for money. >> reporter: detective clear decided to change tactics. >> there's not a conscience at play, there's not empathy to play to.

what do we play to? what does she have? an, an egot. i gave him a lot of sympathy and attention. >> reporter: it seemed to work. as the hours ticked by, karlsen's story began to change. then he dropped a bombshell. >> version two came out where he admitted that he -- that levi was already dead before they left to go to the funeral. >> i made a decision to walk out on my son and not get him out from underneath the truck. >> why? >> at that point there's no doubt what happened here. >> reporter: detectives continued to push, and as the interrogation stretched into its eighth hour, karlsen finally broke. he admitted he didn't just find levi under the truck, he saw the truck fall, and he may have even caused it to fall. >> the truck door, i had to get

inside to move the [ bleep ] for the truck. when i did, it tipped, and it just -- [ bleep ] it fell over. >> reporter: then clear pushed a little more. that's when karl admitted he left his son to die. >> the brutal truth is you did kill him. whether whatever your intent was, the action you took caused the truck to fall on him -- >> the action i -- yeah -- >> the inaction of leaving him there -- >> right. contributed or whatever. >> yeah. >> reporter: he wasn't painting himself as a cold, calculated killer. >> no. he seemed to think it was a better picture to say that i accidentally caused this to fall and walked away and left him to die on the floor. >> come with me. you're under arrest. i think you knew that was coming. >> reporter: karl karlsen was charged with second-degree murder. not long after that, he got a lawyer. when they came to court, karl used a walker claiming old injuries were getting the best

of him. his attorney said police coerced karl, and the cindy tapes violated spousal privilege. the judge denied the defense motion to suppress, and the trial was set for november 6th, 2013. all these years, mike karlsen had misgivings about karl bar's behavior. after watching the interrogation video, his worst fear was cemented -- that his own brother was a killer. and now he had a new fear. as the trial approached, did you think that the evidence was overwhelming, and that he was pretty -- it was pretty clear karl was going to go away? >> i was probably more scared as the trial approached that it wasn't a slam-dunk. coming up -- a surprise inside and outside the courtroom. >> we've been waiting just about 24 years now for some closure. now, simparica trio simplifies protection.

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in the winter of 2012, the district attorney in seneca county, new york, was preparing to prosecute karl karlsen for the murder of his son levi. at the same time new york investigators have become deeply interested in the long ago california fire that killed levi's mother christina.

why did you take such an interest in christina's death when you're here in new york state, that case is in california? boarded-up window. >> i was also looking at that plywood.

>> detective clear learned that on november 3rd, 2008, karl helped levi sign up for the policy. the beneficiary -- karl himself. could mean one thing -- >> karl poured the kerosene all over the clothes and the floor and ignited it, you know, within seconds after pouring it. >> reporter: back in 1991, karlsen told law enforcement it could have been a dryer, a heater, or a utuility light tha tuched off the blaze. >> none of these happened. >> reporter: arnold found the investigator couldrn find no accidental ignition source. the conclusion -- the fire was deliberately set.e and the coroner's report said christina died of smoke inlouisiain h inhalation as opposed to burns

raising the question didn't karlsen have time to save his sfwhief. >> he's standing -- wife? >> he's standing on the porch within a foot or two from this plywood covered window where christine is in dire need of his help. he doesn't even reach for one tool. >> reporter: arnold knew that christina's family had always wondered about that window and about some other things that happened after she died. colette told police something christina's daughter erin said after the fire. >> see that said, "i heard mommy calling forea daddy, and but day just drove away." so within an hour, you know, i'm hearing my niece telling me, hey, mom was alive when he drove away. >> reporter: just four days afterfo the fire, karl karlsen abruptly left california with his three kids. erin, katy, and levi. sources in california told us that once karlsen was back in new york, investigators begged their bosses tost let them foll him there for questioning. they say they were told no, the

county couldn't afford it. >> the investigators wanted to go to new york, calaveras county wouldn't let them spend the money. >> reporter: just weeksen after they left, colette learned that karl had taken out a $200,000 insurance policy on christina's life. andri the policy paid off. colette came to believe that investigator arnold agrees that karlsen killed christina for the same reason he killed levi -- money. >> hey. >> reporter: two>> decades afte christina's deaths, as karl karlsen duelled with detectives in that seneca county investigation room, he had to face questions about the long-ago fire from a well-prepared jeff arnold. >> was telling me about a fire with your first wife that concerned fihim. >> reporter: arnold was looking for inconsistencies, lies. hein asked karlsen about the

window. >> so what -- you boarded that up way before the fire -- >> no, months before. months before. >> we have a witness that shows up at the house on the 31st of december, one day prior1s to th fire. and that window waspr not board up. >> reporter:t karlsen also tol arnold he suffered awful injuries as he rescued his children and that the fire was so intense he couldn't save christina. >> what happened is when the -- whenhe i broke the window, i go hit with a fireball. it hit me right in the face. blew me off the front porch. burnede my eyelids together. burnedel skin off my face. burned my mustache. anyf whiskers i had, hair. >> they take you to the hospital? >> yoh, yeah. >> what happened -- what then? >> i don't know. >> reporter: arnold had evidence that karlsen escaped the fire with only a small burn. now after he listened to karl talk about the fire, the windowf and the rescue of his children,

he fired back. >> your wife's in a boarded up little room, and you hear her calling your name from 600 feet away -- >> it wasn't calling. it was screaming. >> screaming your name. yet, you get blown off the porch, open your eyes, your son's uninjured, you're able to grab your uninjured son after the explosion took place, without a mark on him, take him house, run around, miraculously save your daughters and let your wife -- and let your wife perish in this fire -h >> didn't let her -- >> with no attempt to rip that plywood board off that house and get into that the bathroom. >> by that time, the fire was all the way around. what am i going to do? >> reporter: karlsen insisted his first wife's death was a tragic accident. as the same thing -- that's the same thing he was saying about levi's death. on november 6th, 2013, the very day his trial in levi's case was supposed to begin, he surprised nearly everyone and took a plea. >> karl karlsen pled guilty to

murder in the second degree in second ka county court -- seneca county court. taking responsibility for the death of his son levi. >> it's call ed depraved disinterest -- >> reporter: he would be given the minimum sentence, 15 years to life. at the same news conference, levi's sister, erin and katy, thanked the investigation team. but then erin turned to the tragedy that shattered her childhood and changed her family forever. >> we've been waiting just about 24 years now for some closure for things that transpired in california. you know, things that i will never be able to forget. things that my family will never be able to overcome. >> reporter: it appeared someone was listening. in 2014 karl karlsen was charged with first-degree murder in the 1981 death of his wife christina. he was extradited to calaveras county in california wheredi he pleaded not guilty. then in january, 2020, the case

went to trial. the prosecution made the case that karlsen killed christina for the same reasons he killed levi. >> the life insurance. life insurance -- his wife for $200,000. >> reporter: just three weeks after karl took out that policy, christina was dead. this was his plan, the d.a. said. this was.a karlsen's deadly mo. now it was the defense's turn to fight back. his attorneys told jurors they couldn't based conclusions bases on the guilty plea in levi's death. >> d >> does karl karlsen deserve a fair trial? some people would say, well, me admitted to killing -- he admitted to killing his son, he doesn't deserve a fair trial. to that i'd say if you believe that today based just on that fact, you have an obligation to let the court know that you can't be fair.

>> reporter: now itbe was up to the jurors. deliberations lasted two days. and then the verdict came in. >> we the jury find the defendant, karl karlsen, goilui of murder in the first degree. >> reporter: inside the courtroom, christina's family clung to each other in relief. her sister colette was there, too. >> when they read it, it was a good moment. >> reporter: karl karl accept was later sentenced to life in prison without the ability of parole. he has appealed his conviction. 29 years after a fire took christina karlsen's life, her family finally has answers. even time, they say, doesn't heal all wounds. >> i don't think you can put a time when you would miss someone the most. the memories are good. i stillme have her pictures up around my home, and i'm not

going to take those down. so she's right there in my bedroom with me at all times.he >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. gathering crowd, trump supporters are lining up. it's being met. parades and rallies across the country. beyonce's late-night