i'm craig melvin, i'm natalie morales. i know he is my son, but he was the kindest person i ever met. he was definitely god's gift to me. -- are you sure? what are you talking about? >> we all need to be strong

together. >> she gave me a lot of support. just there for me when i needed her. >> was there something about the two that no one new. >> what are you seeing? >> they took it all in. >> literally shocking. >> a trail of text messages, leading to the darkest of discoveries. keeping all the lives straight is difficult, she did it masterfully, it's not normal. >> i closed my eyes and i said, this is not real. >> a twist no one saw coming. and a story that every parent needs to see. >> we need to know what is going on in our kid's lives, can it be very scary when you don't. ♪ hello and welcome to "dateline", 18-year-old conrad roy battled die presentation a -- battled depression and anxiety.

then one night the teenager vanished, turns out he a dark secret, one he shared with someone chose to him. what that person did and did not do next would shatter two families. here's andrea canning with reckless. it began as a chance encounter and ended tw year-- two years l with one of them dead. >> he was smiling when he was left the house and then he was dead two hours later. >> he did not seem like he was in danger? >> not not awlll. >> but there was daedanger. the detectives who investigated the case. >> you are watching her? >> yeah, and it keeps getting worse. >> a grieving father. >> i feel like i can fix a lot

of things but i could not fix this. >> and distraut family members who feel betrayed. >> i like kind of just said no. hi, this is conrad henry -- >> our story starts can conrad, his mother said he was a easy child. >> what kind of a child was he? >> did well in school, had friends, loved baseball. >> conrad was her first born. two daughters would come later. looking back, she remembers his early years as good ones. >> every picture i have of him, he looks like a little goof ball, the happiest child, he was always happy. >> conrad grew up in and around the old fishing town of new bedford, massachusetts, where his far and grandfather run a tug boat and barge business. his father said it seemed that he was destined to take to the sea from day one. >> after two or three days old, my dad brought him on the tug boat. i wanted him to follow in my

footsteps. i was hoping that he would be able to just, you know, take over the business some day. >> not only was conrad the first born in the roy family, he was also the first grandchild. his aunt, chrissie roy, said s . >> my son would follow him around like a duck. he was the cousin that everyone looked up to. >> but in high school, the happy go lucky son started to change. >> his father and i divorced and i don't know any child that is not affected by divorce. >> he was 16? >> yeah and it was going through the hormones and he anxiety depression. >> he talked about it in this skroo diary. >> i feel like i'm wired different than everyone else. >> it was while 16, while struggling with anxiety

depression, that he found michelle carter. they met and conrad and his sisters went and visited family. >> this was supposed to be r and r? >> yeah, a week during school vacation. >> had her grandparents were friends with our great aunt, and they all hung out with her for a short while. >> when they returned from florida, conrad and michelle continued to stay in touch through text messages. michelle lived in plainville, massachusetts, an hour away from conrad, the two had a lot in common. she was a softball player, and he played baseball. friends described them as quiet and funny and they communicated regularly, but aunt becky said he never mentioned michelle. >> he other girlfriends where you knew their names and met them. she was not somebody that he talked about.

>> apparently he kept a lot to himself. by the time he was 17, he checked in to facilities. on the day he was discharged, he attempted suicide by swallowing a bottle of cough syrup. >> he felt bad and i said, conrad, you have no idea how much you are loved and appreciated. he would never attempt suicide again. >> and things did seem to be getting better. a year later, by june, 2014, conrad had graduated from high school, gotten a scholarship to college and earned his captain's license. >> that must have been a really big day. conrad earning his captain's license. >> are you feeling good about the place he is in? >> i felt that he was stilg struggling but i felt very positive that he was not going to do anything to harm himself. >> it was right around this time

when conrad recorded that private video sharing his inner most thoughts. >> i feel like i still have a long way to go to recover from the social anxieties, feeling of insecurity. if i keep talking, keep talking, it's going to get better. >> on july 12th, conrad headed to the beach with his mom and two sisters. lynn vividly remembers walking the shoreline with her son. he seemed in good spirits that day. >> we talked about school, and he was like, i'm not sure where i am right now in my head. i said, well, you just got a captain's license, you don't have to worry about anything right now. >> he is looking toward the future? >> yeah. >> when they returned the beach, conrad drove his sisters to get ice cream. >> he was laughing and i said something and he was like smiling. >> conrad told his mom he was going to his friend's house and would not be back for dinner but later that night, lynn said out

of the blue, her daughter got a text message from someone quite unexpected. >> it was around 10:30 that night, michelle is asking where conrad is. and they are boyfriend and girlfriend now. >> this was news to lynn. she knew conrad and michelle had only seen each other in person a few times. the next morning, lynn woke up at 5:00 a.m., and noticed conrad was not home. she called around and drove by his friend's house but could not finds him. conrad was missing. >> a son disappears, a mom worries, and a dad receives a troubling clue. >> coupling up. >> they saw his truck with the caution tape around it. >> the news is about to go from bad to worse. >> i said, are you sure? what are you talking about? >> when "dateline" continues. in

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♪ word spread quickly, conrad roy, ii was missing. his family and friends growing more frantic by the hour, searched everywhere for him. by mid morning, his mom called 9-1-1. that evening, about 24 hours after conrad left his house, his father got a call. >> a family friend said they saw

his truck at cank mart can caut tape around it. >> so you go to the k-mart. >> yeah, and i think the police told my father that he was gone. >> an officer found conrad dead behind the wheel of his pickup truck. his dad called lynn to tell her the awful news. >> i couldn't even see. i felt like i was drugged. >> i couldn't eat. slept in the same clothes for days. >> the rest of conrad's family was in disbelief. >> are you sure? what are you talking about? >> felt like all the blood drained out of your body. >> detective scott warden was assigned to the case, it looked like suicide by carbon dioxide.

>> it was clear that he placed a water pump in the rear of the truck and he passed away as a result of the carbon monoxide. >> it did not make sense to those knew him. he seemed hopeful about his future. his grandmother remembered him using that very pump to help out his dad days before. >> i can still see the smile on his face, just a smirky smile that he. >> and his father recalled the two of them working on a job together a week earlier, setting up fireworks on a barge. >> he seemed fine and last thing i said to him was i love you and he said, i love you back. >> the family wondered what pushed him over the edge. as they struggled with their grief, they got support from a strange place. >> did you feel like you were getting support? >> absolutely.

>> or just a connection to conrad. >> and i told her i loved her. she told me so many great things about myself that he said. i don't know, she was just there for me when i needed her. >> conrad's aunts remember getting messages from michelle. >> she sent messages of conolenscences, that she never tried to hard to save someone and she wished she could have saved him. she came through at the wake and introduced herself. >> i was shocked when she said, i'm conrad's girlfriend. i had no idea, never heard of her name. >> among conrad's things were goodbye letters that he written to people. like this one to michelle. >> it was very positive, keep doing what you are doing, michelle. keep moving on and doing great things. and -- >> after reading the letter, you must have thought that conrad and michelle had a special friendship that he wrote her this letter. >> yeah, i was happy that she was in his life. i thanked her for being there for him. >> just weeks after conrad died,

michelle contacted his family saying she wanted to raise awareness for suicide prevention by organizing a baseball tournament, homers for conrad. >> i was thinking, wow, had this is really impressive. here is a teenager. high school senior. and she is only a month later starting to plan this large fundraiser. >> conrad's whole family showed up. had his aunt chrissie was impressed with michelle, then just 17. >> i went up to her parents at the fundraiser and i said, you must be so proud of your daughter, she is quite an amazing girl. >> unbeknownst, the detective was digging for answers. >> i found it odd that an 18-year-old would do it. >> the detective figured there were clues on conrad's cell phone that was found in his truck. and sure enough, he discovered a string of text messages on the phone, they were from just one

person. >> that was michelle carter. >> he deleted all other text conversations with all other people? >> correct. >> and when the detective started to read the texts, he could not believe what he was seeing. >> it was one of those things where you keep reading and it keeps getting worse. and that put everything in motion. >> coming up, the text messages no one could fathom. >> i had to read them a couple of times to really sort of of take it all in. >> words that raised a disturbing question, was this a suicide or something else. >> i closed my eyes and i said, this is not real. >> when "dateline" continues. i had shingles. horrible. a young thing like me? [camera man] actually anyone 50 or over is at increased risk for shingles. the pain, the burning!

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conrad's family was reeling from his suicide. he said goodbye, he focused on other messages that the teens shared, what they uncovered would turn the case on its he had ha-- on its head. >> two days after conrad roy's death. detective scott warden had a clue, a bombshell, a string of text messages from michelle cart or on conrad's phone. >> what are you seeing. >> a series of messages that seemed to be encouraging him to

take his own life. >> encouraging him to take his own life. to the detective, it was unimaginable. he learned michelle and conrad had been texting like teenagers do for almost two years. but a few weeks before his death. something changed. it seemed michelle started a campaign to get conrad to commit suicide. >> she gave him suggestions on how to do it. jump off a building, stab yourself, i don't know, there's a lot of ways. gordon's partner detective glenn cudmore worked the case also. >> i remember when he was looking at it. >> what does she say? >> you disappointed me. >> i will take care of your family. >> the detectives poured over thousand of text messages. and the more they read, the more disturbed they became. >> like this exchange when the early morning hours before conrad died. you can't think about it, you

just have to do it. you said that you were going to do it. like, i don't get why you aren't. >> conrad responded. i don't get it either. i don't know. carter typed back. so i guess you aren't going to do it then. all that for nothing. i'm just confused, like you were so ready and determined. >> conrad wrote back, i'm gonna eventually, i really don't know what i'm waiting for but i have everything lined up. and this one, on the morning of his death. okay, i'm gonna do it today. >> do you promise? >> i promise, babe. i have to now. >> like right now? >> and you can't break a promise, just go in a quiet parking lot or something. >> have you ever seen anything like that? >> no. >> it was clear to the detectives he had died by his own hand, but what was michelle did actually a crime. detective gordon contacted

assistant d a. >> he said, i want to send you the text messages and if you could please take a look at them and i said is, sure i will. and it was utterly shocking. she checked with her colleague at the time and they agreed toex text messages warranted further investigation. >> i could not believe what was in them. i had to read them a couple of times to sort of take it all in. >> clearly it's black and white for you that you know it's wrong. but is it black and white, we are going to go forward with this? it's a crime? i mean, i would imagine for you it's cliomplicated. >> and it's our duty and responsibility to follow the evidence where it takes us. so, the evidence was taking us to michelle carter. >> so the common wealth's office told detectives to keep digging and find out more about michelle carter. >> first reaction when you see her picture? >> she is young. she is just a kid. and the words that she was saying in their text messages it just didn't seem feasible. >> during the investigation,

detective cudmore went undercover, at the fundraiser, homers for conrad, he took photos of michelle's every move, to confirm she was the one that sent the texts. he went a step further, he videotaped michelle as he dialed the number from conrad's phone. >> you are watching her. >> yes. we have the right person. >> did you hang up? >> let it stay on for a few seconds muted and she finally hung up the phone. and i remember calling scott and saying, are we sure we have the right girl. she seems so normal. >> a few months later as the investigation continued, detective gordon decided to pay michelle carter a visit. he found her after school and approached her. >> michelle, the reason we came out here is we were look engine to conrad's unfortunate passing. all right. >> and she has no idea she has been watched. >> she has no idea. >> did she look surprised? >> a little bit. but, you know, at that points, i

don't think had she understood really what we had. and where we were going with it. >> at first, michelle told the detective, she tried to talk conrad out of suicide. >> how did you help him to try to see that suicide was not the right thing? >> well, i told him, that i loved him. and i told him a lot of people loved him. >> yeah. >> and like, i had personal issues that i got help for and i told him that he should come with me and get the help that he needed. but he refused. he said that, no one would be able to help him and it would make him more worse if he got help. >> then, the detective asked her about having contact with conrad on the day he died. >> do you think you had contact with him that day? >> um, i don't think so. >> yeah. >> the detective knew that was a lie. >> we have a search warrant for your phone. okay. so, we will be taking it.

>> wait, so, you are taking my phone? >> yes. >> when we took her phone, i think she started to understand a little bit that we were looking a little more further in to it than she expected. >> he followed her home and said michelle's parents were cooperative. >> they providesed us everything that we needed. the cell phone and her computer. >> she has to know, but are her parents? >> no. >> words can harm and you don't have the ability to just say your words are not criminal because they are protected by free speech. and there's precedent for people that have encouraged others to commit suicide to be charged with involuntary manslaughter.

>> it involves wonton and reckless conduct. that she could cause and did cause somebody else's death. >> in other words, she should have are known that encouraging him to kill himself could result in him dying. now had to tell conrad's family what they uncovered. >> it's unbloefable. you can tell he did not want to die. her messages over powered him. >> i closed my eyes and i said, this is not real. how can someone like have an involvement in someone's death. and only encouraged it. >> did you just just feel like you had been duplicated. >> she has been consoling you the whole time. >> i'm a forgive be person. and the only thing i can say about the way that she was with me is that, she is just really, really not well.

>> the charge was involuntary manslaughterer. and she pleaded not guilty. that is when the world heard about the case. >> coming up a jaw dropping theory about motive. >> why would she do it? >> she wanted attention. >> and at trial, michelle makes a stunning decision. >> is it a choice she will regret? >> when dateline continues. we want to buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate, answer a few questions, and our techno-wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot, and pick up your car. that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car,

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hello, and here is what is happening, florida has emerged as the new epi-center of the coronavirus pandemic. the state reported 15,000 cases and that's the most in a single day since the crisis began. a fire broke out in a naval ship

in san diego, nbc was told that the ship had undergone regular maintenance before the fire. the cause remains under investigation. now back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline." i'm natalie morales, michelle carter was arrested and charged with the death of conrad roy, the evidence? chilling text messages had that michelle sent conrad who struggled with depression, urging him to kill himself. now the case was he hadd h now the case was he haddeaded t trial, but could prosecutors prove that what she had done was a crime. here is "reckless". >> michelle carter was facing involuntary manslaughter charges for doing something that teenagers do all the time. texting. the world was watching and the attorneys understood why. this affects everybody, adults,

teenager and parents with kids who don't have phones yet. >> absolutely. i think it's, good to be thinking about what you are putting out there in the world, because once you send it, you cannot take it back. >> turn the gears sgmpt prosecutors believed that michelle's words and actions caused a vulnerable conrad to k kill himself. >> he described his fragile state in the video diary. >> racing thoughts. suicidal thoughts and flash backess of hard times. >> and prosecutors learned that michelle did more than send text messages to conrad, as deadly carbon monoxide filled the truck, michelle was talking on the phone. >> there were two phone calls after the last text message. one from him to her. 41 minutes and then, one from their to him for over 42 minutes. >> but how would they ever know what was said on the calls.

detectives poured over the text messages. and they got the answer. >> low and behold, there was text messages to her friends describing what the phone conversation was like. >> the detective said a message that michelle sent her friend explained it all. sam, his death is my fault. like honestly, i could have stopped him. i was on the phone with him, and he got out of the car because it was working and he got scared. and i -- told him to get back in. >> and as much as we were in shock about her language prior to that, once we read that, that was really disturbing. >> prosecutor flynn said another text message to that friend made it clear that michelle knew what she had done was wrong. >> she said, sam, i just found out from his mother that detectives have his things and are going through it to see if anybody encouraged him. if they find my text messages, i'm done and they will hate me and i could go to jail.

>> and that was what was at stake. three years after conrad roy's death. michelle carter waent on trial. the drama began immediately. michelle chose to let a judge decide her fate. >> are you doing it of your own free will, knowingly and voluntarily? >> yes. >> they drew a straight line from michelle's badgering and bullying to the suicide in the truck. >> she assisted and advised and planned his suicide, she reasoned him out of his reservations and told him that once he was dead, he would be free and had happy. he kept saying, i don't want to do this, it will hurt my family. and she said, don't worry about them. all the reasons he brought up, she went around him and convinced them it was not real.

>> people will say, everyone is responsible for themselves. he made that sdildecision to do that. >> personal responsibility, that is important. but being said, it was clear from the text messages and especially her text message where she said, he got out of the car and she told him to get back in the car. he didn't want to do it. >> michelle described listening to conrad die. >> sam, he just called me and there was a loud noise like a motor and i heard moaning like someone was in pain. and he would not answer when i said his name. i stayed on the phone for like 20 minutes. and that is all i heard. he killed himself. >> as the trial continued, there was a nagging question. when her friends were not hanging out with her. or not spending time with her. she'd say and do things to try to get their attention. she wanted them to be friends with her.

>> it was a shocking theory. prosecutors were saying michelle convinced conrad to kill himself so she could be popular. >> had they believed her plan was to get attention by being the grieving girlfriend. they pointed out a text exchange she had with conrad shortly before he died. >> she said, am i your girlfriend and he talks about something else. andshe goes, no, am i your girlfriend, so i think she wanted confirmation of the label before he died. >> a day before his death, prosecutors say michelle tested out her plan of being the grieving girlfriend. she texted sam, i'm losing hope, i think he really did it. even though she knew he was alive. she texted conrad three minutes later. the generator will work 100%, and quick. i don't know why you will just do that. >> she told her friends that he is missing and may have committed suicide, and she knows she is talking to her. then instructed him to write her

a suicide letter and his last tweet should be on to her, because she wanted to get a shoutout from him. >> yes. >> the common wealth said that she tried to cover her tracks by sending conrad text messages after she knew he was dead. like this one, the day after his suicide. >> did you do something? conrad, i love you so. please tell me this is a joke. >> and she continued to send texts to his phone for months. nearly 80 of them. the prosecution argued she deliberately sent the texts as a way to change her story. at the time i went along with it because i knew you were not going to do anything. but you -- did it and i'm so sorry is i didn't save you. it was agonizing for conrad's family to sit in the courtroom and hear the new details. >> it was pretty shocking. a lot of times it doesn't seem real. >> do you believe in your heart it was criminal? >> i do. for someone in a fragile state

and you persuade them in the worst way possible. yeah, definitely is criminal. >> social anxiety in me -- >> lynn said her son's own words a month before he died show he wanted to live. >> i want to recover from this. i feel like i have not recovered from it yet. i do have a lot going for me. i just got a job on the boston -- to captain a boat, that's a huge accomplishment. >> there was another side to the story. michelle's. and her lawyer was certain the law was on her side. >> it's a tragedy. it's horrible. but it's just not criminal. >> the defense digs in to test messages that they did not share in court. was michelle trying to prevent conrad's suicide? >> coming up. >> go to mcclain hospital, they will help you. michelle was trying to talk him out of it. >> a very different take on

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say she craved attention. but the defense team was about to counter. contending that michelle was no killer, she was a victim. continuing with reckless, here is andrea canning. >> it was not easy for ed mcmar land to sit in the courtroom and hear michelle described as a monster. to him, michelle was anything but. who was the mischly you knew? >> she was a quiet kid. helpful, friendly and got along with everybody. and everyone seemed to get along with her. you know, senior class was the kid most likely to brighten your day. >> ed was the softball coach, had known the carter family for years. >> were these the parents that came on every game? >> there was always somebody at the game. if you needed somebody to do something. you did not have to ask them twice if you needed help with anything. >> he has been supportive of michelle and her family and was outraged that she was ever charged. >> it's a travesty, she was not there.

we have gone down a slippery slope here. if somebody being on the phone talking about committing suicide westbound held to involuntary manslaughter. >> and her attorney agrees. he thinks the commonwealth made a smoke. >> it's an over reach of of the prosecution. from day one, to now, i don't think that a crime was committed here. >> there's no law against encouraging committing suicide. >> right. >> to i him, this was clearly a suicide, that is why he wanted a judge, not a jury to hear the case. >> i thought the judge would apply the correct law on the facts that the conrad roy was so suicidal that michelle carter did not cause his death. >> and that's how he began his opening statement. >> michelle carter was not present. michelle carter had been texting with him. she did not physically see this

individual for over one year. >> and to bolster his case, michelle's lawyer introduced a set of text messages that the prosecution had not mentioned. ones where she tried repeatedly to help conrad, have you thought about getting professional help? like, i think i'm gonna go away to a place to help me over come my eating disorder. >> where are you going? >> i think it would be good for you and we would get through our issues together. >> michelle carter was trying to talk him out of it. go to mcclain hospital. they will help you. she had nothing but resistance from conrad roy. >> one of the main points of your argument was that conrad roy had tried it before. he researched various ways to take his own life. that this was not something that was just created by michelle carter. >> right. michelle for a year and a half always tried to persuade him to

not commit suicide. he always rejected her thoughts of staying alive. and it was not until literally the last two weeks of his life where michelle finally endorsed his plan. >> i think that's where people have the biggest problem with this case. is why? why would she encourage him? and she is supposed to be his friend? >> well, she came to the realizization that he did not want to live anymore. and his words were, i will hate you if you tell somebody about my plan. >> the defense portrayed her as a victim who was taking anti-depre anti-depressents for her own issues and was in no shape to help a friend. >> she was bombarded by his suicidal thinking and you take that and you mix in her own issues that she was struggling with, eating disorder and then

eventually being diagnosed with a major depressive disorder. >> they called in a expert witness. he testified that the anti-depressants that michelle was taking impaired had h eed h judgment. >> she was imeshed in a delusional system. >> sorry, what? >> imeshed in a system that was a good thing to help him die. >> and testified that he believed conrad was in control of the relationship and that he used the vulnerable and depressed michelle to help him commit suicide. >> he was constantly telling michelle, and not telling his other friends, will you help me in. >> the biggest hurdle for the defense was michelle's in addition -- michelle's admission of guilt. >> she continues to say, but i didn't think he was going to ultimately do it.

i wanted him to get help. i feel so badly about this. >> but on one hand you are s saying she wanted him to get help and the other hand, she was kind of had sort of succombed to okay, i will help him, and he should do it if he wants to do it that badly. >> she was all over the place. she was both. >> as for michelle's alleged motive. that she was an attention seeker, they say that the prosecution got it all wrong. >> it was a fabric ated motive. they wanted to create a motive. they could not take the true motive that she was suffering herself and was convinced by conrad roy to endorse his plan. because that's what happened. >> does michelle know how bad she looks to people who don't know this side of the story or who are not seeing it that way. >> at the age of 17, she did not understand all the ramifications of what was going on. now, looking back at the circumstances, she is a totally different person.

>> the trial was winding doto a close. each side would get a word and the judge as dramatic ruling. coming up. >> the judge prepares to deliver his verdict. >> i expect decorum today. >> i thought that was a good sign. >> when "dateline" continues. n s ♪ 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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welcome back, michelle carter's trial had sparked heated debates in legal circles and in living rooms across the globe. she was charged with causing the death of conrad roy. the controversial case hinged on a thorny question. would conrad have carried out his suicide plan without michelle's encouragement. a judge was about to render his verdict, here is andrea canning with a conclusion of reckless. >> after six days of testimony, both sides had their final say. >> what we are dealing with is a suicide, not a homicide. >> she could have called for the help and she doesn't. >> it took the judge, three days to reach the verdict. >> i expect the -- >> the packed courtroom was quiet as he began reading his decision. >> the common wealth has not proven as to that time period that said reckless or wonton behavior caused the death of mr. roy.

>> michelle looked relieved. the judge declared the prosecution did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the texts caused conrad's death. >> i thought that was a good sign. >> but the judge was not finished. while he acknowledged conrad had taken steps to end his life by placing the water pump in his truck. he said that there was that one moment when conrad changed his mind. >> however, he breaks the chain of self causation by exiting the vehicle. he takes himself out of the toxic environment that it has become. >> it was then he believed michelle became a party to his death. what's more, the judge said, she had a duty to save had him. >> she called no one. and finally, she did not issue a simple additional instruction. get out of the truck. >> ms. carter, please stand. >> she stood to here her fate.

>> having heard the evidence and applying the law there to, now find you guilty on the indictment of charging you with the involuntary manslaughter of conrad roy, iii. >> how did that hear after everything that you had been through? >> i was surprised. there needs to be an example set, you cannot allow that behavior to continue. >> we were happy but then going home that night, driving home, it was like, okay. didn't bring the peace i was hoping for. >> there were no winners. just heartbreak for two families. >> i felt it was a tragedy now that has been compounded. nothing is going to help anything out of this. there's no healing going to happen. >> almost seven weeks later, michelle arrived back at the courthouse to a media circus to hear their sentence. she faced a maximum of 20 years in prison. >> you made your recommendation. >> yes? >> 7-12 years.

>> the defense asked for probation. >> ms. carter regrets what has happened and sent a letter where she accepts responsibility for her actions. >> then, the judge sentenced her. >> court now sentences you to 2-1/2 years in the bristol county house of corrections. 15 months of said sentence shall be deemed a committed sentence. >> 15 months behind bars. but before michelle could be led away in handcuffs, her lawyer requested she be allowed to remain free penning an appeal. the judge agreed. >> i continue to be encouraged that this will be a successful appeal. >> your eyes are watering. is that baugh you are emotional about this? >> i'm passionate about it. i'm passionate about it. i don't like when courts make new law and apply it to a 17-year-old girl who has issues herself. >> so, this one hurt. >> oh, it hurt.

>> in october, 2018. michelle carter's appeal went before the massachusetts supreme judicial court. four months later, the court upheld her conviction saying the evidence against the defendant proved that by her want on on or reckless conduct, she caused the death by suicide. michelle began serving her sentence in february, 2019. and just after a year behind bars. and she was granted early release for good behavior. >> i feel worse for her mother than i do for myself. i had the son that i did. and i couldn't be more proud of the young man that he was. kind, selfless and compassionate. >> conrad's mom said it's a hard

story to tell. but she hopes sharing it will help others. >> there are children in the world just like connor. and i cannot imagine anything like that happening again. >> that is all for this edition of k"dateline ". thank you for watching. reporter: she has a magnetic quality/ dark raven hair, the intense brooding look to her. you're on the edge of your seat because this speaks danger. it was just mayhem. it's the story binge-watched around the world: the netflix series "evil genius." >> one of the most diabolical cases in criminal history. a bank robbery and bomb plot. >> it's gonna go off! >> this death trap was locked around his neck. >> horrifying, horrifying turned deadly mystery. >> the notes say "we are following you."