>> mainly how much she loved them. she did. those kids were everything to her, and, you know, she -- they -- they were her world. i am craig melvin. >> i am natalie morales. >> this is "dateline." >> how am i doing right now? if i had to put it in one word, numb would be the closest. >> she was a young actress starring in the role of a lifetime, a mystery. >> you never heard a gunshot? >> no. >> one of her friends was dead. >> there has been a body discovered in sam's apartment. >> it is hard. she was 23. >> another friend was missing

and wanted. >> you have a dead woman in his apartment. this guy is potentially very dangerous. >> we were pretty confident he was our guy. >> two mysteries to solve and one evasive witness. >> rachel didn't tell us this the day before. >> police wondered had another murder been planned. >> they said if you came back that day they would want to kill you. >> what did you do? >> i think you know what i did. >> this is as diabolical of any case rii have ever seen. >> they are trying to say i am somebody i am not. this is my life and future. i am innocent. hello and welcome to "dateline." rachel and dan were struggling

actors. money was tight, but they were in love and about to tie the knot. but the plans were interrupted when someone was found dead at their apartment complex. at the center of this mystery police wanted to know were the actors telling the truth or reading from a script. here is "final curtain." >> hello? >> hi, baby. >> hey. what's going on? what do you want me to do. >> i don't know. i don't know. >> the woman on the phone was hours away from walking down the aisle to marry the man at the other end of the call and pledge their love. >> i'm going to go do something right now and you are not go to see me for the rest of your life. >> instead she found herself in the middle of a twisted murder plot that would change her life forever. >> what did you do?

>> i think you know what i did. >> she knew? or did she? here name is rachel buffet. you may remember her from a story we reported in 2016 about her then fiance and about two families in search of the truth. >> i know a lot of answers now. a lot more than i had the last time we met. >> now the final curtain. >> i believe with all of my heart they were trying to get me back there to kill me. >> new information. >> there are things people need to know and need to be said. >> what would you do for love? we will get to all of that. first let's go back to where the story began. orange county, california. not too far from the coast you will find the camden apartments, occupied mostly by students from

nearby apartments. >> we had the pools and hot tubs. that is where everyone wanted to be. >> she lived there with her then husband and that is where they met a 20-something couple named dan and rachel. >> there were finally a couple that was more mature. the wine drinkers opposed to the hard liquor. met them and thought perfect. >> rachel and dan acted in community theater. that is how they met, on stage. a few years later they reconnected. >> he had become my best friend and i was hanging out with him so often. >> he said will you give me a chance and you thought what? >> i don't want to lose my best friend? >> shortly after we moved in together, i realized i am in love with this person. >> and when he proposed, she said yes.

they moved to camden martinique four months before the wedding day. life wasn't easy. >> throughout the relationship money was always somewhat of an issue. >> rachel picked up work here and there and once she said as a princess at disneyland. and dan works sometimes too but nothing steady. >> you kind of felt sorry for them. they seemed like they were so excited to get married and life together. >> at the apartments they settled right in. >> got to the point where everybody was hanging out with each other like every night. >> part of that circle was sam hare, an army veteran who made it home to california. >> there were a couple of things that set sam apart. he seemed more responsible. >> sam was intent on earning his

college degree and that is how he met julie. julie helped sam with his schoolwork. >> she got after him if he wasn't studying because his grades reflected her tutoring and she took it seriously. >> she told me about sam, he is like a big teddy bear and always nice to everybody and that is why we get together at his place a lot of times. >> julie got to know everyone at the complex and rachel connected with julie. they were both dancers. >> we had dance and ballet moves in our suits at the pool and talked about how we should take a class together. >> friday, may 21, 2010 julie was at home with her mom. >> i was cooking in the kitchen. she said bye mom. i'm leaving.

>> sam had been texting julie throughout the day. can you come over at midnight alone. going out for a bit. very upset. need to talk. please, no sex. i need to talk to someone. and then sam texted again. i'm hurting with some bad fam crap. i can't be alone. no sex. please, i'm begging as a brother. >> as always julie was ready to help and went to sam's place. the next morning june realized that julie had not come home. >> i started to feel like okay, this is something wrong. >> sam's parents steve and raquel worried because they couldn't get ahold of their son. >> i drove down there. and i had the key to his apartment. someone walked in there. >> that is when he saw it. >> what the hell.

what is going on here. i freaked out. >> what had happened in sam's apartment? >> coming up, my phone rings and it is my husband asking me if i am okay. yes, why. he said track down everybody. >> not everybody could be found. >> he is missing. he had been accused of this before. >> when "date line" continue. "d. centrum supports your body with vitamin c and zinc to help maintain your immune system today and into the new tomorrow. centrum. that's why i've got the power

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there's a what? >> a body. a dead body. >> a dead body? >> is it someone you know, sir. >> i have no idea who it is. >> he is not here. >> after sam's dad, steve, called 9-1-1 the news spread quickly. >> my phone rings and it is my husband asking me if i am okay. yes, why? he said there has been a body discovered in sam's apartment, track down everybody. >> rachel and dan had just returned from the theatre where they were co-starring in a play. >> dan is wondering was i the last one to see sam. oh, my god. rachel is on the chair next to me squeezing her head. she has a terrible headache. >> all of your new best friends

you hang out with every day, one of them is missing and a body is found in one of their apartments. this was something affecting the whole atmosphere. >> kosta mesa police detective ed edwards responded to the call. >> we have a female in the bed in a position where she was sexually assaulted. >> police soon id the victim, sam's tutor and friend, julie. they had to tell julie's parents. >> i think i was screaming like no. no. that is not my daughter. that is not my daughter. >> ruly had been shot twice in the head. her pants were down and someone had written on the sweatshirt all yours, fu. police found julie's phone in the apartment and saw the weird texts sam had sent her and learned about his combat tour and how sam sometimes had night terrors.

and when police searched his name in their database they found something sam's friends already knew. >> he had done some jail time. >> back in 2018 sam was charged in the murder of another teenager but sam's dad knew it did not look good. >> doesn't buy you room from law enforcement. i understood that. that is why it was imperative to start looking immediately. steve wanted to find his son to prove he was innocent. orange county prosecutor matt murphy wanted to find sam quickly for entirely different reasons. >> he has a dead woman in his apartment, he is missing, you factor in afghanistan, he is a trained killer. he was accused of this before and this guy is potentially very dangerous. >> the detectives and the dad hunted sam independently but on

parallel tracks. detectives spoke with sam's neighbors. >> i saw sam that day and had a short conversation with sam. >> rachel and dan said sam was with another man they didn't know. a man in a black hat. it seemed a potential lead. meanwhile steve found that there were recent transactions on the bank account he and sam shared. the trail led to long beach where sam's atm card was used to order a pizza and cops staked out the delivery address. >> guns are out and ready to hit it like someone that committed a murder was inside. except it wasn't. the cops found this guy, 17-year-old wesley frylak. >> sitting in front of officers of the law, handcuffed. i am -- my balls are inside of me. i was nervous as all hell.

>> wesley told police he had no idea who sam hare was and got the atm card from a guy he knew who told an elaborate story. >> that he worked for a bail bondsman agency and he wanted me to withdraw money from an atm for legal reasons. >> wesley said he believed the guy because it was a fellow actor that he looked up to, rachel's fiance, dan wozniak. >> coming up, detectives want to talk to dan. >> what is going through my head is shock. this is probably a huge mistake. >> dan has quite the story to tell. >> she said no. >> when dateline continues. whes and it continuously eliminates odors in the air and on soft surfaces. for 45 days.

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>> welcome back. police believe sam hare murdered julie in cold blood. it was an all-out manhunt and that is when the story took a turn. detectives discovered that dan's neighbor might somehow be wrapped up in the mystery. now they are about to bring dan in for questioning where he would make a stunning admission and change the course of the entire investigation. once again "final curtain." >> detectives on the hunt for

their prime suspect traced his atm card to rachel buffet's fiance dan wozniak and they found him at his bachelor party. >> he saw me and he turned pale and you could see the blood draining from his face. >> the detective charged dan with accessory to julie's murder. dan seemed eager to come clean. he told police sam confessed to him while drunk and on drugs that sam asked julie for sex. >> she said no and he shot her twice in the head. like julie, julie is like our friend. >> then dan said sam threatened him and his wife to be and dan agreed to help sam escape. sam offered him money and dan took it to help pay for his wedding. but as to the anonymous man in

the black hat. >> he doesn't exist. >> detectives went to the apartment to tell rachel that dan is in custody. >> what is going through my head is shock. this is probably a huge mistake. this is going to be dropped and everything in time for the rehearsal dinner and everything. >> detectives did not fully believe dan's forward and they brought rachel in to see him. >> she is on the side of the angels thinking she will get daniel to tell me everything. >> that was the goal. >> so when is the last time that you really saw sam. >> dan told rachel the same story she told detectives, sam killed julie and dan helped sam escape. >> there is nothing you can do at this point to make it better. >> he can be truthful with us and you and everyone. >> then detectives spoke with rachel alone. rachel said she and dan received an eviction notice and dan had

to borrow money to make the rent and dan told her recently that he borrowed the money from dangerous people. >> he was scared out of his mind. >> she said on the day dan was supposed to pay the leg breakers $2,200 or else sam stopped by. >> he came down to the apartment because he was go to give dan a ride. >> she said dan and sam left together and dan came back alone but with money. >> he had $400 somehow. >> rachel said she couldn't believe that dan was somehow mixed up in julie's murder. >> is that when you start to think to yourself, this guy is someone that i don't even know? >> i was still thinking i knew his heart and if those crimes he was saying that he did, at least that still lined up with someone

that would do anything to help somebody in need. >> did he tell you about this? hell's no. >> in the early morning hours detectives drove rachel back to the apartments. >> i go to my friends and knock on the door and then at that point just start balling. >> she is shaking violently. she said dan has been arrested. she is just a mess. >> rachel went to her parents' home to tell them dan was in jail and the wedding is off. >> my mom has lost it. >> back at the police station dan asked to speak with detectives again, and this time he said something that blew the case wide open. >> i'm crazy and i did it. >> i killed julie and i killed sam.

>> you didn't see that coming? >> no. >> dan wozniak said he didn't help sam hare, he killed them. dan said they drove to a theater where he performed and dan asked sam to help move something from the attic. >> went down and grabbed the gun and i shot him. so wozniak said he fired again. dan then drove to a different theater later that evening to appear on stage with rachel in the musal "nine." in this video of the performance dan showed no signs of stress as he played the starring role. dan told police that during the show he texted julie from sam's phone pretending to be sam. after the play, dan said that he went to sam's apartment and

lured julie into sam's bedroom. >> i said right. i put two bullets in the back of her head. dan admitted scrawling the nasty words on julie's back and splitting her pants with a pair of scissors and the next day he said he disposed of sam's body and gave another pitch perfect performance, captured on videotape. detectives asked why? >> what was your motive behind killing sam was. >> money and insanity. >> sam had more than $60,000 in the bank, his saved up combat pay and julie, dan said that he killed her to cover his tracks and to frame sam. >> this is as diabolical of any case i have ever seen. >> police delivered the news to

sam's parents, more son has been murdered. >> i said for whatever reason at least he wasn't dismembered. the next day i get a call we want to let you know sam was dismembered. that is when i lost it. >> dan wozniak was charged with two toucounts of first degree murder. the phone rang at the police station and the caller had a story to tell, one that cast a new light on dan's leading lady, rachel buffet. >> coming up, a witness. >> something was terrifying in the feel of the room. i just wanted out of there. >> and a new suspect. >> we were shocked. floored. we went back, you know, rachel did not tell us any of this the day before. >> when dateline continues. y bee >> when dateline continues

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>> what started as a peaceful protest saturday night turned into what police said was a riot at midnight. they clashed with protesters in the streets. in chicago, after a peaceful black lives matter march merged with another anti-police demonstration. police say two dozen people were arrested and at least 17 officers were treated for injuries. now back to dateline. >> welcome back to dateline, i am natalie morales. dan wozniak confessed to police that he killed sam hare for his money and the actor's omission turned the case on the head and now a witness was about to step forward with information that would push dan's fiance rachel to center stage.

♪ >> california draws people that want to perform. >> it sure does. everyone is kind of pursuing the same dream. >> chris williams moved from canada to california for school. >> i ended up falling in love with jazz music and falling in love with california. so i have been down here 20 years. performed and love it. >> in early 2010 chris was undergoing serious health problems, the working musician did not have insurance so his friends organized a benefit concert. >> raising money to keep you healthy. >> yeah. >> it worked. >> here you are. >> it did. it sure did. it changed my whole life. >> chris who had been keep to

himself began to socialize again and met two struggling young actors, dan and rachel. >> dan was very charming. >> he was. open and personable. i felt like we had a lot in common. rachel is obviously beautiful. they were very welcome to me. >> chris soon learned his new friends had financial troubles and offered to help by lending them money. >> all of my friends did a big benefit for me. >> time to give back. >> yeah. >> chris wanted to make sure that he got his money back so chris told a story that was 100% false. >> so i said i can't lend you the money personally but i know people that i can get it from but they are not good people so we have to get it back. >> he lent dan and rachel $2,000

and dan promised to pay him back by the end of the week, friday, may 21st. on the appointed day chris drove to dan and rachel's apartment. >> who is there besides dan and rachel and you? >> i didn't know his name at the time but it was sam. in my mind this is going to be a ten-minute thing. >> meanwhile said chris rachel seemed stressed. >> she is on the computer trying to look for other work and ways to get money. >> three hours later dan wozniak returned without sam. >> he throws this $400 down right in front of me. he is like shaking. there is a wild look in his eyes. he is breathing like a giant panic attack. i am sitting there, saying hey, everything is okay, man. everything is okay.

he is like slumps down in the chair. and i said is this every penny that you have. >> chris said he handed dan a $20 and noticed that rachel was visibly angry. >> things were tense. >> so that relationship was like a clinched fist. >> yeah. i mean something was terrifying in the feel of the room. i just wanted out of there. >> he left. around 20 minutes later rachel called. >> and rachel goes, i think that you left a $20 here. i think you dropped some money. you should come back. i said i am not coming back. i didn't drop a $20. i left a 20. she said no. no. you should come back. >> chris did not return. a week later as he was getting ready to attend dan and rachel's

wedding he heard about the murders of sam and julie and realized they happened on the same day as his weird meeting with dan and rachel and chris immediately called police. >> we were shocked to learn it. and again, we went back today. rachel did not tell us any of this the day before. >> detectives interviewed rachel again, this time not as a witness but as a suspect. >> why don't you tell me why you forgot to tell me about this? >> cause honestly i was afraid that if you knew that chris had seen us that day i don't know who chris knows and i don't know if he knows anybody bad. >> you didn't think we would find out? >> i guess not. i don't know. i am a little bit afraid for my safety. >> chris had told dan and rachel that the money he lent them came from dangerous people.

was it her safety that rachel was worried about? >> she has given herself more time to think about what she was going to tell us when she had to protect him that. >> they asked her to take a voice stress analyzer, a lie detector. rachel agreed and the cops hit her with an aggressive question. >> did you plan the murder with dan. >> the results came quickly. >> coming up, is the curtain about to close on rachel? >> i think she may have been present when julie was killed. i don't think julie would have gone into the apartment with dan by herself. >> when dateline continues. herf >> when dateline continues building an experience that lets you shop over 17,000 cars from home. creating a coast to coast network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. and putting you in control of the whole thing

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and though you may have lost sight of your own well-being, aetna never did. we're always here to help you focus on your health. because it's always, time for care. welcome back. chris williamson just told investigator busy a bizarre interaction he had with rachel and dan. on the day he came to collect he said the feeling in the room was terrifying. turns out that was the same day julie and sam had been killed. rachel never told police about the meeting with chris, so now they wanted to know why. once again here is "final curtain." >> a reluctant rachel buffet took a voice stress analyzer and the results were less than

encouraging. >> i gave you three tests today and all three were detectives. >> i know my stories and timelines are jumbled up because my mind's not there right now. i'm trying to remember everything i can. i told you guys everything i know. i am completely innocent. >> maybe. now detectives smelled blood. they circled back to that friday when -- >> you know he is out killing sam at that point? >> i thought he was just overreacting because he was afraid of loan sharks and getting hurt. >> rachel insisted she had known nothing about the murders until dan confessed. the detective suspected otherwise from the moment that he brought her into the interrogation room. >> it was almost like they were

looking at each other feeding off of each other and she was waiting for her next line. >> rachel and julie had been friends. her reaction when she heard what sam supposedly did to julie did not seem to match that. >> i'm sorry that i am not a person that goes beserk and loses their mind. >> you weren't in shock. >> the young actress was not convincing her audience. dan had called rachel from jail before his confession. the jail, of course, recorded those calls. >> i am going to go do something right now and you are not go to see me for the rest of your life. >> no. no. >> she doesn't say what is it. her response is no.

no. no. i think she realizes her world has the potential to come crashing around her. >> in other words maybe rachel already knew what dan had done and what he might tell detectives, or was it just that rachel was figuring things out. >> what did you do? >> i think you know what i did. >> were you the one that killed them? >> dan didn't answer that and asked rachel to come down to the station so she could be present when he spoke to detectives. as she drove dan continued to call her. >> i love you baby. you are so insane and so stupid. i know in your twisted little mind that you were doing it cause you wanted to be happy

with me. and i hate you for screwing it up. >> as rachel got closer to the station she was in tears. >> i love you sweetie. i'll be right there. okay. >> before rachel arrived dan sat down with detectives and confessed to the murders and called rachel again and told her what he had done. >> i shot him two times in the back of the head and i grabbed the credit cards and i grabbed wesley and we took money out of his account. >> how is wesley involved? >> rachel did not seem to react. instead she asked about dan's accomplice, wesley. when dan described killy julie rachel continued to focus on details. >> i opened up --

>> detectives wondered. did rachel know about the murders before they even happened. and more disturbing, did she participate? >> i think she might have been present when julie was killed. i don't think julie would have gone into the apartment with daniel by himself. >> hard even for a homicide detective to imagine. >> you don't look at a disney princess as a cold blooded murderer. >> thinking it and proving it were two different things and perhaps rachel was just another victim of dan's murder plot. there was no physical evidence placing her at the scene of either murder and insisted she didn't know about it in advance. >> we didn't have enough to charge her for murder. >> instead on november 20th, 2012 rachel was arrested and

charged as an accessory to murder after the fact. >> the only case against her is that she didn't tell the truth. >> that's right. >> according to the d.a. rachel lied about two important figures in the case. the man in the black hat that wasn't there and the jazz musician, chris williams that was. >> you did catch daniel and find out about chris. so what effect did rachel's lies really have? >> so, yes in the end we had some heroic police officers that solved the case anyway but is it okay for her to lie to the police? the law says no. >> sam and julie's parents thought rachel was more involved than letting on. >> they were literally 24/7 together, how do you not know if your fiance committed that type of a crime. how do you not notice? >> i want them charged with

murder but i am not the one that has to prove it to everybody. >> rachel pleaded not guilty, posted bail and was released. later that day she held a press conference. >> are you saying you were innocent? >> completely innocent. >> she is willing to bet that a jury would agree. >> coming up, rachel on trial. >> are you an honest person? >> i think so. >> there is not a doubt in my mind that rachel knew. >> when dateline continues. >> when dateline continues ♪ ♪ and geico loves helping riders get to where they're going,

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welcome back. dan wozniak confessed to the murders of sam and julie and also told police that he acted alone. there was no physical evidence tying dan's fiance to either killing, but detectives believed that she had lied to them to protect dan. now the couple, once the toast of the community theater circle faced two separate trials where two grieving family learned the truth. >> in december 2015, five years after sam and julie's murders, the lives of two young actors were playing out not on stage

but here in court. dan wozniak went on trial first and it did not take long for a jury to convict him for murder and sentence him to death. >> you dan, are a coward and a poster boy for the need of the effective death penalty in california. my only regret is that this state won't let me kill this coward myself. >> you took advantage of my daughter's kindness and her care for her friend and you took her precious life and then you disgraced her by pulling off her pants. to you my daughter was just a decoy. nothing else. >> the spotlight then turned to rachel buffet. she faced a felony charge,

accessory after the fact. >> police and prosecutors don't believe you were honest with them. were you honest with them? >> i know my heart. god knows my heart. god knows i am innocent. >> are you an honest person? >> i think so. to the best of my capabilities. i told the truth to try to help the police get to the bottom of things. my heart was always in the right place. >> dan killed sam. dan disposes of sam's body. dan lures julie to sam's apartment using sam's phone. dan kills julie. during all of that time you never suspected a thing? >> not a thing. >> in september 2018, 8 years after the murders, the aspiring actress went on trial accused of lying to protect the man she loved. >> this is my name. this is my life.

this is my entire future. i have nothing to hide and i am nnd. . >> violet testified against her. >> knowing the details and the lies over time and looking at her and going how dare you. >> violet told the jury the night they learned sam had disappeared while dan was wondering if he was the last person to see sam. >> rachel is telling dan to shut up. shut up. that is not what happened dan. you messed up memories are screwing up my story. >> the jury heard from chris williams, the jazz musician who spent hours with rachel the day of the murders, and like detectives chris thinks rachel was an accessory before the murders, not just after them. >> there is not a doubt in my mind that rachel knew. >> ahead of time. >> not a doubt. >> chris came to believe that

when rachel called him and asked him to come back to the apartment, it was not to return his $20. >> that is what the police told me. if you would have gone back that day they wanted to kill you. >> because you are a loose end? >> what i believe is that when dan got back rachel said chris saw you with sam. >> of course that was suspicion and not evidence. the trial focussed on false statements made to detectives. statements that her attorney david medina argued were easily explained. >> anyone that experienced planning a wedding knows the extreme pressure and stress that goes along with that. >> add murder to that equation and then an arrest of rachel's soon to be husband. >> the incredible stress she was under with all of these things occurring. is it possible she is accurate

about certain things? >> rachel's actions could be explained but dan's could not. >> what he did to those two is unthinkable, but rachel had nothing to do with all of that. >> yes, she did. she lied, trying to help dan get away with murder. >> everything that mr. medinna said is accurate. he is a pathological liar and monster, but he is her little monster and she knows him and all of the stuff goes on under her nose. >> the jury took five hours to reach a verdict. >> we the jury find the defend rachel may buffet, guilty. >> when you heard the sound of the clicks of the cuffs.

it was a sweet sound because of her arrogance and her lies are now caught up with her. >> sam and julie's parents spoke at rachel's sentencing. >> as part of my son's body lie dead and dismembered in the attic of a theater, rachel buffet you was spreading lies. as julie was lying in my son's apartment, rachel buffet was deliberately deceiving the police, attempting to throw them off of the trail of her lover. >> to me you and that monster are two peas in the pod. you are both self-centered and truly heartless and i hope that you will live every day regretting your disgusting decisions. >> the judge sentences rachel to 32 months behind bars. it was the final scene of this real life drama. chris williams always wondered should he have seen the warning signs?

could he have stopped the murders from happening. >> i spent all of those years pushing that i could have done something. i did something to help. that is what i wanted. >> what two families wanted were answers and relieve from their pain. >> i'm not going to get much more. >> unfortunately the criminal justice system has never doubled as a grieve therapist. some wounds are too great to be healed in a courtroom. >> the day that she left the door and her voice and what she was wearing. you know, i am getting old and you forget a lot of stuff. those things. >> not that. >> i don't want to forget her

image. it is hard no matter how many years pass by. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. e morale. thank you for watching >> this is carroll. i just saw something on you on tv. i hope you are all right. oh, my god. >> paige, if you get this please, please call somebody. everybody is worried about you. everybody is looking for you. please let us know you are okay. >> paige was a woman with a premonition. >> she said she knew something bad was go to happen. >> we found out she had a second life. >> quite obviously it is