what we've always been hoping for. >> somebody to help us. that's why we just want to live and move forward. we know it's gone. it's the past. move on. >> better days. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> one of the investigators brought somebody over to me, saying "this is our violent crime advocate." i was stealing myself for it already because of the massive police presence. they said that they believed that he had been murdered. >> craig rideout, dad of seven, cared deeply about his kids. >> he was a loving man, provider, warm. >> so it was puzzling and alarming when he vanished. >> she said, craig is not here. i said, that's weird. >> i didn't know what was

happening. >> i know something is wrong. i don't know how wrong. >> a disturbing discovery in the basement. >> blood particles were found on the walls. >> it appeared there was some kind of ambush. >> revelations about craig's wife. >> craig didn't want to believe there was a romantic relationship between them. it became painfully obvious there was. >> and in the park, two young men acting strangely. >> they identified colin rideout and alexander rideout. >> the victim's two sons? >> the victim's two sons. >> finally, a string of security videos would laid bare the bone-chilling truth. >> diabolical plan is forming here. >> it appears that way. >> i was stunned, absolutely stunned. >> i remember just holding him, crying. >> this is a family divided like no other. >> yeah. >> hello, and welcome to "dateline."

the rideouts appeared to be a tight-knit family, so when parents craig and laura told their seven kids they were divorcing, it came as quite a surprise. then, craig went missing and a police investigation revealed more surprises. it was a mystery that led police to a horrific discovery and a family secret as dark as they come. here's andrea canning with "devil's bathtub." ♪ >> this is "devil's bathtub." a deep, dark pond formed by glaciers millennia ago. it's hidden and secluded. but beyond the tangle and the weeds, a secret was about to be discovered. >> we weren't ready for this. >> the sirens in my head, red lights going off in my head. >> the discovery would tell the tale of an all-american family torn apart and a twisted loyalty

hard to comprehend. >> it was like hitting a brick wall and life just stopped. >> this is the ultimate story of betrayal. >> yes. >> pitsford, new york, a pretty suburb of rochester -- big houses, big families, and top-ranked schools that make the people who move here want to stick around. >> in this community, you grow up in a bubble. this is -- the community's a bubble. >> the rideout family lived in that happy bubble. chelsea neuer dated the oldest rideout boy, colin. >> i remember one of the first times i went over to his house in high school, he was cooking me dinner, and i was like, oh, man, cooking dinner, that's pretty cool. >> very responsible? >> oh, yeah. that was one of the reasons why i fell in love with him. he loved his family. >> and it was a big one -- three

girls, four boys. the rideout household was always bustling, family dinners, holidays. colin's parents, craig and laura, embraced the chaos. this is craig's sister, robin drew. >> clearly, they liked being parents. they were enjoying this. >> right. >> seven kids. >> seven kids. >> dad, craig, worked as a computer programmer and spent time mentoring kids at his church. >> craig is an outwardly personable person. you meet craig rideout, you'll like him. >> paul tucci, better known as p.j., was craig rideout's best friend. p.j. was there when craig fell in love with laura. >> laura is compassionate. she's also really intelligent. i mean, she double majored in physics and english 4.0. >> as for the rideout kids, they were smart, like their parents, hard-working, articulate, but while they thrived, family life took a toll on craig and laura's marriage. laura had been on bed rest for some of her pregnancies and

money was tight. >> it circles back, i believe, to some financial hardships. >> it's understandable. seven children, bills, you know, these are real-life -- >> real-life issues. >> -- problems. >> craig and laura separated in 2014. craig took it really hard. >> he sent an email to me, saying, well, it looks like i'm getting divorced. i don't think i can talk about it without crying. >> p.j. says he wasn't surprised to see the marriage dissolve. >> sometimes you have a gut feeling, there are a lot of positives that come out of the rarks but also a lot of negatives. >> oldest son colin was away at maritime college when his parents split. >> i asked if he was going to be okay, and his first thought was, i'm going to be okay, i have you, but i'm more concerned about, you know, making sure my siblings are okay. >> he decided to put family first and help out his mother. he moved back to rochester and

put aside college and his goal of becoming a navy s.e.a.l. >> he left his kind of, his dream, to put his siblings first. >> what is going to be the custody arrangements? >> the older kids were free to make their own choice. custody got sticky with the two youngest kids. >> the divorce still wasn't final in the summer of 2016, and robin says there was tension over the shared custody of the 6 and 12-year-old kids. though craig told her he was trying to make the best of a difficult situation. >> one of the phrases that he used most recently was that he saw light at the end of the tunnel. but it was stressing him out. >> and on top of that, something weird happened to craig that summer. someone broke into the townhouse where he had recently moved. he thought it was no big deal, maybe one of his sons playing a prank. but his sister was worried and

she urged him to report it to police. >> my name's craig rideout. >> what happened? >> i wake up at midnight with a sharp pain in my arm. i jump up. this will sound crazy. a hooded, black figure -- not a black man -- was running out of the room. the reason i have to file a police report is my blackberry, which was taken that night. >> robin made a point to talk to her brother every day. july 19th, just a few days after the break-in, was no exception. >> i said, i'll call you in the morning, check on you and the kids. >> but morning came and craig wasn't returning robin's calls. >> if he had been in a meeting and felt his phone go off, he would have sent a response in a meeting, "call you later." >> concerned, robin decided to pay a visit to craig's townhouse, and inside that house, the beginning of a dark family drama that could never be

unwritten. >> i know something is wrong. i don't know how wrong. >> what was going on with craig rideout? a discovery in the basement was about to provide an ominous clue. coming up -- >> we found what appeared to be blood spatter on the walls. >> what they found next would change everything. >> this is a big moment in this case. >> it is. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues ♪ ♪ since pioneering the suv in 1935, the chevy suburban has carried many things. nothing more important than family. introducing the most versatile and advanced chevy suburban and tahoe ever. stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on...

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robin drew couldn't imagine where her brother, craig, was. it was a warm summer morning, wednesday, july 20th, 2016. you can't reach him at work. >> no. >> you can't reach him at home. >> right. i'm getting no response. >> that break-in was fresh in robin's mind when she decided to leave work at lunch and head to craig's townhouse. his soon-to-be ex-wife, laura, was there. she couldn't find him either. >> she says, oh, i figured it wouldn't be long before someone came looking for him. i don't know where he is. >> laura told robin it had been craig's night with the two youngest children. but that morning, laura said the kids texted her to say dad wasn't there when they woke up. she sent colin over to get them. >> colin was always picking up his siblings. he would drive them places. >> robin decided to look around her brother's house. she went upstairs to his bedroom. the door was locked. >> and i thought, that's really

odd. >> did you worry that he might be in the bedroom? >> i was worried that he might have been in the bedroom. >> that something happened to him? >> yes. >> exactly what, she didn't know. >> she called 911. >> my brother has not been answering texts or cell phone calls or emails, and i could be making a mountain out of a mole hill. >> deputies from the monroe county sheriff's office arrived at craig's, but they stayed outside, told robin they'd need a warrant to search the house. after all, her brother was a grown man and this was his private property. dave populaulton was one of tho investigators. he talked to robin briefly. >> she called him multiple times and it had made her nervous, not being able to contact him on email or text. >> laura went home but came back to the townhouse to see what was going on. >> did she express that she had no idea where he might be? >> she did.

she said she had no idea. >> laura told deputies craig was home when she dropped the kids off the night before. >> obviously, you're a little bit concerned about him, i guess? >> i don't even know where -- because his personality wouldn't be one where he would be hurt. >> but then the investigator asked the kids some questions. first, the 6-year-old daughter. >> was he there when you woke up? >> no, i woke up and dad wasn't there. >> last time you saw your dad was when, honey? >> yesterday. he was playing video games on the computer. he went to the bathroom and then he went downstairs. and then that night, he was downstairs and then he disappeared in the morning. >> the 12-year-old son told the same story. >> when was the last time you saw him? >> 11:30 last night when he was going to bed? >> and then what happened this morning? >> he wasn't there, so, i was just guessing he went to work. >> no one could find craig. laura texted p.j. tucci. >> she said, "craig's not here." i said, "that's weird." >> colin called chelsea.

>> were you concerned, just for him? >> yeah, i was concerned, you know. nobody wants to hear somebody went missing from their family. and i just assumed he had to step outside or go on a quick trip. >> late that night, investigators finally had their search warrant. you go inside? >> we go inside. >> what do you find? >> our initial walk-through, the house is very neat, very well put together. there doesn't appear to be any forced entry. >> the investigators unlocked the master bedroom. it was undisturbed. no craig. they looked around, found nothing, then headed to the basement. what do you find? >> there's boxes on the shelves. they're all neatly stacked. everything is kind of in its home. and on the other side, it's kind of disheveled. >> it was messy, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary for a basement, until they noticed something alarming. >> we more closely examined the area and found what appeared to

be blood spatter on the walls and on the shelving unit. >> crime scene techs sprayed the basement floor with luminol and find even more blood, blood that someone tried to wipe away. then, a discovery inside a garbage bag. >> we find what appears to be two handles with a cord knotted so you could hold onto bother handles and use it as a ligature. >> a weapon used for strangulation. the evidence was telling them a story, one that wouldn't end well for craig rideout. >> we were pretty sure we had our murder scene. >> this is a big moment in this case. >> it is. >> coming up, a bombshell about craig rideout's soon-to-be ex-wife. >> craig didn't want to believe that there was a romantic relationship between them. i think over time it became painfully obvious that there was. >> and then, just off a country road, a passerby sees something that will transform the case. >> in the woods, there's a body

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welcomeis that your home?o live. dun, dun ,dun. hold on, stop! you accessorize with a sloth? this is belt. [ chuckling ] great sash. oo-la la! it was late afternoon, july 20th, 2016. craig rideout, father of seven, had been missing since early that morning. investigators had discovered a horrid scene in craig's basement, a scene that told them he wasn't coming home. >> we're starting to find more

and more items with a lot of blood on them. >> craig's sister, robin, was waiting outside, watching the police action unfold in front of her brother's townhouse. >> and then, one of the monroe county investigators brought somebody over to me, saying this is our violent crime advocate. >> did your heart sink when -- >> it did. and they told me that they believed that he had been murdered. >> murdered in his own home? investigators surmised it happened overnight while his young children slept. who would do such a thing? craig's sister told investigator boulton about that break-in at craig's home a few days earlier. >> i wake up at midnight with a sharp pain in my arm. >> he says he was upstairs sleeping in his bed when, in the middle of the night, he was awoken by somebody pulling a hair from his arm. the male ran out of the bedroom and ultimately out of the house. >> craig told his sister he thought it was a prank, didn't know what to make of it, nor did

robin. but she had some other information for the investigator, details about her brother's marriage. how long had craig rideout and laura rideout been separated for? >> about two years. >> and it hadn't been a good separation? >> it hadn't been. >> the reason? laura had a new man in her life, and it was, well, awkward would be an understatement. her boyfriend was craig's old buddy, p.j. tucci. >> paul tucci goes from being craig rideout's best friend to now being craig rideout's estranged wife's boyfriend? >> yes. >> so, that doesn't always work out so well for relationships. >> certainly not between the two of them. >> craig and laura had been close friends with p.j. and his wife, jennifer, for many years. >> all of the kids, the tucci and the rideout kids, really grew up together. they would go out together. they had parties together. >> but around the same time that laura and craig's marriage was falling apart, p.j.'s wife died

from liver disease. p.j. says he leaned on laura for support and laura began confiding in p.j. >> his best friend? >> his former best friend, yes. >> in a romantic relationship now? >> at first, craig didn't want to believe that there was a romantic relationship going on between them. and i think over time, it became painfully obvious that there was. >> i didn't know i was going to fall in love with laura, but that happened over time. >> does craig know about this? >> craig sent me an email. >> what did it say? >> it said -- he says, "i don't know if you found yourself in a damsel in distress situation and you're just helping or you have romantic feelings towards laura. either way, i'm happy." >> that's big of him. >> i thought it was an interesting -- i don't know what he was trying to elicit. >> it was certainly interesting to the homicide detective. but before investigator boulton would run down that juicy lead, he got some news.

two counties over, a shovel had been left by the side of the road, and 50 feet into the woods, a man's body was discovered. >> 911. >> um, we discovered in the woods there's a body under a tarp. >> okay. is it near your home? >> it's down the road. >> could it be craig? the victim's identity wasn't obvious right away. his killer or killers had used some kind of acid to intentionally disfigure his face. that sounds like someone had a major grudge with this person. >> it certainly seemed like they weren't interested in him being found. >> but even though the victim was unrecognizable, deputies were able to i.d. him pretty quickly. the answer was found in his pocket. when the body was found, the victim's phone was ringing. the person popping up on the caller i.d.? it was robin drew, craig's sister. >> as i was trying to reach him, the cell phone was ringing in

his pocket. >> you're calling and the phone's ringing in yates county and your brother is -- >> and my brother is dead. >> -- deceased. >> yeah. >> sounds like some really dumb criminals, to leave the cell phone in the pocket when they have gone to these great lengths of pouring possibly acid on this man. >> it does seem that they overlooked a pretty obvious thing. >> they had a crime scene, a body, and a marriage with a soap opera ending. and the next bit of evidence would lead this story to an even darker place, a place called devil's bathtub. a million things must be going through your mind. >> and it gets stranger quick. >> coming up, a chance sighting and a call to police. >> we saw a couple of males in the parking lot and they saw what they believed to be garbage bags getting thrown out. >> when "dateline" continues. g. >> when "dateline" continues another bundle in the books. got to hand it to you, jamie. your knowledge of victorian architecture really paid off this time. nah, just got lucky. so did the thompsons.

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i'm milissa rehberger. president trump n. closer to accepting defeat, saying he would certainly leave the white

house in january, if the electoral college votes for biden, but when asked about concession, he snapped at a reporter. >> don't talk to me that way. you're just a lightweight. don't talk to me that way. don't talk -- i'm the president of the united states. don't ever talk to the president that way. meanwhile, president-elect biden spent the holiday with family and spoke with first responders battling covid. back to "dateline." t responders battling covid. back to "dateline. welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. detectives were looking into whether craig rideout had been murdered. then, a tip called in to 911 led them to craig's disfigured body, his cell phone, still in his pocket. with it, police quickly started connecting dots, and they were about to get another tip, one that would lead to two unlikely suspects. here again is andrea canning with "devil's bathtub."

>> the case of the missing dad was now a murder investigation. investigator dave bolton had been up for 36 hours working two critical crime scenes -- the basement, where craig was likely killed, and the woods, where his body was found. and now, the investigator was about to be called to another location, that place called devil's bathtub. it's a secluded pond set deep in a 2,500-acre park. what is going on here? why are you called to the scene? >> there was some walkers in the park that saw something that they thought was suspicious. they saw a couple of males in the park in a car parked up in the parking lot, and they saw what they believed to be garbage bags getting thrown out. >> and why was a homicide detective getting a call about a case of suspicious littering? when deputies on the scene detained the two young men, they recognized their last name, rideout, the same name as the murder victim in the case being worked by investigator bolton.

>> they identify colin rideout and alexander rideout. >> the victim's two sons? >> the victim's two sons. >> colin was in the park with his 19-year-old brother, alex, who had just graduated from high school. investigator bolton pulled out his iphone, pressed record, and he and another investigator began to ask the brothers some questions. younger brother alex was first. >> so, what's going on? you and your brother are out for a walk? >> basically. i mean, we were just, like, out. then suddenly, people show up and it's like, well, that's -- i've never really encountered police before, so it was like -- >> never been in trouble before, right? >> no. i don't really do drugs or drink or really party. i've only -- >> how old are you? >> i'm 19. i'm doing college next year. >> okay. >> investigator bolton's radar was up. he knew craig thought one of his sons might be behind that weird break-in. and now, here were his sons acting suspiciously in a secluded park. the investigator decided to ask

what they thought happened to their dad. but without telling the boys that craig had already been found, brutally murdered -- >> he'd always, you know, he'd always threaten, you know, i could just disappear! i figured he was on the next flight to mexico. >> colin said he didn't know where his dad was either. >> have you heard anything from your dad at all? >> well, i emailed him last night. i didn't hear from him. >> i heard from him monday, and he picked up my brother and sister, i think tuesday. >> the investigator wanted to keep colin talking, and he did. so, what is colin opening up to you about? >> colin starts to talk about the family dynamic and how he believes his father might be having some sort of mental issues or some sort of breakdown. >> like, i've been kind of worried about him for, like, stuff's just been freaking me out because -- >> then, the investigator asked him directly, what was in the garbage bags they were trying to get rid of? >> i'm worried about what's in that bag? and i'm going to tell you, if you tell me what's in that bag before i see what's in that bag, it will be better for you. >> you know, i don't know what's

in the bag. >> investigators didn't think colin was being honest. >> do you believe in god? >> i believe, yeah. >> see truth. i'm hoping maybe we can get a little truth. >> all that talk about truth worked. the boys admitted something big. they had been at their dad's house the day before. and listen to this -- >> anything you can tell me about? >> well, there was -- there was a lot of blood in the basement. and i was worried that, you know, something had happened. >> there's a lot of blood in the basement. >> yes. >> they just placed themselves at the scene of the crime. and when the investigator opened up those garbage bags -- >> bloody clothing. there's a bloody sneaker. there's some work gloves that have some blood on them. what would appear to be evidence of a murder. >> colin, the would-be navy s.e.a.l. who always put family

first and his book-smart brother, alex, with plans to go to college, were taken down to the sheriff's office and arrested. they weren't charged with murder, but with tampering with evidence, something to hold the boys while the investigation continued. how do you process that? >> to be honest, shellshocked would be the best word for it. >> colin called chelsea from jail. >> hey, hi. >> colin! oh, my god. what, what -- >> i was arrested. my lawyer says that i'm not supposed to talk about anything. >> what was his state of mind like? >> he's confused. he loves his family. it was like hitting a brick wall and life just stopped. >> was there any part of you that said, maybe i don't know colin as well as i think? >> he's just a guy that had everything ahead of him. he wouldn't have thrown it away for nothing. >> so, did you wonder, then, how he ended up with the garbage bags, with that evidence?

>> i think it would give anyone just a pause to think about it and just question, but we also know him, and we know the man he is. >> investigator bolton didn't know the rideout kids, but he knew there had to be more to the story than two nice boys deciding to kill their dad. his investigation turned to their mom, laura rideout, the woman who had been married to craig for more than 20 years and who had raised those sons. robin had been telling investigators about the divorce, and it wasn't pretty. >> there's a contentious separation and custody battle going on, where they're not really supposed to see each other, even at drop-off. >> at the same time, laura and her new significant other, craig's former best friend, p.j. tucci, were preparing for a big change. >> their intention was to move as a family down to north carolina, and that move was supposed to happen within a couple of days. >> but craig had primary custody of the two youngest and wouldn't let laura take them out of

state. so, then, how's laura rideout moving to north carolina? >> that's a good question. >> robin was suspicious of laura from the moment she arrived at her brother's townhouse. remember, the day craig went missing, laura was there, and she was inside, tidying up. >> when i get in and i open the sliding glass door, it's laura standing in his kitchen, cleaning. >> that's kind of -- that would be odd. >> it was odd. in my head, i'm thinking, what are you doing here? >> cleaning up a crime scene, that's what investigator bolton suspected. in fact, the boys admitted it was their mother who gave them the bags of bloody clothes. >> it was just something my mom told me to take -- >> when did your mom tell you to do that? >> it was this morning. >> did she give you the bag? >> yeah. >> just hours after arresting the two sons, investigator bolton headed to the home that laura shared with p.j. tucci.

>> i was stunned. i was absolutely stunned. >> security video from days before craig rideout's murder leads to a sickening revelation. coming up -- >> diabolical plan is forming here. >> it appears that way. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues in . airlines, hotels, food delivery, and especially car dealers all charge excessive, last-minute fees. when you want something badly enough, it feels like your only choice is to pay up. but what if you had a choice to take a stand instead? at carvana, we believe in treating you better. with zero hidden fees, you can drive off without feeling ripped off. that's what it means to live feelessly. [ sneeze ] skip to cold relief fast with alka seltzer plus severe powerfast fizz. dissolves quickly. instantly ready to start working.

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show up at the front door that evening, wasn't dressed for a trip to the county jail, but that's where she was going. >> we told her to get shoes, and laura loves to wear heels. and they said, well, why don't you get a different kind of shoe? so she throws on a pair of nike golf shoes. and they came down and then i watched them arrest her. scariest thing i had ever seen. >> what did they -- >> and their kids are there. their kids are there watching their mother get arrested. >> did she say anything sdwl. >> she said, what for? the arresting officer said, you had to have been expecting this. and she was like, no, what? she said, if i had been expecting this, i would have had makeup on. >> boyfriend p.j. said there had to have been some sort of misunderstanding, a terrible mistake. >> it laura ever said, i just wish craig was out of our lives? >> no. she wanted craig to have a relationship with the kids. she didn't have animosity towards craig.

>> but when deputies searched the home where laura lived, there were clues everywhere. inside the master bedroom, a key fob to unlock craig's car. in another bedroom, blue tape identical to the tape used to make that garote found in craig's basement, bits of incriminating evidence in the home where p.j. also lived. >> when craig was killed, where were you? >> we were at home. >> you were with laura at home? >> i was with laura. >> the investigator believed he was with laura, but not innocently at home. and six weeks after craig's murder, p.j. tucci was under arrest, too. >> i can tell you this, i've never been in the guy's house. i know where it is. dropped kids off. i've never been in there. >> were you part of the overall plan? >> there is no -- >> to cover it up? >> there is no plan. >> four people were under arrest and all four let out on bail. >> colin, alex, do you have any comment? >> they were only charged with evidence tampering while investigators tried to figure

out exactly who did what. no one was talking anymore. >> laura, anything to say? >> all four lawyered up and presented a united front. >> no comment. >> investigators still didn't know if this was a crime of passion or a conspiracy. and if it had been planned, who was the ringleader? investigator bolton says the answer to some of those questions came after analyzing items found on or around craig's body, dumped in the woods. >> we found the bungee cords, and then we also have a tarp. and from back-tracking the receipts, we were able to find some video at a number of stores, particularly the walmart. >> when investigators pulled security video from walmart, they saw what appeared to them to be a murder plot in the making. july 18th, two days before the murder, laura, colin, and one of the younger kids, go shopping to buy drain cleaner, drain cleaner which investigators believe was used to disfigure craig rideout's face. the next day, just a few hours

before the murder, laura and p.j. are at a different walmart buying a large tarp, bungee cord, and more drain cleaner. >> the tarp and the bungees matched up to the ones found on craig's body. >> and the day of the murder, here's colin buying a shovel, a shovel identical to the one left by the side of the road near where craig's body was found. a diabolical plan is forming here. >> it appears that way. >> over a number of days. >> yes. >> there was laura on tape, looking completely relaxed, a wife, a mother, and now investigators believed a killer. craig's sister saw a woman who had, somehow, turned two sons against their own father. >> honest to god, i don't know how that happened. what was said that could have turned the kids against him? >> this is the ultimate story of betrayal. >> yes. >> what do you believe happened

that night? >> my belief is that the two younger children are brought over to craig rideout's house that evening. laura or paul go up to craig's room to maybe talk about this move to north carolina. i think laura's the one that gets him to come down into the basement. >> it was in the basement where investigators believe members of craig's own family and even his one-time best friend were there to do the unthinkable. >> i think the intent was to murder him with no blood at all. i think that the victim started to fight, and i think one of the suspects hit him in the head during that struggle in order to get control of him. >> is there anything you'd like to say? >> when the charges came down, all four, including colin, who had just proposed to his girlfriend, chelsea, were charged with murder. >> that was a surprise. >> you have to have a million questions. >> oh, yeah, a million and one. >> and as the investigation unfolded, authorities had more questions, too, including a big

one about p.j. tucci. it had to do with his first wife, jennifer, who died from liver disease. patrick o'flynn, then sheriff in monroe county, thought it was a suspicious coincidence that her death coincided with his new relationship with laura. >> we spoke with the district attorney's office because we said, this needs to be investigated. >> you learned that it would be possible to poison someone and it could look like cirrhosis of the liver? >> from talking with different people, that is a potential. >> did you think about that, maybe paul tucci poisoned his wife? >> without a doubt. >> both the sheriff and the district attorney wanted to exhume her body, but the medical examiner was satisfied with the original autopsy. >> the medical examiner wrote on the death certificate what happened. stop bringing her into this. she had nothing to do with it. >> the questions about jennifer tucci's death went nowhere. the prosecutor didn't pursue it. then, as the summer of 2017

approached, the craig rideout case was set to go to trial, and that pretty town of pittsford braced to hear the story of the rideout family. >> we lived in a bubble. this doesn't happen in our bubble. we weren't ready for this. >> and no one was ready for what would happen in court. the family's united front was about to implode. >> coming up, four defense teams, about to throw each other's clients under the bus. >> they started pointing fingers at each other. >> and then the jury speaks. >> i hear those words and i just blacked out. >> i checked the verdict sheet to make sure i heard it right. >> when "dateline" continues. to make sure i heard it right. >> when "dateline" continues our. neighbor 1: allez! (sound from wind chimes) neighbor 2: (laughing) at least geico makes bundling our home and car insurance easy. which helps us save even more.

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welcome back. just a few years earlier the rideout family seemed happy, but now laura, her sons alex and colin and boyfriend p.j. tucci were headed to trial, accused of murdering laura's estranged husband, craig. to this point, the four had stood together. but that united front was about to be tested. whatever the verdict one thing was certain. the rideout family would never be the same. with the conclusion of devil's bathtub, here's andrea canning. >> they all had big plans. colin rideout was looking forward to getting married. his younger brother alex was

planning to go to college. and laura and p.j. were preparing for a fresh start in north carolina. but instead, in the summer of 2017, they were all going to court to stand trial for second-degree murder. and in a highly unusual ruling, the judge decided all four would be tried together. four trials in one. it's just bizarre. >> yeah. >> that this family would be on trial together. >> i don't think i have ever seen anything like that. >> each had his or her own attorney who sat down with us. colin's attorney -- >> obviously there was no motive. >> alex's attorney. >> this case was a lack of evidence case. >> p.j. tucci's attorney. >> absolutely no proof whatsoever. >> and two attorneys for laura. >> there was a circumstantial case. >> they were prepared to argue that the prosecution had no idea what really happened in the basement. does anyone know who the real killer is? >> the real killer is. it could have been one of many people. >> this is a classic whodunit.

>> district attorney and assistant d.a. admitted they didn't know who delivered the final blow. so you can charge them all with second-degree murder even if one of them didn't actually, you know, provide the final blow to craig rideout? >> exactly. >> as an example would be a bank robbery. the driver is just as criminally responsible as the robber in the bank. >> they were told about purchase of the items like the tarp, acidic drain cleaner and the bloody clothing at devil's bathtub. colin's and laura's jeans had the most amount of blood. but dna from all four defendants was found on items in those bags at devil's bathtub.

so you had dna from all four defendants on either the gloves or the clothes and rideout's blood? >> yes. >> the motive behind it, the prosecution said it was simple and obvious. >> we believe the motive was to allow the mother to take the younger children out of the state and start off with a new life with her boy friend p.j. tucci. >> it's just so hard to understand though why the sons would want to do this for their mother. >> perhaps there was some underlying agreement between the son and the mother that we weren't aware of. >> it was now time for all of those defense attorneys to have their say. >> who killed craig rideout? who did it? >> the defense said the walmart videos didn't reveal a murder conspiracy. the tarp, the bungee cord, the drain cleaner, all were purchased in preparation for the big move to north carolina. >> we have the trucks coming and we've got the foozball table we have to deal with so i need

something to strap -- these wood things on the side of the u-haul. i need something big to cover the floor because i needed the ceiling cleaning. >> what did you need the drain cleaner for? >> we have girls with long hair and they clog up the sinks and drains all over the place and laura said this works well and i said great. >> that and the family on trial together, sitting around the defense table went on the attack against one another. colin's attorney started pointing fingers. >> who is getting divorced? colin is not. >> that united front came crashing down. >> we pointed the finger at the person that was closest to us in terms of items of evidence. >> who's moving to north carolina? colin's not. colin's not moving there. laura rideout, paul tucci, they're moving to north carolina. >> laura's attorney fought back.

>> you can't get around the incriminating evidence against colin rideout. >> so you're kind of pointing the finger at laura on behalf of colin and is anybody else pointing the finger? >> everybody at me. >> so you're pointing the finger at colin on behalf of laura? >> sure. it certainly affects the family dynamics during the trial. >> so we have mother and son -- >> sure. >> then paul -- >> i never said it was colin, i never said it was laura or alex. we just said listen, there's evidence connecting them the scene, not my guy. >> i think you need a football diagram first. >> yeah. >> all the relationships. >> we had to. >> after a month of testimony, the case went to the jury. colin's fiancee chelsea was his biggest supporter to the very end. >> do you think the way that you described him as being this protector of the family, do you think that's ultimately what might have got him in trouble? >> he's a smart guy so no, i don't think he would ever put himself in a situation. he had a life ahead of him. he had no need.

>> after five days of deliberations, the jury reached a verdict. >> we said a prayer. >> heart's racing, game face on. >> tensions were high for everyone as the crowd filed back into the courtroom. the verdicts were read one by one. beginning with the sons. first younger son alex. >> you have been found not guilty of murder in the second degree. >> alex was acquitted of the murder charge. but found guilty of tampering with evidence. >> colin rideout. >> then the oldest son colin. >> jury has found you guilty of murder in the second degree. >> i hear those words and i was just sent back. i just blacked out. >> deputies led colin away in handcuffs. chelsea was inconsolable as she left the courtroom surrounded by family. it was the grown-ups' turn to hear their verdicts. the victim's former best friend

tucci. >> you have been found not guilty of the second degree and of tampering with evidence. >> p.j. tucci was acquitted on all counts. >> i had to check the verdict sheet to make sure i heard it out. >> laura rideout. >> what about the mother at the center of it all, laura rideout? the jury has convicted you of murder in the second degree. >> laura rideout, guilty of murder. not surprised at all. >> what's that emotion like that? >> relief and justification. >> laura and her son colin were both sentenced to 25 years to life behind bars and younger son alex was sentenced to eight years. alex and colin appealed. the prosecutors had to physical evidence to prove that tucci was ever in craig's house. did paul tucci get away with murder? >> i believe he did. >> there will be people who will say he definitely had something to do with this. >> half the people out there are

going to think one thing and you can't change people's beliefs that way is and half the people are going to think the other way. i'm not here to change your mind. it's a sad story. a murder did occur. but i don't think that the whole story is out there. i don't think the jury necessarily got it right. >> p.j. tucci was free, but now alone. a widower who once planned to make a new life with laura. and now she was behind bars for what could be the rest of her life. does she want you to find love again? >> she always wants me to find love. sure. the question is is she set a really high standard. >> but she's been convicted of murder. >> but i know in my heart that she didn't do it. >> craig's sister robin is left trying to make sense of it all. the darkness that destroyed that big family. a family that once had so much

ambition and promise. >> it's just -- it's heart breaking. nobody wins. nobody wins in this. >> i mean, this is a family divided like no other. >> yeah. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. ♪ hello and welcome to this "morning joe" special here on msnbc putting a spotlight on the presidency. the last four years have brought many aspects of american life into stark relief including the legacies of previous commanders in chief. among them, the 33rd president of the united states, harry s. truman. he is the focus of joe's brand-new book entitled "saving freeman, truman,