>> you know, people say, oh, well, she's your spirit and she's your angel and she's in a better place and all this other stuff. i'm like yeah, but i want her here. i don't want my 28-year-old sister to be my angel. i want her to be right here in the thick of it with me. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. or watching. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> he's a good dad. he loves us so much. no one wants to have both their parents taken away from them. >> it's a tale with so many dramatic turns. the story of a young family facing heartache beyond measure. a dad suddenly under suspicion. >> you just hear the awful things they say. >> i knew they were focussing on me.

>> there was no body, no weapon, no eyewitness. >> there's not one doubt in my mind that he's guilty. >> now after four trials the final verdict is in. >> i'm not guilty. i didn't do this. ♪ >> hello and welcome to "dateline." cal harris seemed to have it all, a beautiful family, a successful business and a big house on a lake. but all was not as it seemed. it was september 11, 2001, as the world witnessed the tragedies unfolding in new york, washington, d.c., and pennsylvania, the harris family was struck by heart break much closer to home. cal's wife michele had disappeared. here with "the house on the lake" is keith morrison. ♪

>> it's a long, winding ride, this tale, studded with surprises. >> i just felt like i was being kidnapped in broad daylight and no one could help me. >> it's the story of his life and their's. >> we cannot sit here in silence and watch another travesty of justice take place. >> it's about their world, the one that fell apart in a time they can't recall. do you remember very much about your mom anymore? >> not really. >> it's been a long time. >> it's about what happened on a september day the rest of the world can't forget. >> is there a corner of your brain that thinks, maybe it was somebody else? >> not at all. not at all. >> 15 years, four trials, would it never end? >> i just put my head down and went numb. i went numb. >> this is the climactic chapter in a family saga, one that began in a moment all but drowned out in the chaos of history.

it was september, 2001. the harris kids were little, 7, 6, 4 and 2. the family lived in this sprawling patch of wilderness with a private lake in the backyard. >> living in paradise seems like. >> yeah. the kids have -- still have a lot of happy memories out here. it's just a unique and special place that we were fortunate enough to purchase, you know, years and years ago. >> a unique and special place that only a prosperous person could afford, like the prominent car dealer, cal harris. he loved it out here, too, he said. and taught his kids to love it. >> you went hunting with the kids here. >> hunting, fishing, you name it. we swim in the lake. we jet ski in the lake. we water ski. my kids like to bring their friends out and really enjoy. if you like to be outdoors, it's a fun place. >> christmas is always fun. >> i can imagine. >> opening presents. >> yeah. >> playing with all the new things you got.

>> well, i can't think of a more idyllic place to have christmas. does it feel like that at the time? >> yeah. >> it was here in this patch of paradise, said cal, that he woke up one morning years ago to find that his wife, michele, wasn't home. she had gone to work the evening before, didn't come back. mary harris is cal's aunt. >> he didn't know where she was and didn't know what had happened. >> he woke up and she wasn't there. >> and honestly he didn't -- it wasn't something that he seemed comfortable talking about a lot. i think it was very emotional for him. >> she was gone. gone without warning. her friends, distraught, called her cell phone. >> where the hell are you? you need to call me as soon as freaking possible. i am worried to death about you.

>> they heard her cheery cell phone message, haunting no such. >> hi, this is michele. leave me your name and number and i'll call you back as soon as i can. >> michele, bob miller, what's going on here? >> there is something else about this you should know. the night michele harris vanished was not just any night, it was september 11th, 2001. >> things are in some kind of disarray. >> so they were. and so nobody was paying much attention to the disturbing events up here around little owego, new york. >> troopers have all been sent to new york city. there's a skeleton crew left at all the stations. >> back then sue moby was a flower investigator with the new york state police. she took the call, morning of september 12th. what did you do? >> i sent two investigators over to talk to calvin harris and sent a uniform trooper up to the house. >> cal harris opened up his house to them. >> he said, whatever you need. look wherever you need to look.

i want this to be solved. i want to know what happened. >> that morning, investigator moby knew only this, she had a missing person case on her hands and with luck it would resolve itself speedily as many do. >> we kept hoping, as everyone did, that michele would call her house or call one of her friends and show up. >> cal, said his aunt mary, was completely focussed on his four children, had to leave it to others to search for michele. >> his thing was, okay, it's time for them to go to school. now it's time for me to pick them up. i have to be sure if this is the routine that's normal for them, we're going to keep them in that routine. >> but where was their mother? here was a clue and it didn't look good. michele's van had been left at the foot of the long driveway leading up to her house, out here on that big country lot. the keys were still in the ignition. but where was she? moby's investigators video camera in hand searched the house. outside those 200 plus acres to look through.

>> that area was homesteaded heavily in the 1800s, so there is a lot of laid up wells and old foundations and things like that. >> didn't find anything? >> no, we didn't. >> not at first and not outside, but a few days later they did. >> entered the residence through the open garage door. >> senior investigator steve anderson. >> i noticed bloodstains on the floor and on the moldings of the doorway that led out to the garage. >> and there was more blood, tiny stains and a kitchen rug. they sent it out for tests. >> everything on the floor, on the inside walls and on the carpet came back to being michele's blood. >> suddenly the case looked very different. >> then we knew we had a real problem. >> what in the world had happened to michele harris? coming up -- >> they have what would appear

to be an idyllic life and beautiful home and beautiful children. we learned more and more he became the focus. >> a husband suspected, a daughter questioned. >> i didn't talk. i just sat there and cried the whole time. >> when "dateline" continues. ♪ [yawn] you. look. stunning.

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find your breaking point. then break it. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. michele harris was missing, and new york state police investigators of the sure of one thing -- michele had not abandoned her children. >> the clear picture that we developed is that michele would never leave her children, ever. >> so, was it foul play? after all, michele's van was abandoned at the foot of her driveway. and that blood on the garage floor and in the kitchen alcove, testing proved it was michele's blood. >> there's a lot of blood in the garage. and spread over a wide area.

and there's a lot of blood splatter, over 60 drops of blood that's been not just dripped but splattered by some force on that throw rug. >> and yet it didn't make sense. this woman, wife of an affluent car dealer, devoted mom, seemed like an unlikely victim. >> they have what would appear to be an idyllic life and a beautiful home and beautiful children. >> it got off to a storybook start. he, the attractive, wealthy car dealer, she, a pretty young woman from modest means answering phones at a harris family car dealership. >> my brother had his office across the street from mine, and i just saw her one day and just kind of evolved from there. >> what attracted the two of you to each other? >> she was very outgoing and very attractive and good personality. >> she was a knockout, she was funny, she was vibrant. >> his aunt mary harris was also taken by cal's new girl,

michele, she said, was a woman up for anything. >> athletic, let's have a good time, you know, jump on the jet ski, jump on the four wheeler. >> wasn't a dainty wee thing as it were? >> right. >> not a shy, retiring type either. >> no. that's part of why i thought their personalities to me seemed to really mesh. >> michele fell hard, too. for the man and his lifestyle. gary taylor is her dad. >> he won some dealership thing and they went to switzerland. there were a lot of perks there that she had never had before, so. >> in august, 1990, michele and cal got married, here beside empire lake. >> it was a great day, a beautiful setting and very relaxing, not very stressful, just kind of a big party afterwards. >> the fairytale rolled on. kids kept coming. they built a house on empire lake and here on their private preserve they were a family in

motion. fishing, swimming, skating. michele into all of it. the kids, of course, grew older. taylor is the oldest, followed by kayla and jenna and tanner. their mom, about her they have no real memories. >> it's been a long time. >> yeah, that's true. most of your lives. how old were you? >> i'm not sure how old i was. i don't have any memories. >> jenna is often told by those who knew michele how much she resembles her mom. >> i have seen pictures of her. she's really pretty. she's always smiling. seems like a really happy person. so, makes me feel good that people see me in her. >> even with that terrible loss, said the kids, they've grown up happy and content for the most part, all thanks to one person -- just tell me about your dad.

what kind of guy is he? >> funny. >> funny? >> goofy, yeah. >> he's funny and he's the most caring guy in the world. he's nice and we're his whole world and he's protective and just loves us so much and wants the best for us. >> the protective dad who said he tried to shield them, best he could, from the not so happy times. >> michele was really struggling with those kids at a young age, which i totally understood. what i noticed was that she was just drifting away from being a stay-at-home mom. and i understood that. >> there was certainly friction in the harris marriage. he loved order. she not so much. >> she had a room downstairs and she called it the chuck room. if there was going to be a party or a picnic or whatever, she would throw it -- take it down to the chuck room. >> and she told friends and family he a temper, a

controlling way. once back in 1996, she called her sister-in-law from a closet, terrified. >> he had the gun outside the closet and she was inside hiding. >> what did you hear about that? >> he was out there as a pump gun, i guess, and he was racking the pump action up and down and telling her to come out. >> cal later denied it was true that he had been fighting or threatening michele with a gun. then in 1999, michele learned cal was having an affair. she was devastated. but not ready to end the marriage. and cal said he wasn't either. >> michele said we can work through this, but you got to get rid of the girl. she worked up at the cortland dealership. >> they did what they could to salvage the marriage. it didn't work. she told her family he cut off her spending money. she took up with a young man in november, 2000. a month later, she told cal she wanted a divorce. her family said he didn't take it well. and things in that big house in paradise grew strange indeed. >> why did she stay in the house? >> her attorney had advised her to stay in the house and to not leave.

>> so they divided the parenting duties and worked on a settlement. michele got a job as a waitress at a local restaurant and bar. that's where she was the night of september 11th. she finished her shift about 9, had some drinks with two co-workers and then she drove to her boyfriend's apartment. left there about 11. and that sue moby believed was the last time anybody saw michele harris. >> we did a lot of work on a lot of different people early on and it wasn't until they were eliminated and then we learned more and more about calvin that he became the focus. >> the district attorney even tried to speak to the two eldest children. didn't accomplish much beyond frightening them, apparently. >> i know i sat there and cried the whole time. i didn't talk. i wasn't allowed to be in there with taylor. >> how old were you at the time? >> i was in fourth grade and he

was in fifth grade so 9 and 10. >> but d.a. jerry keen said he interviewed plenty other witnesses who convinced him he had the right man. in september 2005, four years after michele harris disappeared, the d.a. charged her husband cal with second degree murder. >> three state police personnel literally busted into my office, kicked the door in, jumped me, handcuffed me, shackled me and walked me out the front door of my office. >> you got a taste of law and order up close and personal. >> yeah. >> the d.a. was going to take the case to trial, even though there was no body, no murder weapon and even though he himself was by no means convinced he could prevail. >> i thought that it was maybe a 50/50 shot at a conviction, and i thought that a jury could go either way. coming up --

>> it hurts, absolutely. all of it was just taken away. >> prosecutors come on strong. >> he told her that he would put a body in a place where it would never be found. >> when "dateline" continues.

in september, 2005, four years after his wife michele vanished, cal harris was charged with murder.

>> well, it hurts, absolutely. you know, i had a good standing in the community. >> yeah. >> had a successful business, donated my time and money and resources to a lot of good causes in the community, raised my kids in that community and, you know, all of it was just taken away. >> but the county da had become convinced that cal killed his wife, late on the night of 9/11. and as the children slept, disposed of her body. >> the more i met with the people that were close to michele and that knew something about the case, the more convinced i became that he really did this. >> the trial began in may, 2007, with the prosecution claim that cal harris was a man used to being in charge of everyone and everything in his life. >> he's in control of his businesses, he's in control of his wife, he's in control of his finances, his employees and his children and just kind of a domineering person.

>> more than that, said the prosecutor, cal harris could be volatile. michele began keeping notes of what she said was abusive language and behavior. in fact, she won a temporary order of protection against him. >> what he said to her was i wouldn't need a gun to kill you. and if i did kill you, they'll never find your body. >> in the heat of passion, people say terrible things to each other. doesn't mean they killed them, though. >> but he went beyond saying terrible things to her. he told her that he would put her body in a place it would never be found. that's like one of the biggest facts of the case that we've looked and looked and looked for this woman's body and have not been able to find it. >> the harris family baby sitter, a woman named barb theyer, said she found michele's van parked at the end of the long driveway. >> she goes into the house and she yells, "is michele here,"

because her car is at the end of the driveway. and the defendant, without missing a beat, he just said, we better go get the car. >> according to the baby sitter, cal didn't seem surprised. >> doesn't ask her any questions about the keys. he knows that the keys are in the van. >> this is an interpretation of a person's reaction. >> yeah, you're right. but it's all these hundreds of little things that convinced me that he's just not acting like someone would act if they didn't know what had happened to their wife. >> later that morning when new york state troopers talked to cal, they, too, made note of his demeanor. >> he seemed kind of unconcerned. he was more concerned with getting michele harris' van cleaned up and back on the lot. >> the motive, said the prosecutor, was simply money. cal had learned that michele was demanding an appraisal of the car business. did she intend to take a piece of it in the divorce? >> all of a sudden, everything is out of his control. >> so the argument went, if

michele disappeared, cal's problems did, too. >> he was going to have his finances scrutinized. he was perhaps not going to be able to stay in the marital residence, certainly his children were leaving. and the next day all those things are back in his control. >> finally, that blood evidence. prosecution witnesses called it medium velocity spatter that had been left there only recently. >> i think it could very well have been the most important part of the case as far as placing michelle bleeding in the house with some force having been applied to that blood and no explanation for it. >> so what happened that night? prosecutor keen put his theory to the jury. >> she got home that night at about 11:30, parked her car, went in through the garage door and then as soon as she got

inside the house she was struck with something by the defendant. >> she went down on the kitchen rug, he said, was struck again. that blood spatter. >> so this would put her down either on her knees or on her bottom as she's being struck and the blood spatters on the door and on the carpet. took her back out into the garage and laid her down on the garage floor. she must have blood some on to the garage floor because there's an area three feet by six feet where blood was found. >> then, said the prosecutor, cal tried to clean up before he disposed of the body. >> he would have then taken the car back down to the end of the driveway, walked back up to the house and disposed of the body during the seven hours or there abouts before he called mrs. theyer. >> the defense attorneys tried to swat it all down and cal harris himself was adamant he

had nothing to do with his wife's disappearance. >> it's one thing to say, look, i'm innocent, i didn't do this. but it's another thing to have so many people accusing you and pointing their finger at you. look, i'm not guilty. i didn't do this. i didn't commit this crime. >> there was no body, no murder weapon and the defense said the forensics were unconvincing at best. but the jurors weren't having it. it was june, 2007, they came back guilty. cal harris broke down and sobbed. >> because i knew i was going to not see my kids. i knew i wasn't going home that night, you know? and i knew how they were going to be and it was just overwhelming. >> but in the eyes of michele's family, it was finally justice. and then -- then an extraordinary thing happened. >> my first reaction was, come on. the judge is not going to accept this guy's claim. >> a new witness with an amazing

story and it turned the harris case on its head. coming up -- >> as i was going by the harris property, there was a blonde woman out there, looked like she was crying. i know it was her. >> had someone seen michele? >> it was the most bizarre story you could have ever told. >> get ready for trial number two. when "dateline" continues. don't worry, julie... coughing's not new. this woman coughs... and that guy does, too. people cough in the country, at sea, and downtown. but don't worry, julie... robitussin shuts coughs down. i guess i look pretty... ridiculous. [ chuckles ] no one looks ridiculous, bob. progressive is always here for you with round-the-clock service. just so you know, next time, you can submit a claim with our mobile app. good. thanks again for -- for rushing over. are you kidding? this is what 24/7 protection looks like.

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here's the top stories -- new numbers from the tsa show how many americans are continuing to travel during the pandemic. the tsa saying it screened over 600,000 people at airports on christmas. that amount is down from christmas eve when over 800,000 travelers were screened by the tsa. this as the u.s. tops now more than 19 million coronavirus cases. deaths now going over 33 2,000. experts fear a post-holiday

spike could overwhelm an already struggling health care system. back to "dateline." eline. welcome back. in 2007, cal harris was convicted of his killing his wife, michele. there was a glimmer of hope. a new witness was about to come forward who could possibly shed light on what happened that happened. ♪ >> what happened here in little owego, new york, in august, 2007, was almost unbelievable. cal harris, convicted of killing his wife michele, was about to be sent away for 25 to life. and suddenly, it all blew up right in d.a. jerry keen's face. >> i came into the courtroom thinking that the defendant was going to be sentenced and it ended up being more of my being

on trial. >> who on earth had the power to make this happen? he did. kevin tubbs. >> i know that she was there, okay? she was. i know she was. >> kevin tubbs, a plainspoken farm worker back then was hauling hay. why was he so important? because after six years during witch tubbs swore he barely registered the fuss over the harris case, he picked up the paper, saw the story of cal's conviction and -- >> i seen that and, you know, i started like recalling, thinking oh my god. >> just like that, he suddenly knew, he said, that what he saw the morning after 9/11, the morning michele harris disappeared was important. it was between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. in the morning, he said. he was hauling a load of hay. >> as i was going by the harris property, there was a blonde

woman out there and a young gentleman, you know, in his early 20s. >> standing by a pickup truck. >> my lights is right on them. >> and hardly more than ten feet away he looked straight at the young man, saw he was dark haired, muscular and visibly angry. >> he looks at me like this, what do you want? >> and the woman, she was looking down. >> just by her face looked like she was crying. she was either upset or wasted. >> the woman, he said, he was certain of it, was michele harris. >> i know it was her. >> was it true? if kevin tubbs really did see michele in the early morning hours of september 12th, then the prosecutor's case was in ruins because cal harris couldn't have murdered her some seven hours before and an innocent man had just been convicted, so the judge tossed out the verdict. called for another trial and sent cal home to his kids.

many including michele's family thought tubbs' story was bogus. >> everybody knew he was lying. you know, it was the most bizarre story that you could have ever told. >> then of course when trial number two opened in 2009, the prosecution attacked tubbs' credibility. why did he wait six years to come forward? still, for the defense, tubbs was pure gold. a man to create reasonable doubt. >> there simply isn't enough evidence to convict cal harris of murder. >> bill easton was one of cal's attorneys. >> there's not an eyewitness to it, an earwitness it to, he didn't confess to it, none of this direct evidence is present in this case. >> the prosecution argued that cal showed how unfeeling he was by failing to join the search for michele. that was nonsense, said his aunt mary. cal was trying to keep it all together for his small children. >> there were dozens, maybe hundreds of experts scouring the area, looking for her.

and there was one person taking care of these four kids. >> that alleged motive that cal was worried that dealerships would take a hit because of the divorce, not so, said cal's side. his lawyer said michele couldn't touch the business, and that anyway, before she vanished michele decided to accept cal's settlement offer, $740,000. >> she indicated to numerous people she was happy with the settlement. >> besides, said aunt mary. >> there was plenty of money to go around. no amount of money would have made cal say "aha," for $2 million, i'm just going to wipe her out. >> then there was the blood, the spatter in the kitchen alcove, could have been a cut finger, said the defense. any way, nobody could really tell when it was left there. as for a prosecution claim that cal tried to wash away blood on the garage floor --

>> there's a small amount of diluted blood this was found days after the new york state police had walked through this particular area of the house while they were conducting the search. >> but walking on it is not going to destroy the blood cells. >> it could dilute it if their boots are wet. >> finally, the defense decided, jurors needed to hear from cal harris, as the caring father, not as the menacing husband the state made him out to be so he took the stand. >> it was nerve-racking at first. my life is on the line. my kids' lives are on the line. >> he admitted to an affair, blamed himself for the end of the marriage but denied he threatened, hurt, or tried to control michele. if anything, he said, michele had been living a bit of a wild life, staying out all hours just before she disappeared. >> she came when ever she pleased. she had money to spend, wasn't tracking her down. the baby sitters were here, the

nannies were here. she was off doing -- i didn't know what she was doing. >> was it enough? the jury deliberated for almost two days and -- it wasn't. guilty again. >> takes your breath away. it's like getting stabbed in the stomach. it just -- i'm numb. you know, i had already been through it once. ♪ >> family and friends stepped in and took care of his small kids, who began a weekly ritual visiting dad in prison. taylor, the eldest. >> you go and get to see him for two hours a week and you got a bunch of other people talking, and it's loud and can't really have a private conversation. that was the hardest part for us, i mean, we held it together well. >> what was it like driving home? >> it was quiet. >> watching his kids walk away, week after week, said cal, was unimaginably hard. >> that was the worst.

i went back to my cell and just laid there for hours and hours and just closed my eyes and tried to block it out. >> three years rolled by, but then came a day in october, 2012, when cal harris found himself crying for joy in the prison yard. coming up -- >> it's rare, though, i mean, this is really rare for that to happen. >> yeah. >> a new chance at freedom and new urgency from the kids. >> this is kind of our time to come out and do our part. >> and a whole new theory of the case. >> it's all coming together. >> it's time to look elsewhere. >> trial number three. when "dateline" continues. we're carvana, the company

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four growing children. tanner, the youngest, was in eighth grade then. the rest were in high school. >> it was great. >> what a change, huh? >> didn't take long to adjust? >> he had to adjust to what our plans were. >> you had been coping on your own for so long. >> yeah. >> and this time, this third chance, the kids were determined this would be different. >> we wanted to know that our dad will not be taken away from us again for a crime we know he did not commit. >> it was a very public coming out. kayla addressed the cameras. the rest of the kids and their teary-eyed dad stood by. >> we will not sit here in silence and watch another travesty of justice take place. >> the family launched a tip line, asking the public to help find out what really happened to michele. it was march, 2014. >> it's time for a real investigation that will get us answers.

>> i think there was a good thing for us to finally come out and talk about it. >> how did it feel to do it? >> good. >> we all knew this was kind of our time to come out and give our side and do our part in this. >> cal hired new lawyers and they condemned the state for an investigation which they said was blind to any suspect but their client. lead defense attorney bruce barquette. >> they pursued this man for 14 years with scant evidence, evidence that really no prosecutor should bring a case on. >> the defense went back to witnesses the police had interviewed years before, talked to others and heard a whole new story of michele's last hours on earth. earlier trials they said revealed the mother of four had been hanging with an unsavory crowd, co-workers and customers from her waitressing job. the attorney -- >> there were people there that

had criminal records. there were people there that were dealing drugs. there were people there making sexual advances. >> and on the night she vanished, after she left her boyfriend's place, they now knew, they said, that michele did not go home. because one of those witnesses reported seeing her later that night with another man, a local steel worker. the attorney -- >> september 11th, on that night in a bar, in a dance club he actually said. he was there but then he left the two of them alone and went home. >> the steel worker spotted with michele was a regular at her restaurant, said the defense. his name was stacy stewart. the defense said he told his friends he had a sexual relationship with michele and, said the defense, stacy stewart appeared to be the very man kevin tubbs saw with michele in the early hours of september 12th. >> there was a blonde woman out there and a young gentleman, you know, in his early 20s. >> tubbs identified that man from a photograph. >> his physical appearance, his facial hair, his height, his age

and the type of vehicle he drove. >> tubbs said the man he saw was driving beside a black truck, stacy stewart drove a black truck, same kind. >> it's a new model and it's a chevy and it's all coming together. >> stacy stewart denied any involvement in michele's disappearance. he denied he ever had a relationship with michele, said he was never even alone with her. still, cal's side was convinced that stewart and a friend of his played some role in michele's disappearance. in 2015, trial number three opened, a change of venue necessary said the defense because the case was too well known. and the defense managed to get some of the prosecution's case thrown out. the state wasn't allowed to suggest, as it had before, that the blood was spilled around the time michele disappeared. >> to have forensic scientists get up and speculate and guess

at how old blood was based on the color from a photograph is an outrageously unsupported proposition. >> also out, hearsay testimony from prosecution witnesses who said michele told them that cal threatened her life. >> we don't think they belong in the evidence. it's part of the reason the case was unfair the first time, the second time. >> then the defense attempted to present its evidence about that alternate suspect, stacy stewart. and the judge shut them down. the jury would only be allowed to hear stewart's name, that michele knew him, that kevin tubbs had i.d.'d him, and that he owned a black truck at the time. no more. why? because stacy stewart wasn't on trial. cal harris was. the wrong man, his attorneys insisted. >> cal did not deserve to be on trial and frankly michele and her family deserved better. we all want to know what happened to her. it's time to look elsewhere.

>> there was a new prosecutor this time. kirk martin. he made the same arguments as the previous d.a., saying the evidence pointed to cal harris killing his wife. the trial took three months. finally, late april, the jury got it. and the waiting began. michele's family still convinced that cal was guilty. is there a corner of your brain that thinks, god, maybe it was somebody else? >> not at all. not at all. >> well, cal and his family hoped the jury had been persuaded otherwise. >> you know, you have been confident before when you've gone on trial because you said i didn't do it. i should be acquitted and yet you weren't. so how does that impact your thinking now? >> just by what bruce and his team have done in the investigation, it's got to create some doubt. we didn't have that before. >> so, uncertainty.

by this time it was a way of life for the children. >> so i think, you know, if things don't go our way that will definitely turn all our worlds upside down, but i think we're -- i know we're tough enough that we'll get through it, but you definitely don't like to think about that kind of thing. >> we have plans of what we want to do when it's all said and done and over with. >> want to talk about that at all? >> vacation. >> yeah. >> somewhere cool. >> maybe. maybe not. it's the end of cal harris' third murder trial. his lawyers were determined to show there was reasonable doubt in the case, but would that be enough to persuade the jury. coming up -- >> breaking news out of the county courthouse. >> would you believe trial number four. >> shocked. i was truly shocked. >> when "dateline" continues. h

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in cal harris' first two trials, jurors returned their verdicts swiftly. third time, deliberations dragged. finally, almost two weeks in, the jurors made it clear they simply could not reach a verdict. >> breaking news out of the courthouse, the third cal harris' murder trial is ruled a mistrial by the judge. >> a mistrial. it was the outcome nobody

wanted. >> we got closer to justice, but we're not there yet. >> michele's family convinced they knew the truth that cal murdered michele, left the courthouse without comment. >> not right now. >> and the county prosecutor, kirk martin, vowed to do it again. >> there have been two guilty verdicts in this case, and i eagerly await the earliest possible trial date that fits with the court schedule. >> a fourth trial? really? yes, indeed. in march, 2016, deja vu all over again. same courthouse, same cast of characters, with one notable newcomer. >> good, how are you? judge richard moss. when cal waived the jury trial, the new judge suddenly had a starring role in trial number four. he would decide the case. also decide whether to hear the defense's new evidence. in the end, he allowed some, but not all.

lead defense attorney bruce barquette. >> but the truth has finally began to peek its head at this trial. we begin to see an outline of whether or not is actually responsible for michele harris's demise. >> a peek or two, that's all. barquette made the most of it, quoting testimony about something the steel worker once said, something about michele. >> he says i was the last person to be seen with her when she was alive. >> defense attorneys said they wanted to put stacy stewart on the stand but couldn't track him down. so now in closing, barquette didn't offer a detailed theory about what happened to michele, didn't have to. >> i'm asking the court to find mr. harris not guilty because there's not proof beyond a reasonable doubt he committed this offense. >> four trials, and now it was all on the line. so the d.a. came on strong.

that whole defense theory, he told the judge, was a fantasy. >> there's no evidence stacy stewart had any sort of relationship with michele let alone any reason or motive to harm one hair on her head. >> finally, said the d.a., after so many years, so many trials, it was time to convict cal harris once and for all. >> michele died at the hands of her husband, the defendant, calvin harris. >> so what would the judge do? >> we presented the evidence about what we think happened. >> the judge was terse. his verdict brief with no explanation, just two words. words cal harris and his children had waited 15 years to hear, not guilty. >> when he came back with the not guilty, i was shocked. i was truly shocked. >> shocked, overjoyed and saddened by what he lost.

>> best years of my life as a parent and i'll never get those years back. >> he will also never stand trial for his wife's murder again, exonerated now. and free finally to speak his mind about his terrible 15-year ordeal. >> from my standpoint personally, one of the greatest hypocrisies in our country is our criminal justice system. there is nothing fair about it. >> cal did more than just speak out. in august, 2017, his legal team filed a sweeping 26-page federal complaint, claiming malicious prosecution and violations of civil rights. the lawsuit targets nine counties including the county's district attorney's office and its former district attorney, plans to file a motion to dismiss. two others named in the suit

have already done so. but still, a mystery endures about a woman who vanished on a warm, september night while the rest of the world was looking the other way. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching.