>> [laughs] well, we are. we have a very good family. i'm proud of it. >> i've been married twice. this is the only husband i've ever had. >> 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. >> it's got wrenching. >> there is a body laying on the side of the road. >> this young woman, was shot three times. this was a murder. >> a young, single mom, with friends on game day. >> it was packed. >> but as night fell -- fear grew. >> they're asking us, do you know anybody that would want to harm your sister?

>> was it someone that was a stranger? was it someone that we knew? >> i just had this weird feeling that there was something she was hiding. >> tucked away in her kitchen, a coup clue to it all. >> on top of the refrigerator was a manila folder. >> did that just give you chills? >> that was horrible. why did she just tell us. >> did he secretly to murder? >> it's got to be unimaginable. >> welcome to dateline. when the body of brooke mauritius was discovered by the side of the road, her family started looking for answers. they were surprised to discover that she may have been involved in an allegedly violent relationship. could that revelation be the key to solving her murder? here with nightfall is andrea canning. >> i'd ask that you will close your eyes for a few minutes, this morning.

i'd like for you to envision roane county, in the middle of october. the leaves are changing, there's a little bit of a nip in the air. now invasion brooke morris standing there. and -- brook feels like she's been punched in the throat. she's been shot. brooke feels like a bomb goes off in her body. this is the second shot and it tears through her chest. she's terrified and she's in extreme pain is. thank you, you can open your eyes. >> the final minutes of a young woman's life. detailed in a tennessee courtroom. a tragedy that devastated her family and friends. >> this cannot be happening. >> it was really the worst day of my entire life. >> who would do this to our

friend brooke? it was awful. it was horrible. >> secrets exposed. but would justice be served? >> it's never ending. never ending. and i was so frustrated. >> most people who knew brooke morris remember her radiance and zest for life. >> she was always, always, always dancing. everywhere she went. >> caitlin ogle met brooke when they were teenagers. growing up just outside knoxville, tennessee. brooke the yen to kaitlan's yang. we kind of balanced each other out. she was a girly girl, and i was more the tomboy. so i'd go to her house and change into 1000 outfits and try and make up, and do our here. and she'd come to my house and we would play on the farm. >> sounds like you to were almost like sisters? >> oh yeah. we even fought like sisters. >> that's when you know you're good friends. >> yes, for sure. >> this is brooke's real sister

britney and their mom tina. >> what is she like to do? >> clothes. >> very girly, love doing here and stuff like that. >> she was just a girly girl. >> a little southern belle? >> yes. >> the little southern belle grew into a beautiful young woman. sometimes blond, sometimes brunette, brooke always drew people into her lively orbit. >> really spontaneous, fun, delirious, and just the life of the party. could literally make friends with anyone. >> dina was one of them. >> she would come over to my house and be like, we're going out tonight, we're gonna have fun. >> and that meant one thing on fall saturdays in knoxville. football at the university of tennessee. >> the strip is completely packed. there are football fans everywhere. it is so much fun. look cooking out.

lots and lots of fun. >> lots of orange. >> lots of. orange >> was the something brook look forward to on saturday? >> oh yes, all of us at that age. you know? that's what you did on saturday's. you want to get your orange and white outfits and figure out where you're going to be. >> october 15th, 2011, started out as one of those funds. they were taking on louisiana state and brooke was tailgating with friends. but by nightfall something was terribly wrong. >> 9-1-1, what's your emergency? >> we're down here on blair road -- >> 40 miles away from knoxville, a couple was driving down a country road. they were keeping an eye out for crossing deer when their headlights illuminated something else. >> and there's a body laying off the side of the road. >> okay, i need somebody to check for a pulse. >> she's, a bloody mess, ma'am. >> i understand. >> chief deputy tim phillips of the roane county sheriff's office had just finished

watching the football game when dispatch called him at home. >> what information you given before you arrived at the scene as, as you are driving there? >> essentially i had a white female that was deceased, laying on the side of the road. >> the body had been found just after 8 pm at the intersection of two, quiet, rural roads. not far from the chiefs home. the woman had not been dead for very long. when >> when you arrived here, what did you see? the >> victim's body was over here on the side of the road. close to the intersection here at old blair. >> right on the road? >> yes, white on the right line. >> what does she look like? what could you see? >> she was well dress, wearing blue dreams, boots, a bright orange shirt. she had a purse there with her and everything. >> iding the victim was the easy part. her drivers license was found right in her purse at the scene. it was 23 year old brooke morris. the hard part would be unraveling the mystery that led to her death on this lonely, country road. >> was it someone that was a stranger to us?

was it someone that we knew? all thanks kinds of things we're coming into our heads, trying to figure this all out. >> coming up. what happened to brooke? >> they're asking us do you know anybody that would want to harm your sister? we're like, we wouldn't have a clue. >> the hunt for a killer begins and it starts close to home. when dateline continues. introducing voltaren arthritis pain gel. the first full prescription strength non-steroidal anti-inflammatory gel... available over the counter. voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. voltaren. the joy of movement. still lots of room. just more to view. still the big move. just more moving.

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so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. so help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. >> brook morris had been found

dead on the side of a rural road. 40 miles away in knoxville, her older sister britney built a sudden wave come over her in the middle of the night. she woke her husband. >> i said, i just feel really sick, like all of a sudden, really sick in my stomach. and he said, would he thinks going? on i'm like, i don't know. i just feel really nauseous and it wasn't 20 minutes later i get a phone call. >> sheriff's deputies were looking for her mother, tina. >> didn't want to tell us much into the talk to mom first. >> tina was at a friends house, both chief phillips and britney headed over there. >> mom, you know, comes to the door and she looks at me and she's like, it's brooke and i'm, like yeah. >> how did you know? >> i knew it had to be because britney was there, you know? it had to be. >> i delivered more than my share of death notifications

and this particular one was, i will never forget it. i ask you to sit on the couch, and he sat there for a second, and i said, is brooke morris your daughter? and she said, she is. i said, well, she's been murdered. >> she passed out, cold. we had to get her to come back to, and she was so shocked. >> when tina came to, she could hardly prod this process what happened. >> it was almost like it was not real. like, you got the wrong person, it's not her. >> but it was real. brook was dead. she had been shot three times. once in her neck, once in her chest, and an execution style shot to the back of her head. >> i could not believe that another human could be so heartless. >> you know, they're asking us these questions like, who -- do you know anybody that would harm your sister?

and we are like, we don't have a clue. >> i could not even think of someone that would want to hurt brooke, in any way. everybody loved brooke. >> but investigators had to start somewhere. although only 23 years, old brooke already had an ex husband, clayton morris. she met him soon after high school. >> it was kind of country, you know. they just hit it off. they had fun together, and started dating, and a surprise popped up. >> she comes home with some news, big news? >> she was totally excited, of course. i was not so much excited. >> brook then 20 years old was pregnant. >> i thought brooke was too young, for one thing. and, you know, it's not what i had hoped for her at that time. >> brook and clinton were determined to make a go of it as a family.

before they became three, they got married. >> then they had this sweet baby that just stole my heart. in an instant. >> did not make it all better? >> it did. >> and how was brooke, as a mom? did you take right to it? >> oh yeah. >> they moved into a house and both had jobs. but the young couple soon realized that family life came with corona responsibilities and problems. >> did she confided knew at all about how things are not great at home? >> yeah, of course. she talked to her friends about it. we tried to be a supportive as we could, but we are on such a different level than she was. here we, we're still single. and she was married with a baby. so, hard for us to kind of relate in that area. but i think she knew it wasn't going to work, you know? >> after two years, the couple split. brook moved out and clinton

stayed in the house with their son. but brooks families say she and clayton were committed to raising the child together. >> she lived, you know, just a few doors up from clayton, and they had shared custody of the baby. >> was it an amicable divorce, or do they fight? >> we had some disagreements, you know? they definitely had some disagreements. >> ex-husbands, husbands, spouses are always looked at. >> they are. >> did you feel he was an important person to talk to you as well? >> we did. >> did you call him right away? >> we actually went and seen him. >> it was the middle of the night, just hours after brooke's body was discovered, when investigators arrived at clayton's house. she phillips will come up. >> so, what do you say to him then? >> we didn't tell him brooke was deceased, and our main objective is to try and find out what he had been doing that evening. >> you want to hear history before you talk about what happened to brooke? >> that's right. >> clayton told investigators

he had their son that weekend. he said he was at work all day saturday, and spend the evening at home. >> could he have left the child and gone out? >> he could have. >> coming up, scaring the scene of the crime. bullets and brooks phone. what will they reveal? >> it was a very helpful. >> when dateline continues. n dateline continues

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>> brooke morris with lead to rest at just 23 years old. and while her friends said they are goodbyes, her mother tina

admits to being in denial about brooke's death. i >> kept thinking, she's going to call. i know she's going to call. and she's going to say, mom, you know it was a big mix-up. i just couldn't grasp that she was gone forever. >> tina had a very hard time. remember being at her funeral and tina was holding this picture of brooke. just crying hysterically. i mean, two people had to carry her to the grave site. >> along with grief there was something else. >> how scary was it to you that whoever did this was out there? >> very scary. because they've taken something from you. what are their motives for us? >> roane county investigators, tasked with bringing brooke's killer to justice, had spoken with her ex husband clayton morris the night of the murder. >> we get in any vibe from

clayton? >> sometimes you read people, and people through off body language. but he just seem like, what in the world is going on? >> and despite the tension during the marriage and divorce, those who knew brooke didn't think her that ex-husband was a color. >> i just never entertain that. thought >> clayton was a good person. so i didn't think that he would be capable of doing something like that too brooke. >> more importantly, clayton's alibi checked out. investigators cleared him. if not the ex-husband, then who? who had brooke come in contact with that we can? investigators retrace brooke's steps. starting not with the game on saturday, but with the night before, friday. friends told investigators they had tickets to a concert. >> she was super excited about going to that. so she was just like, ok, i've got to go find something to wear. i'm going to go to dinner. >> after dinner, brooke left her car in a shopping center parking lot near the restaurant and drove its friends to the concert. she spent the night at dina's

house. >> i called it hotel we dina. because everyone just stayed. left unlocked for everyone. >> the next day, saturday, was the tennessee, louisiana state football game. and everyone was looking forward to tailgating. but the fundy turned sour. board something out of dina's closet. the girlfriends had an argument about. it >> i found out she work without asking. >> it was a silly fight, but it stuck with brooke. she didn't tailgate for long. >> she had been calling all these people to pick her up, take her to her car. because you want to detain change her out for that. night >> brook's friend albert dotson had been tailgating with her earlier in the day. >> so we went to break off and i was with some other friends of ours at the time. so i'm not really sure where she was. >> neither dina nor albert ever saw brooke again. and with more than 100,000 football friends flooding the city for the game, finding

brooke's killer was light looking for a needle in an orange haystack. >> i thought that maybe someone had kidnapped her. you know, we were all just trying to figure out who would have done this and why? what was their motive? it was a very horrible time. >> did you think that maybe it could be connected to the game? >> you never know. you can never rule it out. it's tennessee football. and you know, she so happened to be wearing a bright orange top. and then if and when he knows anything about tennessee football, right orange is the color for the tennessee falls. >> but brooks body had been discovered about 40 miles from the football stadium. and investigators were still stymied as to how she ended up there. did it lend itself to, that she maybe was dumped here? or did you think that she was actually shot here? >> based off of everything that was here at the scene, it appeared that she was shot here. >> a crime scene itself yielded little physical evidence.

no fingerprints, no tire marks, and no murder weapon. only some brass, as they call it. >> they found some spent ammo. they live ammunition. >> three shell casings, as well as some and fired bullets. all from a 32 caliber gun. that brass was sent to be tested in a lab, while investigators turn their attention to one item at the crime scene, the could possibly provide some quick leads. brooke's cellphones, it was right there, unlocked and in her purse. >> you can find out a lot about a person within seconds of going over the person cellphones. so, it was a very helpful to. us >> in fact, brooke's provided investigators with a major league to pursue. two leads actually. two men. investigators wanted to talk to them. but they'd have to find them first. >> it's always a concern whenever you have somebody that you would like to talk to, you can't get to them to talk to them. >> who are these two men?

could they help investigators unravel this mystery? coming up -- >> we do consider people like him a person of interest. >> and what was their relationship to brooke? >> there's some still something going on that shouldn't be? >> yes. >> when dateline continues. try claritin cool mint chewabls for powerful allergy relief plus a cooling sensation. live claritin clear. so with your home & auto bundle, you'll save money and get round-the-clock protection. -sounds great. -sure does. shouldn't something, you know, wacky be happening right now? we thought people could use a break. we've all been through a lot this year. -that makes sense. -yeah. so... ♪♪ now's not a good time 3/5ths of nsync. are you sure? you have us booked all day.

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>> welcome back. i'm craig melvin. with very little evidence found at the scene of brooke mauritius murder, data from her cell phone showed she'd been in contact with two men the day she was killed. could one of them be responsible for brooks motor, or was this another dead end? here again is andrea canning. >> the brutality of brooke morris's murder fueled the search for her killer. >> we hate they came into our community and committed such a crime. >> roane county investigators cleared brooke's ex-husband clayton, but they had two other men to look at. two men whose names and numbers are right there in brooks phone. >> who is brooke communicating with that day that seemed to be a potential importance? >> daniel hawkins. >> a man she used to date? >> a person we believe she had relationship with, yes. >> i think they were talking, nothing too extreme.

maybe a couple dates. >> albert knew daniel through mutual friends. >> we would hang out with daniel, you know, i would texan like hey, man, you coming? out he would meet up with us. >> but albert hadn't spoken to daniel that weekend. he didn't know daniel and brooke had been texting each other, making plans to meet up. investigators say they called the number listed for daniel on brooks phone. he didn't answer. >> you couldn't find him? >> couldn't find him. >> investigators aren't daniel lived in colorado. you had just been in knoxville for the weekend. >> are you worried he couldn't get a hold of him and he was out there? >> it makes you wonder, you know, what's going on? are they intentionally trying to avoid? you >> daniel had flown back to colorado by the time he got on the phone with a sheriff's investigator. >> basically interviewed him and got his whereabouts. >> where was he? >> it was at the ball game. >> daniel hawkins told investigators he was at the stadium watching the football game as he texted with brooke on and off throughout the afternoon.

the game ended just before 7 pm. brook's body was found just after 8 pm. so, if daniel was telling the truth, investigators had to figure out if he had enough time to get through the crush of all those fans, meet up with brooke, and make the 40 mile drive here too roane county to commit the murder all within about an hour. as investigators looked to daniels timeline, they saw he was still texting broke long after the game ended. the last text was just a little past midnight. it read, where are you, darling? by that time, brook had been dead by more than four hours. >> until we clear him and rule him out, we do consider people like daniel hawkins a person of interest. >> but daniel hawkins wasn't the only person texting with brooke. >> we all said brooklyn texting with? >> shawn smoot. >> what did you learn about shawn smoot? >> we found out he ran and all state office there in west

knoxville. >> married? children? >> married, was no longer married at that particular time. >> amy denlinger is a former employee of shuns. >> what were your impressions of sean? >> seemed like a nice enough person, outgoing, typical sales, easy to get along with. >> shawn smoot, the name rang a bell with brooks family and friends. not long after brooks divorce, shawn had hired brooke as an assistant in the insurance office. >> i remember the day that she had the interview. we had lunch right before, and she was so excited, you know? >> it was a real job. and i said there is going to be so much potential for you to move up in this company, you know? i was really proud of her. >> did you feel this was the fresh start brook needed? >> yeah, we did. we thought, we all thought it was going to be a good thing for her. >> did she seem happy? >> yeah, she loved. a think there's a couple other ladies in the office she worked with. everybody got along.

and she enjoyed it. >> she had formed a really, i guess, tight relationship with her boss? >> but brooks's family had no idea how close brooks relationship with her boss, shawn smoot, actually was. some of her friends did. >> well, she had told me in the beginning that she started working for this guy. shawn smoot. a little bit down the road, i had saw them out, eating or something like that. as things progress in their relationship, i was like... what's going on here? i was like, this guy, he seems a bit older? you know, does he have a family or anything like that? and she was like, yeah, he is married. >> an affair with a married man. >> i don't really think that she was like committed to that relationship. i think it was just her coming through a diverse, and she had this attention from this man. >> but there is still something

going on that shouldn't be going on? >> yeah. >> brook left the job after just a few months, but it was clear to investigators, at least, that brooke and shawn were still in touch. her phone showed calls between them on the day of the football game, and they've been texting back and forth. >> did you call him? >> our attempts to call him were unsuccessful. >> another one who's not around? >> that's correct. >> detectives decided not to wait for shawn the pick up his phone. they want to his house in the early morning hours after brooks murder. >> you go over there. is he home? >> he is. >> shawn told investigators he had seen brooke the day before. she called in from downtown knoxville, asking for help. remember, brooke's tailgating plans had gone awry. she wanted to go home and change your clothes. she needed a ride to her car which had been left at a restaurant the night before. shawn said he agreed to give her a lift, but they went to a bar to watch the game first. >> he picked her up, and i think they went to wild wings

and buffalo wild wings. to different restaurants, within the same square mile of each other. >> shawn said he then dropped brooke at her car in the parking lot where she loved it. >> did he say didn't know where she went after that? >> he said he didn't know where she went. >> so, had brooke met her killer there in the parking lot, or sometime later? perhaps she left to meet up with that other guy she'd been texting, daniel hawkins. but as far as investigators knew, shawn smoot was the last person to have seen brooke alive. as investigators check out his story, something wasn't adding up. >> so, is this one of the first now, where this guy's not being straight with us? >> it wasn't one of the first, it was one of the many. >> coming up, a secret brooke never shared with her family. >> did that just give you chills when you found that out? >> yeah, it was horrible. >> when dateline continues n dateline continues relief extra strength

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with zero hidden fees, you can drive off without feeling ripped off. that's what it means to live feelessly. these are real people, not actors, who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor.

so help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. >> investigators working brooke

morris's murder case were, taking a hard cook look at two men she was talking to on the day she was killed. >> daniel hawkins said they try to meet up but never did. >> we're daniel's friends able to backup his alibi? >> his alibi was verified. >> he was really at the game? >> yes. >> because of the time the game ended, detectives concluded

daniel hawkins couldn't have been in roane county at the time of the murder. he was eventually cleared by authorities. but could they verify shawn smoot's story. he told investigators he and brooke grabbed a drink after he picked her up. sure enough, here's video of them at one of the restaurants he said they went to. here they are taking their drinks out to the patio. another camera capture the couple leaving at about 6:30 pm. brooke is walking several steps ahead of shawn. something chief of phillips thought was telling. >> normally if people are happy and all that stuff, you'd think they'd walk out together. and if there was something going on, maybe she was like, i just want to get away from him. or a big lad when he drops me off at my car. >> this is the parking lot were shawn smoot said he dropped brooke out her car. none of the security cameras around here had the car in view. but it was still sitting here in the next day, after brooke died. which made investigators wonder

was shawn smoot telling them the truth? and if he wasn't, where did they really go? so they decided to trace his steps. they pulled his cell phone records and found something unusual. in the two and a half hours after shawn and brooke had been last seen together, there was no activity on his cell phone. and here's what also stood out, around 11 pm, his phone started pinging off towers along this major interstate heading out of knoxville. then it looked like shawn turned around. his phone started spinning in the other direction all the way back to his house. did he talk about why he was maybe about to leave town, but didn't? or why he turned around? >> initially talking to him, he had told us he was at home all night. >> so that's an inconsistency for you? >> it is. >> investigators were becoming increasingly suspicious of shawn smoot. and they weren't the only. once brooke's closest friends never really suspected her ex husband clinton or her --

with the new her relationship with shawn had been stormy. >> she would tell me just little things here and there. >> her friend said shawn had a temper and caitlin witnessed it firsthand one night after dinner. shawn, was drunk, caitlin says. and she didn't want brooke to drive home with. them >> he began to get very angry. and we drove just down the street. pulled into the parking lot and i pulled up right beside her car. and she opened the door and shawn was right there, grabbed her by the arm. i told or brooke just get back in the. car and so she did. we got back in she got back in the car we drove off. >> friends said similar incidents followed. brooke felt shawn was stalking her, showing up on announced an uninvited when she was out of friends. even after she stopped working for him. >> she definitely knew that something was wrong. after he was obsessive with her. calling her multiple times. and texting her and then stalking her.

she knew that this man has got some issues. i've got to try to get away from him. >> brooke reached her breaking point. and in january, 2011, did something she thought would get shawn out of her life forever. >> she's like, i'm done with the situation, he won't leave me alone. i'm going to the wife. she needs to know about the situation. >> i think she was probably tired of living in the secret. she wanted to be free from the situation. >> the wife knows, he'll leave me alone. >> yes, i mean if i'm honest with the wife. then maybe, you know? they can try to work out their problems and he'll leave me alone. >> but it backfired. shawn's imploded. >> she was like, i've gone to the wife, she's getting a divorce. she's made him move out. >> he lost everything after that. >> and friend said shawn continue to harass brooke. in fact, they say, things only

intensified. beyond emotional abuse, was a physical. >> yes. >> she had just told me that shawn was getting violent. >> he broke into her apartment one night. he came in through the bathroom window, through her head up against the tile floor. >> brooke's family didn't know about any of this. the relationship, the alleged violence. it wasn't until after her death that her family finally learned brooke's secret. >> did that just give you chills when you found it? >> yes, it was horrible. >> it was brittany who discovered it. as she went about the grim task of cleaning out brooke's apartment. >> and we were kind of getting stuff in order to pack a wee and send -- and i went in her kitchen and on top of the refrigerator was a manila folder. >> britney open the folder. it was an order of protection brooke had taken out about a year before her murder.

against her former boss, shawn smoot. >> and it was page after page of just -- crazy stuff that he did to her. and i'm just like, this is horrifying. i didn't even know that any of this was happening. >> the document details a litany of alleged violent outbursts by shawn. including the time brooke says he broke into her apartment and attacked her. >> why didn't she just tell us that this is what i'm going through, i need help? >> why do you think she didn't want to share with you what was going on in her life? >> she knew we would have a fifth. i mean, i would have hunted him myself for hurting her in any way. and i think she knew that. >> brooke's friends who knew about the order of protection were surprised to find out she and shawn we're talking on the day of the football game. >> nobody knew that she even had contact with him. >> but to investigators there

was something different about this particular order of protection. brooke had asked the judge to allow her and shawn to have social contact. sure enough, they had continue to talk and spend time together. so they had to wonder if things were really that bad between brooke and shawn. the investigation dragged on for weeks, then months. it was almost too much for tina to bear. >> i got really frustrated. yes, i did. and i'm sure they had to hear my rough a few times. because i'm a mother, and i wanted to know who did it and i wanted him put behind bars. >> but a major break in the case was coming. would a jury be able to put it all together? >> i said, were you directly or indirectly involved? >> coming up -- a murder charge at last. >> all go silent. brooke morris is dead. >> i wanted them to envision this young woman being shot

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oh man... let's get you to this moment. is that it? yep, that's it. of relief... [joyfully laughs] protection... i just got vaccinated- i just got vaccinated! noah just got vaccinated... hope... so that we can get to all the other moments. let's get you to the exhale you didn't know you were waiting for. let's get it... together. so we can be together. let's get to immunity. >> brooke moore's family and

now's your moment to get vaccinated. friends came to a heart wrenching conclusion -- she had been in a violent relationship with shawn smoot. a relationship that ended with her murder. >> did it just seem so easy to you that, okay, they can go arrest him?

now like we know who did it? >> absolutely. but that didn't happen. and, you know, i kept thinking, well, surely any day now, any day now. >> investigators had their suspicions as well, and they were trying to build a case against smoked. he was the last to see her alive. they had allegedly violent relationship. he had lied to investigators. but so far, they had found no physical evidence tying him to the crime. >> you are able to search shawn smoot's apartment? >> we. where >> did you find anything? >> we found an empty box that once contained ammunition. >> no gun? >> no gun. >> the boxes for a 32 caliber pistol. the same caliber as the murder weapon and the alamo? >> it was the same style of ammunition that was found out the murder scene. >> but without the actual gun itself, the circumstantial case wasn't strong enough to charge

smoot with murder. the crime lab released its ballistics report, showing marks on shell casings from the crime scene matched marks on a bullet found in smoot's home. has missy handgun appeared to be the murder weapon. >> that's a huge connection. >> that is pretty much the connection. >> in june of 2012, eight months after brooke was killed, shawn smoot was indicted on charges of first degree murder. >> did you immediately identify with her just being this young woman who was clearly so vulnerable? >> absolutely. bob edwards into any star smith saw this case as a relationship turned deadly. >> we are still talking about domestic violence. we are still talking about orders of protection, and all of the things that go wrong in those situations. >> you had no witnesses. you had no dna from your suspect, you have no water weapon. as a lot of things he didn't have. >> if we didn't feel like we could prosecuted and be

successful, we would have never indicted it. we would have never proceeded with it. >> circumstantial cases are allowing you to be creative. you can take a set of facts and we've a story together for your theory of prosecution. >> shawn smoot insisted he was innocent. he cycled through five different defense attorneys and the trial was delayed again, and again. >> it was surreal. really, you know. it had been re-said 22 times. 22 times. >> it's torture. >> it is. it is torture. >> the trial finally started in july, 2016. nearly five years after brooke died. robert jolly, smoot's attorney believed the case was week for one simple reason. >> i don't think they did a very thorough investigation of anyone other than mr. smoot, and even his investigation

wasn't very thorough. >> jolly told the jury just how little that investigation had uncovered. >> there are no fingerprints. there are no gunshot residue casks. no dna casks. there's absolutely no evidence that leads mr. smoot two roane county on that evening. >> the defense sought to prove the evidence the state that have wasn't actually incriminating, like the missing gun that shawn owned. yes, it was the same caliber as the murder weapon, but -- >> there are how many many million people in this country who owned, guns in this was a very common weapon. >> the defense argued the ballistics report looking shell casings from the crime scene to a bullet at smoot's home had no actual science behind it. >> there is no scientific evidence of that or any standards that show that. >> there is not currently a standard that shows every firearm makes-y unique mark.

>> as for the volatile relationship described in the order of protection, the defense pointed out smoothes never admitted to any of the allegations, and he was never charged, much less convicted of assault on brooke. >> the order doesn't mean mr. smoot ever did anything, it doesn't mean mr. smoot admitted he ever did anything. >> and the order of protection didn't prevent them from seeing each other, which they clearly did. >> miss morris told the judge that she wanted to have social contact with mr. smoot. >> jolly argued brooke was so afraid smoot of, why would she want to keep seeing him? after all, phone records showed she was the one who called him that day. >> she continued to treat shawn as a friend. as someone she would do activities with. >> did you worry that could be confusing to the jury? >> absolutely, and i think that's the underlying question

anytime we are talking about domestic violence. why does anyone go back? >> the prosecutors hoped a need out of the jury may have regarding smoot's guilt would be wiped away when they called their key witness to the stand. >> the swear from the testimony about to give the truth -- >> amy denlinger, who was working for smoot when brooke was murdered, her impression of the nice, outgoing man who hired her didn't last. >> why didn't change? >> he was cold. he got angry, easily. not satisfied, really ever. it almost seemed like he enjoyed getting somebody riled up. >> in court, she testified about what happened the monday following brooks murder. >> now, on that day, did mr. smoot coming to the office? >> he came in that morning. when i saw him the first time, he didn't see me, and it was crouched down under his desk. unhooking his computer.

i asked him if he was okay. he said, no. and i asked him if there's anything i could do? and he said, turn back time. >> amy had already heard about the murder and that investigators had been to smoot 's house. she told the jury with the defendants side next. >> and at that point, i asked him, if he was directly or indirectly involved in? and he said both. >> did you take that as a total admission of guilt? >> absolutely, absolutely. >> it had taken nearly five years after brooks murder to get her alleged killer before a jury. it took the jury less than four hours to regions verdict. >> we, the jury, find the defendant sean nelson smoot guilty of premeditated first degree murder of brooke nicole morris. >> what's the emotions you are feeling when you hear that word? >> of course we can't show emotion and court. >> what's going on on the inside? >> on the inside, i am

screaming. i am jumping for joy. >> i was able to give tina gregg a hug and see a smile through the tears she had over the last five years. >> this was the moment she had been waiting for? >> yes. i think it was the moment we'd all been waiting for. >> for the prosecutor, the case was about more than winning a conviction. there's a lesson to be learned. >> we're a woman watching this, who is maybe going through a similar situation, what's the message from the story for her? >> get out. get help. get out, don't go back. it's not going to change. >> speak out and don't be afraid, don't be ashamed because, you know, it's not your fault that you are being treated this way. you should never be treated that way. >> the jurors also had to decide smoot's sentence. that's one prosecutor tiffany tiffany starr smith asked them to imagine the horror of brooks last moments. >> i ask you a close your eyes for a few minutes this morning.

>> are you hoping having the jury close their eyes like that would have a powerful impact? >> i wanted them to try to envision this young woman out in the middle of nowhere being shot three times by an angry man that she was afraid of. >> all go silent, and at 23 years old, brook morris is dead. >> the jury sentenced smoot to life without the possibility of parole. that conviction and the sentence have provided comfort for brooks family, but not closure. >> i can't make anymore memories with her. only memories i have our her past memories. i mean, it's hard. >> she's always in my heart. she will always be in my heart. and, you know, i had 23 wonderful years with brooke. i wish i had 53 more, but

unfortunately i don't. i know where brooke is, i know i will see her again, and that gives me hope. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. watching. >> i see her laying there on the floor. and i see a person who have never seen before in my house. and i'm looking at him. he tells me i'm next, while he's reaching for a butcher knife. terrified. >> i just walked in. i saw blood everywhere. >> her daughter is laying there. a young girl coming home for lunch, getting brutally attacked. >> blood on the floor. shovel. doctor. also a knife. >> i truly thought britney would die. >> you wake up from your coma -- >> i'm just trying to communicate. >> she didn't give. up >> it was a struggle. >> you're not only the