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 victim

in this, you're the witness. >> it's almost like a nightmare. >> the detective walking due to do hypnosis? >> mine is a completely different face. >> tell me what's happening. >> he's hurting me. he's hurting me. >> the details that she gave -- it was unbelievable. >> she said you did it. >> i said no you did it. >> route 66, one stretch across if southwest from one horizon to the next, going from what america was to what it wanted to be. cities like albuquerque, new mexico, were celebrated stops along the journey. today, the links that once lined this part of the iconic highway has faded and closed as

the cottonwood mall became the new downtown. the mall that's kind of the big hang-up? >> i met my husband at the mall. absolutely, he. >> so did i. [laughs] >> it's played a probable pivotal part in our lives. >> for the rest marcell sisters, all six of them, along with her brother jonathan, cottonwood mall in albuquerque was the center of their social life. >> it was the people we went to school with. so everybody kind of knew everybody. >> sister number five, 17 year old brittani, worked at a sunglasses kiosk in the atrium. >> she's this beautiful, along girl, with striking blue eyes and a big smile. >> you are just drawn to her. >> life was simple, good. until wednesday september 11th, 2008. brittani, just starting her senior year of high school, made plans to mean her mom. a credit union teller at home for lunch. >> i opened the door and i walk

in. i saw her favorite red pair of sunglasses on the floor. i thought that was really weird. >> a seemingly trivial detail now burned into diane's memory because of what she saw next. >> i see her laying there on the floor. >> lying on the floor? >> on the floor. and she just bleeding profusely. >> then what do you see? >> i see a person who have never seen before in my house and he's holding a shovel. and he walks through my living room, drops the shovel, and walks through the dining room and around to the kitchen. and i'm looking at him and he tells me i'm next while he's reaching for a butcher knife. >> he's going to kill you? >> yes. >> what do you do? >> iran out. i'm screaming and yelling. >> diane screams got the attention of a passer by who is brave enough to help. >> he ran into the house and he yelled it back and he said you need to get those paramedics here real quick, or she is going today. >> diane called 9-1-1 but stayed outside.

certain the attacker was still in her home. >> i just walked in. i saw blood everywhere. i'm afraid to going. i walked in and he had -- he was coming after me. he ran to the kitchen. >> police and the paramedics were there in minutes. brittani was taken to the hospital as diane called her other children. >> someone was calling me and saying brittani got stabbed. i thought she'd gotten a car. accident >> mcgahn me to. >> we did realize why. happen >> i rushed him to my mom she told me what's happened, and i truly thought brittani would die. >> the sisters rushed to the hospital. but once there were met with confused looks. >> we were like, we don't have a brittani marcell higher. >> minutes later, detectives arrived until marcell for her safety brittani was admitted under an assumed name. >> we still hadn't understood what happened. i mean, she's under an alias, the police officers rushes into the private room into the hospital. >> putting brittani under an

assumed name may have been a smart move. because the family was later told about a mysterious visitor who is trying to get into see brittani. >> while you are in the waiting room one of the nurses came in and said, do you know that some man just came into see her? >> who was it? >> we don't know who it was. we don't know. >> the man left before he could be identified. diane had a terrifying thought, maybe it was brittani's attacker. >> i don't know if this person was watching us from afar. did he follow the ambulance. i went into the restroom. i would look at every stall at the back of the doors, to make sure nobody was in there are standing on the actual commode. >> fear took over? >> fear. >> as brittani teetered on the edge of death, her family could only guess as to who attacked her and why. >> we started looking at who's in our lives. was strange person? is any of the boyfriends? >> everybody in our families is a natural problem solver. everybody try to formerly ideas of who, how, what, when?

>> the marcell's were raised to be close and self sufficient. their dad, a truck driver, was often away. when he ended under force she had to go to work. the children looked out for each other. >> how do you should think is shaped brittani being number five in this big family? >> she looked up to kathleen and kristen and alicia. >> right me remind me again who zeal? this >> i am. i think i was kind of like her mom, to. i mean, that's where the way it goes in a big family. right? the littlest one has the most moms. >> like her older sisters, brittani was disciplined and hard working. >> she was an excellent student. she had a good circle of friends. >> i think she kind of set herself apart from the popular crowd, rather than was incited. and i think amongst us because she's very genuine and everything that she does. >> brittani was headed for college and hope one day to be a local tv reporter covering albuquerque. >> very, very driven. she was scheduled to graduate high school early. she wanted to study journalism.

>> but her mom diane said brittani hit a rough patch during her junior high. school >> how was brittani acting? >> she was rebellious. normal 17 year. all get confrontational when you ask them something. >> things got so tense for a while brittani moved in with her. that >> he wasn't there all the time. so it's perfect for her. >> this was her sort of, mild way of running away from home? a >> little bit. right. >> but by the start of her senior year, brittani wanted to come back. that's why she and her mom were meeting for lunch. to discuss brittani's return. instead brittani was attacked. >> what did the doctors tell you when brittani was brought to the hospital? >> they didn't think she will survive. >> rebuilt here? >> we could see her but she doesn't know we were there. >> the moment we all walk into the room, everything stopped. >> brittani's head was the size of a basketball, if not bigger. and i don't think any of us really thought that's brittani.

>> what goes through your mind when you realize you may never have any moments with your sister again? like this could be? >> all the moments you miss. brittani i had a couple nights before asked me to go to a maroon five concert, and i said i'm missing all those moments. i didn't tell her i loved her enough. i didn't holder enough. she didn't know how much he meant to me. i didn't tell her how much she appreciated i appreciated her. my son is not those. year >> you're having a dress rehearsal for a death that hasn't happened. >> coming up -- who was brittani's attacker? >> this just seems so. personal >> this for person seem like they were full of rage. >> who was brittani interacting with. who might be a suspect? >> and would he return? >> the alarm was set constantly. >> we just mid never experience that kind of imminent danger. >> when dateline continues.

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grasp what happened to brittani, the police were trying to find out who did. it albuquerque police detective jason morales, since retired, was the lead investigator. you've seen a lot of murders in your career. how brutal was this attack in this house? >> it was very brutal. >> morales said brittani have been hit repeatedly with a shovel. so hard a crushed the left part of her skull. >> so when i got here the crime than was already parked out front. they have been here for a little while. they were waiting on the condition of the victim, brittani, to see if she was going to survive or she was going to die. >> morales said the fact that brittani's person sunglasses were found in the entryway led him to believe the attacker came up behind her as she entered the house. did you get the sense maybe this was a burglary in progress and brittani just happen to come home? or did you feel like the perpetrator with someone that brittani new? >> this just seems so personal. it seemed to me at the time that we were looking at somebody that either knew brittani or knew somebody in

the family. or there was something -- there was more of a connection. they're >> the brutal nature of the attack, did that tell you anything? i mean, this person seemed like the ruffle of reach. >> it does. we started trying to figure out who was brittani hanging around with? who might be a suspect? because at this point we had no suspect at all. so everybody is. >> morales believed the attack had just started when brittani 's mom had just arrived. >> i don't think he was anticipating diane shielding. up the >> path in a bullet at the scene into created the attacker actually chase than when she fled the house, but stopped for some reason. maybe morales thought, when dianne started screaming. >> when you panic, so instead of going out the sliding glass door, whether was locked or unlocked, he jumps out of the dining room window not through the screen, through the glass to get out. >> inside the house, morales found a room full of evidence. >> once we are able to go inside, you could see was pretty violent. there was blood on the floor. the shovel. there was dictate.

and then there is also a knife. >> a lot of clues. >> yes, absolutely. >> enough, morales thought, to solve the case. that is, until he got the lab results. the fingerprints found on the shovel, knife and tape, were incomplete. dna from a male was found on the shovel and the knife. but it was so intermingled with brittani's blood, it was impossible to develop an individual profile. but on a short of broken glass, police found a drop of blood that looked promising. because it was person. >> when he jumped out of the window, he cut himself. >> the blood drop was analyst and a complete, male dna profile is generated. which morales uploaded to the national criminal database called qudus. >> to see if it would match anybody already in the database. >> did you get a match? >> no. >> no match? morales couldn't believe it. he was convinced britney's attacker had to be a repeat of

hinder. >> you have to figure that somebody has done something at that extreme has done something like that before. >> brittani's attacker basically vanished into thin air? >> yes. >> so now, morales is investigation went from the lab to the street. he'd heard brittani was seeing someone, kind of a boyfriend. >> we'll see a potential suspect? >> absolutely. >> did you do a dna test on her sorto boyfriend? >> yes. he was cleared. his dna did not match. >> police didn't have to rely on just hard evidence though. they had an eyewitness to the attack. >> i could see his height. >> britney's mom had actually seen the guy. >> i saw he had jeans on, a long sleeve shirt on. >> and what does he look like? >> either dark, couldn't keep him out, or like hispanic. with brown here, kind of spiky. >> police created a composite sketch and spread the word across the rio grande valley. >> there was both billboards, rewards, crime stoppers rewards, names just start pouring it.

we were talking to a bunch of people. >> but to no avail. the billboard campaign didn't produce any workable suspects. witnesses or leads. meanwhile, the marcell family was on edge. in the days following the attack, brittani remained on life support. close to death. >> we really didn't know what to do. they said she's probably not going to make it. >> their home, once a safe and secret place, was now marred by evil. >> walking in was like someone died there. it was just morbid >> it was just dark, very dark. living there are staying there, having gained nice, holidays -- we can all say we have a fun memory of that house. then going back there, it's a dark feeling you get on the inside. this is an okay, and you just want to get where you have to get to survive and leave. >> brittani's monsoon found a rental house. but changing addresses didn't help with the lingering unease. >> whenever we are in the house,

the alarm was set constantly. no pun windows, nope indoors. when we go out -- our whole lifestyle changed. >> the marcell's were terrified brittani had been attacked by someone who knew them and their routines. someone who might strike again. >> we just never experienced that kind of imminent danger. >> did you worry about them? that they could be targets? that he could go after one of them? or he could try to finish off brittani? >> right. just because we don't know if brittani was the initial target. and the fact that he hadn't been identified, i think it was unsettling for everybody. i think they had every reason to be worried. >> they worked out a schedule, taking turns standing vigil at the hospital with brittani. they try to be hopeful, but they also knew the doctors and the police all fought brittani was going to die. >> in all the reports at the hospital we're looking that the trajectory was four brittani to

pass. >> but somehow brittani held on and six weeks after the attack, against all odds, she finally opened her ice. >> when brittani came to and she woke up, her eyes were blue like the ocean. and they were agree. and i kept thinking he took your light, oh my gosh, he took your light. >> and in brittani's new gray eyes, her family saw something else. fear with. coming up -- >> who is this guy that hurt me. why did he hurt me? >> brittani and her family still haunted. >> your friends, your teachers your, boyfriend -- >> everybody's a possible suspect? it >> sounds crazy but it could be anybody. >> when dateline continues.

>> brittani's beating was so horrific, we created sketches of her time in the icu, rather than show you the actual photos. part of her brain was removed. then she contracted meningitis, which nearly killed her. one surgery after another. but brittani held on. and by christmas, three months after the attack, the family was told brittani would survive. but what would her new life to be like? >> we talk to her and she blink her eyes and smile. but we knew at that point, there was a lot of paralysis. and that's when they told us her ear can occur with canal is crushed, she's going to be

death. they also told us that her optic nerve is probably severed just from the heating of the head, the jolting of it. >> despite her estates of injuries, brittani's family started taking her on short outings. >> we put her in their wheelchair and she still couldn't hold her head up, she's drooling. and just like, please don't let this be. >> the family knew this might be all they could hope for. >> and there was so much dead tissue in the front temporal lobe, they removed pieces of that. and with the rain they are saying it so unpredictable. that could be, your speech, your short term -- >> when i hear all the wonderful things about her and all the things she wanted to accomplish. and now you're describing her like this. were you angry? >> absolutely. >> and as they tended to brittani, her sisters continue to wonder who could've done this to her? >> it's violating because you start questioning relationships your trust. >> exactly. >> as school, your friends,

your teachers, your boyfriends, your circle of influence. you're like maybe it was you. >> so everybody's a possible suspect? >> everybody. >> even going to the gym, going to the grocery store, standing in the gas station watching people. it sounds crazy. but when you don't know who it is, it could be anybody. >> it was also personal. the attacker had been in their home, possibly stop them. maybe brittani wasn't even his intended target. maybe it was one of the other sisters. no one could stay for sure. but the family had to put their fears aside when caring for brittani, who now needed all of their health. >> it's really taking your baby and raising her all over again. so, you're raising a child that you already raced. >> and not that i think was the hardest part, watching mom have to go through that again. and you wanted to cry for them. >> five months after the attack, her condition had stabilized to the point brittani could be

released from the hospital. but she was far from healed. >> she didn't realize why she can walk, why she couldn't eat, why she had to learn all of these things all over again. >> as helpless as a child, which meant had the attacker returned the marcell was more vulnerable now than ever. so diane felt fled albuquerque, taking brittani along with the two youngest children along to neighboring texas. she found a new home, a new job. and most important, a rehabilitation clinic for brittani. >> her mom was very, very anxious, because we didn't know who the assailant was. and they were still very concerned for her safety. >> doctor lori wright was one of brittani's therapists. >> what was your first impression of brittani when you met her? >> she just didn't know much beyond where she was. and she was very, very confused. crying a lot. she had to has somebody shower her. she had to have somebody take her to the bathroom. she had to have all of those

things done for her. all over again. >> doctor right, a newer psychologist, practices what is known as cognitive behavioral therapy. >> we believe with practice, practice, practice, the brain can heal. >> which means teaching ahead trauma proficient to do one simple task over and over again until it becomes reflexive. >> because their brain is just not the same brain that they used to be. >> is it like rewiring the brain? >> absolutely. it is rewiring the brain. so what do you do? you sit down and you do it with her until she is able to do it herself. >> brittani's injury was so severe, much of her therapy was almost like a preschool class. >> she would read her dr. seuss books to me. that was a rehab. she would have to read. >> i had read, she read. it was like reading to toddler all over. again teaching your child to read. >> but the attack on brittani was so brutal, doctor wright was unsure how far she would

get in her recovery. >> there is 25% of the brain she was unable to access, that she used to be able to access. >> did you think she would never get her memory back? >> getting that memory back, most people don't ever. especially if it's a traumatic brain injury. you don't usually remember. >> if he brittani's did return, her account of the attack could later be used as evidence. so doctor wright didn't give brittani any of the details out of concern it could create false memories. >> when people come out of this kind of trauma, they're not sure if this is a memory that they're remembering, or this is something that is somebody has told them. if her memory were to come back, we wanted it to just be her memory. >> as she slowly learn to talk again, brittani seemed stuck in a loop of fear. >> she would just repeat. i'm afraid, i'm afraid, i'm afraid -- who is this guy that hurt me? why did he hurt me?

and what am i going to do if he comes to get me? >> after months of constant repetitive therapy, brittani's brain did start to rewire itself. and in such a dramatic way it still brings tears to doctor wright's ice. >> it took a year, a year of intense therapy, and she didn't give up. it's really hard to explain. he brittani is special. she is definitely special. >> she is indeed. as you're about to see for yourself. coming up -- brittani speak so at last. you wake up from your coma. it's the first thing that happens? >> i was just trying to communicate. >> and she speaks to investigators, to. >> i put that big ex through that one picture. >> i thought it was this guy, i really did. >> when dateline continues. over 200 indoor and outdoor allergens. try claritin cool mint chewabls for powerful allergy relief

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u.s.. coronavirus cases arising across the country. but only in nine states and the u.s. territory of guam. two previous hotspots, new york and california, are not on that list. and the united states continues to deliver on its promise to stand with the people of india amidst the covid-19 surge. to air shipments have arrived in india today with more on the way. these emergency relief shipments build on the united states agency for international developments ongoing efforts to come back the covid-19 pandemic in india. now back to dateline. india >> there was a time when doctors give gave brittani marcell just hours to live. but somehow she held on. almost rising from the dead. through hours open hours of hard work, he brittani's mine embody began to heal. she's permanently deaf in her left ear and blind in her left

eye. these days, she no longer struggles to talk. here at last is fit brittani in her own words. you wake up from your coma, was the first thing that happens that you can tell us about? >> i'm just trying to communicate, but you can't. if i was at that newborn stage for say, because i can walk. talking was a hard thing. speech in general. after everything happened you're kind of like a toddler. you don't understand the language that you and i are speaking today. and then when i went to rehab, i'm more of like a teenager. a young teenager. and as time went on, i started becoming more like a stronger teenager. knowing what to. do >> so you are rapidly going through all the phases you'd already done once before? >> right. right. >> by her side the entire time, her mom. >> she's been there with me on every medical appointment. every surgery.

it's like she somebody who i look up to, very much so. she's like my best right now. >> humbled you remember your high school years? >> like nothing. i don't remember that. but i remember my childhood very wealth. >> that's interesting, you remember childhood but not high school. >> or middle school. very little middle school. i remember going to you new york in middle school. but when i was in high school, not very much. >> brittani's nerve damage is so extensive, she's unable to shed a tear control many of her facial muscles. and is no longer able to smile. >> how many surgeries have you had so far? >> gus, i've had i want to see, up to 20. my mom said i think you're done with surgery, i said no. i want my smile. that's what i want. and she's like, most people don't notice. that i said nope, but i do every day. >> the brittani you see today, is not the same person she was before the attack. as her brain re-wired itself, her speech patterns and even aspects of her personality changed.

she became more reserved, more cautious. not as bubbly and outgoing that she wants was. did you still have fierce even though you had moved to a new state? did you still feel like he could come find you? >> that's why on my social media i don't put a location as to where i live. you can put where you live on facebook now. i don't put that. >> despite her fears, brittani was improving, dramatically. police hope she eventually help them find her attacker. >> we asked her to look at the composite sketch. >> she said it looks like somebody she knows, but she just couldn't put all the information together. but those hoping she could at least give some information that would lead us in the direction. whether it be somebody that she remembered being without a party. or somebody that showed up to work. just give us another clue, or a lead, that we could follow up. and it didn't. >> another dead in? >> yes. very frustrating. >> meanwhile, the marcell

sisters, still working with brittani, did what they could to help with the investigation. by going over facebook annul yearbook photos. >> we just flipped through to see if she recognized anybody or had any idea who it could be. >> and anything? were you getting anywhere? >> she would point to some pictures, but i think she was still processing what we were having her do. >> but there was one picture in what would've been her senior yearbook that got their attention. >> this guy just look so sketchy. like, it's kind of like you get that vibe. that this guy doesn't -- he looks kind of guilty almost, like a criminal. like somebody who's going to go out there do something or harm somebody. so that's why i put that big ex through that one picture. >> she did more than draw next through it. she drew an inverted pentagram. the mark of the beast. the devil. >> i thought it was this guy. i really did. >> but it wasn't the guy. police investigated him and

found out he was just a random classmate who did nothing worse than take a bad picture. so the family kept up their armchair sleuthing. re-passing along? names >> friends, coworkers, anybody that would be in britney's world? >> right. even people in my kids worlds and my world. at that point, i didn't trust anybody not to have done this. they were all suspects. i was a teller at a credit union and i could see people walk in and walk out -- thinking, whoever is that. person >> they were always calling in. they would see somebody at the bank and it looked like them and they know who it was, but they couldn't analyze. we follow that information. but still, it didn't lead to the identity of a suspect. >> did you feel like you had started to exhaust everyone in britney's world? >> yes. >> and how many names of potential suspects or people of interest did the family give you? >> i would say somewhere in the area of about 30.

the frustrating part is the fact that we have the key right there -- it's brittany. >> coming up. you're not only the victim in this year is a key witness. >> that's the scary part. it's almost like a nightmare. >> enter a new detective. >> when she got her hands on the case, she would call my mom almost every day. >> you finally had hope? >> i did. >> could she find a new lead? >> i thought, wow maybe this is the guy. >> when dateline continues. you get fast, 24-hour relief in one drop. make it a pataday with the drop that's right for you. now without a prescription. everywhere.

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brittani marcell case was inside out. police had the suspect's dna, but not his name. fingerprints, but to smeared to read. and to eye witnesses who couldn't identify the attacker. you are not only the victim in this, your the key witness. >> right. >> i mean, you know who did this to you. you may not know his name. but you saw him. >> that's the scary part. it's almost like a nightmare. >> ironically for investigators, the fact that brittani didn't die pose the problem. there's no statute of limitations for murder. but attempted murder is a different story. in two years into the case, morales worried he was running out of time. >> i wouldn't want something

like that to be the technical technicality that gets this individual off in the future, is the fact that this statute of limitations run. out >> for help morale us turn to cold case prosecutor david waymire. >> even if the defendant was ultimately identified through dna. even if he admitted the crime. the statute of limitations, what's it hits, it's an absolute bar prosecution. >> but waymire had an idea as to how they could get around that hard deadline. indict the dna profile as a john doe. a creative legal maneuver, but one that had never been tested at state court. >> although we felt like we were on solid ground to do it, we didn't know for sure that would be upheld by the new mexico court. >> with no other options, waymire went ahead with the unusual indictment. a good thing, because the investigation was at a standstill. morales was afraid the only way he would catch brittani's attacker was if he struck again. >> i cannot believe that somebody would commit a crime

of this nature would not mess up again. >> brittani's sisters were afraid they might be the next victims. >> i mean, we would all sit around the table and we would go into hours of the night trying to come up with possibilities of why and whom. >> but the marcell, like detective morales, had no workable leads. by the fifth anniversary of the attack, the case was no closer to being solved. >> i really hate calling cases cold. it's just that you haven't found that right person. >> liz thompson, then a heart sergeant heading at the home side unit, and detective militias boss, was optimistic something would break. >> that one person hadn't top. or that one piece of evidence hadn't matched up. and it just took persistence. that's what it needed. >> but that optimism was lost on the marcell family. they were still living in constant fear brittani's

attacker would one day return. possibly for them. >> it is a scary thought. because we don't know for being followed still. and we're all scared. >> and that's when, in 2012, brittani's mom place an uncomfortable call to sergeant thompson. >> i finally said, you know what, i think we need new eyes on the case. >> and so we had to have some hard discussions about what are the next steps? how can we move this case forward? >> sergeant thompson decided the best way to accomplish that was to reassigned the case. two veteran homicide detective jodi gonterman. >> i read through the case, a brief with detective morales. i spoke with a family. brittani didn't remember what happened all. >> describe her for. us your first impression. what you thought of her. >> she's a go getter. she stubborn. she doesn't give up. she just fascinating. she's cute. vivacious. she's a mom. she has kids. >> did you feel like this was a match made in heaven? >> i did. yes.

>> what did she tell you? that she was gonna do? >> she was gonna review everything. she had a good relationship with the forensic team there. she had her review, all the fingerprints, all the dna. >> when she got her hands on the case, she would call my mom almost every day. >> you finally had hope? >> i did. >> that they would find your attacker? >> i did. she goes out and she goes after the evidence she's got. she goes after every. tip >> brittani said you would always sure that her case was at the top of the pile? >> i told her every time she called me i'm looking at your case, it's right here. i'm not filing it away. i will never put it away. >> did you have an instant connection with brittani? >> i believe so. absolutely. >> gonterman immersed herself in brittani's private world prior to the attack. >> who she was friends with, what those relationships were. who isn't in her phone. who the photos were. who she hung around with. what is she like to do. she was a very social girl. she was a very good girl. >> now five years after the

attack, gonterman worked in the case like it happened yesterday. searching for new leads, new witnesses. >> talk to neighbors. i would look at every house to see, is there anybody at this house who has a criminal history that would fit this type of crime? >> because the case had been out of the public eye for so long, gonterman and thompson began drumming up a local press coverage hoping it would shake loose a new lead. >> so i did a piece on local media. we re-issued the sketch. and then detective gonterman started taking in tips. >> and right off the bat, they got a good one. >> i thought, wow, maybe this is the guy. >> coming up -- one name, then two, then three. then for. >> the suspect was developed and then another suspect would

be developed. over and over, they were excluded. >> what is it that we're missing? >> i didn't give up. we need to get an answer for brittani and her family, to give them closer. >> when dateline continues. it works naturally with the water in your body to unblock your gut. free your gut, and your mood will follow. ♪ irresistibly delicious. ♪ ♪ pour some almond breeze. ♪ ♪ for the maestros of the creamiest-ever, ♪ ♪ must-have smoothies. ♪ ♪ it's irresistibly delicious. ♪ ♪ more almond breeze, please! ♪ 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. >> a couple of weeks,

detective gonterman and sergeant thompson, had already secured up a hot lead on a potential suspect who had somehow slipped through the cracks years earlier. >> what was his criminal history? >> stocking his girlfriend. there was ducked even. he lived across the street behind brittani. >> also suspicious, the suspect left new mexico after the attack. >> where was he? >> i think he was in colorado, if i'm not mistaken. >> so gonterman called local police to track him down and surprisingly convince the suspect to give them a dna swab. albuquerque police department forensic scientists elena williams took over from there.

how long does it take you to see if there is a match? is instant? >> no. it takes several days to look at the item of evidence. swab the sample, extract the dna, see how much you have. and then once is placed on the instrument, you get a dnd profile. >> at the end of all that, -- >> did you think it was him? >> i thought it was a possibility. got my hopes up. and then i was very disappointed when it wasn't. >> the dnc did not match. a big let down, one of many to come. then another tip -- gonterman took it seriously because of who it was from. >> apparent saying i think it's my son who did this. >> wow. >> my son would visit the house right across from brittani's home, and he looks like the sketch. and this was considering, this would be very difficult for a parent, i thought wow, okay. >> but when gonterman got the

men's dna samples -- >> he was excluded. >> another lockdown? >> yes. >> so gonterman thompson tried a different strategy. focusing on cases that bore some similarities to brittani's attack. they found one that was eerily similar. >> oh my gosh, it was the same part of town. it was her own home, it was a shovel, they knew her. and i just thought, how could it not be? >> but his dna didn't match either. it wasn't john doe. the old school approach of working tips, leads and hunches, just wasn't paying off for gonterman. so she went back through the case files again and came across a report about brittani's cell phone. >> back in 2008, during the initial investigation, police and have the technology to bring into the phone without erasing the data. >> so when it was first processed, there were only so many tools to get in it. and brittani couldn't remember her pain. so years later, i took it down

to the forensics laboratory for computer -- >> you tried it again? >> because there's advance in technology? >> this time, technicians were able to get into brittani's phone. and right off the bat, gonterman found an intriguing clue. >> a text message from a meal who texted brittani the day happened and wanted to meet her for lunch. and i was like, wow, we didn't know about this guy. and brittani didn't remember him. >> he didn't have a name and everything? it was right there for? you >> name, for number, i think it out everything he was. so at the time he had gone to high school with brittani. >> so gonterman did an online search and easily found brittani's old high school friend. to her surprise, he was a police officer. >> did that kind of rattle you a little bit? >> of course it did, what a better way to not get caught. you know, cover it up. >> gonterman contacted the officer. broke the news to him that he

was a person of interest in the brittani marcell case. she also collected a sample of his dna. two weeks later the results came back. they were negative. once again, it wasn't john doe. somewhat relieved that it was at him? >> was i relieved? i was. but if it was him and he was a law enforcement officer, then, good we got him. >> about how many men approximately would you say that you got your hopes up for that it could be the one? >> i think those four were the most significant. >> but many more were tested. >> a suspect was developed and then the dna profile did not match. and then unless their suspect would be developed and no match. and every time it seemed like, over and over, suspects by suspect, they were excluded. >> we tested and tested and tested. and no matches. >> what's that like, up and down, up and down? you get your hopes up and then it's not a match? >> it's really hard.

and we have to remind each other all the time. okay, how do we move forward? why is it that we're missing? >> it's an emotional rollercoaster. >> as the years slip by and you have all these false leads, false hopes -- are you starting to wonder if maybe we're never going to solve this? and this is maybe all four nothing? what we're doing? >> i didn't give up. we need to get an answer for brittani and her family, to give them closure. >> her determination gave the marcell's strength. >> she's like i'm not retire till this cases solved. >> she said that all of us. >> like detective morales before her, gonterman found herself circling back to brittani. but each visit was as frustrating as alas. >> she didn't have a lot of memory. you know it's like talking to little girl. talking to sweet little girl, trying to remember. >> by 2014, six years after the assault on brittani marcell,

the detective gonterman was out of leads, suspects and witnesses. the scientific a way of working the case through fingerprints and danny was a bust. and so was gonterman's old school knocking on doors approach. >> did you ever seated jodi, you know what, i think maybe we need to stop focusing on this case so much? we're running in all the wrong directions? >> oh good heavens, no. we just hadn't found this person. or this person was deceased and we just needed to figure out who they were. and get their danny and solve it that way. but no, we just had to keep plugging away at it. >> there was no doubt brittani was improving dramatically. but she still had no recollection of the attack. no one knew if her memory of that day was gone forever or would eventually emerge from the he's. detective gonterman and sergeant thompson now believed if they were ever going to solve the case they had to do something radical.

possibly even traumatic, to find a way to get brittani to relive the attack that nearly killed her. >> we didn't know if brittani had brain damage that was interfering with her ability to remember the attack. or if they were repressed memories that could be recovered from using hypnosis. >> putting a witness under hypnosis is legally controversial. many states will allow it out of concern the recovered memories could be nothing more than made up stories. putting brittani, a brain damaged crime victim under hypnosis, had its own unique set of concerns. >> because your memories then start falling back. do you hypnotize and more comeback than expected. >> if you had the choice to remember the entire incident, would you want to remember it? >> i would once remember the beating. that's something i would not want to remember. i just want to remember the guys face. >> just enough to say, -- >> this is. him >> coming up -- >> do i have your permission to

hypnotize you? >> yes, sir. >> you sure you're ready? >> i believe so. yes, sir. >> brittani marcell under a doctor spell. >> tell me what's happening. >> he's hurting me. he's hurting me. >> can he jog her memory and help solve this mystery? >> one, two, three. >> 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.

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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. >> a near fatal beating left

her brain damage, blind in one eye, partially death. now she was about to take an extraordinary step to catch her attacker. despite her fears of reliving the trauma, on august 14th, 2014 brittani agreed to go under hypnosis. >> i'm recording. >> doctor leon morris was a clinical psychologist chosen to

work with brittani. it would be his first criminal case using hypnosis and he was confident they were memories to recover. >> have we met before? >> i don't believe so. >> doctor morris was well aware though that what memories brittani did have the attack could be wrong. >> there's something called confab elation. a person doesn't remember something they kind of filling the blank with things. it may not be accurate. >> before starting, dr. morris made sure she was still a willing subject. >> if you have reservations about re-experiencing what happened to you, if it might be too traumatic for you, i would recommend that you not do it. >> i believe a part of me wants to get it done. i think it might help a little bit, because maybe that little clue could solve the case. >> do i have your permission to hypnotize you? >> yes, sir. >> you sure you are ready? >> i believe. so yes, sir. >> at first, the session seemed

to be going in slow motion. >> first, i want you to just hold your hands out in front of you like this. >> doctor morris calmly instructs brittani to slowly bring her hands together. brittani we'll be fully in a trans the moment she got her hands touch her forehead. watch the clock in the upper left hand side of the screen. >> your eyes will close and relax. >> it takes brittani almost ten minutes to go under dr. morrison spell. >> i want you to open that door -- and that's the door to your memory. >> a passage which led to another time and place. brittani's home on september the 11th, 2008. brittani recalls walking inside. it's empty. >> no one's home. >> then she sees someone. >> who is he? who is he? no. no. no. >> her body shakes as she relives the beating.

>> that hurt. that hurt. >> tell me was that -- what's happening? >> he's, he's -- hurting me. >> eerily, brittani describes this full flight fight for her life in an almost monotone. >> tell me what's happening? >> he's hurting me. he's hurting me. i'm bleeding. bad. bad -- >> can you describe him? >> he's -- he's tall. here, like spiked here. like -- he had like spiked here. muscle -- light skin tone -- mexican? hispanic? brown ice -- >> you remember seeing this man? >> did i see him at my work?

i don't know. >> did you see him at your work, you said? >> that may be he bought glasses. maybe. >> brittani is apparently talking about a possible customers of her at the cottonwood mobile sunglasses kiosk where she worked. >> so he may have a look familiar to you? >> he's tall. he's tall. it square. i think. >> face was square? >> almost square. a big knows. and weird eyes. >> what about his ice? >> weird. ice >> weird ice? >> brittani had been in a transfer just 36 minutes and had apparently provided more details about the attack that had been uncovered over the last six years. according to brittani, her attacker was tall, muscular, with borrowed ice, a square jaw, big nose, light skinned, and

possibly latino. and this was important, he may have been a customer of hers at the cottonwood mull sunglasses kiosk. someone she knew. and whose name she'd hopefully remember. >> i am going to bring you out of hypnosis. >> once she came out of her trans -- >> you will remember everything that has occurred. >> would she remember the name of her attacker? >> one, two, three. >> coming up -- >> and what she told me. but i didn't know whether it was accurate or not. >> new information from brittani and cutting edge new technology. >> oh wow. if i was a suspect in a criminal case, this would give me away. >> yeah, i think so. >> could it lead to break in the case? when dateline continues.

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with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. >> one, two, three. bounce forward, with comcast business. >> as soon as brittani marcell emerge from hypnosis. she had a question for doctor leon morris. >> who is he? who is he?

>> brittani was hoping she had blurted out her attacker's name while in a trans. but that didn't happen. the identity of her attacker was still a mystery. >> i'm just like, that wasn't really helpful. >> did you get upset? during the session? >> i was angry with, the reconstruction i had on my face. you can't tell whether unpopular or sad unfortunately. but i was getting that mad face when i was being hypnotize because it's like your feeling the pain of what's happening. >> it wasn't totally in vain, though. >> he had like, spikes here. >> brittani's mom also said the same thing. but brittani was able to provide new details of her attacker's face and physique. >> with those descriptors, what we did is we sent her to our sketch artists and had another sketch done with what brittani remember from those characteristics. >> the two sketches, brittani's

and her mom's six years earlier, had some similarities and some differences. while both said the attacker had brown ice and light skin, the facial structure, nose and here didn't match. doctor leon morris had a possible explanation. >> a lot of eyewitness identification is wrong. at the end of the hypnosis, i knew what she told me, by didn't know whether it was accurate or not. >> no one knew if what britney said while under hypnosis was accurate or not. the composite sketch based on her description failed to produce any usable leads. once again, the job of pushing the case forward fell to detective jodi gonterman. >> she is probably the best detective i could ever ask for. >> did you find yourself getting emotionally invested with a case, with so many years gone by? and your connection to brittani and i am? >> i did. i went into her office crying once before. just because also disappointed.

it's rough. i mean, you try to not get emotionally involved, but you do. >> as the investigation languished, brittani continued on with her life. and in may of 2016, eight years after being nearly beaten to death, she graduated from college. >> i didn't think i would be graduated from college by now. i didn't think i'd be doing that. >> to go to college and to come this far -- it's just incredible. how do you do it? >> you have to be strong in yourself. you have to believe in yourself. >> and it was around the time of brittani's graduation that gonterman got another one of her out of the box ideas. she heard about a new way to make a sketch, not from an eyewitness account, but from a dna sample. >> they do a different type of testing that gives here color, eye color, skin tone ancestry. >> this is an incredible tool. it's amazing. >> the company behind this new

crime fighting tool is paramount. where they do something called dna phenotyping. >> it's essentially a genetic witness. >> doctor ellen is power director of bio informatics. >> how does it work and lehman storms? how can you take dna make a sketch? >> we focus on those traits that are passed out from parent to child. so if you think about where and you think about all you have a mother's eyes. will you have your mother side because you have your mother's dna. and we can figure out will this piece of dna we've seen blue eyed people but not brown eyed people. >> so oil features are connected to your dna? >> absolutely. parabon started off by helping the u.s. military create dna profiles from the remains of insurgent lawmakers during the iraq war. it wasn't long before cold case detectives were sending them emails looking for help as well. >> these investigations that were working on, sometimes they've been cold for decades. in these cold cases, they're

cold because there are no leads. and a lot of cases, that's because there's no witness description and were able to give them that. just with the dna. >> from a single dna simple, parabon can make an estimation of someone's here color, eye color, and complexion. we hired parabon to test a sample of my dna. but we didn't tell them it was from me until this interview. >> i sent in my dna as >> that was yours -- >> that was my blind sample. you did not know whose dna we were sending in. >> no, we did not. >> parabon built a profile of me as if i were a random criminal suspect. >> so all we received was a dna vile labeled tr nine for one one. so these are the predictions we produce just from that day. this actually was an interesting eye color prediction. when that we don't see often. it will either come from people with fairly dark, bluish green ice. or it will come from people who actually have very light ice. but with the dark ring, and a

goal center. >> okay, so i have the goal center. >> i see. i see it now. the pigment that's in your ice is a yellowish color. so that's why as you get more it turns green and then brown. so you've got that pigment. but it's only in the middle, which is pretty interesting. >> that's fascinating. >> your ancestry came out as a mix of northern european and southeast european. >> my grandparents, and my mother side, are from czechoslovakia. and my father's family or from london. >> that is perfectly how it came out. >> you nailed that. good. >> so we predicted that she would have lighter cheekbones, whiter ice, larger ice. and then a wider jaw, and there are tuned. a fairly petite knows. but a little bit wider at that base. the next page siege going to include your composite. >> oh wow! the eyes look very much like mine. >> light ice but with a golden center, and a dark ring. medium blonde here. >> if i was a suspect in a criminal case, this would give

me away. [laughs] >> yeah, i think so. >> putting together a profile like this is labor intensive and costly. up to 30 $600. a lot of money for cash strapped on the side units like albuquerque's. but after months of dogged persistence, gonterman wrangled up this funds and shipped a sample of the john doe dna too parabon and settled into weight. the process would take several months. meanwhile, gonterman set brittani's file aside and focus on other cases. but it is at this time in october, 2016, when a name suddenly emerged from brittani's memory. >> she said, the name justin kept coming up. >> i asked my mom, hey did you know this person? >> she goes no,. i said for some reason that the keeps coming back to mine. she's like, how often? i said every day. i don't know why. >> every day? >> every day. >> this was the first time a name had just popped into her

head. brittani called her sister to see if they remembered a guy named justin. >> as like oh yes that's hansen, yes as justin hansen. >> all the sisters remember justin hansen. he was a fixture at cottonwood mall. where did he work at the mall? >> holster. >> i think that was kind of a big deal right? >> yeah. >> he was a cute guy? >> yeah i think if you are going into africa on the arc holiest or you are cute guy. >> the question was, why was brittani suddenly remembering him now. >> were you getting an eerie feeling feeling when you would think of justin? or just his name is popping into your head? >> just his name is popping. up >> nothing more. just why does this keep happening. >> right. he worked at hala stir. and he'd come over to my kiosk and all and sit there and chat and talk. and it was what i thought it was just a mutual relationship. >> did he seem interested in you? >> i don't remember that at

all. flirty? flirty >> flirty. >> britney call detective gonterman with this latest memory. >> and she says, a name popped into my head, i don't know why. but this guy's name is justin hansen and i worked at the sun glass kiosk and he would come and visit me. she said, it was nothing bad. but i remember him hanging out with me for about an hour at a time. and it happened maybe about three months before the attack. he would come by and just talk to me. >> gonterman new that while under hypnosis, brittani said she may have met her attacker at least sunglasses kiosk. >> did i see him at my work? i don't know. >> did you see him at your work, you said? >> yeah, that maybe he bought glasses. maybe. >> over the previous nine years, the marcell's had asked police to investigate 75 different men. none of whom turned out to be

the attacker. this was the first time though, brittani had ever come up with a name. so maybe this new memory was important. on the other hand, maybe it wasn't. coming up -- >> hi how are you. are you justin? >> detectives pay a visit to justin hansen. he seems helpful. that is his story truthful. >> can i think about this and then come back and see? >> when dateline continues. by over 200 indoor and outdoor allergens. 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.

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scroll scroll scroll scroll, it's a lot. i downloaded audible and really, really enjoyed it. and then it kind of just became a lifestyle after that. audible allows me to find a space for myself. you just get way more than you pay for, one of those rare things in life. oh, the audible plus catalog is awesome. it's like having a streaming service, but just for audio content. there's audible originals... there's podcasts... i've used some of the meditations, it helps me relax. mythology, anthropology, a lot of the -ologies. audible recommended the right audiobooks at the right time. they pretty much have whatever you like. it's really enriched my life in so many ways. i can put on an audiobook, or a podcast, and be transported somewhere that is impossible to go, that is why i love audible. to start your free 30-day trial, just text listen 11 to 500500. for sergeant leads thompson and

detective jodi gonterman, calling brittani's case cold was an admission of defeat. but eight years after the attack, the investigation had clearly stalled. so this new name from brittani, justin hansen, did not look to be any kind of case changer. >> she gave me so many names of people, but nothing was really significant to her. and all along, justin's name never came up. >> did she have any reason why his name of all people was popping into her head? >> she did not know, it just pop into her head one day. >> justin hansen did not match the description that brittani

gave while under hypnosis. >> he is hurting. >> that person was tall, muscular and had brown eyes. hansen on the other hand, was average height, and has green eyes. hansen was also a married father of four, with no criminal convictions other thant now, or was it like ok, i will get to it. >> i said, okay, i will set it aside, wait to contact him. because the more that i had, when i do an interview, the more information i have behind me will be more helpful. >> justin hansen just did not seem like a high priority until three months later, january 3rd, 2017 when detective jodi gonterman and sergeant thompson finally got the dna report. doctor ellen great act of paramount walked us through her dna analysis. >> this is the dna from the person who attacked brittani? >> this is from blood that was

found at the crime scene, yes. we find that this person, who has fairly fair skin -- >> so this is a white male? >> it is a fair skinned mail, fairly confident in that. this person has light brown hair, so he is blond to brown, fairly equally blond or brown, sort of on the lighter brown side. most likely, they do not have a lot of freckles. >> there was one detail in john goes profile it turned out to be crucial information, the color of his eyes. remember brittani's description of john doe? >> brown eyes. >> it turns out that she was wrong. john those eyes were not brown. >> we found that this person has green to hazel eyes. >> which is unique? >> fairly unusual, yes. >> green eyes. the same color as justin hansen's. and the sketch itself? here it is. >> when we saw that composite i was like, oh my gosh. >> it was that close? >> yes. >> but i still did not want to

get my hopes of because i did not want to get disappointed again. >> still not convinced that this man was the guy she had spent years hunting, jodi gonterman, along with a fellow detective wearing a body cam paid just in a visit. >> hi, how are you. are you justin? >> i am justin. >> okay, i am jody. we are detectives. >> right from the start, justin was calm and cooperative. >> i am investigating a case, which is an older case, i'm going back to talk to the friends people who knew brittani herself. it is from 2008. >> okay. >> hansen invited the detectives into his home, where gonterman started off with the basics. >> remember hanging out with her in the sun glass kiosk? >> i walked by maybe, and kind of just said hey, how are you doing? how is your family? things like that, and stuff. >> on a regular basis? did you just remember a little bit? >> just when i was working in the mall, i would walk by and say hi to her, not on a regular

basis. >> because brittani actually remembers you coming into the living room, hanging out to talk to her maybe twice a week. >> no. >> after a few minutes of this, but gonterman told hansen what she was really after, a dna sample. >> and i just did not care about the dna of the scene, we can exclude everyone because we -- >> expecting or hoping that hansen would agree, gonterman put on a pair of latex gloves as she continued to talk. >> not that you are a suspect at all, because you are not. >> but hansen hesitated. >> can i think about this, and come back and see you about this? it just seems kind of -- >> well, what are your concerns? >> i don't know, me and my wife watch a bunch of these shows and hear people, you know, who have gotten in trouble for something they never did, ten, 15 years later they come back and say, was it you or that

kind of thing. maybe they have been in trouble for aid for a long time. maybe i could talk, talk to my mom about this and say, this is where they normally do, they just come and see you. is that ok? >> what did you make of his demeanor that first time when you went to go see him? >> well, i mean, he was friendly, acting like he was concerned but it was almost an act. but then he would not give his dna. >> we all thought, how odd for a man of that age to say they wanted to talk to their mom. his wife was right there. he is white, in his thirties and suddenly, he wants to talk to his mom? so maybe, was his mom a lawyer? the whole thing just suddenly seemed very odd, a big, red flag. >> he seemed like a bad actor when i spoke with him. it seemed like he was putting on an act, it was not genuine to me. >> before she left hansen's

house, gonterman decided to rattle his cage by telling him that brittani's memory was finally starting to return. >> your statement does not match what she remembers. she remembers very well that you used to visit her. when she was bored, he would come in twice a week and hang out. you used to where tight aber can be shirts, your pants used to be very soggy. >> hansen said he would come by gonterman's office after speaking with his mom, but he never showed up so gonterman gave him a call to see what was going on. >> hello? >> hello, justin? >> hello. >> hi, it is detective jody gone coming with ap, how are you? >> i am doing okay, how about yourself? >> good. >> the call started off well enough, but the tone quickly changed. hansen said he felt targeted and outright refused to give a dna sample. >> i felt -- like the way you guys were coming at me was -- like, no matter what i said, i was the person you are looking for. and it's -- and it -- and it, and no one wants to be. that >> hansen ended the call,

demanding an apology. >> i appreciate a call to let me know that you are sorry. >> i will apologize after i get your direct dna. >> detective gonterman had been investigating justin hansen for five months now, yet there was still a question mark next to his name. so time again for gonterman to get creative. >> coming up, an undercover mission to... make donald? as >> we followed him and watched him eat. >> a hunch for treasure in the trash. >> i said, i cannot believe this. >> when dateline continues. continues , 24-hour relief in one drop. make it a pataday with the drop that's right for you. now without a prescription. everywhere.

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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. >> if justin hansen really was

the guy who and assaulted brittani marcell, he done a masterful job getting away with it. over the course of a nine year investigation, not once had police considered him a suspect. >> it's pretty unique that his

name had never been mentioned by any of the family, the friends. >> and now that he had come to the attention of prosecutor david waymire and detective jodi gonterman, after brittani remembered his name, hansen was able to keep them at bay by simply refusing a dna test. >> so our district attorney suggested having him followed and getting things dna. >> one of the main ways that can be done is through things that a subject throws away. >> on april 3rd, 2017, six months after brittani told police about hansen, detective gonterman requested a couple of undercover officers to tail him. but by the time they request was approved, two months later, hansen had both moved and quit his job. police didn't know where he was. two more months passed before the surveillance team tracked hansen to his new job at this body shop in north albuquerque. >> they followed him to

mcdonald's and they watched him eat and he took the lid off of his mcdonald's cup and he drank it directly out of the cup. and when he walked out, the trash was pretty full, to the top. and he wrapped his own meal, his own trash, nicely in the police mat that comes on your tree. so is all separated from everything else. so the undercover detective just walked right behind him and picked it up. >> and the detectives took that trash street to albuquerque police criminal list a lana williams. >> i really did not have high hopes that this would be the individual that might match to our unknown person. >> she'd already process the dna of 17 potential suspects without a match. no reason to think number 18 would be any different. what was the result from the suspect, justin hansen? >> it was a complete match. >> after a nine year

investigation and 18 dna tests, john doe had finally been identified. it was justin hansen. did you keep checking it over and over again and over again, just like a lottery ticket? >> i actually detect it twice. i did it once and then i went back through and i checked again. and i said, i can't believe this. >> williams wanted to deliver news this big in person. >> and a lana told her and i wish i had it on video because jodi, i think she jumped about four feet off the ground hub -- >> through my keys. >> yeah, it was very, very exciting. it was such good news. >> and then i broke down crying. and then we all started crying. i said i can't believe it, i can't believe it. oh my gosh, i got a call diane. >> i'm at work as she says, than, hey how you do. >> i said i'm fine, i'm thinking great, more bad news. because every phone call had been kind of, yes is not him. she goes, we've got a match.

unlike -- just blown over. overwhelmed and i could hear the emotions in her voice. she says, yeah we've got a match. she said this is how it happened. just like on tv. she says, yeah it does happen. >> diane then called brittani who was in boston with sister jennifer. >> i said julie called, she's got a match. >> she's like, they know the guy. i'm like, what? she goes, it's a dna match 100%. i'm like, who is it? she goes, justin hansen who you remembered given that tips are. i'm like, yeah? she said it's 100 percent match. i'm like, oh my goodness. my prayers are answered. so i called jodi and they said you have no idea how thankful i am for you solve this. >> she said no you did it, and i said no you. she said you gave me the name. as i said you acted on. it >> hansen was arrested while out shopping. for the marcell sisters was it

was hard to believe the monster would hunted them for the past nine years may have been just a guy they knew from the mall. >> i thought, this guy? this little skinny guy? he's charming. but how could he have done something so horrible? >> this guy looks great. it messes with your mind. >> because it's not black and white. >> right. >> because one to put our criminals, or are violent offenders in this, they look like this -- and he doesn't look like that. >> he's a cute guy who worked at the clothing store them all? >> yeah, people looked like tim, people wanted to date him. like, you did that? >> the next hurdle would be the trial. brittani would have to testify and relive the emotional trauma of the attack. normally people don't look forward to trials like this. are you actually looking forward to it, to get it done and to see justice? >> very much so. i can finally kind of close that chapter after nine years. >> what brittani didn't know at the time of this interview was

that there were problems with the case. believe it or not, there were serious doubts justin hansen would ever go on trial. coming up -- a stunning setback. the case against justin hansen takes another dramatic turn. >> there's a lot of evidence that doesn't make sense. is hard to try to prove your innocence after a certain amount of time. >> when dateline continues. it works naturally with the water in your body to unblock your gut. free your gut, and your mood will follow. ♪ irresistibly delicious. ♪ ♪ pour some almond breeze. ♪ ♪ for the maestros of the creamiest-ever, ♪ ♪ must-have smoothies. ♪ ♪ it's irresistibly delicious. ♪ ♪ more almond breeze, please! ♪ 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. police found a mountain of

evidence at the marcell house wallowing the attack on brittani. there was the shovel, the knife, the duck tape even the close brittani was wearing. all collected, and carefully stored away. of course when detective jodi gonterman started working the case, she wanted to see it firsthand. >> i pulled evidence to view it myself, and it was not there. >> where was it? >> it had been destroyed.

>> all of it, gone due to a simple clerical error. >> when anyone retires, you get a list of evidence and cases. there is a box. you either dispose of or retain, and the box was checked, disposed for this case. >> what is that moment like when you are trying to solve this case, only to find out that physical evidence has been destroyed by your own police department? >> well, i was pretty upset. pretty mad, okay? to be honest, i was very mad. >> the most important piece of evidence, though, was that blood drop which was stored separately. the defense we want their own tested. so if it was also missing, the case against henson, might as well be over. >> oh my gosh, what if this had been described as well? because then you are kind of done? >> i was stressed. we met with a lana williams, the forensic scientist. she went to look for it and

when she found it it was in the freezer so thank goodness. >> still, prosecutor david waymeyer knew the case had taken a serious head. >> a unanimous doubt, with 12 jurors will be difficult. the only had evidence problems. >> justin hansen's defense attorney could now claim the albuquerque police department had mishandled evidence. evidence that may have pointed to another suspect. >> a judge and a jury might very well hold that against us, and could make it more difficult to get a conviction. >> while awaiting trial, the judge allowed hansen to be placed under house arrest. he tried four months to get him to sit down with dateline, but he put us off. he finally agreed to talk when we dropped in on the farmhouse where he was living outside of albuquerque. overcome with emotion, justin hansen fought back tears as his family looked on. >> this case, it is unreal. all of the twists and turns that have happened. what do you make of everything?

you are at the center of it. >> it is hard. it is hard to take everything in. lots of nights of not sleeping, lots of nights of trying to figure things out. >> what do you say to people who say there was irrefutable evidence in this case, that you did in this? >> i have kind of realized who counts and who matters. and those people? they don't matter. >> they are looking at the evidence, that they feel points to you. >> yes. >> and there is no way to get around that? >> i do not have a way to convince them otherwise. that is not for me to try to do. >> do you think about what brittani has lost. >> of course. she has lost a lot. i am glad she has a good support system, her mom, her sisters, everybody standing by her side. that is great that she has that, i am glad that she has that. >> they see you as a monster. >> they do.

they see me as what a pd has put me in, they see me as one of the media has put need to be. >> how do you explain the drop of blood at the scene? >> i don't... i don't... >> but is the one thing that people have a hard time getting around. >> they do, and there is a lot of evidence that does not make sense. >> did you attack brittani marcell? >> no. >> besides the missing evidence, hansen's lawyer had another plan to get the case tossed out. simply put, the statute of limitations had run out. sure, prosecutor waymeyer filed an indictment in 2010, but the name on that indictment was john no, not justin hansen. >> you know, they have a statute of limitations set out for a reason, not to let people get away with things, but because it is hard to try to prove your innocence after a certain amount of time. it is like, phone records, seven years, statements some of

them are six or seven years. so you can't even try to go back to, you know, prove your innocence, prove things differently. and that is hard. >> his lawyer argued the john doe indictment should be dismissed. and the judge ruled that court could hear that motion before the trial even got underway. a huge victory for justin hansen, and the major setback for prosecutor david waymeyer, who knew that the john doe indictment was an uncharted legal territory. >> although that had been done once before, in a different case in new mexico, it had never actually gone up and been reviewed by the palette court to ensure that it was legally allowed. >> waymeyer have been concerned about the strength of the case all along, and even offered hansen a plea deal. but now, apparently emboldened by the judges willing, hansen rejected the plea offer, hoping instead to have the entire case

against him tossed out. >> coming up, brittani was robbed of the life that we all have. we want him to pay, dearly. >> but would he? the final scene in this nine year mystery is about to play out in court. when dateline continues. dateline continues.

the first survivor of alzheimer's disease

is out there. and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. justin hansen insisted to us join the fight with the alzheimer's association.

that he was an innocent family man, accused of a crime he did not commit. but the marcell family was not buying any of it. they were certain he was the one who attacked brittani, and they wanted justice. >> you know, she has to deal with this for her whole entire life. she was robbed of the life that it appears we all have. she does not get that. and everything that she has today, she has worked hard for, with the support of my mom. they sacrificed daily, and i think it is kind of the same

way. we want him to pay, dearly. >> but there might not be a trial, let alone a conviction. hansen's attorney could get the john doe indictment, which was filed in 2010, tossed out. it was a tense time for both families. the marcellus, and the hanssen's, as they waited weeks for the courts decision. just 12 days before the start of the trial, the court issued its ruling. hansen's motion was denied. the john doe indictment was upheld, and the case was going to trial. that is one prosecutor david waymeyer got a very unexpected phone call from hansen's attorney. >> they wanted to revisit plea negotiations. >> wanting to spare brittani the stress and anxiety of the trial, the marcell family gave their blessing to waymeyer's decision to move ahead with the plea offer, of no contest to attempted murder in the first degree, which hansen accepted. and just like that, it all came

to an end. the ultimate suspects the john doe indictment, the hypnosis, the parabon sketch, the dna tests, over. the case that took nine years to get to court was resolved in a matter of hours. >> you had a really tough decision to make in this case, to go to trial, or to take this deal. how did you ultimately come up with your decision? >> i mean, i want to go to trial, to clear my name, but i just felt like the odds were against me. i did not want to chance, you know, 58 to 60 years away from my kids. and that was kind of what pushed me into the plea. >> so, the plea was not about an admission of guilt, necessarily. for you, it was more about being there sunday for your children. >> that is exactly what it was for. it was like, 60 years, or 18 years, with the chance of being

out in nine or less. my youngest one will be 11, i could still be there for her and try to help guide her through stuff. and it is like, like i am dying, i am not coming back and i don't want to say goodbye because we don't know what the outcome will be. at the same time, it still feels like i am not going to be here anymore. and you don't know what to say. >> the day after our interview, hansen went to court for sentencing, and the stakes were high. under the terms of the plea agreement, he could be released on probation, or sent to prison for up to 18 years. prosecutor david waymeyer argued for the longest possible sentence, telling the judge three other women in the past had accused hansen of assault. >> one victim, the girlfriend, was 17 at the time, and for months pregnant. >> next, for two hours, the marcell's testified about what

the attack did to brittani, and their family. >> her life is a mere flicker of what it had the potential to be. she struggles with friendships, creating social circles. reading social cues, and understanding her emotions. her life is a shell, of what it had the potential to be. i want my sister back. i miss her so much, and i am starting to forget who she was before the attack. >> last to speak was brittani, who, with her back to justin hansen, faced the judge and told her about the severity of her wounds. the 22 surgeries she endured, and of the injuries that may never heal. >> september 11th, my dreams and goals were beaten out of me. for ten years, i have been struggling to rebuild some semblance of the life i once planned. i am fearful that i will not get married. i am worried that i will not have children. i am worried that i will never be able to live alone again. >> afterwards, it was justin

hansen's turn to speak. >> first of all, your honor, i want to apologize to brittani, and her family for everything they have been through. >> but that was all he had to say to the marcell's. he spent the rest of his time telling his children how much he loved them. then, everyone waited for the judge to tell hansen just how long he would be away from those children. >> i am going to impose the full 18 years in the department of corrections. i think that this is the only sentence that makes sense under the circumstances of this case, thank you. >> and with those words, justin hansen was handcuffed, and led away to prison, while brittani, her mom and siblings, hugged and wept. >> detective jodi gonterman and sergeant thompson were there as well. >> how did it feel, hearing justin hansen get the maximum 18 years as part of his plea deal? >> it felt amazing. i was so happy. i mean, overwhelmed with emotions, just so relieved, so

happy for the family. >> it was truly one of the highlights of my career. >> did you get justice today? >> yes, we did. >> he finally got caught. he played with fire, and he messed with the wrong ladies. >> for the siblings, there was more than anything but an overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude. >> finally, i look at my sisters before it started and said, no matter what happens today, it is over. we have to let this be over today. and this was a good way for this to be over. i feel very grateful for the judge, and even more immensely grateful for detective gonterman. >> while thompson, gonterman and the marcell's got justice, what they did not get was an explanation. >> one of the biggest mysteries in this has been the motive. what is your working theory? >> so many people have described justin as being very friendly, social. they think he is good-looking, charming. and he was that older guy. i don't think he was ever

turned down. it is possible that maybe brittani was just that one person who said no, turned him down. >> brittani agrees. >> i think that i was attacked because justin hansen had some jealousy. because he had probably asked me out, to go on a date, be his girlfriend. and i had a different boyfriend at the time, who was not him. at all. so i think that he was doing this out of jealousy. and since he did not have me, nobody else could. >> when we last spoke, brittani was living in rural texas, spending much of her time intending to the animals. she had won a college degree, and said she would like to return to campus to get the degree she has wanted since high school. >> i am definitely thinking about going back to school for journalism. like, my major was communication. i can communicate quite well. >> however, she had one more big hurdle to get over. another surgery. her 23rd. an operation that took hours, with the recovery period, of

months. brittani could have opted to not go through such torment. but for her, there was no choice. the surgery was to get her smile back. >> i had the biggest smile you couldn't dream of. i was like, that is what i want back. i want to go for it. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this, is the line. >> it is the hardest part, i can't help him. >> i am my mother, i fix stuff. this gave me a herd feeling. i cannot fix this. i can't bring him back. >> he is on the ground, in front of his vehicle. something is very wrong. >> it was devastating when they found him. >> oh my god. >>