modern. but the combustibles are as timeless as the winter fields here. one woman, two men, and a jealousy that was all consuming. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. >> i'm craig melvin. >> and i am natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline". ♪ ♪ ♪ >> my friend called me and she was hysterical and she said sandra has been killed. i was like, oh my god. as soon as she was, killed we all knew who did it. as the months went, henry realized that this guy is going to get off. how is this happening? just keep praying. that's all we can do. >> there aren't a lot of murders in paradise. people still talk about this one.

>> just a darling girl, to darling children. >> a story keith morrison followed for nearly ten years. >> how, when? >> i get a call from her boss who said she had it shut up for work. >> they found her in a car. >> the back of her neck some look at your marks. >> just didn't deserve that. >> a small island, a small pool of suspects. ryan, her lover, with the past. >> i had no idea he was a drug dealer. >> and darren the soon to be ex-husband. >> that morning he called in sick. >> was there in polygraph? >> the past. >> and the love? or >> even do that good either. >> that much else to go, on this case was growing colder by the day. >> nothing happens. >> but a father doesn't forget. >> i have to have justice for my daughter. >> after all these years, are there still secrets to uncover? >> it's been quite a journey for you. >> it isn't over yet. >> this father finally got his answer. but is it the one he wanted?

>> never in my wildest dreams but i imagine what we are going through now. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello and welcome to "dateline". sandra galas was born and raised on an island notice one of the most beautiful places on earth. so, how could something so ugly have happened there? the young mother was found strangled to death in her garage. police immediately set their sights on two men close to sandra but it would take a father's relentless pursuit of the truth to unravel this mystery. here is keith morrison with "the other side of paradise". ♪ ♪ ♪ >> wandering through this land, you'll wonder if you've been transported to the beginning of the biblical times. to a garden free of want. temptation, or betrayal.

and in a alonso distractingly beautiful, tourists who ebb and flow like the tides could be forgiven for looking past this tormented father, begging for help for a terrible reason. to solve the murder of his precious daughter, sandy. >> i appreciate it. >> anything we can do. this takes time. >> we hope we get an arrest this year. we are not close yet. >> it's all good. >> we first came upon larry mendonca while on another dateline descended back in 2009, which is when we shot this video. he was 68 years old then. alone, he worked, handing out fliers. gruff and stoic. except when the pain was just too much. >> three years... it's still

rough. >> larry took us to sandra's grave, told us how he promised to bring her killer to justice. >> she won't be forgotten as long as i'm alive. >> we had no idea then where this meeting would lead us. that our journey would last a decade. a case that would expose evil looking in this paradise. and bring larry to the edge of his own mortality. manny on kauai new sandra, even watched her as a teenager, dancing at a local video. like many here, she was multiracial, growing up in a household that was half japanese, have portuguese, all hawaiian. and a devout catholic who attended st. catharines school with, friends with joanie.

when people ask you what was sandy like, what do you tell them? >> she was absolutely a go getter. she was teachers pet, always perfect. she always had her hair nicely done. she was always focused. >> in high school, sandra was an athlete. a cheerleader. very popular. >> she was the complete package. >> and her home life? >> old-fashioned we. >> traditional family. >> catholic. played by the rules type of people. >> discipline, a very important thing to larry, the 20 year air force fighter in. >> i was trying to toughen her up, if you want to put it in that expression. to know what the real world was like. >> that was why larry insisted sandra leave kauai to go to

college. she ended up in honolulu. for a small island girl, it felt big and lonely as new york city. she missed kauai, her family, and would come home as often as she could. >> that's when she got involved with darren. >> darren was here? >> darren was here. >> darren galas, a little older, made good money and it's highly construction job, sandra was crazy about him. soon after she moved home, they got married. sun austin came nine months later, and braden two years after that. by the age of 24, sandra was the matriarch of her own little clan. >> she loved the boys to death. i mean, they were the apple of her eye. >> life was good, until april, 2005, when sandra came to her parents very upset. >> she told us she was cleaning out her husband's backpack and

two papers fell out. two phone numbers. so she called the phone numbers and it turned out to be two different married women. >> sandra confronted darren. >> he would never admit it, just kept saying they were friends, they were friends. >> she knew otherwise? >> she knew it was. >> by june, darren moved out. and sandra moved on. got a job at the beaches restaurant, an island landmark. it was a life changer. >> she's two, she was just a drier garland girl. two darling children. >> krista hall was a waitress at the beaches and saw firsthand sandra's transformation white island girl to young working woman. >> she wore her hair back in a ponytail, she was very prim and proper, and very subdued, anderson as she got away from darren... she like cut her hair and above, it's really cute, and stylish all of a sudden. >> sandra started going out with friends and as is pretty obvious in this concert video, she was enjoying her new life. before too long, sandra started

getting friendly with one of the chefs. a recent transplant from oahu named ryan shinjo. >> he wined and dined her, it took really good care of, or and he was really nice to her. they were always doing all kinds of fabulous things. >> iran honolulu shopping trips were ryan would lavish expensive gifts on sandra. like louis vuitton luggage. larry and sandra's mom know little of this relationship. on january 5th, 2006, dallas, visiting their son, when they got an odd call from sandra's boss. >> i, said janet showed up for work. very unusual for her. >> hours later, the phone rang again. it was three in the morning. a time when bad news comes calling. larry's son answered the phone. >> this basically how it goes. hello, you know. oh hi, and it's just a, no!

>> coming up -- >> she was slumped to the right, to the passenger seat, faced down. >> who wanted sandra did? >> she goes driving by with her boyfriend in the car. and from what we are told, he just flipped out. >> when "dateline" continues. eline" continues moderate-to-severe eczema or atopic dermatitis under control? hide my skin? not me. by hitting eczema where it counts, dupixent helps heal your skin from within, keeping you one step ahead of eczema. and that means long-lasting clearer skin... and fast itch relief for adults. hide my skin? not me. by helping to control eczema with dupixent, you can show more with less eczema. 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,

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tourists see. out of sight of the rich states of the wealthy few. she was in a neighborhood more working class suburbia than polynesian paradise. and her own small ranch house, and her garage, in her car, she had been strangled to death. it was sanders new boyfriend, ryan shinjo, who called the police. said he found her that way. >> and she was slumped to the right, to the passenger seat. faced down into the seat. >> roy asher, one of the original investigators. we spoke to him in 2009. this was three years after sandra was murdered. >> i saw in the back of her neck, some look at your marks. we don't find the court itself. we have an idea what could have been used. >> what? >> thin cord, like a fishing line. >> sandra's shirt and brower askew, her lip was split as if

she had been punched in the face. ryan, the boyfriend, on the right of the screen, told investigators he discovered sanders body around 9 pm. but the cops could see she'd been dead for a while by then. >> probably 8 to 10 hours. >> which would have put the time of death -- >> in the morning. >> could you get any more exact? >> no. >> given the estranged husband, darren, used to live with sandra and ryan was now dating her, their fingerprints prince could be explained. nothing suspicious there. but ryan finding the body? well, that was potentially suspicious. >> did he have an alibi? >> yes. >> and it checked out? >> yes. >> do you remember what it was? >> he was at work. >> so who else? well, there was sanders estranged husband darren, of course. and this was interesting. >> that morning, he called in

sick. >> in other words, he didn't have an alibi? >> no. >> based simply on that lack of alibi, the police arrested darren. >> when they first said do you think your husband could've done it? my first reaction was no. >> even as larry tried to wrap his mind around that idea, the detective called him the following day. >> and he says, we've got to let him go. we don't have an f. we talk to the prosecutor and attorney. we don't have enough. >> meaning, what? was there an involved or not? hit by grief and impatient for answers, larry launched an investigation of his own. >> it was like an, i don't know, a panic. i've got so many things to do, and i've got to get it done now. >> as a native kauaiian and veteran air force analyst intelligence, larry had connections and skills to piece together the detail surrounding

his daughter's murder. for instance, he found out that two days before the killing, darren, while working on a road crew, saw sandra and ryan together. >> she goes driving by with her boyfriend in the car. and from what we are told, for his coworkers at the time, he went ballistic. he just flipped out. >> at that time, and this is important to the case, sater and darren shared custody other two sons. but remember, she worked evenings at the restaurant, so the boys slept over it with darren, and at 6:00 in the morning, she would show up, pick them up, take them out for breakfast, get them ready for school, and daycare. but larry discovered on the night before she was murdered, sandra stayed over at ryan's house, her boyfriend. he dropped her off at her place at six in the morning. and then the neighbors told larry they saw her leave in her car, soon after that apparently adding to pick up the boys.

>> neighbors confirmed they saw sandra's car return a short while later, but without the children. larry learned through his contacts that sandra had a 10:00 appointment that morning to get her nails done at a salon about 45 minutes away. >> she never made the appointment. so, this is how we narrow down the time of death. before about 9:00, where she would have had to leave to make her appointment. >> the cops didn't tell him, but larry learned from his own sources the boyfriend ryan had an alibi, while husband darren did not. all of which got larry thinking the same thing as the police. must have been darren who murdered sandra. >> right now, i'm driven by the case. i mean, i've got to get it. >> many of sandra's friends like crystal hall also thought darren was guilty. >> i think everyone thought that darren would be arrested immediately, and he'd be going

to jail, and the children will be going to grandparents or her brother. everything was going to be okay. >> and exactly one year after the murder, there was indeed an arrest. but it wasn't darren. >> coming up -- >> we've got to get this case solved. >> a new theory about sandra's murder. >> she may have been smuggling drugs in her new louis put on suitcases and not even known it. >> and a threat from her father. >> fiber figured out a way, to get away with it. you know it'll happen. >> when "dateline" continues. ontinues lines and 2 free smartphones. and now get netflix on us. it's all included with 2 lines for only $70 bucks! only at t-mobile.

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>> kauai as unique in many ways, not the least of which is this. it's almost a media free zone. most information spreads here as it has for generations, by word of mouth. where facts, opinions, and gossip all swirl together as one the news swept across the island like. a road wave. ryan shinjo had been arrested. but not by the island cops. by the fbi. >> then we hear that ryan is gone to jail. we are like, oh my god. what did he do? good he -- no, no, he went to jail for drug dealing. which none of us knew he was a drug dealer. i had no idea he was a drug dealer. >> ryan, it turned out, was a player in the big money drug

trafficking ring. running meth from the mainland to oahu two kauai. when rumors found out about, that rumor started to fly. it was ryan using sandra as an unwitting drug mule? when you took her to honolulu, was she bringing back meth with her? >> who knows. she may have been smuggling drugs than an louis vuitton suitcases and not even known it. >> and the final act of that story? sandra found out about the drug ring, and was killed before she could go to the police. but that was just a rumor. in a sea of rumors. police didn't seem any closer to finding sandra's killer, whatever it was. the case grew colder with each passing year. larry still thought darren killed sandra. it seemed wherever went in the small island, there he was. >> this is the house here with the boat, and the truck in there.

it's not easy going by here knowing he is still running free. we've got to get this case solved. >> on this day, larry and sandra's mom toshi had to see darren and grand some austin's little league game. that's darren on the field, coaching. and in the dugout was his girlfriend, sherine. a woman he'd known since before sandra's murder. and it was at this point, 2009, three years after sandra's murder when larry felt that time had come for him to go from investigator to avenge or. he was seriously thinking about killing darren. >> if i ever figure out a way to get away with it... it'll happen. >> fortunately, the arrival of a new kauai police chief put his plans on hold. darryl perry, a 30 year veteran of the honolulu pd agreed to

listen to larry and his theories about the case. >> he showed me the scene, and explain to me what happened, and i could feel his grief. >> i mean, it wasn't of any forensic value to you to be there, to look at it, was it? >> not at all. >> the point was, what? >> the point was i wanted him to realize that there is somebody there that's listening to him. >> what do you do next? >> [laughs] we went to the grave site. >> we stood there and -- >> what were you thinking about? >> i was thinking about the sadness and the loss of a child. >> nothing like it. nobody can understand unless they've been there. >> not unless you've lost a child.

>> chief perry was struggling to tell us that he did know what it was like to lose a child. it came out of retirement and took the job as head of the kauai police department after the sudden death of his 26-year-old son, erickson. >> i feel, and away, that i am working through him. that he motivates me. i believe that. things happen for a reason. in fact, i told larry this. i told him, there's a reason why we met. i don't know what the reasons are, but i am here for you. >> so, after meeting with larry, chief perry sent sandra's file to a couple of friends in honolulu, investigators with the state attorney general's gold case unit. >> i asked if they could find anything else that we may have missed. >> and they did indeed find something. using what was breakthrough science for that time, early 2009. gold case investigators extracted touch dna from sandra's shirt and brawl. chief perry called larry with

the news. >> ideas that they got something. they re-scanned her clothes. and they found to -- how did he put it? to microscopic particles of a male origin. >> sometimes, it's what you find and sometimes it's what you don't. coming up -- >> when i found interesting is that pretty detailed from january 1st, all the way up until the 24th. >> but on the morning of sandra's murder -- >> you have nothing. >> when "dateline" continues. tinues re....beginners' yoga. namaste... ...surprise parties. aww, you guys. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks... ...for 3!... ...so i can du more of the things i love. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. it's an add-on-treatment for specific types

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a collision between a bus and an suv in georgetown county, south carolina. georgetown sheriff's office said the bus was ticking workers to myrtle beach where many performed housekeepings or says. one passenger on board the bus and two in the suv died. president biden's dog champ

died at 13 years old. german shepherd was rescued as a puppy in 2008. the president and first lady released a statement saying that their hearts are heavy and he will always be missed. now back to dateline. now back to dateline ♪ ♪ ♪ >> welcome back to dateline. i'm natalie morales. three years after sandra galas murder, the investigation had stalled. and her chief daryl perry, like sanders father larry, chief perry knew the pain of losing a child. motivated by their shared grief, he asked state investigators to take a look at the file, and remarkably, they found new evidence. but in a case full of twists, there was another one just around the corner. here again is keith morrison with the other side of paradise. >> it took a scientific breakthrough to finally get

larry mendonca the help he was pleading for. touch dna, microscopic skin cells on sandra's shirt and brawl. it was a match to darren. >> when that result came in, tell me what your first thoughts were? >> we got him. >> but larry was weary. >> it isn't over yet. >> because what seemed like great evidence to the cops did not to the newly elected prosecuting attorney shailene. for one reason, that the united not exclusively match darren. >> it could have come from the two children. >> larry, the, refused to be discouraged. >> the driving force is to get this case solved. but my daughter to rest. >> because she isn't yet? >> hopefully it will be this year. hopefully it'll be 2009. we are close. >> 2009 and it as it had begun,

with the case and stasis. no breaks, no leads, no arrests. 2010 was no different. same for 2011. nothing. it's fair to say sandra's murder investigation was very much cold. so, 2012 now, six years after the murder, and three years after that dna test. chief perry gave the case to a new detective named bryson ponce who reexamined the physical evidence like sandra's car, undisturbed since the day she was murdered. >> she was sitting down in the driver seat, and from her waist up was pulled, slept over into the passenger seat. >> he said polled? it's been yanked over that way? >> it appeared that way, yes. we believe there was a struggle outside of the vehicle in the garage, and that stood to some evidence that was on the outside front of the vehicle.

smudge marks. some hair. when you look at how this homicide happened, it wasn't sexually motivated or it wasn't a robbery. it was really focused on anger. >> and so ponce circled right back to those original two suspects. husband darren, boyfriend ryan. but which one? from the file ponce learned ryan addition to being a drug trafficker had also been convicted of domestic violence. and was there something fishy about how he found sandra's body? he told the cops went to sandra's house, doors were locked. said he peered through these ventilation slats at the base of her garage wall. said he saw sandra in her car. >> calling out, sandra, sandra, he says he couldn't get into the door. he called a friend to come and help him open the door. >> called a friend to help him find a body? wouldn't be the first time a guilty party did that. >> and did ryan remain here at

the scene, waiting for the police officers to talk to them there? was there anything in the report about his demeanor that night? >> you know, initially, investigators thought maybe he wasn't saying everything that happened. >> holding back a little? >> yeah. maybe he was a little bit nervous. >> but ryan had an alibi, right? he was at work when sandra was killed. well, ponce found at the time of sandra's death was more of a rough guess. and sandra could just as well have been murdered hours earlier, when ryan wasn't at work. and there are the results from ryan's 2006 polygraph exam. >> what was the result of that? >> he didn't really pass. >> that didn't look good for ryan, except darren's polygraph results and look so great either. >> how did he do? >> he didn't do that good. he didn't pass. >> that was interesting. both suspects failed the polygraph. now ponce looked at the

evidence against darren. who gave police to entirely different accounts of the morning of the murder. first, he said sandra came by to get the kids. then a minute later, said she didn't. now, remember, darren and center were going through a divorce in a heated child custody battle. darn thought it would be a good idea to take note of run-ins with sandra, like the time she was lighten picking up the boys. hoping it would one day help him in court. >> going through the calendar, but i found interesting is it's pretty detailed from qian yuri first, every day, all the way up until the 24th, very last entry. and on the 25th, you've got nothing. >> why is that important? because sandra was murdered that very morning. the morning of the 25th. about the time when she would have been picking up her sons. >> you would expect daring to

have wrote down and they're sandra never shut up to pick up the boys, that he had to take off from work. >> but he didn't. nor did he call her to find out why she was a no-show. ponce theorized sandra actra did go to darren's house to get to the boys, but there was an argument of some sort, and she left without them. darren, still angry, followed her home. parking his truck on a street behind sandra's cul-de-sac. >> this path basically leads to the cul-de-sac, and her houses just three houses down, right when you come to the end of the small area. very close, easy access. >> you think that darren came up, followed her, how the confrontation, killed her with a ligature, choke treated us, then what do you do? >> you know, i think after the incident happened over here, he went back from where he came, and took off, headed back home.

>> nobody saw him? >> no. it was still dark. >> ponce also found this email sandra center lawyer just three weeks before her murder. >> darren started asking me about my boyfriend, as he calls him, ryan. he got really upset and started swearing at me. he started shaking me, telling me to tell him the truth and don't ever call him again. ponce worked the investigation for close to a year. and as he weighed and re-weighed the evidence. he always came back to darren. who lacked an alibi. who called in sick to work, who gave conflicting accounts about the morning of the murder. who left blank the diary entry for the 25th. who failed a polygraph. who was jealous of ryan. whenever called sandy to find out why she didn't pick up the boys. ponce delivered his report to chief perry, and prosecutor

shailene aseri. >> we believe the case was not going to get any better than what we had. >> and prosecutor shailene aseri finally agreed to present the case to a grand jury. and in october, 2012, the grand jury indicted darren for sandra's murder. so, was there is quest for justice finally over? oh no. not by a long shot. >> coming up -- >> this case is a textbook example of do not insert politics into peoples lives. >> a new prosecutor, a new delay. >> kauai is a murderous paradise. if you want to kill somebody, you've got probably about 80 90% chance of getting away with it. >> when "dateline" continues. e" continues

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but darren stayed away as did sandra's two sons. >> as most of you know, today sandra's birthday. this is why it's a very, very special day for us. >> at this point, larry and toshi thought they were on the home stretch. that darren's trial was just months away. but the prosecuting attorney who indicted darren lost her bid for reelection. defeated by this man, justin kollar, who flat out accused his predecessor of bringing charges against darren to make a splash and help her chances of reelection. though the case, he said, wasn't ready for trial. >> this case is the textbook example of why you do not insert politics into peoples lives. >> gotcha. >> and into their families. >> so, now, larry's quest for

justice was mired in a political battle. with a new prosecutor saying he couldn't proceed because the ultimate suspect, ryan shinjo, had never been completely eliminated. >> if you got cases where you have multiple suspects, you're going to charge one of the suspects. you better be sure you've excluded the other suspects. >> former prosecutor shailene me aseri fired back, saying the entire investigative team voted to seek an indictment. >> the team decided unanimously. it wasn't shailene's decision, it was the team's decision. i definitely feel that there was more than overwhelming evidence to convict mr. galas. you >> could've gotten that conviction? >> oh, i definitely believe so. >> she's dreaming, said kollar. she never would have won. so kollar reopen the investigation, again. and delayed the trial, again. but his office tried to scratch strength in this case.

and the result was one travel delay after another. and three years later, 2015, now, larry was one furious 74 year old man. >> kauai is a murderers paradise. if you want to kill somebody, come to kauai. you've got probably about 80, 90% chances of getting away with it. and i firmly believe that. >> there was never any point during this process where the file was just sitting on the shelf getting dusty. there is always something that was being done. another piece of evidence that was being tested. another witness that was being look for. >> but you must have been ready to let it go as some point? saint, you know, we can't do this. let's forget about. this >> that conversation happened, and a number of times over the year. but at each time we said, no, there's gonna be a way to move this forward. >> it was larry's kind of constant input, part of the thing that kept you going? >> of course, i mean none of us wanted to get that call saying,

hey, larry's wants to see right away. he's not happy. >> when we spoke to larry in 2015, darren's trial was on the calendar for march of the following year. the odds larry gave of that happening -- >> i would say probably a little better than 50/50. >> but even that was optimistic. the trial was delayed, again. until november, 2016. but as that trial date approached, the defense requested another delay and the judge granted it. the case was continued until august 2017. and as that data approached, we look back on what larry said to us in 2050. >> someday this is going to end. you know? one way or another. then maybe i can rest a little bit. >> early in the morning of the 14th of february, 2017, larry

mendonca, age 75, went out to play a round of golf. wasn't feeling well. called his son lawrence in texas. >> and told me he was having a heart attack. >> what was that like? >> it was pretty intense. being a stubborn as my dad was, i don't worry about it, i'll be fine. they just put essential me. i'll be fine. i don't think he knew the magnitude of the situation at the time. >> coming up -- a father fights for his life. >> to see him in the hospital bed, it was tough. very tough. >> what will happen to his fight for justice -- >> is all about what you can prove in a court of law. >> when dateline continues. just two pills for all day pain relief. aleve it, and see what's possible. what can i du with less asthma? with dupixent i can du more... yardwork...

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>> welcome back. for more than a decade, larry mendonca waged a relentless -- to get us dollars daughters killers behind bars. he believes his daughter's husband galas strangled her. after years of investigation, prosecutors agreed. therein remained free on bail. larry is far from giving up his crusade, but the endless frustration was taking its toll. with the father who fought so hard for justice, lived to see it. here is keith morrison with the conclusion of "the other side of paradise". >> larry mendonca didn't comprehend what was happening to him as he walked this fairway, played his round of golf. it was only later when the doctor intervened. rushed him by air ambulance to

honolulu. heart attack and quintupled bypass surgery. and then a stroke. >> it was difficult to see how vulnerable he was at that time. >> he'd always seemed like the invulnerable man? >> correct. he was superman to myself and my sister. to see him in that situation, that hospital bed... it was tough. very tough. >> it was sheer cousin is that pulled him back from the brink. >> my cardiologist says the whole thing was due to the ten, 12 years of stress. >> larry spent months investigators pay to build up the strength to attend with darren galas's trial trial scheduled for 2017. but it was delayed yet again, and darren, during all this time, out and about. this time, we found him at sun austin's soccer game, that's him wearing the black t-shirt, gold chain, and wraparound sunglasses. and in the blue shirt, his wife.

larry and his wife toshi were at the soccer game as, well always are. and what larry felt in his chest was more rage than physical pain. we >> someday i might lose at all. i really don't know when i'm going to do. you never know until it happens. >> then, late 2017, a breakthrough. the prosecutor felt his investigators had finally and fully eliminated ryan as a suspect. which now only left darren in their sights. >> we had done work over the years that made the case somewhat better. maybe dare look themself in the mirror and said i know i did it, i don't know. but they said plead. >> but pleaded guilty to murder? no. darren agreed to plead no contest to assault. >> we got a murder case here, no contest to assault sounds

like not very bad. >> well, we may think we have a murder case. we may know that he did it, but it's all about what you can prove in a court of law. >> and on january 29th, 2018, 12 years after sandra's murder, we were with larry outside the courthouse just an hour before the plea hearing, and as you might have guessed, he wasn't happy. >> no justice. >> what are the chances that they could fall apart this morning? >> there is a possibility. i'm told you can change his mind at any given time, up to the time he's sentenced. >> but what happened here? >> drawing your attention to the no contest plea form -- >> as daring formally changed his plea from not guilty to murder to no contest to assault one was not final resolution, but more delay. the court granted darren four more months of freedom before

sentencing. and larry? well -- >> i'm very mad. i'm very upset. >> there was once a time just after sandra's murder, one larry and toshi were hoping to raise sanders boys, but now? >> he has been working on them for 12 years. he's been brainwashing them. they hate their mother, they hate the grandparents. >> as he left court, darren was protected by a phalanx of friends and relatives which included the two grandsons. darren declined to speak with us, but his defense lawyer, michael greene, did stop to talk. there >> is a big difference between pleading no content -- >> suggesting there is something to her. >> he assaulted her. >> that very day? >> he doesn't admit he assaulted her. no contest means he either admits or denies charges. >> but now, for four months, uncertainty. because the judge had the power to sentenced air into anything

from ten years in prison, to probation. >> what i foresee that sensing, they're going to ask for leniency. >> do you think you could actually avoid going to prison altogether? >> at this, point i wouldn't put anything past them. >> on may 30th, 2018, we were back outside the courthouse with larry mendonca. this time, he was the one surrounded by supporters. at 12 year investigation, now reduced to an hour in court, that felt as stressful and tens as any jury trial with darren be carted off to prison, or will the judge give him probation and sent him home? darren's lawyer michael greene reminded the judge, there had been an alternate suspect. >> this guy shinjo is a person of interest the whole time. >> he told the judge to remember, this was not a murder case. >> there is an agreement that my client will plead guilty to nothing. nothing. he's offered to plead no

contest, to an assault charge. >> and then larry got his chance, finally, to let 12 years of pain pour out. starting with that first awful night when he broke the news to toshi. >> how do you tell a woman that the baby she had once nursed, falling asleep in her arms, played on her lap, skipped off to school, clutching the lunch she had made for her was now dead? we received a life sentence full of pain, sorrow, agony, and frustration. a life sentence with no parole. eternity. >> darren starkly sat through it all. and then, the sentence with the judge impose. she began by quoting baron's attorney. >> that is that he pled no contest to the charge of

assault in the first degree. that's what this sentencing is about. >> larry stomach started to tighten. >> the lawyer reached over and says, this doesn't sound good. >> and then six minutes into her ruling, finally, here it was. >> you are hereby ordered committed to the custody of the director department of public safety for imprisonment for a period of ten years. >> ten years, the maximum she could oppose. and with, that the mendonca families 12 your quest for justice came to an end. >> that was my great promise to my daughter. my fulfillment. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> larry and toshi followed a series of rituals on the anniversary of sandra's death. they bring flowers to her memorial outside the ywca, have lunch at the beach restaurant

she worked, and prayed by her grave site, at the holy cross cemetery where she is surrounded by her ancestors. sandra, so homesick one away from this island she loved. now forever a part of it. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline". i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i'm craig melvin. and it >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline". >> i tell people it's the miracle of facebook. >> all it was was just one sentence. one sentence. >> it's not often that you get to be a hero. >> i got halfway through this again and went, oh my god. >> the murder happened in seconds. >> one was coming straight for me with a gun leveled at us.