our hearts for believing and understanding, and taking the time that most people don't do. it's like a dream come few through for us. because it's what we've always been hoping for. >> yeah, somebody to help us. that's why we just want to live and move forward. you know? it's gone, it's the pass. move on. better days. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. >> i'm craig melvin >> and i'm natalie morales. >> this is dateline. >> would you hear? >> laughing, almost dreaming. >> you heard hear screaming? >> i've known those kids all their lives, i don't believe that they made any of that up. >> like screaming noises or something else? >> like laughing, screaming. >> they believed their father killed their mother. >> they found her in the bedroom.

a young mom stabbed to death. >> i can see her fighting, fighting for her life. i was so distraught. she was gone. >> she was your wife, the mother of your children? >> it was awful, i wouldn't wish that on anybody. >> her ex visited the day she died. a trip with the kids and just like that, he was suspect number one. >> they had no evidence. >> i was absolutely flabbergasted. >> how can anybody think this? >> the police say they were key to mystery his own young children. >> she says she peaks through the mail slot. >> that he wasn't in the living room. he was still upstairs. >> we were gonna prove that he's innocent. >> two children on the stand. what did they see? >> that was the hardest day. because i love them so much. i didn't do this.

>> hello and welcome to dateline. there should be nothing more innocent than seeing the world through the eyes of a child. but in this story, that may not have been the case. detectives believed a six-year-old girl and her seven-year-old brother witnessed the unthinkable. the brutal murder of their mother. the case would be built around what those kids observed, but it wouldn't be so simple. this crime was as brazen as it was mystifying, here is dennis murphy with what they saw. >> i think you're good to go. >> all right. thank you for sitting down with us. >> you're welcome, thank you for having me. >> did you take a butcher knife and plug it into her neck and kill her? while your kids were waiting outside? >> absolutely not. >> that did not happen? >> no. >> credibility. the reliability of your old memories. there is a lot of that ahead because this is the story of a murder.

june 8th 2012, columbus georgia. it was an important maintenance man who found her. she had been stabbed to death upstairs in the bedroom. in the kitchen sink a butcher knife. the victim was ciara ingram a 28-year-old nurse and mother. her good friend kendra smith said she hadn't been answering her phone for days. >> at first i thought, you know, why didn't i go down there? i knew something was wrong. >> police would estimate that ciara had been dead in her apartment for nearly a week. >> i think i was so distraught that she was gone. i don't really think at the time i put a lot of thought in who did it, or why. >> apartment managers told the arriving officers that ciara had small children. one of the detectives first question was where are the kids now? and that led to a bigger question. one all homicide inspectors asked, what is the back story

here? what was this victims life all about? they begin piecing together the story of ciara end jarod. she was your wife, the mother of your children, what do you think about her and, the brutality of it? >> it's awful. i wouldn't wish that on anybody. >> ciara already the mother of a young boy, met jarod when they both enlisted in the army in the early 2000s. he and a friend cosied up to the pretty young recruit and tried to get her attention. >> we started talking about how none of the soldiers looked like they were gonna make it. and she stood up and challenged to me and she said i'm gonna be at the top of the class. i said okay, and i asked her if she wanted to go out that weekend. >> you had a momentous early day, is that two knows you have a question? you know what i'm referring to. >> i do. our first state we -- >> conceived a child? >> yes. >> were you okay with that? >> yes, i was okay and i was excited. i always wanted to be a father.

>> sierra and jarod intimate strangers decided to make a goal that when the army force them into a quick decision, get married or be stationed apart. >> when we got in the cab to go to get our marriage license, the cabdriver mentioned to us that she was also a licensed pasture so she drove us to the church. >> you got married by the cabdriver? >> yes. >> the army as the army does move them about, they try to build a happy home and had another child. but jarod acknowledge that they weren't good living together. >> once we got married we had our first argument that evening. >> on the ten scale, how active of an argument was it? >> a good eight. that set the tone for the rest of the relationship. that was every night. >> why didn't you guys just shake hands and say see you later, it's been nice? >> the kids, mainly. >> they decided co-parenting was the arrangement that worked best for them. they divorced in 2009 and

shared custody. by then they both left the military, ciara had become a nurse. her friend and coworker at the hospital, some mela said the main thing that was keeping her in georgia was being near her axed. >> she didn't want the children to be far from their father, she tried her best to cool parent. she didn't have anybody here. >> so she sacrificed her short term happiness? >> right. >> for her kids? >> for her children. that's the type of mother she was. >> her friend kendra lived in tennessee but they were as close as could be. when did you talk, end of the day, start of the day, middle of the? day >> all day. we were single moms, dealing with our axes. she was my support system. and hopefully she thought of me as hers. >> by june 2012, ciara decided it was time for a fresh start. she made a plan to move home to indiana to be near her family. their kids ages six and seven would stay with jarod for the summer and join her later. was she dating again?

>> yes, she was, absolutely. she was young, so of course she didn't want to be alone. >> in fact even before the move to indiana, she'd already met a guy online who lived up there. he was going to help her move. >> he was going to come down to georgia, he had made plans, bought a plane ticket. >> and that brings us back to ciara see a parliament and bloody bedroom. as ciara moving day approaches, kendra notice her friends text has stopped completely. >> i didn't talk to her, i texted her, got nothing. i was like ok, maybe she's busy, calder. then on the fourth, started to get word some more. >> you wondered, if she ditching me? >> i thought, okay, she dropped her phone in the toilet. but then you think about okay, well, there are other phones in the world. could've sent me an email, saying i'm not ignoring you. >> samela was worried to. she had helped plan a goodbye party for her, but she had

never showed up. >> i remember sitting around the table, all the coworkers looking at each other. >> and you fully expected that she was gonna walk through the door? >> i wanted her to. but i knew something was wrong. >> samela was at work on june 8th when ciara brother called her on june 8th. >> i answered the phone and he told me -- we just found ciara dead. i don't remember anything else after that. >> jarod said he got a call that afternoon as well. there was crime scene tape up at his ex-wife's apartment. he said he feared the works and went to talk to the children just six and seven years old. >> we said a prayer, i told them no matter what happens, i love you very much. i didn't tell them any details but i told them, you know, something might be going on with mommy, we don't know yet. that's where they had questions. >> did they? >> my son asked me if you could have some questions -- some candy. >> if you know his mom was dead? >> i didn't know.

we only had assumptions, worries and fears. >> assumptions, worries, fears. and that was just day one. >> the investigation begins and ciara's ex-husband is the first person in the hot seat. coming up. >> i could see an officer approaching me with his gun drawn and he raised it up and said don't move. >> police have some questions for jarod. >> you're the last one who saw her, now is there something you want to talk to me about? >> and for the men sierra had met online. >> this is sergeant with the police department. >> what's going on, officer? oh my god. >> when dateline continues. 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.

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its top three times in the neck and left to die at the foot of her bed. her ex husband jarod was tending to their two children when a police officer reached him on the phone. >> he asked me if the kids were okay. i said yes, they're fine. he said they're gonna send someone to talk to me. and they're going to send a counselor to talk to the kids. >> moments later, jarod saw a woman he assume was a counselor in his front yard. >> as i approach i look and can see out of my peripheral vision, an officer approaching me with his gun drawn. and he raised it up and said don't move. so i put my hands up, press them against the wall, but that my hands behind my back. and they cuffed. me >> before he could get his bearings, jarod says his kids were with staff in an suv. jarod al-qaeda search of his home was taken to the police station for an interview. >> i'm detectives airborne. >> i'm detective lion.

>> the conversation started amicably. jared said the last time he'd seen ciara was six days before. he and the kids has stopped by to pick up some toys before her move to indiana. >> kids went in, gave her a hug. they ran and started playing with some of their toys and watching tv and stuff. >> how long were you there for? >> seemed like a couple hours. >> he said they ciara hadn't toxins. >> that was it unusual. we didn't call each other whole lot then we had other kids. she was a like one of those that wanted to call every day. >> detectives wanted to know about the state of jarod and ciara's relationship. how have they been getting along? >> he said they hadn't had any less shoes lately. but admitted things between them were strained. >> what's been the problem? >> no problem, i just -- once we broke up, i felt like, you know, there was no reason to have an argument with her anymore after that. >> they also asked jarod how he felt about ciara's decision to

move to indiana. >> i didn't feel any way about it, really? >> did she ask? you >> know. >> so she just said, i'm leaving? >> yeah, but i mean, that was her. >> after about an hour, the interview took a turn when detectives hit jarod with a revelation. as far as they could tell, no one had heard from ciara since jarod's with the kids. meaning jarod was quite possibly the last person known to have seen ciara a life. >> i feel like you're more than insinuating that i'm responsible for ciara's death. >> i don't know. right now, i don't -- i -- the only thing i know is that you are the last ones i knew of to see her. and so far, you're the last one i know that was. they're now, is there something that you want to talk to me about? >> no. >> are you sure about that? >> i'm sure. >> though detectives told jarod that as they were speaking, officers were spilling through the video cameras at ciara's apartment complex. >> what are you feeling right now? >> i'm feeling like i can't

wait until you get finished with the rest of that videotape. >> and i'm feeling scared -- until you do. that's what i'm feeling right now. >> now, why would you be scared? >> because if i was the last one that saw her life, then you could put it on me. >>,. . >> and a look at some of the evidence made it seem unlikely that jarod could've done it. the murder was brutal, bloody. and jarod's two small children have been with him there the whole time. but jarod did mentioned as they were ready to leave the apartment the kids went outside. first >> they went outside to the car while i was telling her -- and i came outside and she came outside. and it was... that was it. it wasn't like, a long period of time. >> the detectives really think jarod had something to do with his ex-wife's murder? or were they just pressing him because he was the ex husband?

they ended the interview on friendly terms. >> i appreciate coming in. i appreciate you being cooperative. >> i appreciate you guys doing what you're doing. >> it had been a very long day. jarod says he was just desperate to hug their kids who just lost their mother. you can see why you became a figure of interest here? >> when i sit back and put my self in the shoes of the police officers, absolutely. they show up at ciara's house, they find her body. legal, a pick-me-up. >> back at the crime scene, investigators look for clues to fill in the story. could it have been a bush robbery? it was hard to tell if anything had been taken. the apartment was in such disarray with moving boxes. and there were no signs of a forced entry. but there was an attempt to clean up the scene with bleach. and they did find a men's watch tucked into the sheets of's bed. who could that belong to? what about this guy she had met online? the man flying in to help her move. >> this is sergeant deaton with the police department in

columbus, georgia. >> his name was ryan morgan. detectives got him on the. line >> were you supposed to come down -- come here to help her? move >> yes, i was. and then about a week before, i -- she quit texting me. >> ryan thought he had been ghosted. said that he canceled his plane ticket. >> and i just checked for bad and said, hey, thanks a lot for the thoughtfulness. and thanks for wasting my money. >> detectives didn't tell him right away why they were calling. >> what's going on, officer, if you don't mind me asking? because i'm freaking -- i'm like, well, what's happened? >> she was killed. the reason you didn't hear anything from her was she was murdered. >> you've got to be [bleep] me. >> no. >> holy [bleep] >> was that genuine supplies? >> oh, my god. >> of course, they'd have to check out ryan's story. and picked through every detail of the last day of ciara's life. that meant talking to her children. what did they see? what did they hear? >> coming up --

>> that he was in the living room. he was still upstairs. >> that final family visit. what was happening inside their mutters apartment? >> why did you hear? >> i am, laughing, almost screaming. >> you heard screaming? >> yes. >> screaming noises or something else? >> like, laughing, screaming,. >> when dateline continues.

>> welcome back. in a tense interview police

question jarod ingram about the vicious murder of his ex-wife ciara. jarod insisted he was innocent, but knew that the in the last person to see her alive did not look good for him. as news of ciara's death spread, one friend would come forward with alarm a secrets about what ciara said was really happening inside that relationship. once again, here's dennis murphy with "what they saw". >> kendra smith felt she found a kindred spirit when she met ciara ingram. losing her was awful. >> every day i get in my car and cry all the way to work. because i talked to her every day on my way to work. you know? every day on my way home. i mean, i was just be in tears all the way home. >> samela payne fellow doubt when she heard. her good friend and fellow nurse, gone just like that. >> so you were going to be friends for life? no matter where? >> absolutely. >> we're each of you travel to. >> absolutely, we were family.

>> the day after she got the news, samela drove to ciara's home. she just had to see the police with her own. ice >> you went to the scene? >> i want to this is i went to the scene. because i still did not do believe she was. gone >> so everything is yellow taped, closed off? >> i was in denial. that my friend was gone. >> she spoke to an officer who was there guarding the crime scene. >> what did you talk to him about? >> any and everything that i could remember. that she would tell me. and what she was going through. >> what's samela said about her conversations with ciara, caught the officers air. because it certainly didn't match jarod's story. this post divorce relationship it was more than just a little strained. samela says ciara headlong confided in her that it was tumultuous. >> she would tell me how he would break her computers, brick tvs. >> just a i mad at you, bang, here's one for your computer. >> oh, yeah, yeah. >> the way the stories, when jarod would lash out if he couldn't get his way. >> did he ever get physical

with her as far as you knew? >> she told me that, yes. >> but you didn't see any bruising or scratches or anything like that? >> no, she did, she would hide it. she's the type that wants to be strong. she didn't want you to be able to say a word about her. >> as for jarod, he told us any stories about abuse in his relationship with ciara, just weren't true. were there any altercations around you and her? >> absolutely, she through some things, small things. not like a remote control. >> jarod told us that anyone who knew ciara well, knew that she wouldn't put it with abuse. >> she was a very fierce woman. she had her way. she's not going to let you tell her any different. and she's very determined. i couldn't see her being in an abusive relationship. >> of course, he says, he and ciara had plenty of court scorching disagreements in their marriage. but once they split, the drama ended. and he says, they shared responsibility for the kids amicably. >> cool parenting. and very successfully. i think the biggest issue we ever had was that when she cut

my sons here. i didn't really like that. he had a big puffy afro, and it was really cute on him. and i like to. >> but given what investigators had heard, they were now very focused on jarod. did he have any opportunity to murder his ex? but with the kids in tow? >> jarod said he put the kids in the car and went back inside ciara's place to get the last of her place. two kids sitting in the back seat of a car. a boy and a girl, age six and seven. what did they see? what did they hear in the next few moments of their lives? and importantly, what would they say about it? >> the police talk to the children the day they discovered ciara's body. >> what grade are you? when >> kindergarten. >> the kids come from that for at least some period of time, mom and dad had been inside the apartment without them. >> why would badly leave you and your brother in the car? you don't know? >> he never leaves us in the car. >> here they are talking to a forensic interview or just a

few days later. >> why do you think that you made you stay in the car? >> maybe he's doing something? >> jarod's six-year-old daughter says she's got restless and got did was six year olds do. she says she got out of the car went to the door, lifted the mail slot and peered inside. she told investigators she saw her dad. >> what was he doing? >> i forgot. >> i mean, was he sending? was he sitting? was he? >> he was sending. >> was he just standing there doing nothing? did he have something in his hand? >> no. he was just standing there doing nothing. >> she says he told her to go back to the car. she says she picked in again. investigators were interested in what she saw and what she says she. her >> money was still laughing. but, she sounded like she was somewhere. that he wasn't in --

that he wasn't in the living. when he was still upstairs. mommy was so laughing, though. >> her brother says he got out of the car, to. and he also heard the laughter. or, was it something else? >> what did you hear? >> a, laughing some, -- almost screaming. >> you heard screaming? >> yes. >> yeah? >> tell me, did you hear where they just saying, like screaming noises or something else? >> like, laughing, screaming. >> yeah? >> screaming? what in the world was going on inside ciara the's home while the children waited outside? >> coming up -- >> if you're asking did i think he did it, it was an absolute low. >> a new relationship for jarod a new questions about those interviews with the children. >> those statements had come out later are in my opinion commissioning. >> what do you mean? >> i mean the police are

suggesting something from the children to say. >> when dateline continues. 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 of moderate-to-severe asthma that can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. and can reduce, or even eliminate, oral steroids. and here's something important. dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection, and don't change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. are you ready to du more with less asthma? just ask your asthma specialist about dupixent. >> welcome back to dateline.

i'm natalie morales. in a taped interview, ciara's son heard his mother laughing and screaming inside their home on the day she was murdered. police were looking into ciara 's ex husband jarod.

now team of supporters was about to reilly to jarod's defense, to take a look at what the kids told the detectives. continuing with what they saw is dennis murphy. >> in the weeks following, ciara's murder investigators compiled their evidence. there were the interviews with the children and they had sierra's cell record, strolling her phone went silent at the time jarod was at her apartment. there wasn't a single call after 6:39 pm after june 2nd. the only wisp of the league that guy from indiana that was going to help ciara move. >> she was murdered. >> you've got to be, me? >> his alibi checked out. and that left one person, jarod. on july 1st a month after ciara 's murder. >> i was leaving to go to work and people started getting out of their cars and put their hands up like this saying, don't move, you're under arrest. >> who jarod was charged with murder and spent the next 15 months in jail before posting

bond and being released. by then, he globs cost to the of his son and daughter. they'd move to indiana to be with ciara's mother. >> are the kids taking your phone calls? >> at this point, part of my boundary greenland is that i can't speak to anyone in ciara 's family including my children. so -- >> that's a whole area in your -- life >> no contact. yes. >> he says he started attending church and started reaching out to old friends like katie duke a girl he knew from high school band days. >> i always had a thing for him, even in high school. but it wasn't good timing, it never was. >> this wasn't exactly great timing either, after all jarod was accused of murdering his ex-wife. what did you think? >> if you're asking, if i think he did it? it was an absolute no. why would they even think this? how could it have possibly come to this? >> and you're saying this because the character of the man you knew? >> the character, yes.

how could it possibly -- how could anyone think this? >> their relationship grew from a friendship into something more. how did you decide you are going to get married? >> we started talking about it, and there was a lot of back and forth because with something like this hanging over your head, do you wait until everything is over and then get married, that sounds sensible. >> katie disagreed. >> i told him, i'm ready. i will marry you. >> they began their married life together in a kind of limbo waiting for jarod to go to trial. he still hadn't been indicted. what was taking so long? jarod and katy kept their anguish quiet. a lot of people in the church didn't even know his story right? >> no. >> then january 2017, four and a half years after the murder, the indictment came down and trial date was set. no more secrets now. what did you think when you heard? >> in my mind initially it was just, it is impossible. >> debbie duke is katy's mom. >> they are church friends.

did you ever think my goodness, this young man is a killer? >> no. >> debbie? >> no. >> not for a second. the very notion that somebody could consider jarod capable of this was beyond my belief. it was just simply no way i could get my brain to wrap itself around that. >> the support wasn't just moral, the friends offered to help anyway they could. >> we had people come up and say what can we do? i said well, pray. but one of them said, welcome on, there's something we can do. what about all that paperwork. couldn't he use help with that? i said that would be wonderful. >> that paperwork was the case against jarod. mounds of documents, police reports, audio and video recordings. and to mount a defense they would need to understand it. >> my lawyer was very good but he has a small practice, just him and his wife. as far as legwork -- there's not 100 paralegals doing legal research for him. >> they transformed their

kitchen into a war room. and those church friends became legal assistance of sorts. they vowed to be objective. >> i was a true believer in jarod's character, okay? >> but if the evidence had persuaded you otherwise -- >> if the evidence had persuaded me otherwise i would've gone with the evidence. >> the team divvied up the work. jim a software whiz took a crack at the cell phone records. >> it took me some studying and everything to try to figure this out but it came down to numbers. simple math. >> according to the cell records, ciara was alive and on her phone at 6:39 pm. three minutes later, 6:42 pm, jarod's cell records indicate that he is still at ciara's apartment and 26 minutes after that jarod's phone paintings on a tower and the friends estimate that that is a 20-minute drive away from her apartment. there >> is not enough time for him to have committed the crime. >> and the telephone record persuade you have that? >> yes.

the math doesn't work. >> and by their calculations. then church supporters looked at the bloody crime scene photos which raised more questions in their mind? >> how do you walk out of an apartment without completely showering, changing your clothes and doing all of that? that would add even more time. >> he has to get to that other town? >> he wasn't wet. he didn't change clothes. none of his clothes were ever found with every evidence on them. >> the friends then turn to those interviews with the kids, and they transcribed every word. including the interview where jarod's son says he hear screaming. >> what did you hear? >> i heard laughing, almost screaming? >> you heard screaming? >> they noticed that interview took place five days after ciara's body was found, but in the police filed the friends found an earlier interview. the sun story about what he heard on that occasion would completely different. here is that interview. >> did you hear anything when that he was inside?

>> i didn't hear nothing. >> jarod's supporters wondered where he could've gone the idea of screaming. the first time it comes up in the tape is questions from the police after they found her body? >> nobody was screaming or nothing? >> no. >> there's absolutely nothing incriminating about their initial testimonies. >> those statements that come out later are, in my opinion, conditioning. >> what do you mean? >> police are suggesting something for the children to say. and if you suggest something to a child of that age and it is impressionable, it's possible that they may say yes it could've been that. >> and there was something else laura picked up on. >> i could hear it. one of the investigators whispering, under their breath, trying to tell the children to say something on the recorded interviews. >> you remember that? say yes. i mean do you remember that? >> was the officer putting

words in his mouth? it is hard to say. but the children would speak about that day again. this time in court, where they'd be the chief witnesses against their father. >> coming up. what's the little girl sees? >> she sees her father standing. he is changing his shirt and he has a white bottle beside him. >> two young witnesses with powerful stories to tell. >> where those children coach to give details on the story? >> never. >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues

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nearly six years after ciara he ingram was brutally murdered, jarod entered a courtroom in georgia to stand trial as her accused killer. but he wasn't alone. your behind your husband? >> yes. >> was it important to show solidarity, to show that you have people? >> we felt so, yes. we invited anybody to come and just let the jury see how much jarod is loved and how much support and love that he has sitting behind him. >> the district attorney and her team hopes the jury would be persuaded not by jarod's supporters but by the facts of the case. is it your belief that jarod ingram murder to his ex-wife ciara? >> yes. >> while the kids are waiting

in the car? >> yes. >> and the motivation with this crime? was >> he did not want the children to move with sierra to indiana. >> the prosecution called friends like samela who, testified that ciara told her numerous times that jarod was threatening, violent. with that unnerving for you? >> no, because i wanted justice for ciara. it had been too long. i just had to do my part. >> he's sitting there? >> yes, to the left of me. >> you can look at him? >> no, i was disgusted. i hate him. i hate to say it, but i do. i just and look. >> the prosecution said jarod had another motive. to the tone of nearly $13,000 in child support payments. the prosecution also argue that the forensic evidence pointed at jarod the ingram. police found jarod the's fingerprints on ciara's cellphones. a cell phone used --

at her apartment. so did you have enough time to do this? >> yes, he certainly had enough time. we know that his phone was at the apartment at the time that her phone when silent. there's enough time to have killed or, he knew where the bleach was, he could get to the bleach. the cleanup that he attempted to do -- >> we're not talking about extensive cleanup? >> no. >> a little bleach here? >> he only released a few places in the apartment, trying to clean her up a little bit. >> he steadfastly maintained to anyone who would listen that he had not killed ciara. but the prosecutor found something that -- >> he will tell me about how he killed his ex-wife. he told me how he did it. >> a confession. he testified that he confessed in him when they shared a sale. he detailed his words in this police recording. >> he said he just snapped, he just had it and stab her. >> this witness was able to give details, this particular person who was in jail at the

time of the murder, no way that he could've known any of this information unless he received it from someone who knew it. >> but the storm witnesses for the prosecution were jarod's own children. you hadn't seen them in years at this point? >> that is correct. >> they look the same to you? >> no. >> are you making eye contact to them? >> i'm looking at them. they're not making any eye contact with me. i did mouth i love you. that was about all i thought i could get away with. >> the children now 12 and 14 years old told the jury would clear eyed detailed what happened that last day they saw their mother alive. and the details were more damning than ever. as when jared's daughter testified about peeking through that mail slot. >> what does the little girl see? >> she sees her father standing. he has a white bottle beside him on the floor, but she doesn't know, she doesn't know what it is. but a white bottle beside him. >> a white bottle. bleach. a change of clothes.

those sounded like new elements. were those children coach to give details of their story? >> never. >> was it different years later? >> there were more details years later and there are some things that were clarified. but no, the children were never coached. they were forensically interviewed, intentionally, so that they would not have ideas put in their heads. they were never coach with what to say on the stand. >> are you persuaded that flat little girl saw her father changing his clothes? >> absolutely. >> and that the little boy heard screams? >> yes. so sad that they had to see and hear that. yes. that's what they saw and heard. >> but there was another version of what happened that day. and the jury was about to waive the credibility of that storyteller. >> coming up. >> why did you take the stand? >> i had been waiting six years to stand up in front of her jury, and stand up in front of a judge and say i didn't do this. >> who would the jury believe? the children or their father? >> what if this jury says

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he was on trial for the murder of his ex-wife ciara, and the couples two children were the prosecution star witnesses. on the stand there recollections of that dramatic day included surprising new details.

but jarod had a surprise of his own, a risky move that he believed would prove his innocence. with the conclusion of what they saw, here's dennis murphy. >> 12 jurors sitting in the case of jarod ingram. did you take a butcher knife and plug it into ciara's neck and killed while your kids were waiting outside? >> absolutely not. >> poured bleach on? her >> know. >> that did not happen? >> no. >> that's been the story of your life for the last how many years now? >> six years. >> it had been six years since the crime. six years of suspicion. but jarod's attorney said it had taken investigators mere hours to come to a conclusion. >> you get domestic cases, we have a lot of them, and there's almost an automatic that you go to the deceased former spouse or current spouse. that's my man, we're gonna make it fit. >> and the defense argued, there wasn't a shred of physical evidence linking jarod

to the actual murder. no dna, no prints on the possible murder weapon, nothing. in that bloody scene ciara at's apartment, all the prosecution pointed to was jarod's fingerprints on her cellphones. >> he was at that house quite a bit. it would've been uncommon for his fingerprints to be all over this place. >> he said short he used ciara phone that day. >> i just remember, my daughter handed me the phone saying that it was her older brother in indiana and he wanted to talk to me. >> and they weren't worried at all about that jailhouse snitch. he was totally, not credible. as most snitches are not. >> if you talk with any jurors, they don't believe him. you don't call someone and talk about another crime unless you expect to get something out of it. >> but what about the kids and their ever important stories? >> the defense question to new details. dad changing his shirt. the white bottle of what

could've been bleach. you're saying that the cops in this case are seething the story, there coaching the kids? >> i absolutely think that they were asking leading questions that were leading them to conclusions that they didn't originally have. >> jarod's attorney was confident that the jurors would understand the facts if they heard from him directly. i >> knew that he was gonna make a good witness, most particularly because he was well spoken. >> you took the stand, always risky. rarely advised. but you did it. >> there is no question. >> why did you take the stand? >> i've been waiting six years to be able to stand up in front of a jury and stand up in front of a judge and say i didn't do this. >> but it exposes you too aggressive cross-examination with a prosecutor? >> it does. that was rough. it seemed like he was doing everything in his power to get a rise out of me. >> provoke you show the jury -- >> exactly, show the jury the monster. >> he faced the prosecutors question for more than a dozen hours over three days. so this is a poor set of facts that have come together against

you. you are the last known adult to have seen her, the kids are saying they heard screaming in the house. the father acting very suspiciously. everything seems to be consistent with you going in and killing ciara and doing a rough cleanup and then coming out. >> absolutely not. if i had done a click quick rough cleanup there would've been something on me, something in the car. police had the car in their custody, they combed it, inch to inch. they found no blood, no bleach. that is impossible. >> jarod denied he'd ever been violent with ciara, the defense pointing out there's never been so much as a single report to the police. and no, child support wasn't a problem, he said they were working on it. and he hadn't been upset about the excess moved indiana either. his new wife katie watched from the gallery. >> but jarod is calm, cool, very intelligent. he is our evidence. >> the jury went out to deliberate, two days passed without a verdict. then in an odd quirk of the

court calendar everyone took a week off, no decision. >> would if this jury says you're guilty? you know, we couldn't stop hugging. i mean, we were pretty much always like that, but there was a little bit more emotion behind it because what if? >> jarod was charged with a commission of four felonies including murder. what were you hoping for in the court? >> that he would be found guilty. >> it took less than two hours once the jury went back at it. you're watching the faces as they file? and >> i am. very intently. nobody is giving anything away. >> and then what, you hear the words? >> they start reading off the counts, one at a time. it's just not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. >> jarod ingram not guilty of

the murder of ciara ingram. >> i started crying. i've never, in my life, cried unhappiness. never. in that moment i cried of happiness. >> for ciara's friends and families the reaction was much different. >> surprised. and i think that my surprise came mostly from the children's testimony. i don't believe for a minute that anyone coach them into saying any of that. >> they told the jury what they saw on what they heard? >> yes, i absolutely believe that. >> and if you believe it, it means that he's guilty? >> right. >> you think jarod murdered ciara? >> i do. >> does she need justice? >> she does. i don't know how they're going to get it. >> but the prosecutor says not guilty is not the same as innocent. >> i do think that he is the murderer and we would not have trident if we don't have confidence in that. >> jarod and katy are grateful

to the friends that helped acquit him. they are now fighting for custody of his children who have been with ciara's mother for more than six years. >> the frustration of still not being in contact with my children has been hard. >> is it better at this point given all the poison that you say has been put before them, is it better to just let them be raised by their grandmother? maybe later in life when there because you can catch up with them? >> absolutely not. >> but they think you killed their mother? >> i don't know if the things that are not. i think they were just trained to fear and hate me. i think it would be better to heal this relationship as soon as possible. >> the children. what they saw, what they heard, but they remembered. ciara's friends say what's more important now is what they know about the woman lost on that day. if her kids start to forget her, the memory dims, what would you sit down and tell them about

their mother? >> i would tell them about how much she loved them. those kids wear everything to her. they were her world. >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm natalie morales thank you for watching. u for watching >>. i'm craig melvin >> and i'm natalie morales mueller's. >> and this is "dateline". >> i had a friend from high school had something on my facebook. it diana is one of my oldest friends. i just fell apart. >> i couldn't believe. it is still does seem real to me. >> the wedding was in the woods. >> a really nice, outdoor, for sweating. >> a few years later, the marriage was in shambles. >> she wanted to have a clean divorce. >> then a call out of the blue. >> they were going to meet? >> yes.