they were declaring to me and to the world that i'm innocent. >> curtis lovelace, a life interrupted. interrupted. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> it's been extremely hard. >> hardest part is the crime. >> a mother at work in her office murder. >> someone just let her die. >> are you sure she was dead? >> she is a very professional woman dead. >> police start to dig. her new fiup a say. >> he's like, i have to move on.

>> it was very suspicious. final client. >> he owned a 9mm gun. >> and she was shot with one of those?t >> her ex-husband. >> he was under suspicion. >> he was. >> did you murder your wife? >> iur know anyone is capable o doing anything, but we would know, we're his kids. >> a chilling case. >> murder. >> with a pivoting end. >> our mom's killer is still out there. >> hello, welcome toer "datelin" pam zimmerman was everything to her three children, cheerleader, confidante, help tore, a reassuring presence who was always there. then she was gone, shot dead in her office. but why? in the search for clues, detectives focus on the men in pam's life and the secrets they kept.

only one would face trial for her murder and the stunning outcome would tear pam's family apart. here's keith morrison is "before midnight." >> a few minutes after sunrise on theht morning of november 4t 2014, david zimmerman rose to his bed14 in the quiet suburb o bloomington, illinois, eager to dispose of a small worry that had been nagging at him all night. he matted across the room to his bedroom door. >> i had woke up and walked out into the kind of main hall way we have and the lights were still on. >> the lights he left on when he went to bed. which meant? what? david was 17-years-old, the eldest of pam zimmerman's three children. they not uncommoningly left the lights on when she worked late at her financial planning business or stepped out with het new man him typically when she got home, she turned the lights

off.ho but this tuesday morning -- >> her bedroom was dark and it lookedk like no juan was in there. >> tell meua where your mind wa enyou saw that? >> my minden was probably a different million asplaces, i thought it was the weird thing, she didn't come home, so where is she? >> it had to be a reasonable explanation, pam vermillion was so reliable, two years divorced, a successful business wornlgs a pillar of the neighborhood. david and his 15-year-old twin sisters heidi and rachel tried to push their worries aside. >> we paid up like every possibleid excuse it could have been for why she wasn't coming home. >> you don't want to focus on that. >> yeah. >> some t signs were hard to ignore. for one thing, the night before, pam didn't respond to her kids' messages, heidi tried tracing her. >> my mom and i share our iphone

account. i looked where the iphone was, i saw it wasn't at her office, it was in a weird location. i convinced myself she was at a client's house because that was my excuse at the time for why she wasn't home. >> still, their mom was the center of their universe, they told themselves they'd be laughing about this later or they'd be relieved, anyway. >> we said, let's just get ready for school, keep on with our day. >> she'll be home when we get home? >> yeah. >> same time, same morning, two doors down the streets, one of pam's friend julie was still in her pajamas. >> my home phone ranks. which is odd, it never rings that early. >> it hardly rings anyway. >> i'm one of the rare people that still have a home phone. so i picked it up, it was scott. >> he lived a few hours away fear chicago. he was her fiancee. >> he

said, i haven't heard from pam, i'm worried, i don't know what's going on. in' tried to reach her since la night. she's not answering. >> she lives a couple houses down? >> two house down that way. so i walked down here and knocked on the front door and gave an answer. and i said, where is your mom? he said, i don't know, she didn't come home last night and i said, what do you mean she didn't come home last night? i said, well, where is she? i believe they had been trying to reache her since 5:30 the night before and she didn't answer. >> for the kid, she tried to hide the worry, flooding into her brain. >> she's like, okay, just go to school like you normally would. i'll text you later when i know something. >> maybe, thought julie, maybe there was some simple explanation. she rushed home, got dressed. jumped in her car and headed straight to ipam's office. maybe pam fell asleep while working late. >> i don't really know, i don't know what my thinking was.

>> pam's kids tried to concentrating on their school work.ir couldn't. >> i remember going to school and rachel and i sat across from twoat of our friends at school d iri just lost it and started balling. the whole morning was really hard. >> by wanow, there was a tribe frightened people. this is pam's cousin vicki. >> i have a brother 18 years younger than me. he called and he said, they can't find pam. i go, what? he goes, they can't find pam. i said, that's not good. and he goes, no, it's not. >> the drive to pam's office didn't take long. julie ko pulled into the parking lot andd right away, she saw something that would lead her to call 911. >> coming up, an awful discovery at pam's office. >> theat lights were all off.

the blinds were all pulled. >> all of a sudden i hear oh my god, oh my god, me my god. i remember thinking everything has changed in my life right now, everything has changed for those kids. >> david's cheeks were stained with tears. >> when "dateline" continues. "dateline" -we are here! -for new homeowners, a football game can really bring out the parent in them. it's smart we parked near the exit. >> -absolutely. -there you go. that way, [whistles] let's put away the parking talk, maybe, for a minute. parking is where the money is, though. can you imagine what this place pulls in on parking alone? alright, no more talking about parking lots. a lot of these are compact spots. it's not pretty. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. we still planning to head out around the third quarter? let's not talk about leaving before we're actually at the game.

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. >> 7:00 a.m., november 4th, 2014, julie ko number of

trepidation arrived outside the office of her missing friend and neighbor, pam zimmerman. nobody around. except wasn't that pat's car in the lot? julie called her husband. >> he said, call 911. so, i called 911, and she said, do you want to file a missing person's report? and i said, i don't even know if she's missing. >> then she saw someone who could help. >> right as i pulled in, i know she was parked over there getting out of her car and walking towards me. >> you know her well? >> i knew ina. i jumped out of my car and said, pam didn't come home last night. >> ina was the a past friend and long-time office manager. ina said pam seemed fine the day before, said when she left around 4:30 p.m., pam was meeting with her last client of the day behind closed doors remember but ina had a key to the building and office, so the two women headed in. >> i opened the door there and

the lights were all off and blinds were all pulled. >> was that unusual? >> very. the blinds in my area of the reception area were never closed. >> but they were this time? >> they were closed. and i reached over to turn the light switch on. >> and all of a sudden i hear her say, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, i walked over to where she was and you could see pam's body kind of laying in the fetal position. >> reporter: julily is a nurse. she checked for signs of life. >> i remember leaning down and seeing, checking for a carotid pulse. i remember thinking, everything has changed in my life right now. everything has changed for those kids and their life will never be the same. >> so there are two things going on at once? >> right, that's how you are trained. you immediately feel emotions are put aside and i knew something was then, i knew

something wasn't right. i knew not to move her. >> ina has stared, rooted to the spot. >> i guess i kind of went into shock because i saw her lying there. >> but you had no idea what had happened in. >> no. >> she could have had a heart attack or something? >> could of. >> maybe she tripped over a foot rest behind the reception desk? >> i had it in the back of my mind, well, did she hit her head in. >> police arrived in minutes. julie's phone still pinging. >> the kids are still texting. i keep saying someone needs to go to them and tell them what's going on. >> reporter: eventually officers went to the high school. one-by-one pam's children were called to a conference room, where the police told them their mother was dead. >> it was the worst part, they brought me in this room, david's cheeks are stained with tears. i had to see that, then they told me and i was balling, david

starts balling again. >> i'm like, half an hour later, the same thing happens with rachel. >> oh lord. >> i can't imagine a day like that. do you know where your dad was? did you know where any sort of center of your lives was? >> i didn't know anything. after that they just took us into questioning. . >> but then, it was hard for anyone to focus on anything other than loss, all consuming grief. >> she was the neatest friend, cousin, you could ever ask for. you needed something, sheedz be there in a heart beat. >> outgoing? >> oh, she would talk to anybody. everybody knew her. >> she made everybody feel like they were one of her closest friends. that's how she was she was sincere. >> a care giver. that was pam zimmerman. but to her, the diane gifford and brother larry alexander, pam was also the family smart

ambitious star. >> she was valedictorian of her class, graduating class. >> she was a straight-a student the entire grade school and high school, except i think one b where she got in home ec. >> i have always known, we had the most amazing mom, such a bright, happy person, full of wisdom, smart, funny. i could go on and on. >> she always made sure that we came first. she'd come home from work, she'd make us dinner. she'd stay up all night helping us with homework or dock our laundry. >> we called her super mom. because she literally did everything. >> a gift for all the love she has fired, pam zimmerman must have stirred something dark in someone or got in someone's way. it wasn't long before police figured out her death was no accident. >> what did the police tell you? >> nothing. they kept the evidence very,

very, very quiet. >> when did you find out how she was killed in. >> a few days later, police called me and said that the newspapers want to release some information, you should tell the kids. the only thing they would tell me the cause of death was multiple gunshots. >> pam zimmerman had been murdered, but by whom? >> coming up, police start with the men around her, her new fiancee. >> he had at least two other women that he had been involved with. >> her final client. >> he owned a 9mm gun. >> and about her ex. when "dateline continues. >> and> >> and about her ex. when "dateline continues. >> and

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there was no doubt, pamela vermillion was the victim of cold blooded murder. it happened sometime before midnight was the coroner's best guess. the murder weapon, a 9mm handgun. >> there were two bullet wounds in her chest in the front of her body. >> edith brady is a long-time crime reporter. >> there was one bullet wound in her temple and then there was one bullet wound in her back. >> so, somebody making absolutely sure she was good and

dead. >> exactly. >> what was it like to hear that, that news? >> it was the worst phone call in my life. to think that someone shot her just let her die. >> and pam's kids, when they heard that -- >> i always told myself i'd see it coming because it was easier for me to cope with. >> an execution is what it looked like or maybe an office/invasion robbery didn't seem likely, but -- >> they wanted to do a walk-through to see what was missing what was missing or out of place. >> did you notice anything missing? . >> the phone cords were cut, the phones were gone. my calendar that i kept all her appointments on, that was gone. >> pam's purse was sitting on the desk, gaping open. the wallet was gone, sfoep, too.

its case was lying on the floor. >> did you get the sense that maybe the police thought somebody wanted to steal something and they were in the process of and got interrupted? >> they could have thought that. >> but there was no sign of forced entry. none. and cops found pam's cell phone right where her daughter's iphone said would be, her wallet close by with her credit card all there. >> so the police believed early on that this was a staged effort to make it look like it was a robbery. >> but who would want to kill pam and then stage some strange half-hearted coverup? start close to the olded a annual which meant in pam's world on that day, three men, her last client that last day of her life, her ex-husband, and her brand-new fiancee, scott baldwin, the object of a

whirlwind romance and perhaps too rapid engagement. after all, no one in the family really knew him, not even her kids. >> i had only met scott three times and the third time was the party that they had to celebrate their engagement. >> that separation was just days before, yet, when scott heard about the murder, he did not rush to bloomington from his home two or three hours away near chicago. >> it made me realize and think what my mom really meant to him, what we meant to him. he sounded fake at that point. >> pam's kids have questions about scott. so did detectives. >> he was asked to come down to bloomingtop to meet with police, which he did the following day. pam's body was discovered. >> scott told the detectives he had been home alone when pam was killed. police would look into that, but in the meantime, they discovered

something very interesting about pam's new fiancee. >> they spent at fair amount of time checking into who he had been communicating with. >> sure. >> and he had at least two other women that he had been involved with and he was still having some pretty heavy amount of contact with. >> pam's kids didn't know anything about that but they did get a weird vibe from the fiancee after their mother's death. he said, i had nothing to do with it. you need to understand, i have to move on. >> excuse me? >> a week after that, he sat us down. >> did you ask him if he had something to do with it? >> no, he didn't have anything to do with that. >> two months later, he was dating somebody new. >> we thought it was suspicious. >> they felt the mother's death was somehow tied to her

business. >> maybe she found out something this client was doing and this client would have lost a lot of money. >> ina hess says the man was a name named eldin. did he have any beeves with pam? >> there was no evidence alvin had any beefs. they had a long-term professional relationship where she was helping him with his investments. >> we told detectives, his meeting with pam was uneventful. he left around 5:40 p.m., he had dinner with his girl frechltd he was cooperative. but -- >> he owned a 9mm gun. >> and she was shot with one of those in. >> that matched the type of gun that she was killed with. >> now that was a development. >> alvin whitlow was considered a person of interest. >> detectives got a search warrant and alvin turned over a 9mm. the 9mm?

they sent it off for testing. as they waited for results, they drilled down on one more possible person of interest. the third man, the wasn't who just might have had a motive, pam okay ex-husband, curt zimmerman. look at him, said pam's family. there was something going on there. >> it definitely turned into hatred. >> a lot of problems. >> problems? hatred? exactly what was the problem between pam zimmerman and her ex-husband kirk? >> coming up, the ex, the clients, the fiancee, revelations about them all. >> who was it who said no secrets in a murder investigation? >> exactly. >> when "dateline" continues.

. hello, i'm darragh brown. here's what's happening,

president biden and russian president putin are expected to talk as russia seems poised to invade ukraine. the white house asked all americans to leave ukraine. word of the attack could happen before the olympic's end. protests block the ambassador bridge to disburse or face arrest. the block aid over covid restrictions have disrupted supply chains between the two countries. now, back to "dateline." ♪♪ welcome back to "dateline," i'm natalie morales. financial adviser pam vermillion had been gunned down in her office. detectives wand wondered if it was professional. they discovered each of the men under investigation had something to hide and one in particular was withholding crucial information about the night pam was killed. here again is keith morrison

with "before midnight." >> police investigating the murder of pam zimmerman now had a short list, her fiancee scott, her client eldin and a third man her ex-husband kirk. some of her relatives are convinced kirk should have been the first, maybe the only name on that legs. >> she would always say, if anything had ever happened to her, he should be a person to look at. >> you kind of wonder when you say a thing like that. >> you wonder, oh, c'mon, you don't really mean that? >> did you say that to her? >> she was like, no, i mean it. >> so in the hour after the ex-wife's murder, kirk zimmerman spent a lot of time with officers. he answered them calmly, not once did he ask for an attorney. when they asked about the

divorce, kirk said his only real concern was for the kids. >> i would have preferred to keep going at least 'til the kids were off to college, because by then they're adults. >> reporter: the detectives asked kirk what he did the evening ma'am was killed. he said he was at home, started to read, must have dozed off. >> i have noticed lately that when i read, i tend to fall asleep. >> nothing, not even this seemed to rattle kirk. >> did you murder your wife in. >> no. >> they got his finger prints and a dna sample and they did a gunshot residue test. >> am i required to do this? >> he wasn't. but he did it anyway. and he didn't resist handing over his phone or his laptop or pass words either. his car and house were another matter, though, police had search warrants for those. >> he was dropped off at a hotel. >> because he did not have a house.

the police were there and stayed there there for six days. >> wow. >> yeah. >> no discovery really except kirk had a girlfriend named kate. she revealed something very serious. she and kirk had a date scheduled the night pam died. kate arrived early to kirk's house around 6:30, ran the doorbell. no answer. well, well, well, kirk hadn't told them about any date and certainly hadn't revealed he didn't answer the door when she rang. so, second interview. they pressed him again. >> what was the reason why you didn't say that kate was around? >> up, i love her and just -- keep her out of this. >> still, the girl's story put a hole in his alibi. was he home the night pam was killed? or was it somewhere else?

>> well, it was one that the police really had to sort through. >> sure. >> to see if it was a credible story or not. >> they let him go. again. kirk's kids couldn't see their dad as a suspect. they said their parents divorced was drama-free. >> i think they both realized that they came to want different things. >> kirk's brother agreed. he was pam's best friend and he loved her like a sister, saw her marriage up close and the way it ended. >> there was never any hostility, open air, arguments. the kids and i, we we never saw anything. >> if anything, they said the two seemed much happier. kirk got a house just down the street and around the corner just to be close to them. >> i'm really glad he did. it made it real easy on us. >> and he did stay very involved in their lives. >> dad videotaped all of our

sporting events. a lot of our games, basketball games, soft ball games. >> besides, their dad now had kate. they had been dating for more than a year. >> i really liked her. >> yeah, kate's awesome. >> yeah. >> so dad, a murderer? it seemed absurd to the kids. >> i think he was happy with where he was at. >> now, days, months stood by. the detectives were busy but very quiet about it. while everyone waited. they tested that 9mm turned in by eldin with itlow. >> it was not the gun that fired the bullets that killed pam zimmerman. >> they checked hissal buy, discovered he did have dinner with his girlfriend, later that evening, he met another woman. >> he had been checked out and then he had been cleared. >> as for the fiancee scott baldwin, his secret dalliances

raised eyebrows but worked out for him. police confirmed he had been miles away when his fiancee died phoning and texting two other women. what is it about the men in the story? >> both of the men had to make some pretty embarrassing admissions. >> who was it said no secrets in a murder investigation? >> exactly. they both had to admit that they had been messing around. >> but kirk? not so easy to clear him. so police followed the money and they heard things, different things from what his kids and brother said about the divorce, like a simmering resentment that pam got the house after the divorce and most important more money from him. >> he had a goal in his 20s. >> it got all messed up. >> the dispute at the moment, days before pam was killed, pam

fed-exed kirk a demand to pay close to $4,000 in expenses for the kids or else. >> she was giving him five days to pay it or she was going to take him back to court. >> oh, office manager ina said pam told her she was truly afraid of kirk. >> i just warned her, she worked late at night, make sure she went out the front door where all the lights were on and make sure that she was always cautious. >> money. the root of all evil? something else they found, what was that tell-tale residue in kirk's car? it was enough. on a summer morning eight months after pam zimmerman's death, a cop turned on his squad car lights and sirens, pulled over a motorist, read him, his rights, kirk zimmerman was under arrest for murder. >> coming up. >> greed, hate, murder.

>> prosecutors layout their case with an eyewitness. >> that man did it. >> she saw a guy coming out that back door of pam's office. >> when "dateline" continues.

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it was july 21st, 2015. the kid were now living in their dad's house. >> we woke up to the doorbell ringing. so i go down, i open the door, and he's like, introduces himself as a detective. he's like, we just arrested your dad. >> and just like that, a second parent was gone. the twins still minors were told they'd be living with pam's siblings now. >> rachel and i were taken into dcfs custody, where we were forced to live with them for three months at our mom's house. that was just one huge nightmare. >> it got to be hateful, angry all the time, no matter what we did. >> but, of course, pam's kids knew perfectly well that their aunts and uncles believed their dad killed their mom. >> i was 16 and our aunt diane sat me down alone in my mom's

family room and plainly said your dad killed your mom. >> what do you think about the possibility that your dad could be violented like that? >> i know anyone is capable of doing anything, but we would know. we're his kids, we lived with him. >> i honestly believe if she ever really felt threatened she really felt at risk, the first person she would have reached out to was me. and she never did. >> kirk spent four months in jail before bonning out. and for the next 3.5 years, remained under house arrest. >> rachel and heidi couldn't stay in the house with him alone. there had to be another person 18 or older the entire time. >> the whole time waiting for trial? >> yes. >> up until we turned 18. >> pam's neighbor and friend julie ko tried to help. >> you know i took his daughter driving. because they were learning to

drive. i remember driving one daughter to clean she went to mizzou. so i took her. >> while pam's friends tried to protect the kids. they couldn't protect them from a widespread public suspicion their father killed their mother. the case always seemed to be in the news. >> potential evidence that came out was pretty damaging to kirk zimmerman because a lot of it dealt with the exchanges he had with pam during divorce. >> those exchanges were front and center when the state finally presented its case at trial. >> greed, hate, murder. >> santa states attorney told the jury the motive was clear, kirk zimmerman killed his wife over money. >> he knew as long as he was still alive, that he was going

to go broke. >> the motive and the means, said the state, kirk's cell phone put him at home the night his exdied, but the prosecutor told the jury that kirk's car, a hyundai, told a different story. the car had an on board computer, a kind of gps device and an fbi analyst said that device revealed the car was in the vicinity of pam's office. so. >> the police got some surveillance video pretty early on from the building nearby, pam's office, and they believe there was a car that matched kirk zimmerman's. >> and said the prosecutor, there was an eyewitness, this woman. so nervous as she took the stand, she could barely get her name out. >> spell your first name.

>> m--- >> but what she had to say was important said pam's brother. >> you know, she saw a guy office at the time. >> and that man she said was carrying a bag. >> what did he do with the bag? >> put it in his car. >> that was the stuff he took out of the office. >> and who was that man? >> from this point, the state's emotional witness was certain. >> that man was the man. >> versions never found the murder weapon, but among the gearshift in kirk's car, gunshot residue said this forensic scientist. >> that gearshift handle either had gunshot residue related or was in the environment of a discharged firearm. >> but remember the friends and family who said pam told them,

shelves afraid kirk might kill her? that was hearsay, ruled the judge. >> they were not allowed to present that to the jury. >> hmm. you know, if a case where they're alleging that an angry ex-husband killed his wife, motive is everything, frankly? >> yes. >> the jury did hear all about that letter pam fed-ex'd to kirk days before her murder, demanding $4,000 and his ongoing financial dispute, said the prosecutor were going to prevent kirk from his cherished dream of retiring early. he ban going to take it, so he killed her. >> the october 21st letter was the triggering event that culminated the murder. >> which pam's children replied, ridiculous. >> i don't think it made any accepts at all. >> she was married to him for 20 years. >> reporter: the defense was up next with its own case. its own take on the facts.

what a spectacle that would be. >> coming up. he had in excess of $240,000 in his 401k. >> the defense tries to blow up the money motive and another blowup on the witness stand. what would the jury do? when "dateline" continues. continues. >> ♪ ♪ time for a kitchen refresh. come in to lowe's now for a rebate on samsu appliances,

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welcome back. kirk zimmerman was on trial for the murder of his ex-wife, pam. the prosecution argued gps technology put his car near the crime scene. and gunshot residue was found inside the vehicle. but the defense was ready to tackle that evidence head on and raise troubling questions about the investigation. the courtroom was divided, and the verdict was about to fracture a family. back now to keith morrison with the conclusion of "before midnight." >> there was so many little pieces, so many bits of evidence to parade before the jury. the case against kirk zimmerman went on for more than four weeks, through 40 witnesses, and pretty much all of it, said pam and kirk's children, was wrong. >> you can put together little pieces any way you want, but the way they put it together wasn't the right way.

>> so now, bloomington would hear kirk zimmerman's side of the story. >> kirk zimmerman did not shoot and kill pamela zimmerman. he didn't shoot and kill the mother of his three children over owing $3,900 in child support. >> that state theory that kirk killed pam over money, nonsense, said his defense attorney john rogers. kirk made it clear to the police, he said, that fedex from pam was no big deal. >> it didn't affect me. you're -- you're wondering if i disagreed or argued with her about it? >> kirk had a full pension guaranteed for life, which he could have taken at any point in time. he was making $95,000 working for state farm. he has in excess of $240,000 in his 401(k). >> the defense told the court the police have tunnel vision from the very start. >> it's the old, let's go look

at the ex-husband. he must have done it. >> that grainy video the prosecution suggested was kirk's silver hyundai sonata, really, said the defense? how could you tell? >> i don't remember the months and the year. >> ma'am -- >> i don't, and i don't want to hear no more. >> then there was maria legg, the prosecution's only eyewitness. >> i had a very difficult cross-examination with her because she simply chose not to respond to me. >> i don't want to answer to you because i want to say what i saw. >> and when she did respond, her testimony contradicted the prosecution's evidence. like, for example, the color of kirk's car. >> you said during direct examination that it was a black car this gentleman went to with the big bag, correct? >> yes, sir. >> all right. that's not a silver car, is it? >> i saw black. >> the defense also challenged that data taken from the

on-board computer system in kirk's silver hyundai. pings the state said put the car near pam's office. the defense called it junk science. >> this type of expert testimony has never been allowed in the state of illinois before. it should not have been allowed in this case. >> but how could the defense answer for that gunshot residue found on kirk's gear shift? the defense expert agreed there was plenty of it on that spot, but -- >> finding that number of characteristic of residue particles is surprising. >> maybe too surprising? especially because there was none anywhere else in the car. so it looked like some kind of a mistake or -- >> you're suggesting that gunshot residue was purposefully placed on the lever or came into contact with either clothing, a

firearm, or the hands of the two police officers that had been in the crime scene. >> either way, rogers suggested sloppy police work was the hallmark of the investigation. he said police should have dug deeper when they heard what this woman had to say. >> i heard what i believed to be gunshots. >> the defense had an earwitness, of sorts, who testified that more than a block away, she heard gunshots at the office at 5:10 p.m. it hit the coroner's time of death window before sometime before midnight. why was that important? >> that's the exact time mr. whitlow has himself in pam's office. >> whitlow, pam's last client of the day. >> i'm not contending that i had enough evidence to prove mr. whitlow shot pam zimmerman, but certainly, when they claim that they investigated mr. whitlow with the same intensity that they investigated mr. zimmerman, that was not

true. >> but police said they investigated whitlow thoroughly and cleared him. the lawyers made their final appeal to the jury. >> this is not what proof beyond a reasonable doubt looks like. we do not speculate people into murder convictions. >> the evidence has shown you that on november 3rd, 2014, he murdered pam zimmerman. he made sure his hate got carried out on that fourth shot. that one was for him. find the defendant guilty. >> the family, as polarized as the most poisonous politics, waited. >> i was just pacing back and forth, kind of freaking out a little bit. >> and then, after a day and a half of deliberations, the signal. >> all right. >> verdict. >> welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. everyone may be seated. >> i was shaking. it just felt very long.

>> the courtroom was utterly silent. a collective holding of breath. >> we, the jury, find the defendant, kirk zimmerman, not guilty of first degree murder. >> not guilty. the children exhaled. >> it was just this huge relief, to know that our dad wouldn't be going away for something he didn't do. >> we just cried and smiled. it was the best feeling ever. >> across the aisle was a different world. >> i remember saying, "no." >> yeah. then they took us upstairs to the state's attorney office. >> the state was just as devastated as we were. >> are you used to this yet? >> no. >> not been very long. >> no. there's still a lot of anger. >> there's nothing you can do now, right? >> no, there's not. >> a family truly divided. diane and larry angry, disappointed. their nieces and nephew elated

and hopeful. >> my dad can actually go out to eat now, so we've been going out to restaurants. he came with me to my dentist's appointment because he hasn't been able to do that in a really long time. it's awkward because i'm 20. >> he's just trying to make up for the lost 4 1/2 years. >> yeah. >> now, said david, rachel, and heidi, they're hoping the state will solve their mom's murder. >> i obviously hope that they do catch whoever did it, but i wouldn't be surprised if they don't. >> what's going to happen to the family? >> i think all of us want to move out of bloomington. >> yeah. >> that's for sure. >> something else. after all the trauma, these three are, by the look of it, fine. it's because, they said, they had a wonderful mother, pam zimmerman. you three have all done pretty well so far. what would she think about where you are in life and what you've accomplished? >> i think she'd be incredibly

proud of how well we've handled everything. and how it hasn't, like, derailed us. >> you think about what -- how she would want you to live and how she would want you to keep going. that's what i've just been trying to do. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. r watchig ♪♪ welcome to the show. i'm zerlina maxwell. we begin with president biden's pending decision on who should replace justice stephen breyer on the supreme court. the president has said he will announce his nominee by the end of this month. thursday night, he said this to nbc's lester holt. >> short list are nominees who are incredibly well qualified

and