soon side. a dark ending for the story of a family that began with so much hope. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching! watching >> thank you for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." he's a monster. he's evil. he's pure evil. he is that character in those horror movies. >> he hid in the shadows. a killer in a mask. >> he's clearly a brilliant individual. a brilliantly scary individual. >> his target, a doting young mom. >> she was a gorgeous strawberry blond who loved her son more than anything in the whole world. >> she was so scared. >> he struck once. would he kill again and would she be next? >> we were just so shattered and hurting so bad.

>> imagine being hunted in your own home, held a virtual prisoner, your children in danger from a man with a blueprint for murder. >> i was terrified. >> she will face down evil and come forward with a new revelation that will make your jaw drop. >> what i did is wrong. there are no words. i have everything to lose. hello and welcome to ♪ ♪ ♪ "dateline." it was a brutal crime and right away one woman said she knew what happened. the verdict was far from the end of this case. it's a story of obsession and control that will keep you guessing until the very end. here's andrea canning with "the killing in cobb county." a new attraction

can be so exhilarating, but not always. sometimes attraction turns into a dangerous obsession. bonnie spencer says she knows all about that. >> he would show up at my job. he would show up at the store. no matter where i went, she would be there. >> bonnie said she had a stalker, a teenager who got into her house, into her car, and worst of all, into her head. >> i wouldn't go out to the mailbox without a gun. it was terrifying. >> he had total control of you, it sounds like. >> pretty much. >> she could feel it in her bones. something bad was coming. she felt powerless to do anything about it. >> i knew he was watching. here he comes again. >> life used to be much simpler for lottie. in the fall of 1995 she moved to cobb county georgia, just north of atlanta. she lived in this house with

her daughter christina. >> this is an upper scale neighborhood. me and christina were always outside. life was good. i was happy. >> their downstairs neighbors were carmen smith and her son nick. nick had a million smoil. kristin haran is carmen's sister. >> she was a gorgeous strawberry blond, feisty. very outgoing young woman who loved her son more than anything in the whole world. they were just like two peas in a pod. >> it was a monday afternoon, the week before halloween. nick and christina got off the school bus and walked home together. cobb county prosecutor jesse evans. >> first thing they did is go downstairs to see if they could find nick's mom. her car was there. she should be there. >> while christina stayed by the door, nick went inside. someone was there but not his mom. >> nick turned the corner and he saw something move across the bedroom down the long

hallway. >> it was a dark figure wearing gloves and a mask. the stranger suddenly stabbed nick and left him for dead. >> as he's laying there on the floor he actually sees his perpetrator run from the house. christina began really freaking out. she was terrified. >> christina ran upstairs to her apartment to get help. her baby-sitter katheryn was there with her boyfriend scott. they hurried downstairs. >> christina started walking towards the sliding glass door and i grabbed her shoulders and i stopped her and i said, don't touch anything. >> the glass door was smeared with blood. the scene inside was unspeakable. >> somebody said, oh, my gosh, there's nick, and you could see him through the window on the floor in a pool of blood. >> get out of here, go down the street. she said, what are you going to do? i said, i've got to get that boy out of there. i'm he not leaving without that boy. >> scott grabbed an axe from the garage with protection and

then dropped it when he realized how desperately nick needed help. he wasn't breathing. i smacked him a few times and nothing happened so i started screaming at him and started smacking him harder and telling him he wasn't going to die today. all of a sudden he kind of bolted up. at that point i said, you're ali alive! scott picked up the little boy and bolted from the house. he squeezed nick tightly against his chest. he was running and yelling down the street, call 911, call 911. call 911. >> lottie was at work when she got a frantic call from her daughter. >> she was hysterical. she was saying that nick was hurt and i drove home as fast as i could. i was screaming for christina and nick. they weren't there. >> lottie didn't see carmen either, but when police officers arrived at the scene they made a terrible discovery.

the vivacious flight attendant and devoted single mother was dead. she had been strangled. carmen smith was just 30 years old. >> you're just so shattered and hurting so bad and you're so thankful that your daughter's alive but then you feel so bad what happened to nick and carmen. >> carmen's sister kristin and brother-in-law jim barely had time to process the news about carmen before learning that nick was fighting for his life. they rushed to be at his side. >> we went straight to the hospital. >> you must have been thinking, how could someone stab a 5-year-old, your nephew, approximately 18 times. that's a monster. >> exactly. >> i won't ever forget walking in that hospital room -- sorry. yeah. and you have to come to grips with reality. >> and it was a grim reality.

after emergency surgery, nick was in critical condition. he looked so little, so fragile in his hospital bed. >> you never think that you can be touched by something like this when you've got the perfect family. >> he had been stabbed 18 times and had lost a dangerous amount of blood but he survived. nick was going to make it. it was nothing less than a miracle. there was no easy way to tell him about his mom, but he had to know. and even 18 years later nick remembered it like it was yesterday. >> my dad and my aunt told me that my mom didn't make it and, i mean, i didn't really understand it then. i still don't really understand it. >> it was such a senseless act. nick and his family could only grieve and wonder why, but back at the apartment, now a crime

scene, a chill ran through lottie. she told police she could explain exactly what happened. >> i told them that i had somebody that had been stalking me and it was my belief that he was the one behind what happened to nicholas and carmen. coming up, who was this man in the mask who would kill the young mother and try to kill her son? >> he's pure evil. he's a monster. >> a chilling story of hunter and hunted. >> he has always told me that he can get away with the perfect murder. his plan was in the making. >> when "dateline" continues. you might have heard of carvana and that we sell cars online. we believe buying a car should be something that gets you hyped up. and that your new car ought to come with newfound happiness and zero surprises. and all of us will stop at nothing to drive you happy. we'll drive you happy at carvana. girls trip.

♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪ get fast relief of your worst allergy symptoms. including nasal congestion. with powerful claritin-d. so you can breathe better. feel the clarity and make today the most wonderful time of the year. claritin - d. you said you'd never get a dog. you said you'd never do a lot of things. but you never knew all the things a dog could do for you. and with resolve you never have to worry about the mess. love the love, resolve the mess. no matter what type of dog you have... or, cat you have... frontline® plus lets you take them everywhere... no matter how you define it. frontline®. the #1 name in flea and tick protection. (heartbeats) introducing icy hot pro. frontline®. ice works fast... to freeze your pain and your doubt. heat makes it last. so you'll never sit this one out. new icy hot pro with 2 max-strength pain relievers. flo, you're here.

this pipe just burst on me. well, you bundled home and auto with progressive, so you have round-the-clock protection on all your stuff. like that cardboard tv. i told props to switch that out. okay, everyone, that's a wrap. [ bell rings ] wait, you faked this whole thing? i knew it was the quickest way to see you. i'm sorry, jon, but i'm already in love with insurance. you know that's weird, right? well, any weirder than faking a burst pipe? got a little carried away. yeah. we hit the bike trails every weekend got a little carried away. shinges doesn't care. i grow all my own vegetables shingles doesn't care. we've still got the best moves you've ever seen good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but, no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age increasing your risk for getting shingles. so, what can protect you? shingrix protects. you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90% effective.

shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your pharmacist or doctor about shingrix. shingles doesn't care. but you should. nurse mariyam sabo knows a moment this pure demands a lotion this pure. gold bond pure moisture lotion 24-hour hydration no parabens, dyes, or fragrances gold bond champion your skin

>> it is a haunting memory, impossible to forget. >> it definitely changed my life and course completely. i remember it pretty well. >> nick smith was only 5 years old when a masked man stabbed him 18 times and killed his mother carmen. while recovering in the hospital, nick was told his mother was gone. >> do you remember your mom? >> not as well as i wish i did. most of my memories are just stories i've been told from other people. >> carmen's sister kristin and her husband jim helped raise nick. bedtime stories were

often about his beautiful mother. >> she was very athletic. she was into swimming, basketball, softball, track, and she was on the homecoming court, prom queen. she dated the football player. she was a cheerleader. >> i remember her liveliness. she was very vivacious. she did a good job of proceed vided providing for nick. >> do you feel robbed? >> definitely. a lot of people in my family say that i act just like her. i just know that she was a happy person. >> a happy life that ended in an appalling act of violence. the police officers who discovered carmen's body got an immediate, emphatic lead from her upstairs neighbor lottie spencer. >> did you know immediately who had done this? >> uh-huh. >> who had committed this. >> i knew. >> lottie was certain it was

the work of a teenager named waseem daker. she said it would explain the hideous attack. she told detectives the story. things had started so innocently. don't they always? >> come on. >> i met him at the paint ball field playing paint ball. we met by being teammates on the same team. >> lottie was the captain of her team. kind of a den mother to the other much younger players, especially waseem. a georgia tech student. 12 years her junior. >> he didn't have anyone else he could open up to. >> you felt like a big sister. >> that's how i felt. >> he was a bit of a loner. >> i told him that, you know, i have a life and you're taking too much of my time and then he would cry and then i knew there was a problem. >> what was a nuisance at first

lottie quickly escalated. her phone was ringing off the hook up to 100 times a day. >> why didn't you just stop talking to this person? i should have. i felt really sorry for him. i really didn't want him to get into trouble. it sounds so crazy. >> maybe that also says about you you're a very good person. >> or very foolish person. >> foolish because his stalking became bolder, increasingly bizarre. >> he started flipping out, yelling at the top of his lungs he's going to get me, slit my daughter's throat in front of me. i would come home from work and there would be a pair of my underwear on my doorknob or a few days later a bra. >> what message is he sending? >> look at me, i'm getting in your place, getting away with it. there's nothing you can do. >> another time i came home early and went into my bedroom and there was wasem daker naked wearing garth ter hose, garth

ter belt looking at himself in my mirror. >> this is any woman's worst nightmare. >> uh-huh. >> lottie said things reached a tipping point when he threatened her and her daughter this time while brand dishing a knife. >> he's always told me he can get away with the perfect murder. his plan was in the making. >> finally lottie decided to let the justice system take over. he was arrested in august 1995 but released on bond. a judge ordered him to stay away. he didn't and was arrested again in september. this time he was sent to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. prosecutor jesse evans. >> he's got some severe issues with obsession. i don't think that he has the ability to feel compassion for other people. he's clearly a brilliant individual. he's also a brilliantly scary individual. >> while daker was hospitalized, lottie packed up and moved to the house in cobb county, about 20 minutes north of atlanta where carmen and nick lived

downstairs. >> so you moved? >> yes. >> to try and escape him? >> uh-huh. >> in october on friday the 13th waseem dth aker was released from the hospital. less than two weeks later carmen smith was dead and lottie spencer was overwhelmed with guilt. >> waseem is evil. he's pure evil. >> she said her stalker must have been the one behind the attack on carmen and nick. why? daker was obsessed with lottie. he had never met or spoken to carmen or had he? she thought she knew the answer. >> it was friday the 20th and like daker style, the calls started coming in. the phone got put off the hook and then i could hear her phone ringing. >> carmen answered, then hung up abruptly. what was said?

nobody knows. carmen told her sister and brother-in-law that the call was from lottie's stalker. >> she said, i'm going to go get a hammer and put it next to the bed. and i remember laughing, if that guy decides to get into the house, he's in trouble but you never think it would go to where it went. >> we talked about her packing some stuff and coming to stay with us for a while. >> lottie said seeing carmen's reaction to his call was heartbreaking. she did what she could to make her feel safe. >> the only entryway was the sliding glass door. we barricaded the door with some wood. she was so scared. she was shaking and just -- she was so scared. >> just three days later that glass door was open and smeared with blood. waseem daker was the lead suspect in a horrible crime. coming up, evidence at

the scene of the crime. >> there was a broken knife blade and hair and fiber evidence were recovered off of carmen smith's body. >> will it be enough to get the killer. >> he was getting away with murder. he was getting away with exactly what he told me he would. >> when "dateline." continues. 't always take the best care of school supplies. so save money shopping back to school on amazon. while they... 0oh... uh... figure their stuff out. it's the lightning round! what is... madagascar! name the device... the telephone! wow mom. tell me the... chimichanga! how is she doing that? turns out moms are always right, and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. let's show her what she's... a white convertible!

now you're just showing off, mom. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage make the right call and go with the general. and it's easier than ever to get your projects done right. with angi, you can connect with and see ratings and reviews. and when you book and pay throug you're covered by our happiness check out angi.com today. angi... and done.

you're a cio in 2022. so what's on the agenda? threat briefings, it meetings,g you'r and lots of coffee.piness but with fully integrated security solutions all in one place. you're ready. comcast business. powering possibilities. ™ just three days before she was

killed carmen smith told family and friends she had gotten a call from waseem daker, the man who had >> and the circumstantial part of the case was too weak to make an arrest. prosecutors believe he was the only viable suspect. they didn't have the evidence to prove it. the investigation stalled. >> so waseem daker walked away from the murder. >> he walked away from the murder but not some accountability. the police felt like they had a viable way of charging him with aggravated stalking. >> daker was arrested and charged with stalking lottie spencer. >> multiple witnesses, friends of hers, friends of his that observed firsthand some of the stalking activities that were occurring at her apartment, either by hearing the phone,

hearing him knock on the door at all hours of the night, seeing him come by. >> daker was convicted in september of 1996 and sentenced to ten years in prison. it was the close to the worst chapper of lottie spencer's life. but it wasn't a happy ending. >> did you feel like you had some peace in your life again when he was behind bars? >> no. no. i mean, because he was getting away with murder. he was getting away with exactly what he told me he would. he needed to pay for what he did to carmen. >> after the trial lottie decided to leave georgia to start over. nick smith went back to the same school and the protective embrace of his family. >> i kind of just went back into the normal routine. i think that was the best way that i could have dealt with it and i think my family did a pretty good job of trying to keep my life as normal as possible. >> and during the next ten years nick's life did finally

return to normal. but in 2006 daker was released and moved nearby. all the terrifying memories of the masked man wielding a knife came rushing back. police decided to provide security to keep nick safe. >> we would have the cops sit outside of our house at night and we had cameras installed in my house and on the outside just as a precaution. >> lottie said she was also looking over her shoulder. >> tell us about the day that he got out, that he was a free man again. >> not a good time. >> were you waiting every day for the phone to ring or that bang on the door? >> yeah. that was starting to unwrap again. coming up, the fear begins all over and so does the push for justice. >> you had your smoking gun. >> absolutely. >> it's another trial for waseem daker and just look who's addressing the jury when "dateline" continues. ahhh!!

you said you'd never get a dog. you said you'd never do a lot of things. but you never knew all the things a dog could do for you. and with resolve you never have to worry about the mess. love the love, resolve the mess. ♪ ♪ aleve x. its revolutionary rollerball design delivers fast, powerful, long-lasting pain relief. hello i'm cory coffin. aleve it, and see what's possible.

here's what's happening. billionaire robert brockman indicted by the justice department in 20 2020. in what is been lively called the biggest detrimental tax invasion against an individual. has that. he was 81. they were arguing that he was struggling and incompetent to set fire. but they did set a trial for 2023. he evaded taxes on two billion dollars and games. now back to dateline! dateline welcome back to "dateline." i'm natalie morales. prosecutors believed carmen smith had been murdered at the hands of waseem daker. with no physical evidence, they could not prove it and the investigation stalled. a new detective was about to take a look at a new

clue. once again, here's andrea canning with "the killing in cobb county." after ten years in prison, waseem daker was a freeman but still a suspect in the murder of carmen smith and the stabbing of her son nick. >> he was still terrorizing you in some ways. >> just the fact that he was out was kind of terrorizing. >> he is that character in those horror movies. he's like your worst nightmare. >> after his relieve he got a job and moved to suburban atlanta. he was a freeman and enjoying life. here he is sky diving and loving it. daker's freedom galled homicide detective john doss. the carmen smith murder was now officially a cold case. to doss, daker was

the one that got away. >> does a case like this haunt a police department? >> absolutely, because these cases go home with you in your mind. >> but for years doss couldn't do anything about it, and then just by chance he was sent to a dna training seminar in 2008, a random assignment that would change everything. >> back in the mid'90s very, very little at all could be done with the hair except to say the color of the hair. now when there's any tissue from the root on the hair whatsoever, it takes just a minute amount of tissue to come up with a full profile. >> it's called nuclear dna testing and carmen was a strawberry blond and he remembered the short, dark hairs recovered from her body. not hers under layers of bedding. >> i felt it was invaluable evidence if there was enough tissue on that hair that was underneath her sweater.

>> doss brought one of those dark hairs to a dna lab in texas and waited. it was almost 15 years after carmen smith's murder when the call came in. there was a match. they have identified wasee waseem daker's hair, him and only his on the body of carmen smith. >> you had your smoking gun. >> absolutely. >> i got a call from detective doss. i was very happy but it was really hard for me to have to go back and tell the story of the things he did. >> lottie dreaded testifying in front of open court in front of daker. he was arrested and charged with murdering carmen smith and stabbing her son nick. his trial started in september of 2012. >> all rise. >> prosecutor jesse evans was there for the state.

>> this case, ladies and gentlemen, is about obsession, revenge. >> evans argued that daker was a violent stalker and that his obsession with one woman led to the death of another. >> you can't get inside the mind of a psycho path and figure out why they would kill. >> evans said daker had left a trail of destruction and those critical hairs. >> the cold case solved by advances in dna technology proved positive that waseem daker is the man. >> defending wa seem daker is waseem daker. >> i want to point out three principles of law i want to give you. >> before he took over his own case he had been represented by an experienced team, michael and jason treadway. they were still advising him. >> they had no case without those hairs. that's why they didn't go forward initially.

they didn't have a case. and they knew it. >> their advice to daker, focus on those hairs and don't obsess about lottie. >> this case had to be defended by attacking the science of the state's case. >> but daker couldn't seem to let go. his focus from the start was his relationship with the state's star witness. >> i've been in her bed. i've been in her sofa. >> it was a romance, intimate in every way. lottie insisted that wasn't true. >> some things had to be beyond frustrating saying you two had a sexual relationship. >> there was no relationship so there's nothing, you know, more that i can say about that. >> did he ever try and do anything like kiss you -- >> no. >> since he's so in love with you. >> never once. never once tried to kissimmee or anything. >> when daker finally turned to those hairs he called on dr. greg hampekian. he challenged the state's key evidence. the

nuclear dna test matching daker to carmen smith that was done on the root tissue of a single hair. the problem, he says, is none of the hairs recovered trt crime scene had any roots. >> there were hairs taken from the body and they were all clearly indicated on the report as having no root. that's something you can do with the naked eye and of course the experts at the time used a microscope. >> are you 100% sure they had no root. >> the records allstate that. somehow it arrives and it's a hair with a root. there's real problems with that piece of evidence. >> it was a serious challenge to the state's key piece of evidence, and daker once again connected the evidence to lottie spencer, a liar, he said, who had ruined his life in the most treacherous way. >> she didn't make all of these false allegations. she derailed

their investigations by making all of these false allegations. >> for lottie, all of the fear and hurt from her darkest days came rushing back every time daker mentioned her name. >> he was enjoying it like he had control again and that made me feel like really weak. >> jesse evans asked the jurors not to focus on lottie and to think about another woman when they started their deliberations. >> carmen smith's body was laid to rest but i assure you it was not in peace. >> after he took his seat he was anxious with what the jury would do. >> we were really holding our whole case together with two hairs. two hairs from the victim's body. if there's a plausible explanation for how those hairs come back. if there's an explanation for that, our case is no longer viable. >> it took the jury just 3 1/2 hours to reach a verdict. >> we the jury find the

defendant guilty. >> guilty of the murder of 30-year-old carmen smith. >> all these years you go thinking that he got away with it and he didn't. >> at daker's sentencing the state called just one witness, nick smith, who was determined to face his attacker one last time. >> i kind of had to not let him defeat me. no way. >> when waseem daker took my mother's life and stabbed me -- >> nick struggled to hold back tears. >> i will no longer let someone else control my life and interrupt my thoughts. he's finally caught and i am free. >> i never wanted to use what happened as any sort of crutch or let it get in the way. i did the best i could to -- if she

was still here, i think she'd be proud. >> the judge then delivered daker's sentence, life in prison plus 47 years, but a defiant daker refused to sign the documents for his sentence. >> it's typical of the coward that you would act the way you're acting and that's what you are, a coward. >> case closed. justice for carmen and nick smith and the victory lottie had wanted so badly, but the story was far from over. something happened at the end of the trial that would come to haunt lottie, something that would lead her to realize there was still unfinished and unbelievable business in her saga with waseem daker. a final verdict? yes. the final chapter, not even close. a stunning confession is about to turn this case around. coming up -- >> i couldn't let it go. i have a conscience. i had to live

with me. >> there's a real issue here. something is going on behind the scenes that we weren't aware of. >> when "dateline" continues. nothing works faster for risks. with type 2 diabetes you have up to 4 times greater risk of stroke, heart attack, or death. even at your a1c goal, you're still at risk ...which if ignored could bring you here... ...may put you in one of those... ...or even worse. too much? that's the point. get real about your risks and do something about it. talk to your health care provider about ways to lower your risk of stroke, heart attack, or death. learn more at getrealaboutdiabetes.com hey, did i tell you i bought our car from carvana? yeah, ma. it was so easy. i found the perfect car under budget too! and i get seven days to love it or my money back... i love it! [laughs] we'll drive you happy at carvana.

kids, one year they want all dinosaurs stuff the next, camels. - llamas. - llamas. so save money shopping back to school on amazon. you sure that's not a camel? yeah. whatever you say. how did olay top expensive creams? like this with hydration that beats the $100 cream in every jar of regenerist retinol24 collagen peptide new vitamin c and the iconic red jar can't top this skin shop now at olay.com you don't know how much pressure you put on your septic system. but rid-x does. in a 21 month study,

scientists proved that rid- x reduces up to 20% of waste build up every month. take the pressure off with rid-x. no matter what type of dog you have... or, cat you have... frontline® plus lets you take them everywhere... no matter how you define it. frontline®. the #1 name in flea and tick protection. so i said, "yeah you're saving hundreds with the home and auto bundle from progressive, but there's no saving that casserole!" [ both laugh ] i just love that word "bundle." it's so fun. two things coming together like a force of nature, like it was really meant to be, y'know? yes, yes, i do. and i'm so glad you wanna save money. rodney, set up a bundle for jon hamm. mm! of course! jon, is it still cool if i catch a ride home with you? i never said it was. but technically you didn't say it wasn't. it's not. yet. ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪ claritin provides non-drowsy symptom relief from over 200 indoor

and outdoor allergens, day after day. feel the clarity and make today the most wonderful time of the year. live claritin clear. >> waseem daker had been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. it looked like he was out of lottie spencer's life timely and forever. >> it was very emotional but just so good. so very good.

>> do you feel free? finally free? >> i feel like a lot of weight has been lifted and i'm going to close this chapter and just go on with my life in a positive way. >> that was lottie in 2012. she told us she had closed that chapter, but it turns out she didn't. not by a long shot. in fact, since that interview, she has turned this story completely upside down with astonishing revelations. we sat down with her again to hear her new version of things. >> so did not expect to be sitting here talking to you again. >> no. >> major turn of events. >> yes, there has been. >> it all began with a bombshell. >> mr. daker and i had a consensual sexual relationship. >> yes, lottie now says in the mid'90s she had an ongoing sexual relationship with waseem daker, that he wasn't really

her stalker, he was her lover. it was something she had flat out denied for 17 years. >> if what you're saying is true, you lied to the district attorney, you lied in open court to the jury, you lied to me. >> uh-huh. there are no words to describe just how very remorseful i am. what i did was wrong. i am taking 100% full responsibility for what i've done. the damage i have caused this man and his family is -- there's nothing i can do to take it back, nothing. >> lottie now says she lied under oath about the sex and about many of the stalking charges she made against daker. >> did waseem threaten you, your life? >> no. no. >> did he threaten anyone's life around new. >> no. >> are you in love with waseem daker? >> no, i never was in love with mr. daker.

>> and you're not today? >> no. >> but lottie says even though she and daker were in a relationship, she still feared him and until recently genuinely believed he was a murder remember. >> i was terrified of him. that was no lie. i've had the nightmares. i've lived in that fear. >> she says that fear drove her to lie to put daker behind bars, but the euphoria she felt after the verdict started to sour. she couldn't stop thinking about something prosecutor jesse evans said during the trial. >> i learned during the closing arguments that carmen's lifeless body was wrapped up in five layers of bedding and i was shocked and i started to get pretty scared at that moment because i had given carmen two blankets just before her death. >> they were blankets that lottie now says she and daker had slept in together. >> mr. daker used those blankets on a number of occasions. i mean, he was

welcome in my home and we were friends and he had spent the night and clearly i knew that his dna could have been on those blankets. >> remember carmen had been found under several layers of bedding. if one of lottie's blankets was among them, it could explain how daker's hair got on carmen's body. >> this isn't a maybe. this is a woman who's risking perjury, this is a woman who can explain this evidence. you have to take this seriously. >> dr. hampekian who had been a paid expert for daker, he worked for free. he believed lottie's story was a game changer. >> now there's a logical explanation of how the hairs got there. this is one of those places where you have to shake the system and say, wait a minute. this is so obvious. he didn't get a fair trial. >> i couldn't let it go. i have a conscience. i have to live with me. >> so lottie decided to come

forward. she filed affidavits with the court and in 2013 judge mary staley granted daker a hearing for a new trial. but jesse evans wasn't buying lottie's new story. that's because while he was preparing for daker's hearing, he believed he found that story's real source. >> something's going on behind the scenes that we weren't aware of. >> coming up -- >> i messed up really bad. it's despicable. >> another revelation inside a prison cell, 4,000 pages of secrets. >> do you think waseem daker is manipulating lottie from prison? >> when "dateline" continues. aleve x. its revolutionary rollerball design delivers fast, powerful, long-lasting pain relief.

aleve it, and see what's possible. you don't know how much pressure you put on your septic system. but rid-x does. in a 21 month study, scientists proved that rid- x reduces up to 20% of waste build up every month. take the pressure off with rid-x. open. it's a beautiful word. neighborhoods "open". businesses "open". fields "open". who doesn't love "open"? offices. homes. stages. possibilities. your world. open. and you can help keep it that way. ♪♪

kids, one year they want all dinosaurs stuff the next, camels. - llamas. - llamas. so save money shopping back to school on amazon. you sure that's not a camel?

yeah. whatever you say. with xfinity internet, you get advanced security that helps protect you at home and on the go. you feel so safe, it's as if... i don't know... evander holyfield has your back. i wouldn't click on that. hey, thanks! we got a muffin for ed! all right! you don't need those calories. can we at least split it? nope. advanced security that helps protect your devices in and out of the home. i mean, can i have a bite? only from xfinity. nah. unbeatable internet. for almost two decades, here is made to do anything so you can do anything.

how lottie spencer talked about waseem daker. >> waseem daker is evil. he is pure evil. he is a monster! >> reporter: then she changed her story calling him a victim. >> you know what? i messed up really bad. despicable. >> lottie's reversal was astonishing. in the years since carmen smith's murder she was raising her young son in a new home. by recanting her testimony, she put all of that at risk. how worried are you

right now that you could go to jail for perjury? >> i'm very worried. i know that i'm facing prison time and there will be severe penalty for what i do and i don't want to be ripped away from my little boy. i have everything to lose. >> a year after daker's conviction, the hearing began on the motion for a new trial. daker again, representing himself called the doctor, the dna expert to the stand. >> if a man sleeps in a blanket, can his hair transfer to the blanket? >> yes. >> and if a man has sex in a blanket, can his hair transfer to a blanket? >> yes. >> the doctor laid the scientific foundation, but daker's chances really hinged on lottie. a hush came over the courtroom as a nervous lottie made her way to the stand and swore to tell the truth.

>> just prior to carmen smith's murder, i gave her two blankets, blankets that i knew that you used in my roswell apartment. >> reporter: she acknowledged having a sexual relationship with daker and then lottie's old list of daker's abuses started to topple like dominos. >> did the defendant threaten you with a handgun? >> never. >> did i ever steal your bras, panties and hang them on your door knob? >> they will thinking you are lying. >> what do i have to lose? i'm doing this because this is right. >> prosecutor jesse evans portrayed lottie as a unreliable person. evans next move was stunning. he presented evidence that he said explained lottie's incredible reversal,

letters confiscated from daker's prison cell. 4,000 pages of accordance between the convicted murderer and the woman who testified against him. >> i sent him daily devotions and bible cards and a lot of information, case files. i actually feel like i'm his personal secretary in a way. >> it turned out lottie had actually been helping with daker's appeal. he gave her research assignments. she looked up cases and printed documents, mailed them to prison, and then waited for his next request. do you think waseem daker is manipulating lottie from prison? >> there is no doubt by sending those letters to him, a convicted murder, a sociopath, she has opened the dorp aor and has allowed him an opportunity to get back in her life and we know he has a history of manipulating her.

>> he is manipulating you right now into doing exactly what he wants? >> absolutely not. this is a repentive woman who is very remorseful and very sorry for what she has caused. >> but evans say the letters tell another story. he says lottie knew about the bedding enhair evidence long before daker's trial started and never said a word about giving any blankets to carmen. >> it wasn't until after she started secretly communicating with the defendant she made this broad assertion i had given some blankets to carmen. the problem with that is that i challenged her on it, describe the blankets, tell me which ones they were and she couldn't remember. >> there is no smoking gun or smoking blanket in this case? >> absolutely. i don't think there are any blanket and i don't think there is any evidence of that. >> on the stand, lottie not only recanted her testimony from tro two trials but described the incredible length she is willing to go to help set daker free. you believe so strongly in this you applied

for a second mortgage to help in his defense and took out a life insurance policy naming waseem as the beneficiary? >> my daughter is the beneficiary and'son gets a third and she would gets a third and i get a third. >> despite lottie's efforts, the fund-raising, the accordance with daker, the legal research, judge staley didn't buy her new story. she rejected daker's motion for a new trial. >> the right results were reached for the right reasons. i know that we have done things the right way and i feel confident in the defendant's guilt. >> the ruling included a harsh rebuke of lottie. the judge said she lacked credibility and her new testimony appeared to be concocted di the defendant but lottie seemed ready to carry on her fight. >> somebody needs to stand up'say, wait a minute, justice was not served in this case!

>> on that point, lottie is not alone. daker's attorney agrees. >> what more pivotal evidence could there be with the hair on the blanket? i believe the man deserves a new trial. >> how can you believe anything lottie says, though, now? >> i think when you have a man's liberty and life at stake, you vble what she says. how can you at least not allow 12 different people to hear her version now and let them decide if it's true or not? >> are you ever going to give up on waseem? are you in this until all appeals are exhausted? >> yes. i played the role of an innocent man being falsely convicted for crimes he did not do. i have to make it right. >> in 2016 the georgia supreme court upheld daker's conviction and he tried to take his appeal all the way to the u.s. supreme court only to be denied review.

>> i have no doubt that waseem daker is a cold-blooded killer and justice has been served with his conviction. it doesn't matter what lottie says. this case is about carmen. this case is about nick. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. f coming up on the mehdi hasan show! canvas, overwhelmingly votes to protect the right to abortion. and what would be the first test for reproductive rights for the midterms. and how will this week's primary results impact with his congress can achieve? i'll post both of those questions to house correspondent -- . plus pelosi completed her controversial trip to taiwan. but was the trippers the risk? i'll -- ask. no