were victims of a crime. they're expected to pursue asylum claims, but thanks to governor desantis they are eligible to apply for special you visas, reserved for victims and witnesses of crimes. the visa would also prevent them from being deported until their cases are settled, and put them on a path to citizenship. in addition to the dissent is stunned, potentially helping the migrants, it is now also the subject of a treasury department probe looking into whether desantis may have misused covid-19 relief aid to fund the flights. you know what they say about karma. that does it for us tonight, rachel will be back on monday, and i will see you want tuesday. >> i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline". ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that's what he was trying to do, protect his family. that is all he ever wanted to do. >> even when the man was dying, that is what he was doing. >> a quiet family night at home, shattered by intruders.

>> the gun was right here. >> a devoted father and husband, dead. >> she just kept saying, they killed him. >> someone murdered her husband, but left her alive. and that left police suspicious. was it possible that she was involved in her husband's murder? >> the indicators are, in cases like this, that it is the spouse, not a random act. >> but why would she kill a man that she obviously loved? >> they never fought, they were very happy. this was a family fair all right, but it was another family, keeping secrets. >> ever see anything like that before? >> no. >> one father who fought to save his son, another who used his son to save himself. >> he is a monster. >> ♪ ♪ ♪

hello, and welcome to dateline. joe morrissey was a respected scientist who loved his work. that is where he met k, we shared his passion, and would eventually become his second wife. then, late one night, joe, and kay their youngest son were attacked inside their florida home. investigators did not know what to make of the strange circumstances surrounding this brutal crime, or the stunning betrayal that followed. here is josh mankiewicz with "broken bonds". ♪ ♪ ♪ >> what would you do for your family? would you lie? would you walk through fire? could you ever accuse them of something terrible, to save yourself? this is a story about two very different families. it is about loyalty, terror, deception and love. and for one of the families, it begins with a late night phone call. >> i was about to not answer it, then something told me to pick

up the phone. >> christina's mother was on the line. >> to just hear these sirens, she just kept saying, you have to come here, they broke into the house, he is dead. they killed him. >> he was joseph morrissey who have been married to christina 's mother, kay, for 12 years. there are suburban florida home, documented by police video was now a crime scene. >> there was so much chaos going on. the whole street was blocked off, tons of police cars. there were sirens, you could smell the smoke and i remember running down the street, and the police officers were trying to stop me. and i just kept going, and she was just standing there, in the middle of the street. she just looks so small, so hurt. i just ran up and gave her a big hug. she was covered in blood and kept saying he is dead. he is gone. so, why would they do that? he is gone. >> when i arrived at this house,

about 1:30 am. >> detective ryan kindle the plantation florida police quickly learned the key facts. joe morrissey had been brutally stabbed to death in his own home, while his wife kay and young son had escaped. the detectives spoke briefly with kay. >> she gives me a brief synopsis of what happens in there. >> believable? >> at that point, yes. that is the only thing i had to go on at that point. >> kay told the detective that a man had entered their home, sometime after 11 pm. and began a reign of terror, that started with tying joe and kay's hands and feet with zip ties, and ended with the murder of their husband, and the house on fire. kay's story suggested a robbery gone bad. to figure out what happened, detective kimble work from the outside again. >> what did you see is we got here, at the front of the house? >> the screen to the window right over here was leaning up against the house. there was a vertical slice down the middle of the screen, and this window was wide open. >> that is how kay told you the

guy first came into the house? >> that was the entry area where the suspect came in through, correct. i walk down this hallway over here. on the ground, there was a pair of red handled scissors. one of these long, plastic flex cuffs was on the ground, a zip tie. when i walked into the master bedroom, another zip tie was on the ground. at the foot of the bed, there were bath towels laying on the ground. on the bed itself was a wedding ring, which i thought was unusual. >> kay said the man who came in asked for jewelry, for valuables. >> he demanded cash, valuables. >> but he did not take them? >> at this point he did not take the ones in this room at least. when i look at the closet, there was also a large, significant amount of jewelry. >> so if this was a robbery it is kind of a strange robbery? because they did not take the stuff they supposedly wanted. >> then, he sees the blood. >> right on the floor here,

large amounts of blood. i could see a man's feet outside the sliding glass doors. >> this is where joe morrissey was killed? >> he was stabbed, right next to the sofa in this room. >> kay said she dragged his body out of the fire, and on to the patio. that is where joe morrissey's lay in the wee hours of april six, 2010. >> stabbings are always personal? >> yes, up close, no way to do that from a distance. >> everything about that says this was not a robbery, this was someone who wanted to kill joe morrissey in particular. >> in addition to that, joe morrissey's wedding band was still on, he still had his watch on. if this was a robbery, they would have been taken out of the house. >> what's more, his wife kay was still alive, not stabbed, not even once. >> they do a brutal, vicious murder to joe morrissey. why leave her alive? why leave a witness alive? >> why indeed? in murders like this, the spouse is often the first

suspect, sometimes the only suspect. all of that became clear that night, to kay's daughter, christina. >> i remember at the police station, she asked me to stay and watch the house. i remember sitting there, they would come up and ask me questions. different detectives, police officers. you know, they asked me, did they ever fight? were they arguing? was there tension between them? >> absolutely not, said christina. >> they never thought. they were always very happy. >> nobody, nobody goes through life and never fights, everybody fights. >> i remember, they would fight over him leaving socks on the floor or a wet towel or something like that. if they ever had any arguments, they were few and far between. they were a very good match. >> joe and kay started dating when christina was a young girl. both were divorced, single

parents at the time, but it was science that brought them together. they met a cancer research institute. kay was a biomedical grad student back then, while joe was a respected molecular biologist, with a ph. d. from stanford university. he conducted research into whether there was a connection between cellphones and cancer, among other things. and his work had taken him across the globe. >> he was like my mom. very hardworking. he was very, very humble. the most humble person i knew, he never bragged about anything, he was always just trying to be a good guy, and teach us to just to do the right thing. >> joe and kay dated for a year, and then joe popped the question on a roman holiday. >> they thought it was so cool that he proposed on top of the vatican. she was so excited, it was fun to plan a wedding. they made sure the kids were all included. >> that meant not only christina, but also a son of joe's from his previous marriage. >> it was not just a wedding for the two of them, it was all of us becoming a big family. >> come outside to take a picture. >> okay.

>> it was not long before kay and joe wanted a child of their own, and decided to adopt patrick, a baby boy from south korea. >> he was a very hands on father. he was always doing something with patrick, all of the time. it was either baseball lessons, hockey practice or going fishing. they were together all of the time. >> but now joe was gone. patrick and kay had survived. and detective kendall had some questions for kay. >> how do you know he came through the window? >> coming up -- kay describes, in horrifying detail, a night of terror. >> remember, if you do anything stupid, i have a gun, i will have you killed, and i have your husband. >> but does her story matched the evidence? when "dateline" continues. announcer: type 2 diabetes? discover the power of 3 in the ozempic® tri-zone. in my ozempic® tri-zone, i lowered my a1c, cv risk,

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savagely stabbed to death in his own home. now his wife kay was being questioned by detective kendall at the police station in plantation, florida. >> kay, maybe it's easier to start with what happened from the beginning, last night. >> i was in my craft room, which is in the front of the house. and the tv was on. i heard a noise like something fall down. i thought it was my husband. going to bed. >> she told police her husband had been watching tv in the family room. their five-year-old son asleep

in the master bedroom. then suddenly, kay looked up. >> i saw him and the gun was like, right here. and he was right there. and i couldn't believe i was like -- i could not believe that this was happening to me. >> there was a young man in the room pointing a gun right at her. kay said the man asked her where her husband was. she told him she thought he was sleeping in either the family room or their bedroom. >> and he kept saying he's gonna shoot me he's gonna kill me. >> what is your radar say at the beginning? is she telling the truth? >> naturally i wanted to believe her. but the indicators are, in cases like this, that it's the spouse or a domestic issue. or some other personal issue. not a random act. >> then kay told police, the man took her into the family room where her husband was. >> and he yelled, wake up doctor joe.

joe of course jumped up. and i said joe, just calm down, it's okay. wake up. don't move. just do what he tells you to do and we're going to be okay. and then he said, i don't want you guys looking at me. don't look at me. or else i will shoot. so i said, okay we won't look at you. >> kay told police she heard the intruder talking to someone she never saw. via walkie-talkie. someone elsewhere on the property. >> who were the people talking to? >> he said just listen to me. don't talk to me. just be quiet. >> she said the assailant, the young man with a gun, then tied their wrists with zip ties. >> i thought he was going to shoot us. and then he kept saying where is the wallet, i want the wallet. and then i said i have no money, i will have two dollars. i said i don't use cash, i don't have any cash. at that point he said he wanted to go to the atm to get money out. >> according to kay, the gunmen cut their hands free and the

three of them got into one of the morrissey's cars, leaving their five-year-old son asleep in the house. along with whoever had been on the walkie talkie. on their way to the bank, joe drove. once there, kay managed to get them to park in view of the atm camera. as you can see on this tape, then, the assailant told kay what to do next. >> get out of the car. go get the money. go get the money. he said if you do anything stupid, i have your gun, your kid and your husband. >> the man wanted $5,000. >> so i tried the 5, 000, i try 2000, and then i tried 500. $100 more. and i kept saying no. it was not allowed any more money. >> that's what the machine said? >> yes. >> and how much did you end up getting? >> $500. >> after that, kay said they

drove back to the house, frantic to see their son. was he still asleep? was he okay? as they entered the house, the gunman barked out orders. >> he walked behind us and said, don't do anything stupid. joe and i were kind of like, looking at each other saying, why is he coming back? at that point i thought he was going to kill us. i really did. >> once back in the house, the gunmen took them back to the master bedroom and case said, tied their hands and feet with zip ties and put towels over their head. >> why would they put towels over their head if this person has already seen them? >> then the gunmen told joe to come with him. >> so, joe goes, i can't walk. and he goes, while i want to see you hopping. hop, hop, hop. and then all i heard was joe said, please, please don't do it. and i saw the fire. >> please don't do it? >> he said please don't do it. >> joe did? >> yes.

i thought he was talking about the fight. but i guess he was talking about him shooting him. or stabbing him. >> it was a horrifying story. and if she's faking this for some reason, it's pretty elaborate. >> and she's doing a good job at it. she's quite an actress if she's not telling the truth. >> kay's daughter christine it was there when the q&a at the police station was over. >> we went back to my house and she didn't really see much. she was just quiet. i think she was just letting it all sink in. >> now police were trying to determine whether the evidence matched kay's story. >> coming up -- kay tells her story to us. and this one is really strange. >> he started taunting us. they're coming for me. i'm going to kill you. >> when "dateline" continues.

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this was happening to me. >> police investigating the home invasion murder of joe morrissey had to consider whether his wife kay had somehow been involved. >> we came up with a comprehensive background investigation on kay, went through all of her phone records, who she was friends with, to find out that if she had a boyfriend, or was dating somebody. >> police found no evidence that kay had strayed in her marriage. what's more, they were finding

plenty at the crime scene to support her story. the broken window screen, zip ties and towels. kay's story seemed to be holding up. christina had believed from the beginning that her mother was innocent. purely a victim. but what she did not know yet was how brutal the murder was. >> she did not want us to know i remember sitting at the funeral home, she was very firm, and kept saying it was going to be a closed casket, no one will see him, i want everyone to remember him as the lively person that he was. i knew then that it could not have been good. >> and when i sat down with kay, she told a story, filled with love and courage on that awful night. >> you are surrounded by evil. my insides were shaking. i was just thinking about patrick. >> that was the theme of the story that kay told me. how her five-year-old son patrick, was foremost on her

and her husband's minds. that is why kay said she became especially panicked, when she and joe were forced to go to the bank, by the man with the gun. >> so we said, we can't leave patrick by himself here. he said no, he stays. he told us there were people there, they had guns. >> and there you are, getting in the car with your husband? and some guy with a gun? leaving your five-year-old at home, with -- >> we don't even know. >> we don't even know who that was. >> it is just crazy. i mean i am crying hysterical. >> in the car, kay feared for her and joe's lives as well. as they returned from the bank to their home, they heard a siren. kay thought help was on the way, they would be saved. the gunman thought this might be the end of him, and of them. >> when he heard the siren, he becomes very strange, and he started singing, taunting us. they are coming for me, i'm going to kill you. i was just so horrified. >> but help did not arrive. once at home, when the gunman forced kay and joe back into the master bedroom, at least they found patrick, thankfully, still asleep.

and in that moment kay says, a fathers love came shining through. that is when joe morrissey, tied up and help us, made a move to save his young son's life. >> patrick is now awake, he is sitting on the bed. so joe says to him patrick, do it for daddy, please do it for daddy. lay down, pretend you are asleep. >> do it for daddy? >> do it for daddy. and he lays there, pretends to be asleep. >> kay says the man with the gun forced joe to go to the other side of the house. in his final moments with his attackers, kay says that family was first in joe's mind. >> he starts pleading please, i have kids. please. >> their home was on fire. the attackers had fled, now she had to get patrick and herself out of the house, but her ankles were still tied, she could barely move. desperate to find something

sharp to free her feet, kay hobbled to a nearby bathroom. >> i took everything out of the drawers, created a huge mess, i could not find the scissors so i called patrick, and i said to patrick, you have to be a big boy, you have to help mommy. >> and he did. kay told him where to find a pair of scissors, and patrick brought them to her, cutting the zip tie was difficult, but kay was finally able to do it. the five-year-old boy, had saved his mother. then, she had another job for her son. >> so i said patrick, please, go across the street, knock on the door. mommy will stay here, do it for

mommy. please, i need to help daddy. memory your karate moves, your kung fu kicks. please, kick the door. >> kay saw the neighbor's door open, and patrick run in. he knew she was safe, one family member taking care. of now kay we're on a mission to save joe. she would not leave him behind, no matter what the risk. >> and then, you ran back into a burning house? >> yes, i ran back in there. and when i saw joe, it was so hard to pick him up. i remember so many wounds, so much damage to his body, i could not even think anymore. >> kay managed to drag joe out of the burning house, on to the patio. she held out hope that while joe was badly injured, he was still alive. paramedics arrived but there was nothing that they could do for joe morrissey. kay's beloved husband was gone, at the age of only 46. >> that was the last time i saw him. >> you saved yourself? you saved your son? >> but i did not save joe. i just couldn't. it was the most horrible thing to ever happen to me, to learn he was dead. >> it was a heartbreaking story. one that police came to believe. they cleared kay. >> we found no evidence to support us to believe that she was involved in any way in this

murder. >> it is now up to investigators to find out who had done such horrifying things to this family. a family detective kendall believed that had been targeted. but so far it was not making any sense. >> if it was something personal in nature, why not just come in, kill them and leave? >> the search for answers was on, and it would lead to a very different kind of family. >> police close in on a suspect, who seems to know a lot about the crime. >> coming up -- >> honestly, i think you might be involved in this. >> okay. >> i never thought that it was someone who they knew. >> when "dateline" continues. >> police close in on a suspect, who seems to know a lot about the crime. >> coming up -- >> honestly, i think you might be involved in this. >> okay. >> i never thought that it was someone who they knew. >> when "dateline" continues. ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪

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here's what's happening. hospitals across the country have reported a surge in respiratory viruses in the last few weeks. it's began circulating in the summer. it's surprised since it usually peaks in the winter. for many kids, symptoms look like the common cold. but for babies are children with long to seasons, or week and a new moon systems. it can be worst in a year. bronchiolitis, the infection that causes airways to be inflamed and fickle to breathe. now to dateline! and fickle to breathe >> welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. investigators had cleared kay morrissey in her husband's grisly murder. they were starting to believe the family had been targeted. but it was still a mystery why joe was the only one killed. who might want him dead? once again, here's josh

mankiewicz with "broken bonds". >> joe morrissey had been savagely stabbed to death in a home invasion that ended with his family's house set ablaze. now police were trying to figure out who could have committed such a brutal crime. kay's daughter from her first marriage, christina, first thought it might have something to do with the renovations her mom and joe were having done at the home. >> i honestly thought maybe it was the contractors, because they had a lot of people coming in and out of their house doing work. i never thought it was somebody who they knew. >> like some random thing in which people came in to rob the house and everything went wrong? >> yeah, that was my first thought. that was my first guess. >> who didn't like joe? >> the only person that i knew that didn't like him was his ex wife and her family. it was a nasty divorce. it was just a bitter feelings there. >> police looked in at joe's previous marriage, but determined it had nothing to do with the crime. investigators did have one narrow thread to pull. something kay had mentioned to them.

>> the only thing she was able to tell me was a brief description of what the suspects who first entered the house looked like. >> kay had not recognized that man at the time. only later did she realize she might have seen him once, several months earlier. joe had been a scientist, a husband and a father, but he was also a landlord. and kay thought the man might be related to the tenants at the town house they owned. >> i found a family member who could match the description of what kay gave me in her initial statement. checking more into this person, i found he had a warrant out for us. >> what was his name? >> randy tundidor jr.. >> and with that name, the investigation was now heading from the loving morrissey family, to the other family in the story. randy tundidor jr. was 21 into drugs, with an arrest warrant for violating his probation and a burglary wrap. did you go talk? >> we couldn't find him.

>> but detectives could find his father, randy sr. at the town house. randy sr. said he hadn't talked to his son in a while. and when police went looking for randy jr. at the family window tinting business called gator tint, an alert officer noticed something suspicious. >> a canine sergeant sees stuck between the lid of the dumpster and the dumpster itself, a zip tie. i drive down there. i immediately identify it as the same make, size, of the ones used in the murder. that's a solid piece of evidence. >> that's your first break? >> yeah. >> randy sr. allowed police to search the business without a warrant. >> immediately we see there's a bag of the same type of wire tires that were used to tie up joseph morrissey. they also sell knives at the business. there's an empty box that holds a 15 inch bowie knife. when he's asked, where's the knife that belongs to this box, he tells us it should be be there.

he doesn't know where it is. >> do you think at this point he's covering up for his son? >> i think that he's aware that things are not going good for his son, but it doesn't seem like he wants to cover for his son. >> so, this is a good citizen letting the police do their investigation? >> correct. >> and if the chips fall on his son? then, they do. >> correct. >> investigators eventually located randy jr. and brought him in for questioning. >> randy jr. seem composed. very interested to know what information i had about the case. very willing to talk to me. >> if i didn't have a warrant, i would freely talk to you guys. no problem. i don't have no connection with this murder. i don't know who did it. i want to clear my name,

because i did not commit this murder. >> and as for that knife that was missing from his dad's shop, for randy jr. had an explanation for that. >> he had stolen that knife weeks earlier and had sold it to a friend of his that he knows on the street. >> i used to buy dope off of him. i'm positive he still has it. >> i asked him to further describe. he draws a picture and it's an exact replica of the knife we believe to be used in the murder. >> over the course of two days of interrogation, randy jr. denied any involvement in the murder. >> it could've been a random hit. you never know what it is. >> it's not random. >> it couldn't be a random place? it couldn't be a random time? random -- >> it's not random. >> but he seemed to know details of the crime that only someone involved would know. so, is randy jr. trying to cover his own tracks or somebody else's? >> i think he's trying to do

both. >> as investigators continued to focus on things found at the tint shop, including a large burn mark behind it and what looked like burnt scraps of evidence from the crime. randy jr. went out of his way to keep his father out of it, to protect him. >> he's been a good father. he's really a good man. he's a very hard worker. he's a standup guy. he tries to direct me the right way and i look the wrong way. he would never do nothing like this. >> honestly, i think you may be involved in it. >> okay. >> that's why we've got to clear the air. >> i understand. >> you know what i mean? >> definitely. >> detective kendall really suspected randy jr. and one of his buddies had could committed the murder. >> you or this other person are looking for some quick money. you're desperate. >> all right. >> you're high. >> all right. >> you confront the people at the house because you think they have money. things get a little out of control. >> all right. >> and someone ends up being

stabbed. >> okay, you said -- >> then the detective pulled out the heavy artillery. he tried to crack randy jr. by telling him his own father thought he did it. >> everything you said has been a life. your dad is up there crying. >> why is my dad crying? >> because of what you did. come on, dude. i feel bad for your dad. >> if police thought they had this case solved, if they thought randy jr. and a drug buddy had committed this crime, they were in for a shock, thanks to a most unusual informant. randy jr.'s brother, randy sr.'s other son. >> coming up -- you fix this or i will. >> that's what you said to your father? >> i told him straight up. >> fix this or i will? >> yeah. >> when "dateline" continues. a is for awareness, because knowing that your chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetes could progress to dialysis is important. b is for belief that there may be more you can do. just remember that k is for kidneys and kerendia. for adults living with ckd in type 2 diabetes,

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vicks vapostick. [strong soothing... vapors.all or go online right now help comfort your loved ones. for chest, neck, and back. it goes on clear. no mess. just soothing comfort. try vicks vapostick. >> as police investigated the home invasion murder of joe morrissey, his widow kay was dealing with not only with her own grief and trauma, but also with her son patrick's. >> when patrick would ask you what happened to his father, what would you tell him? >> i tried to answer him thinking age appropriate, because he was five years old. and i would say, you know, daddy had a little boo-boo in his heart and he died. >> kay was still trying to protect her son, just as joe had done on that terrible night. >> even when the man was dying, that's what he was doing. he was fighting for his life and trying to protect my mom and patrick.

>> but in the days after the murder, police were zeroing in on randy tundidor jr., when they received an unexpected phone call, from his younger brother shawn tundidor. >> he tells us his brother is not involved. he actually provides his brother with an alibi. randi jr. was with me, he did not do this. >> you are what, 99, 100% convinced that randi jr. was in fact at the morrissey house that night? >> definitely. >> so shawn he is lying to you? >> we know he lies about that part of, it. >> police knew that shawn had an alibi for the night that joe morrissey was killed. he was not his brothers accomplice. it turned out that shawn came in not only to give his brother an alibi for the murder, but to tell a story that was a shock to the officers. he wasted no time. >> basically, i will straight-up tell you that my dad did it. >> his father, randi sr.. >> it was a bombshell. we were surprised we were

hearing the father was actually at the residence. >> and then shawn tundidor proceeded to tell a chilling story about his father. how his dad felt wronged by his landlord, joe morrissey. he went to his house to kill him. he tried to shoot joe, but it wouldn't go off, so he repeatedly stabbed him. shawn says his father was even able to recite joe's last words. >> he said, i got kids, i think i'm dying. >> according to shawn, randy sr. wore his brand-new white sneakers during the murder. >> he said, "trust me, they weren't white when i was done with them. >> shawn painted a very different picture of his dad and his brother had. shawn said his dad was a violent man. >> my father used to beat me, like really beat me. >> with a violent past. >> my father is known to be one of the craziest guys you have

ever met. they used to call him rampage. i used to call him scar face, because he had a scar. >> he says his father has been trying to scam joe morrissey out of money, by breaking light switches at the rented town now, ends by faking a slip and fall injury so he could sue joe. >> so, falling down the stairs was a bunch of [bleep] >> yes. >> despite all of that, shawn says his brother, who he describes as having the mind of a child, looked up to their father and would do anything for him. >> he is going to do anything and everything he has to do to make sure my father is innocent, because he loves him. >> but if his father loved randy jr. back, why would he get him involved in the crime in the first place? even go a step further, and let his own son take the rap for it? >> my son is already caught, so i won't go to jail.

>> shawn says he was more than disgusted. he loved his brother and had been protecting him since they were young. now randy jr. needed protection more than ever. which shawn felt required him to turn in his own father, for a crime of which he was not even suspected. >> he went there to kill him. >> shawn says the murderous scheme was set in motion, when his dad received a letter from joe morrissey. it informed him that he owed just over $1600 dollars, and his lease would now be month to month. that letter arrived the day of joe's murder. >> how did your dad react to that letter? >> like, i'm not even going to do it? >> it was an insult to him? >> he took it like, that it really was not. it was a man wanting his money. >> but your dad saw it as provocation? like, i'm going to teach him a lesson? >> right. >> his dad then roped in randy jr.. >> my brother did not know who is house he was going to and my brother did not know someone was supposed to die there.

>> only to turn his back on him afterward, and let randy jr. fall under suspicion for the murder. >> he says, they caught him, not me. i said, fix this or i will. >> that's what you said to your father? >> straight up. >> fix this, or i will? >> yes. >> that is when shawn turned his back on his father, and went to police, trying to save his brother, by informing on his dad. if that didn't stun the officers, then what shawn did next did. >> before we could even ask him to wear a wire, he offers to wear a wire. he wants his father to be held responsible for this. >> you ever see anything like that before? >> no. >> the son was going to become a police informant, wear a wire and try to get his own father to admit to a murder. the sound quality on the wire is poor, but for police, shawn randy sr.'s guilt came through loud and clear. what's the part of the conversation that says to you,

"guilty, we got him? " >> i think that when he tells shawn that we have no case, our case is weak. he tells shawn, she can't identify me, she can't even identify randy. putting himself there. >> what's more, this security video from the business next door to randy sr.'s shop shows a man behind it, tending a big fire, a couple of hours after the murder. exactly where police had found burnt evidence from the crime. >> you can't make out the person's identity. it is definitely a large person. randy sr., he's probably 300 pounds. we suspect it's him. >> by friday night, four days after the murder, both randy sr. and jr. had been charged with a slew of crimes, including murder, attempted murder and arson. that randy sr. would let his son take the fall, was all the evidence kay's daughter needed.

>> he's a monster. if you don't care about your own kids, you don't care about someone else's life. >> case closed? not by a long shot. >> coming up. two very different families meet in court for justice. >> he wanted to mr. morrissey. >> i believe god has a plan for us, that's why we survive. >> when "dateline" continues. ♪ 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. we're carvana we created a brand new way for you to sell your car go to carvana answer a few questions and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds we'll come to you pay you on the spot

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randy tundidor sr. and his son randy jr. were both charged with murdering joe morrissey. but a second son, shawn, told detectives jr. was an unwitting accomplice. shawn claimed his father was the mastermind mastermind behind the crime. now father and son were about to face trial. a tragic tale of two contrasting families was nearing its bitter end. here's josh mankiewicz with the conclusion of "broken bonds". >> on a quiet april night in florida, intruders had invaded the home of kay and jill morrissey, and committed unthinkable crimes. >> the worst-case scenario you can imagine. you're living your life the way you think you're supposed to, and evil just walks in and rips your life apart. >> tom coleman and stephen zach prosecute the case against

randy tundidor sr. and his son randy jr.. >> there are no circumstances you could look and say maybe if it had gone differently, it would've had a different result. there is nothing more the morrissey causative done that could've prevented this other than never meet the tundidor. >> but these two families did intersect with disastrous results. all, prosecutor say, because a tenant got angry at a landlord. >> who was this little scientists to think he's going to mess with me? and no one was going to mess with his family and i was going to take care of it. that's what this was. >> but in the end, randy tundidor didn't seem to care about his family. >> in fact, prosecutors say he tried to pin the blame on his son, randy jr.. >> the phone calls to detective kendall about test this shirt for dna. that's your killer. i mean, just piling on him. it just trying to get himself out of trouble trouble. >> randy jr. won't give him up.

>> nope. doesn't give him up? >> randy jr. stuck by his dad. even though his father pretty much threw him under the bus as soon as he came under suspicion. >> and never stopped. back to that bus air over every time we. >> so, the son is loyal to the father, but father was not loyal to the son. >> absolutely. >> prosecutors thought it might be a tough case against randy sr.. but then something surprising happen. after swearing to police that his dad was not in any way involved, randy jr. took a deal. and agreed to testify against his father. as it did shawn. randy sr.'s trial was head to help two years after duels

murder. he faced the death penalty. kay desperately wanted to make sure he received it. and her testimony in court was powerful. >> i was like, scared. he never answered me. >> on the stand, randy jr. told the jury how his dad intended to inflict even more harm on the morrissey family. >> he wanted to kill mrs. morrissey and her son. he said, they got to go to. i told them no. i just told him i can't do that. >> can't do what? >> i can't kill the kid and his mom. >> randy sr.'s primary defense was that he was not involved. the father went far beyond that. >> he went to trial and he buried both of his sons. at or he tried to. >> because it wasn't just jr. on trial. it was that shawn was the other person in involved. it was shawn trying to steal my business. he can't ever accept responsibility for anything. >> in court randy jr. lashed out at his father. >> the fact that he was sit here and say that it was me and my brother who did this and planned this, i feel like that's wrong. you shouldn't do anything to

hurt your kids. i think that a father's job is to protect his kids, not to hurt his kids. >> after five and a half hours of deliberation -- >> the defendant is guilty of first degree murder. >> the jury convicted randy sr. on all charges. >> when they say guilty, i felt my heart -- i couldn't breathe. i was very overwhelmed. >> the jury later voted unanimously to give randy sr. the death penalty. the judge agreed. on appeal, the florida supreme court ruled that randy sr.'s convictions for attempted first degree murder and attempted felony murder amounted to double jeopardy. the attempted felony murder convictions were thrown out. but his conviction for first degree murder and his death sentence remain in place. randy jr., who pleaded guilty to second degree murder and cooperated with prosecutors, was sentenced to 40 years in prison. kay morrissey is angry about that. >> i believe that the crime would wouldn't have happened one without the other one. they both deserve the death penalty.

>> kay morrissey says she's not imprisoned by fear. instead she says, the nightmare has made her fear less. she even sent a letter to randy sr. saying as much. you're a coward and i'm not afraid of you? >> yes. >> i am never leaving and will always be here. so, like you're saying, come and get me? >> right. >> tough guy? >> yes. >> i'm not going going to be >> yes. >> i am never leaving and will always be here. so, like you're saying, come and get me? >> right. >> tough guy? >> yes. >> i'm not going going to be fearful. i mean, they attacked us in our house, which is your safest place to be. so, i started to become extremely fearless. >> but she's also struggled to put her life back together. kay's daughter says she can see the pain, even as her mom holds patrick close. >> it's hard to watch my mom with patrick, because you can tell they miss him.

and they should have been. they shouldn't have to figure it out without him. >> they still have each other. >> i believe god has a plan for us and that's why we survived. >> and she has many memories of her dear joe. after he died, kay wrote about it and to him in a letter. >> joe, i know we will see each other again. in the meantime, please do watch over our children and do protect them from harm. joe, i thank you for being such a great, loving husband and loving father. i love you so much and will love you forever. >> 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. >> and this is dateline. >>