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. >> a fire chief murdered.

his wife, the only witness. this detective knew them both. >> she started telling me about a man coming into their home and shooting keith. >> her job now? solve this crime. and clue number one, was a doozy. >> she said that after his shot, he turned to her and said, i'm sorry ma'am. >> i'm sorry? a killer who apologized? and that was just the start. the gun, stashed in a drier. a man's glove but whose dna? a woman with a whole lot to reveal. >> she tossed her talk to me. >> she just ripped it off? >> i was shocked! ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, and welcome to dateline.

keith bryan was a devoted fire chief who spent his career helping those in trouble. the local here you had a job of his dreams, and a life he adored. but then in one night, a gunshot shattered their life. and expose the secrets at the heart of a complicated crime. here's andrea canning with mystery in mustang. >> just about 20 miles southwest of downtown oklahoma city. such a town, called mustang. once, farmers and ranchers dotted the land. it's bigger now, but folks still hold tight to their roots. >> pretty quiet community. >> faith connects community here. and people stay lifelong friends. >> it is a small town feel. very much neighbors helping neighbors. >> in a place like mustang, neighbors know almost all there is to know about each other.

for better, or for worse. >> 9-1-1, state your emergency. >> so when the unthinkable happened. >> my husband is laying hair, gasping for air. >> it would be all the more startling when the secrets came tumbling out. >> there were more things that shocked me than i ever would've imagined. >> had evil invaded must stay? >> i'm in mustang, america. the -- >> or come from within? >> it created a lot of fear for a lot of people. >> that was my first real whodunnit. >> keep bryan was oklahoma to the core. proudly raised in the state. he married his wife, becky, at 19. and they settled in mustang. pam, an old friend of keith's. rolled out the welcome mat for the bryan's when they moved to town. >> they became an in trickle part of our church. very active, very grounded. >> they had two boys. trent and can't. >> becky was a good mom.

from what i could tell. she was a good mom. >> keith worked as a fireman. his dream job. in the well to do, oklahoma city enclave of nicholas hills. terry hamilton served alongside keith. and if the fireman who are like brothers, the wives were like sisters, says terry's wife, kim. >> -- >> keith had a good sense of humor. he was outgoing. and he was really driven to succeed. >> and he did. promoted all the way to fire chief in 1991. but keith never lost his personal collection with the people that he served. >> he was one of the first responders. >> he was. >> that's when he looked on that lady that was trapped underneath the rubble. he wouldn't leave her. >> was he a hero in your? eyes >> i think so. i was pretty proud of him as a friend for that. >> as for becky? she was a force in the

community to. working in real estate. her business often seemed more about the people than the money. >> becky had a very selfless side to her to. there were people that i know of, that they were upside down. she even had time was known to take her own money to closing. and help like that. >> keith was elected city councilman in mustang. becky's business was thriving. and their marriage? an example to others. >> she and keith did some premarital counseling for several years in our church. >> so they were counseling other couples on how to have? >> they were counseling others on how to have a good marriage. >> so it came as a surprise when in 2010, keith and becky had a rough patch. the boys were grown, and the empty nesters separated. becky moved out. david, becky's brother, remained close to keith during the separation. >> he said he wanted to know how could he'd change to show

that love to her in a better way? >> what advice did you give key? >> i told him to talk to her about it. that she was sensible. >> keith worked hard to when becky back. with gifts, and dates, and loving notes. becky came home. >> he was telling some people that what he had been through was worth it. because it had made him even that much better of a husband. >> in the year that followed, keith kept up his campaign of romance. september 20th, 2011, was no different. becky was at a real estate conference in tulsa. he texted her sweet messages throughout the day. becky arrived home around 8:30 pm. a friend came over the chat. keith, now ever attentive, made them i see. after the friend left, she said that she and keith settle down in front of the tv. on the bill that night? keith choice. a classic scary movie. carrie.

then came the real horror. >> 9-1-1 state your emergency. >> it was becky. >> a young man, about 25. >> and then the phone cut out. what would she say? dispatcher send police to the house. >> headquarters to available mustang units. >> becky called back. >> i just called 9-1-1 on myself phone. >> yes. >> are you coming my house? >> she said an intruder shot keep in the head. >> my husband is laying here, bleeding on my couch right now. >> and the a trudeau was getting away. >> oh my god. he is in a little, itty-bitty pick up. he's going down my street. he is, it's like a dark color. >> now the brave, fire chief who dedicated his life to saving others was in urgent need of help himself. >> okay, i've got to go. >> no. ma'am stay on the line with me. >> the police spread to the house. but the questions came just as fast. who was the shooter? this intruder on the loose. and could he be found?

an unfamiliar feeling spread through mustang streets and homes. fear. >> coming up! >> after his shot. he turned to her and said, i'm sorry ma'am. >> a gunman who apologizes? what kind of intruder was that? >> when dateline continues! hen dateline continues in my ozempic® tri-zone, i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. announcer: ozempic® provides powerful a1c reduction. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. and you may lose weight. adults lost up to 14 pounds. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2,

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>> where it went out that a brazen intruder had shot fire chief keith bryan in his own home and within minutes first responders swarmed the house, securing it as a crime scene. as keith was rushed to the hospital, his wife becky stayed behind. detectives were on their way as she spoke to her brother david on the phone. >> she was crying and frantic i set settle down it will be okay who is with you? her son was there. >> janet hickman a good friend of the family and wife of a fire chief herself rushed over to the brian's. >> i went over hugged her neck and told around sorry i was god would get us through this. >> keith's deputy chief hamilton reached becky on her cell phone. >> i told her not to worry, he will do a full investigation and they will figure out who did it. >> at the house, becky was on the rear patio on the phone with friends and family repeating the story of the armed intruder.

>> we were sitting in an open lot around the patio, i was fearful that they might come back. >> you thought right at that moment that this person she described could come back? >> yes, i did. >> we hadn't had anything like that happened before. >> kim mcneill a detective with the mustang police department was dispatched to the brine house that night. mustang be mustang the victim and his wife were no strangers to the detective. >> what is your reaction when you hear it is key? >> it was concerning to me because i knew this family. >> becky seem to really get to see a familiar face. >> she called out my name and asked me to come sit by her on the back porch and then she started telling me about a young man, possibly 25 years old coming into their home and shooting keefe in the head.

>> what did that young man say according to becky? >> she said after he shot keith he turned to her and said i am sorry ma'am, that he shouldn't have hired me. >> it seemed like a key detail this apparent apology and explanation, becky had also recounted to 9-1-1 dispatchers. >> he said ma'am, i'm so sorry. he said, but your husband should've hired me. >> do you have a gut reaction about that story? >> it was concerning to me because we are a small community, my first concern was is there somebody out there, where is he and how are we going to find him? >> becky described as shooter as a man in his twenties with a big nose and wearing a hoodie. >> a trying to get as much information out to other law agencies as well as our officers so they could start looking for him. >> was it possible keefe knew the man? keith was in no condition to help investigators, but at the hospital hopeful news, he was

clinging to life. >> i told her i said he is going into surgery and she said really? >> keith made it to surgery still in terrible shape but alive in the icu. when becky arrived the halls of the hospitals were filled with friends loved ones and keeps firefighter brothers. it seemed have the town of mustang was they're praying for keith. >> how hard was it for you to see keith in that condition? >> it was very, very hard. you know, i would tell myself, you never know, have heard so many stories of people having head injuries and i know prayer is so powerful and i know he had so many people praying. >> first thing that happens when you see becky in the hospital? >> we can't help but hug each other, she is crying. she started crying immediately when i grabbed her, she said what am i going to do? what are we going to do?

>> by morning it was clear, keith would not pull through, those closest to him sensed it was time to say their goodbyes. what did you say to him? >> just -- i said you didn't deserve this and i love you. goodbye. that was it. >> at keith spread side becky, keith's wife of 33 years wept and as keefe slipped away along with the sorrow was the lost hope that he could shed any light on who had done this to him. no one believed chief brian had an enemy in the world so as the search for the apologetic intruder got underway, one clue was as simple as the victims name. >> coming up!

>> there was a very out there that perhaps this intruder was looking for a different fireman. >> when dateline continues.

>> fire chief keith bryan, so tough, so brave spent his career running towards danger. now his life had been cut short inside the safety of his own

home. he left behind two dear sons, and the wife to whom he had been so devoted. >> i think it was just such a shock and a huge event and such a tragedy on so many levels. >> at the firehouse keith lead in mustangs roger, a captain back there could barely believe it. >> you just have the gut wrenching feeling that it is exploding now and you don't know what happened. >> must be a weird thing to hear. >> it was. over the five servers year you learn to hide your feelings but when it hits close to home you ask why? >> detective kevin mcneill was no rookie but this was the first case of its kind she had ever seen in mustang. >> that was my first real whodunnit homicide case. >> what significance does that have for you? >> it was very significant, i was nervous, i wanted to of course do a good job and make sure that the right person went

to jail for that crime. >> to find that person, detectives needed to comb through every detail of becky's eyewitness account. mcneil and an agent from the oklahoma state bureau of investigation interviewed her again at the hospital the night of the shooting. >> the times 1:23 am in the morning -- what's your first name? >> becky. >> she talked about how close she and keith were especially after they made it through that rough patch. >> we were quite in love. i didn't even know he loved me until i filed for divorce. but he really came to the plate. >> and investigators went over step by step how the shooting went down. what are you looking down when you go into that conference room to interview becky? >> how does this person know keith, can she describe him better, and things like that. >> and the door opened and we were watching a loud movie, carry, and this young kid,

about 25 years old walks into the house and comes over to the carpet and my husband didn't even have time to turn around. i looked just in time to see and then he came up from here and he shot him in the head right here. >> point blank? >> point blank. right here. >> it was then, becky said, that the shooter turned and spoke. >> it was unbelievably hideous. the guy -- this is what he said, i knew he wasn't going to hurt me. cause he said i'm sorry, ma'am. but he should've hired me. >> so a polite shooter? >> yes, she did describe him that way. yes. >> there it was again, that odd but clearly important detail, along with his polite apology, the shooter seem to give away a motive. was he someone vying for a job at keith's fire department?

keith's deputy hamilton didn't think so. >> i never was concerned about that. >> why not? >> for one thing it would've been four years since we had hired anybody, so nobody is going to sit and stu for four years and then all of a sudden get mad and shoot the guy that didn't hire him. >> but if the shooter wasn't angry over a job in keeps fire department there was another possibility. one that neighbors of the bryan's worried about, keith did projects on the house was the killer someone who had wanted a construction job and didn't get it? one neighbor told police that a few weeks earlier a stranger had been driving around asking for work as a handyman. he said the man had a funny face and drove an old pickup truck. he also remembered seeing a similar truck the night of the shooting. are you interviewing neighbors? are you asking people if they saw anyone suspicious in the neighborhood? if they saw truck in the

neighborhood? >> yes, all of that was going on. >> well with a yielding? anything? >> very little. very little. >> then, among the firefighters and their wives, the third entirely different idea was banded about. no one is sure who said it first, but soon some were wondering out loud if keith hadn't been the intended target at all. >> there was a theory out there that perhaps this intruder was looking for a different fireman. >> and why would anyone think that? not far from the brines home in a mustang lived the oklahoma city chief, his name? keith bryant. brian with the tee at the end. the whole keith bryant theory that maybe they got the wrong fire chief? >> you know, that did not occur to me until i got to the hospital and that was the first time someone had brought up a mistake i.d..

>> the buzz reached the firehouse. >> that story did come out, that maybe someone got the wrong chief it could've been anyone's theory as to what had happened? >> surely the oklahoma city chief hired and fired many more people than keith did had the shooter been angry with him? a friend reached him by phone, he was safe and sound at a conference on the east coast the night of the shooting, but there were problems with the mistaken identity theory? the two chiefs didn't look much alike, and the more keith's fireman brother thought it over the less likely it seemed. >> i still didn't think that story made sense. >> too farfetched? >> yes. it's real competitive to get hired as a firefighter. i can't see somebody not getting hired and then killing the fire chief and the oklahoma fire department i don't think the chief even has anything to

do with the hiring department. >> around mustang the questions were many, the answers few. people were watchful, certainly less at ease, i found myself wanting to close blinds early. >> did you have a moment of panic? >> a little bit. yes. it was a little eerie, not knowing what was going on. >> and while those around mustang wondered who and when this invader was, investigators had found something at the crime scene it would turn the fear and suspicion right around. >> the investigation heats up when police questioned a witness who has a whole lot to reveal. >> coming up! >> no, no don't take it off. >> she tossed her top to me. >> she just whipped it off? >> i was shocked. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues 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.

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happening a large fire broke out of a prison in tehran, videos show smoke billowing

into the air. the blaze were contained but it was unclear what caused it. the pentagon has announced a 725 million dollar weapon deal for ukraine as russian forces step up their strikes in the kyiv region. the deal includes ammunition for the high mobility rocket systems, 5000 anti tank weapons and vehicles. now back to dateline. d vehicles now back to dateline >> welcome back to dateline, i'm craig melville. word was spreading that keefe brian's killer might have mistaken him for another fire chief with a similar name to at least one fellow firefighter that theory didn't make sense, it was days after the shooting and something else was becoming the top of the town. a strange behavior keefe's wife, becky, here again is andrea

canning with mystery in mustang. >> >> in the tight-knit community of mustang folks who knew each other so well for so long began to swap stories. memories of their friend keith, the hero the dad, the loyal husband and friend. but also stories about his wife and then night keith was killed. gianna hickman who had rushed to the bryant's home that night was outside with becky and remembered hearing this not long after the crime. >> i heard her just say something about it would be hard to sell the house because he had died in the house. >> did that sound callous to you? >> being a realtor i can see her thinking about that, it was a little odd, i thought. >> at the hospitals some friends noticed that becky was agitated one minute, eerily calm the next. >> she wasn't emotional, she

was pretty calm, talking to different people. >> whenever we met her she was very calm. >> to calm? >> i anticipated her needing comfort and i went to hug her and she just held her arms down straight and didn't seem to need that type of consoling. >> and instead of sticking close to keith's best side in his last hours they thought it was strange that becky was often outside. >> she was sitting with her legs crossed, out with her friend, smoking and very casual. that it was completely bizarre. >> becky's brother david said he knows his sister best and with the front saw is how becky was coping. in your eyes was becky acting exactly the way a wife would act after a random senseless shooting? >> becky acted just like becky would act if someone came in

and shot her husband and she was there. she was panicking, she didn't know what to do. she was doing anything she could to get control of her emotions. >> was back in known for sometime saying inappropriate thing? >> stupid things. yes. >> that was who she was? >> becky wanted to control, she did not want to crime. she didn't want to be out of control for herself. >> becky's friends weren't the only people who found her demeanor all that night. detective mcneill says that there are taped interviews with becky was full of joy moments, for example, after telling police how much she loved keith, she had this to say about her fatally injured husband. >> i bought a condo, moved out, and he was a -- for 31 years. >> he she described keith in a way that i thought was inappropriate. >> in a matter of routine they had tested becky's hands at the

crime scene for gunshot residue. in the interview they asked her what she was wearing at the time of the shooting. >> so you are wearing the shirt and pants? >> yes. yes. >> a tube top and panties, that she still had on under new clothes, and that, said the detective, is when the interview took a revealing turn. >> wait, wait, wait. >> no. >> don't take your clothes off now? >> i'm gonna put my shirt. >> okay. >> i should've clarified -- just -- wait till we finish. >> she grabbed the bottom of the top she was wearing, pulled it over her head, exposing her breasts and she tossed her top to me. >> was she wearing a bra? >> no. >> you didn't even ask for the top, she just -- whipped it off? >> that's right. >> what are you thinking when she -- >> i was shocked. >> to investigators, becky's behavior was more than odd, it was suspicious. so you walked into this interview still giving becky

the benefit of the doubt? >> absolutely. >> and you walked out of the interview thinking that there is a possibility she is going to become an official suspect? >> at that time there was definitely a possibility, yes. >> when the interview ended, detective mcneill and the other investigator went back to the house and that is when he made a key discovery. in the utility room, in the clothes dryer, a gun. that must of been kind of a bingo moment. >> that was a big moment for all of us because not only was the gun in the dryer but the gun was wrapped in a blanket, a shell casing was in there as well and also a glove. >> did you immediately think about the logistics of becky's story as far as where this man came in? where he exited? >> she had told us that he came into the home, shot keefe and walk directly back out the same way that he had come in, she

made no mention of this man going into her laundry room, placing anything in the drier. >> could there have been any explanation for why the gun was found in a drier, a different route she had described? >> if there was, i didn't know what that was. >> investigators now suspected becky of lying about details, big and small. but they wanted more as they analyze evidence from the scene, a call came in from someone in becky's phone contacts nickname becky's prodigy. in fact they notice the unusual name when they looked at her phone the night of the shooting. >> becky prodigy lives in hugo, oklahoma. >> so she's a customer? >> yes. she's a realtor broker. >> actually, becky's prodigy was a man named mark holbrooke. when he learned of keith's murder he called up investigators, he wanted them to know he and becky had had an

affair. when it ended, 19 months before the shooting, he apologized to kyiv and promised never to see becky again. but he wanted cops to know she had been in touch with him recently and a lot. >> she still loved him and that she would be moving so she could be near him, whether he wanted to be with her or not. >> the affair had been a reason behind beckoned keeps breathe split. now investigators and the ex lover hatched a plan, recorded conversation between becky and her so-called prodigy, maybe becky would give something up to him. three days after keith was shot, becky's ex dialed her up. >> becky, how are you doing? >> thank you for calling me. >> becky seem concerned about covering up the affair. >> if you could say that you knew -- that you knew a realtor by that name that you want to broker school with it. >> while she stuck to her story

about the introduction of keith she said she had news about him. >> and the guy that shot keith, he killed himself yesterday near the city. so i'm no longer in danger. >> oh, that's good, that's good news. >> i know. so everything is good. >> we didn't have any information like that, law enforcement had not given her any information. >> the call ran all kinds of alarm bells for investigators but didn't yield a lot in the way of hard evidence. cops thought they had the goods on becky in another way by now they had examined that weapon found in the dryer and concluded it belonged to becky. on september 23rd, the day before keith's funeral, becky was arrested and charged with his murder. what is her reaction? >> she seemed shock, she was yelling things at us. >> and open and shut case? becky's brother said far from

it. >> law enforcement here let us all down. because what i want is the truth. >> in court, evidence would be examined and the truth? it will turn out to be more bizarre than anyone could've guessed. >> coming up! >> the secret life of the fire chief's wife. >> she just openly told me i had sex with a 29 year old client this morning and i have a picture on my phone. >> when dateline continues. teline continues 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, kerendia is proven to reduce the risk of kidney failure, which can lead to dialysis. kerendia is a once-daily tablet that treats ckd differently than type 2 diabetes medications to help slow the progression of kidney damage and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events,

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liked wife of fire chief and city councilman keith bryan stood accused of a vicious crime. her tight circle of friends drifted away, but not everyone in town believed she was a killer. >> i don't believe that becky brian shot keith bryan. >> gary james is a friend of a friend of the bryant and a prominent oklahoma defense attorney. he said the case against his client becky didn't add up. you believe in innocent women's sitting behind bars? >> sure. >> she had a lot of bad circumstances, but i do believe somebody shot keith and ran from that house. >> her attorney said there was a rush to judgment against becky, and as a result, the state just didn't have the proof to back up the charge. >> i do believe that law

enforcement agencies in this dna have the ability to do a lot of things and we're not done in this case, i don't believe dana ever looked for anyone, which was a huge part of our defense. >> he's in the little itty bitty pick up. okay? he's going down my street. >> you know becky probably better than anybody else, when you listen to the 9-1-1 call, you truly believe becky is being truthful? >> yes. i really do. and it is because she was a very detailed person. she is not being panicky, she is trying to describe. she is trying to think through the process, very analytical. >> in early may 2013, 19 long months after that awful night, becky's trial began. if have the town had rushed to pray for keith when he was shot, just as many flock to court. >> it has been a tough year and a half, very tough. >> no cameras were allowed inside the courtroom, as the

prosecution came armed with a simple, powerful narrative. becky bryan wanted out of her marriage so she shot her husband and invented the tale of an intruder. >> somebody shot my husband in the hedge. >> the case against becky began with a slew of secrets from her personal life, they called the court two men who received explicit text and pictures from becky days before the shooting. and this man of former client of becky's came to the stand and testified they had had sex the day of the crime. ham waters said becky told her about it in the hospital after the shooting. >> she told me, she said i had sex with a 29-year-old climbed this morning and i have a picture of his private area on my phone. that is not the word she used and she said, i feel bad because when i got home keith had made me a t and.

>> do you have alarm bells going on? >> it was the oddest conversation, but pam and some of becky's other girlfriends were brought to court just to talk about that dalian's. what was the purpose of you taking the stance? what was that experience like? >> i did not want to take the stand, i was made to take the stand i was subpoenaed. by the prosecution. >> the prosecution wanted pam to testify about becky's obsession with her ex lover, mark holbrooke, aka becky's prodigy. becky had confided her feelings for him earlier when biking keith appear to be happier than ever. i said >> becky you and keith seem to be very committed to making this work and she said to me, i'm a great figure. once i've made my mind about something, i am a great figure. and my heart sank. >> the prosecution argued this was becky's motive for murder,

she was fixated on her ex lover and elaborately scheming to get him back. >> she proceeded to tell me that she was going to tell the ex lover that she was pregnant. >> so she is saying she is pregnant with his baby? >> yes, i said, becky, your 50 plus years old and she said, 50 year old people get pregnant all the time. i said, who? where? [laughs] how does this happen? i've never heard of that. her reasoning had gone out the window at that point. >> how far had she gone with the baby story? >> she wanted somebody that could provide her with positive pregnancy tests. she wanted to have a birth announcement. >> birth announcement? >> burst announcement. >> we did have a name picked out? >> she had a name picked out. >> the object of becky's obsession also testified, adding this potentially incriminating detail. he said that on the day keith was shot becky left him a voice mail saying she planned to buy

a house near him because she was about to inherent some money. to many in court the implication was that becky had been expecting a life insurance payout. back in keith's grown sons kept their feelings about their mother's guilt or innocence to themselves. both testified briefly for the prosecution. as did a parade of investigators in forensics expert that laid out the physical evidence. there were two microscopic components of gunshot residue detected on becky's hands. and in that drier with a gun that belong to becky, a blanket with holes in it, the shell casing and a glove. of forensic biologist testified that the glove had becky's dna on it. >> i try to be as open minded as i could and wait to hear all the evidence as it went on, i was convinced that she was guilty. >> the state argued it was premeditated murder by a woman who had been living a double life.

becky's brother and chief supporter wasn't buying it. >> do you feel like the evidence was overwhelming against backing? >> if you wanted to convict her of being a slot, greedy slot, yes. not a murderer. >> coming up! >> questions about the evidence. >> they didn't fingerprint the drier, didn't fingerprint the gun, how do you not fingerprint a gun? >> when dateline continues. ne continues 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 then pick up your car that's it at carvana i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi.

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of murder no longer resembled the woman that she once was. the popular and perfectly groomed wife of a community leader. but if her looks had changed, her story had not. she was innocent. >> keith and becky had grown apart overtime, can you condone affairs? no. but it happens and it does not make one a killer. >> are you disappointed in your sister? >> lord, now. i don't like some of the things that i heard but she is my sister. and i love her. >> becky's attorney did not try to rehabilitate her reputation in court. the evidence of her affairs was overwhelming. but when it came to the crime, the defense told the jury that proof was lacking. >> can you break down for us the biggest errors that you feel law enforcement made in

this case. >> it was like tunnel vision, i think that dictated this case from the night that it happened. they did no other fingerprinting on any other door and they did not fingerprint the drier. they did not fingerprints the gun. i mean, how do you not fingerprint began? >> the defense had an explanation for how an intruder could've easily used becky's gun to commit a crime. becky usually left it in her purse. which investigators found in her car, in the garage. >> do you believe that the perpetrator that she spoke of came to the garage, found the gun in the car, and went in and charged in? >> that's really what i thought happened. perpetrator came in, got the gun out of the vehicle. >> what's more? that glove with becky's dna on it also had someone else's dna. but the csi's could not narrow it down. not to keith, or to anyone else. >> it was actually a very large

man's work glove. >> was there gunshot residue on the glove? >> yes there was gunshot residue on the glove. >> it was the theme of the defenses case. csi investigators from the st. had been so quick to zero in on becky as a suspect that they committed a crime scene malpractice. >> they didn't do any contact dna on the gun and that's a very simple process. they did no gunshot residue testing on her clothes. they did not do gunshot residue test on her face. which would've been very very telling. there are just things that would've given us reasonable doubt. >> the defense told the jury that investigators all but ignored any evidence that pointed to an intruder. becky's neighbor came to court with that story about the suspicious handyman he had seen in the neighborhood. and, the trunk spotted speeding around the night keith was shot. >> it was something that we felt maybe the perpetrator had been canvassing the area. or spying about what had been

going on in the neighborhood. >> and another witness testified that he told police at the time, he saw a truck matching the one that becky described, driving near the bryan's the night of the shooting. >> that was the key to the case. he had a person in a matching truck speeding, driving a radically. that had come up on him and almost hit a vehicle. all within blocks. >> but the statements that witness gave investigators only surface a few weeks before trial. >> they didn't follow up on it. there were cameras at two different businesses right there at that intersection. >> and one additional detail that contradicted the prosecution's case. becky's brother, david, testified that there was an innocent explanation for the inheritance that she mentioned to her ex lover. she wasn't talking about life insurance. becky was about to inherit a diamond ring. >> it was my answering.

>> wasn't an expensive ring? >> very expensive. two full carats of diamonds. appraisal on it was $90,000. and that was some years earlier. so obviously, it had to have more value. >> more than enough reasonable doubt, said the defense. but what a jury agree? the wait for a verdict began. >> i was so nervous waiting for it, my hands were shaking. >> i was holding out hope that the jury would recognize the mistakes that were made and understands that the cause of those mistakes, we may not know who really did it. >> afternoon turns the evening and then the news, the jury was back. >> very nervous, very anxious and my thoughts wore with keeps family. >> the verdict? guilty of first degree murder. >> and then when he read guilty, i really didn't feel a whole lot. but i didn't feel happy. >> how is your first meeting

with becky after her conviction? >> she cried. said she couldn't believe it. >> what has becky told you? >> that she didn't do it! but i still don't know the truth. there are either one or two people on the face of this or that knows the truth. if becky did, it cheese than only one that knows. is somebody else did it then she knows it and that person knows it. if one of those two people come forward and say i did it, they will know the truth. other than that? >> on july 9th, 2013. becky was sentenced as the jury had recommended. for life in prison without parole. for keith's friends, the trial and its conclusion, where only one sort of an ending. tangible reminders of their friend and hero live on. especially in the fire department that keith lead for so many years. >> what is life like now without your friend? without your chief?

without keith? >> we still talk about him. some of the funny things that he did. he's a part of our history here now. and he always will be. and we miss him. >> and of keith was listening? what would you say to keith? >> that i know he's in a great place. and keith would tell us to forgive becky. not to say that she doesn't have to be held accountable, that she doesn't have to suffer consequences, because that's a given. that's the right thing. that keith would actually want us to forgive becky. and i know that. and i would just tell keith well done, your time on earth here was well done. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching! watching >> i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline. "