understand it. a devoted educator who did so much good for so many students, ripped from their lives for something so mundane. some online flirtation. a single dinner date. more flirtation. two years later, and then three quick shots. >> it's a complete waste. the lives of the kids he could've held. who knows what path they would've taken if they had contact with him? >> the homicide brown grown in cyberspace may sound completely modern. but the combustibles are as timeless as the winter fields here. one woman, two men, and a jealousy that was all consuming. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. all of your new best friends? one of them was missing.

a body was found in one of their apartments. how am i doing right now? i had to put it into one word? numb would be the closest. >> it was a mystery where nothing was as it seemed. except for the body. >> it's so hard, you know. she was 23. >> she was a dancer. he was a veteran. she'd been murdered. >> there's a body in my son's apartment. >> he had disappeared. >> does your son know who it is? >> he's not here. >> now police had two mysteries to solve. love triangle? >> that's what we thought. >> the obvious suspect, the missing man. the obvious problem, no one could find him. >> this guy is potentially very dangerous. >> but what was real? and what was pretend? >> this is as diabolical as any case i've ever seen. >> enter the actors. >> they're trying to say i'm somebody that i'm not. >> was the killer really missing? or was he hiding in plain sight? >> i said, this son of a bitch is dirty. >> somebody knew the truth.

>> don't, don't, that can't be found. >> and this father refused to give up until he knew it too. >> everything is based on me knowing the whole story. places please. ♪ ♪ ♪ places please. there's an empty theater. a script full of twists. a troupe of actors. and someone who set the stage for an unbelievable tragedy. >> i'm buying it. i'm buying it hook, line and sinker. >> all of it so well done it was hard to tell what was real and what was an illusion. >> i just remember his performance being -- it was very, very real. >> this is a story of a man who seemed to be at the end of his rope. >> it looked like he was having some sort of panic attack or heart attack.

>> but on this stage at the final curtain, the darkness remained. because this story wouldn't win any awards. this was all real life. >> julie is my first daughter. she was my valentine baby. >> for june and masa kibuishi, a japanese couple who built their american dream here in orange county, california, their third child came as a pleasant surprise. >> doctor kept telling me it was another boy. but, voila, she was born on valentine's day. >> two big brothers had preceded her. >> so naturally, it was julie who became an all-star softball player as a young girl. but her passion was dance. she grew into a beautiful dancer and a remarkable young lady with the kindest of hearts. >> and that can kind of sometimes frustrated me. okay, you're too nice. but you know, that's how she was.

>> and that can kind of sometimes frustrated me. okay, you're too nice. but you know, that's how she was. >> and that is how she met sam herr, who, like julie, was a student at orange coast college. sam struggled a bit in school. julie would help him out. >> she told me about sam. he's like a big teddy bear. he's always nice to everybody. that's why we get together at his place, you know, a lot of times. >> sam was a war veteran. he'd fought in afghanistan and made it home to california after three years overseas. sam lived across the street from the college at an apartment complex. >> it's not a dorm, but i would call it a college dorm. >> sam's good friend, ruben, often hung out there with sam. >> and the poolside always had people, you know, drinking and having fun. having fun at the pool. >> but despite his surroundings, sam was focused.

>> he seemed more responsible. he seemed like he had, like, more of a plan on where he was going. he wasn't just kind of cruising on his g.i. bill and just having fun and getting drunk every day or anything. >> rachel buffett and her fiancã©e lived near sam. >> he was really nice to everybody and liked to have fun and hang out with everybody. >> and everyone liked to be around him, too. but there was something about sam that very few people knew. he suffered from night terrors. a sort of psychic souvenir of the battlefield. sam did share that with ruben, who was also a war veteran. >> he'll tell me that, you know, sometimes he feels like -- he'll be sleeping and he'll wake up in his sleep and he'll be in a foxhole. so he'll start screaming or looking for a weapon, and he'll wake up sweating and, you know, just very stressed, i guess. yeah. >> that's tough. >> it is very tough. >> but, said ruben, sam seemed to be coping. and then came may 21st, 2010.

it was a friday afternoon. julie was going to hang out with her brother taka that evening. he was getting married, and julie was helping with the wedding plans. >> then after i was cooking in the kitchen and she said, okay, bye, mom, i'm leaving. and then she -- she just went out the door. >> julie made it safely to her brother's home in long beach. they had dinner together. taka asked julie to be a bridesmaid at his wedding and gave her a tiara. but julie couldn't stay long because, she told her brother, her friend sam herr needed her. he'd been texting her all afternoon. messages that seemed weirdly off kilter. can you come over tonight at midnight alone? going out for a bit. very upset. need to talk. then -- please. no sex. i need to talk to someone. julie texted back. lol, ew, sam, we are like bro and sis.

no sex. and then sam texted again. i'm hurting with some bad fam crap. i can't be alone. no sex. please i'm begging as a brother. julie, as always, was ready to help. yeah, that's fine, sam. i'm here for you like family. she left her brother's home that friday evening and headed for sam's apartment. did you normally wait up for her? >> i normally do, but the thing was, though, she was with her brother. and then happened to be that saturday it was my youngest daughter's senior prom. and then when i woke up and when i didn't see her, i was like okay. >> by now, it was saturday morning. june texted julie. no response. then she called julie. still no answer. so june called her son taka. >> so when i called him, he -- he was like what? >> taka told his mom about sam's texts.

>> i started to get this little kind of my -- you know, weird feeling that, i started to feel like, okay, this is something's wrong. >> by now it had been almost 24 hours since she'd last seen julie. june started to panic. >> i probably called like 20 times her cell phone. it's just kind of already that it won't go like connected or anything. it's just like, you know, i can't even leave the message. so i called the irvine police. and then -- >> and what did they say? >> oh, she's 23? okay. well, she might be in -- drinking at the bar, or like you know, it's -- excuse me? >> no, said june. not her daughter. julie was always quick to respond to her texts or phone calls. across town, about 20 miles away from the kibuishis, sam's parents, steve and raquel herr, also worried because they couldn't get hold of sam. >> i thought it was a little odd that when i called his

phone, it went directly to the answering service. on saturday. >> steve decided to check on his son. >> so i drove down there and knocked on his door. no answer. and i had the key to his apartment. so i walked in there, and i looked in to turn on the light. the living room looked fine and i said, okay. sam? nobody there. >> and that's when he saw it. >> i was -- what the hell, what's going on here? i freaked out. coming up, a father searching for his son finds something he never expected. >> there's a body in my son's apartment! >> there's a what? >> a body, a dead body. coming up, a father searching for his son finds something he never expected. >> there's a body in my son's apartment! >> there's a what? >> a body, a dead body. >> a dead body? >> and no one can find sam. >> you think, okay, this guy is

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california julie kibuishi, her valentine day in orange county. now the sun was setting and, in girl, was pursuing fashion design while living at home. every sense, darkness was taking it was a mother's dream. over. steve herr, who had gone to look for his son sam, didn't find him. but he did find something. >> there's a body in my son's apartment! >> there's a what? >> a body. a dead body. >> a dead body? is it someone that you know, sir? >> i have no idea who she is, i don't know what's going on. >> does your son know who it is? >> he's not here. jesus, honey. >> do you know where your son is? >> no, i don't. >> costa mesa police detective ed everette responded to the call. >> walk into the crime scene, and we have a 20 something year old female on the bed.

and she's in a position that appears she was sexually assaulted. >> police quickly identify the victim. sam's tutor and friend, julie kibuishi. before long, two detectives paid a visit to julie's mom. >> this one detective told me, okay. you're mrs. kibuishi? please, you need to -- can you sit down? and then i know that he said like, okay. your daughter was found in this -- sam herr's apartment. and then he -- i think he said, your daughter's body was found or something like that. and then i just -- i think i was screaming like, no, no, that's not my daughter. you know. it's not my daughter. >> julie had been shot twice in the head. her pants were down to her knees. and someone had written on her

sweatshirt the words "all yours f-u." she was still wearing the tiara her brother had given her the night before. >> but i was still in disbelief of, you know, it was not my daughter. just can't be my daughter. i wanted to see, and they didn't allow me to see. they said i wasn't allowed to go. >> june could barely absorb what she was hearing. julie was dead. and the only logical suspect was her college friend, sam. >> she told me that he's taking the same class with her and that he told me that -- he's like big brother to me and to everybody in the class because he's a little older. and he came back from the -- afghanistan. >> this guy that she thought of as a big brother, suddenly he's the suspect. >> it was just the bizarrest. but i still couldn't connect everything together. >> what happened in sam's apartment that night was horrific. julie had gone there to help

sam, and now she was dead in his bedroom. and sam was somewhere in the wind. >> all of your new best friends that you hang out with every day? one of them's missing. a body was found in one of their apartments. this is something that, like, was affecting the whole atmosphere. >> detectives soon found out sam was a war veteran, heard the stories of his night terrors. they also found julie's phone in the apartment and saw sam's text messages to her. sam seemed plenty upset that evening. and when they searched his name in the law enforcement databases, they came up with a stunning result. he was arrested along with a lot of other people. a guy was killed. it was some sort of, like, gang thing. >> it was a gang case. he was involved in a gang incident in, i believe it was ventura county, and ultimately went to trial. >> it happened in 2002. sam, just 18 at the time, was accused of luring another young

man to a parking lot where the man was then attacked by more than a dozen others. while some of the attackers were convicted of murder and received life sentences, sam herr was found not guilty. >> he was innocent, and it was proven that way. you know, he's innocent. >> four years later, sam joined the army and put all that behind him, or so his father believed. >> that's why when i found julie, i knew that sam didn't do this. i knew sam would never do something like that. >> and steve tried to tell detectives. you said, sam couldn't do this. and police said, a, he's missing and, b, he was a suspect in a murder case once. >> correct. >> that doesn't buy you a lot of rhythm from law enforcement. >> no, and i understood that. i'm not that naive. i absolutely understood that. that's why it was imperative to start looking immediately. >> steve called sam's friend ruben to see if he had talked to sam. and ruben told him a curious story.

ruben said he'd been trying to get ahold of sam, too, because sam was a no-show at a beach party. ruben called him. multiple times. no answer. until finally someone picked up. >> i said, hello? and they said, hey, hey, bro. i'm like, who's this? sam never calls me bro. right off the bat i was like, who is this? the voice was not the same. the voice was not the same. >> the voice on the phone said -- >> i'm busy right now. i'm having a lot of problems with family. i'm like what are you talking about? hangs up on me. so i called again, no answer. >> ruben didn't think that was sam. but if not, who was it? and more importantly, where was sam? news of julie's murder was spreading and soon reached an old army buddy of sam's named miles foltz. >> when i found out it was julie, i definitely knew sam had nothing to do with it because of the way sam protects his friends and his family, and julie was one of them.

>> miles was stationed in afghanistan with sam. they fought together. miles knew how sam was toward anyone he considered a friend. he wouldn't hurt her? >> no. not in a million years. >> what'd you think? >> the first thought that ran through my head is, something obviously wrong had happened, and now sam's on the run from whoever this is, and there's got to be a way to find him. >> i thought it was something in his past that they were trying to do something to him and -- and try to get him. and the reason why his body wasn't there is because he was off running away from these people. >> miles feared sam was in danger. maybe sam's mom and dad, too. >> i wanted to make sure nothing happened to steve and raquel. so i went to their house and, you know, during the night i spent there, you know, with my gun by my side just to make sure. i slept on their couch by their door. >> detectives needed to find sam and fast, says orange county homicide prosecutor matt murphy. >> you got a dead woman in his apartment. he's missing. and then you factor in afghanistan. and you start thinking, okay,

he's a trained killer after he'd been accused of this before. and you think, okay, this guy is potentially very dangerous. he's out there on the street. >> then came a break. sam's atm card was being used. $400 withdrawn about 17 miles north of the crime scene. and security cameras captured the person who was waiting as the cash came out. it was the start of a whole new mystery. coming up -- >> we were pretty confident he was our guy. >> but sam's father was convinced he wasn't. and determined to prove it, he turns amateur detective. >> so i said, okay. we've got movement here, let me see. when "dateline" continues.

julie kibuishi, her valentine girl, was pursuing fashion design while living at home. it was a mother's dream. >> i was planning a lot of stuff to do with her. so we're going to be the buddies to go shopping or, you know, that's what i told julie. and we're planning to do that. that was right before it happened. it's so hard, you know? she was 23. >> 23 years young, and her life taken from her in the most senseless way. >> she loved to kind of design things. so she really wanted to be a stylist. >> now that would never happen.

police were looking hard for sam herr. detective ed everette. >> he's on the run and he's in the wind. and now it's our job to find him and see where he's at and ask him why. >> not a whole lot of question of who the suspect was at this point. >> no. we were pretty confident he was our guy. >> steve herr was also eager to find sam but for an entirely different reason. to clear his son's name. so steve began his own investigation. why did you feel the need to do your own police work? >> i didn't look at it as police work. i looked it as i wanted to find some answers for looking to find sam, first of all. where could sam be? is somebody helping -- is he running away? did he come up with some foul play? >> steve called sam again and again, but sam's cell phone was going straight to voicemail. >> i love you. let me know what's going on. what -- what's going on? >> then a big break, and a

puzzle. steve and sam had a joint bank account, so steve pulled the bank records and found that sam's bank card was used at an atm in long beach, then again at a nearby pizza parlor. >> so i said, okay. we've got movement here. let me see. >> so steve drove down to long beach to check out the bank. >> so i hung around for about an hour, see maybe i'd see sam or sam's car, because sam's car is also missing. nothing happened there, so i went to the pizza place and hung around there for about an hour. >> but there were no signs of sam. >> i took a two-mile radius from ecco's pizza, and i checked all the hotels, motels around there. i didn't see sam's car. >> meanwhile, detectives did something steve couldn't do. they got the images from the atm's security camera capturing the person using sam's bank card. expecting to see a picture of sam herr, detectives were in for a shock. because whoever it was taking money out of sam's account, it

wasn't sam. so who was it? cops staked out the atm hoping the mystery man would return. they also went to the pizza parlor where an employee told them that he thought he knew the person who had bought the pizza. and the detectives got a possible address. >> we're set up at that point on the house. we have surveillance teams behind the house on each corner of the house. we're geared up. we got our raid vests on. >> while surveillance teams hoped and waited, detectives questioned people in sam's circle. neighbors rachel buffett and her fiance dan wozniak already knew about the body found in sam's apartment. >> we had discussed the idea of it maybe being an accident. but like i said earlier, sam seemed like a pretty intelligent person. if it was an accident, he wouldn't have like taken off and like left his apartment and like tried to run. >> both rachel and dan told the

detectives the last time they saw sam was friday, the day before the murder. he was with a friend, they said, a man wearing a black hat. but they had no idea what his name was. it seemed to be a dead end. but then back at the house the cops were staking out, a big break. a pizza delivery. how many guys you have at that point? >> probably have ten officers in the helicopter above, and then we had long beach police department helping us with perimeter positions behind the home in case someone fled the house. guns out, ready to hit it like someone that committed a murder's inside. >> and that someone is sam herr. >> yes. >> cops moved in. but sam herr wasn't there. instead, they found him. coming up -- >> i open up my door to go outside to see what's going on. and that's when -- freeze, get on the ground, put

your hands behind your back. >> what did this teenager have to do with a murder? much more than he knew. >> i trusted him, so i said yeah. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. as someone living with type 2 diabetes, i want to keep it real and talk about some 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 [coughing] hi, susan. honey. yeah. i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad.

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happening breaking overnight. police say multiple were shot but multiple will start firing at a crowd gathered at a sidewalk in philadelphia. officers say the victims are all adults, and that two are in critical condition. the motive has not yet known, but a manhunt is underway. and in russia, at least 15 people are dead in five others hurt after horrific nightclub fire. it happened about 200 miles northeast of moscow, in the city of -- authorities say the fire started after someone shot off a flare gun during a fight. now, back to dateline. now, back to dateline.

it was early evening on wednesday, may 26th, 2010. the streets in this nice neighborhood in long beach, california, were quiet. 17-year old wesley freilich was hanging out with his friends. they had just finished eating a pizza ordered from the local pizza parlor when -- >> i hear this helicopter circling. mind you, i'm like not really a nosy kid, but i like, well, what's up? what's going on with my neighborhood? so peek outside. i don't see anything. >> so wesley walked outside. >> and i legitimately see a dude in the helicopter pointing at me or pointing towards me. what the hell's going on? all right. go inside. yo. hey, guys, there's this helicopter outside. i think he's pointing towards me or something. something's going on. >> his friends made what seemed like a sensible suggestion. >> well, don't go outside then, stupid. like, don't go out -- like, there might be something going on. don't go outside. so i was like, all right. we're all inside. helicopter's still circling.

and i look out the window, two squad cars pull up. >> the scene was unreal, like something from a movie. wesley did not yet realize he'd been cast as the villain. >> guys, something's going on. there's -- something's happening outside. everyone goes to the window. i open up my door to go outside and see what's going on. and that's when, freeze! get on the ground. put your hands behind your back. >> cops arrested him. but according to wesley, he had absolutely no clue why. then police showed wesley a photo. >> and immediately when i saw myself at that atm i literally knew what -- what had happened. >> detectives wanted answers. what was wesley doing with that atm card? >> initially he kind of portrayed to us, don't know what you're talking about.

i didn't do anything wrong. once the gravity of the situation was explained to him, he had a change of demeanor. >> the cops told wesley his pizza delivery had landed him in the middle of a murder investigation and manhunt. they believed wesley was hiding sam herr, possibly inside the house. >> once we told him it was involving a homicide, he immediately started crying. >> sitting in front of officers of the law handcuffed, i'm obviously, literally -- i'm sorry, i can't say this g-rated, but my balls are inside of me. i [bleep] myself and i was nervous as all hell. >> it was what the cops were counting on. wesley started talking. but what he said was not what police expected. >> i didn't know a sam. >> wesley not only didn't know where sam herr was, he didn't even know who he was. but wesley did have sam's bank card.

>> all i said was, yeah, i think the name on the card was samuel. but i can't remember. >> as to why he had it? that was a very strange story, wesley claimed. he got the card from someone who told him -- >> that he worked for a bail bondsman agency and that he wanted me to withdraw money from an atm for legal reasons. that the gentleman skipped bail out of town and that they were required to withdraw the money. and so he was looking for a third party to withdraw the money. >> sound phony? like a con game? apparently, not to wesley. he said he knew the man who asked him to withdraw money, that he was a friend. >> he showed me paperwork. it looks legit. looks like federal police paperwork. so i assumed that he, you know, he was good. he wasn't lying to me. and i trusted him, so i said, yeah. you know? sure. >> so, wesley said, he took the

atm card and agreed to withdraw the maximum allowed amount each day just as his friend had asked him to. his friend also said it was fine to order a couple of pizzas. >> your alarm's going off in your head. but you're hearing his voice on the phone telling you, it's okay. it's legal. a teenager, i -- i really, really trusted him. >> who was this friend? wesley said it was someone he respected. an actor who'd taught him theater. >> it was a good bond. you know, an older dude that i looked up to. an older cat. and was, like, definitely someone i talked to about certain things in my life. >> the actor's name? dan wozniak. sam herr's neighbor. what could he possibly have to do with any of this? coming up -- busy acting and just days away from getting married -- >> definitely excited, but a lot of stress.

>> dan was now also a potential witness in a murder investigation. >> i said, i'm going to call him in the morning and just double-check. detectives on the hunt for detectives on the hunt for theirbut that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. the abcs of ckd 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, 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, such as heart attacks. do not take kerendia

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that's what made it special -- you know we'll be back tomorrow, right? yeah, but it'll never be today again. -[ groaning ] -just get on the bus, flo! [coughing] hi, susan. honey. yeah. i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. when we started carvana, they told us selling cars 100% online wouldn't work. but we went to work. building an experience that lets you shop over 17,000 cars from home. creating a coast-to-coast network to deliver your car as soon as tomorrow. recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. and putting you in control of the whole thing, with powerful technology. that's why we've become the nation's fastest growing retailer, because our customers love it. see for yourself at carvana.com [ coughing/sneezing ] dude, you coming? alka-seltzer plus powermax gels with more concentrated power.

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may 2010. dan wozniak was celebrating his upcoming marriage at his bachelor party. he was professional and knew what he was doing. >> but it seemed that acting was what dan wozniak was built for. >> he was incredible. and you know, with all the one on one teaching he, you know, gave us as actors, it was right on. >> dan was prominent and very active in the local community theater world said his fiancee rachel buffett. >> it's hard to fill the male

roles in non-paid community theater. so he would get a lot of roles, do a lot of theater. much more than i ever did. >> that's how dan and rachel met. they were cast in a play together. good guy? handsome guy? >> i think the best way to describe him is jovial. and although he didn't have awesome pitch or anything, he had a booming voice. so that right there is enough to get you cast in a lot of things when you're a guy. >> rachel, an actress herself, would also get the big roles. and side by side they'd take on the stage. tessia says they worked well together. >> dan is a very big personality. and she was more, you know, okay, let's get this done. let's -- so i felt like they complemented each other in that way. >> dan and rachel moved in together. were you in love? >> i would say shortly after we moved in together, that's when i realized, oh, yeah, i am in love with this person.

>> and it wasn't long before dan proposed marriage to his leading lady. >> the night of julie's murder, dan and rachel were performing together in another musical called "nine." you can see their chemistry in this video shot by the husband of one of the other cast members. tessia, who went to see the play on closing night, said that dan carried the show. >> he was on an after-show high. we all were. we were excited for him, he did an amazing job. he came out and greeted us and we were just laughing and hugging him. >> and with their wedding in less than a week. >> definitely excited, but a lot of stress because i was doing everything myself. >> he was that typical guy that wasn't interested in like the details of planning a wedding? >> there was a couple things, you know, like, oh -- i don't know. like make sure we don't have only chicken marsala or, you

know, like random stuff like that or -- >> but just two days before dan and rachel's big day, young wesley, now in handcuffs and facing serious felony charges, was pointing the finger at his one-time mentor. remember, dan and rachel had already told police that the last time they saw sam was on friday, the day before julie was murdered, and they hadn't seen him since. so how and why would dan have sam's atm card? someone had to be lying. and if that were dan, why? sam's dad steve got phone numbers from his son's friends of just about everyone they knew. and on that list was dan wozniak's number. >> so i said i'm going to call him in the morning, see, just double-check. >> and when steve got him on

the phone, dan told him sam was nervous when they saw each other on friday. >> i said, what was he nervous about? he said, i don't know. he was talking about family problems and stuff like that. boom. as soon as he said he was talking about family problems, i said, excuse my language, i said this son of a bitch is dirty. i'll never forget that. i said this guy knows something. i don't know what he knows, but he's lying about sam. >> authorities were developing their own theory about dan. prosecutor matt murphy. >> wozniak is the guy that's protecting sam. wozniak is the friend that's helping him get money out. >> so police figured the best way to find sam was to talk with dan wozniak. coming up -- >> i have nothing to do with this, because my life was in danger. i'm sorry. >> was someone threatening dan? who and why?

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in may 2010. dan wozniak was celebrating his upcoming marriage at his bachelor party. often described as a man's last night of freedom. suddenly that became truer than ever before when police crashed the party. >> dan wozniak was with a group of friends. >> detectives were following the murky trail of sam herr, a suspect in the murder of julie kibuishi. she was a beautiful and talented 23-year-old with dreams of becoming a fashion stylist. did you think you were going to find sam herr in that restaurant? >> i was hoping we would. i was hoping he'd be with daniel. >> celebrating dan's upcoming wedding? >> yes. >> not that lucky?

>> no. >> but they hauled dan in anyway. >> immediately when he saw me he turned pale. you could see the blood just draining from his face. >> the plan was to make dan talk, and fast. so they hit him with a heavy charge -- accessory to julie's murder after the fact. and dan, now back at the station, rolled over like a trained seal. ed everette monitored dan's interview with detectives mike delgadillo and mike cohen as dan readily admitted to a crime. >> he's alleging that he and sam came up with this conspiracy to commit a fraud and use this wesley kid to implement it. >> dan said sam gave him his atm card and p.i.n. the plan was to have wesley withdraw money, and then sam would report the card stolen so the bank would have to reimburse him. but dan said before they had the chance to make any real money, something went wrong. >> i got a knock on my door. i want to say it was about 8:00, 8:30 in the morning. >> okay. >> opened the door. it was sam. >> all right. >> i'm like, hey, man, what's

going on? is everything good? he's like, not good. we're -- i -- we're in trouble. what do you mean we're in trouble? what happened? he's like, i can't talk about it here, we need to get the [bleep] out of here. >> they rushed out of the apartment, dan said. and as they drove sam dropped a bombshell. >> he's like, there's a dead body in my apartment. >> dan said sam told him everything. >> he's like, okay. basically as soon as you left me, i started doing some drugs and drinking heavily because i was very depressed about my family. >> according to dan, sam started looking at photos of his friend julie and became upset. then when julie came over -- >> i said, what did you do? he's like, i got a gun. he asked for sex. he was pretty [bleep] up. she said no, then he just shot her twice in the head. >> dan said that at first he couldn't believe it. >> i'm really like, you're totally [bleep] me right now. julie is like a friend. why the [bleep] would you do

this? he's like, because i was not in my right frame of mind. >> and then, dan said, sam threatened him. >> he's like, you rat me out, i'm going to [bleep] kill you. better yet, i'm going to start with your wife. >> dan said an angry and frightening sam needed help withdrawing all the money in his bank account to finance his escape. in return, sam said he would slide dan a few thousand dollars to help with his wedding. and dan felt he had no choice. >> and then i said, after 30 days i'll have all your full money or whatever and then you're going get the [bleep] out of my life. >> then dan told detectives he dropped sam at a shopping center parking lot in long beach. and dan said that was the last time he saw sam. he later ditched sam's car. and dan said he was sorry he had lied to police at first when he told them he last saw sam in the company of a man wearing a black cap. >> he doesn't exist. that's a lie. that's a 100% lie.

i apologize for that. i just got -- i got so scared, detective, i'm sorry. >> dan said he was frightened of sam, and he admitted he did need money for his wedding. >> i got greedy, and i didn't want any harm to come or me or wife. >> okay. >> it seemed he had told them everything so far. but police pressed dan on the most important detail of all. >> where do you think sam's at now? >> like i said, the last place that i saw him, honestly now, was when i dropped him off at the los altos shopping center, bellflower and spring, in long beach. >> dan was cooperative, but he said he didn't know where sam was. he can't tell you the location or he won't tell you the location? >> didn't know at that point. thought he wasn't going to tell us. didn't want to. >> so they applied a little more pressure. >> what we're going to do is, this is a swab. we need to get a swab from you just to eliminate you. should only take a second here. >> oh, eliminate me?

>> yeah, eliminate you from any, uh, any issues. >> okay. >> and that's why i want to get a sample from your saliva. just to eliminate you, okay. >> okay. >> i mean it's in your best interests. so basically just open your mouth for me. that's it. >> that's it. oh, okay. >> very painless. very painless. >> when the detective explained what he planned to do with the dna sample, dan paid very close attention. >> you're being up front with us, you're being honest, you have nothing to do with anything. there should be no reason why we should find your dna anywhere in certain areas and stuff like that. that's why we're doing it. >> now, i was in sam's apartment friday afternoon.

>> okay. >> and i know i did use the bathroom. >> you did use the bathroom. >> i used the bathroom. and i went -- i'm not sure if i went out on the patio or not. most of the time i do. but that day i don't know if i did or not. >> okay. okay. >> dan seemed worried they might find his dna in sam's apartment. detectives wanted to know why. and the tone of the interview changed. >> i think you know a little more about this thing than you're divulging to us. >> no, i don't. >> i think there's a little, a whole lot more. >> there may be but please question me and any gaps that i, i want to fill. absolutely. >> as far as your participation in this thing. >> as far as my participation? >> yeah. >> okay. >> talk to me. >> i am, officer. >> huh? >> yes, i helped him get away. yes, i knew that he had killed

someone, and, yes, i knew that -- >> stop. stop right there. stop right there. >> they circled back to the dna. >> we got your dna. >> yes. >> okay? where's that dna going to be showing up? >> in sam's car. >> what about on julie? >> no, it wouldn't be on julie. >> you sure about that? >> yes, i'm positive about that. >> did you see julie dead in the apartment? >> no, i did not. no, i did not. no. >> you better think about that. i'm going to give you time to think about it. >> i did not see julie dead in the apartment. i didn't. >> were you there when she was shot? >> no, i was not. >> are you sure about that? >> you're really scaring me right now. >> i'm not trying to scare you. >> but dan did seem scared and angry. he insisted he only helped sam

after the murder, and then only under duress. >> no. i had nothing to do with this because my life was in danger with my wife. i'm sorry. >> how was your life in danger? >> he threatened it. >> we're going to give you time to think. all right? listen to me. >> yes, sir. >> all right. stand up. we're going to go back in there. >> detectives were frustrated but -- >> we were still hoping to find sam and thought he was going to lead us to sam. >> it sounds like you thought dan was telling you the truth about everything except where sam was. >> we were taking him at his word because he was involving himself, incriminating himself, as an accessory in this homicide. >> he wasn't telling you, i don't know anything about it. >> right. >> he was just saying, yeah, you know, i helped him, but i helped him after the fact, and i don't know where he is. >> right. but the longer he went on, the less believable his story was. >> and now also strongly believed that not only was dan covering for sam, but dan was also perhaps involved somehow in julie's murder. they tried again. >> go ahead and have a seat. >> they brought dan back to the interview room for one more crack at him. but dan didn't waver. >> i told you what happened to sam. i dropped him off. >> and then a reality check. >> you're arrested for murder,

okay? accessory to murder, that's what you're being arrested for. do you want to talk to us, tell us any more? >> okay, hold on -- whoa, whoa, whoa. >> we're done. unless you want to talk to us, we're done. >> i'll talk, i'll talk, whatever -- >> not whatever. we want to hear -- >> i'll talk. i said i'll talk. i'm awake, i'm listening, i'm reactive. coming up -- the interrogation, act two. >> an actor confessing what he says was his role that need at sam's apartment. >> dan says he could see two gunshot wounds? >> that's when the lightbulb went off. when dateline continues!

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journey into night and back into day. detectives had been awake for more than 50 hours, and they were exhausted. but they couldn't give up on dan wozniak. after a break they brought dan back into the interrogation room and told him he was under arrest for accessory to murder. dan tried negotiating. >> i will talk to you about anything if it gets me to my wedding on friday, that's what i will promise. anything you want. >> what do you want to tell us? we're not -- we're not -- what do you want to tell me? >> i'll tell you anything you want to know. what do you -- oh my god. >> go ahead, we're listening. >> yes, i helped sam get away. yes, i did not know what he was planning till then. yes, i lied to you guys earlier. yes, i -- did stuff that i'm not proud of. that's it. i'm a better guy than this. i'm sorry that i took money. i'm sorry that i -- >> but ed everette and the other detectives still thought

dan knew more than he was saying. >> yes, i helped sam get away. yes, i did not know what he was planning till then. yes, i lied to you guys earlier. yes, i -- did stuff that i'm not proud of. that's it. i'm a better guy than this. i'm sorry that i took money. i'm sorry that i -- >> but ed everette and the other detectives still thought dan knew more than he was saying. >> dan, you got the answers. you can help us. >> i don't know what else you want me to say! i don't know! i don't know! >> tell us the truth. you're not that good of an actor. you can prompt and do your stuff. this is your chance to clear the air. >> they kept pressing. >> where is sam? >> not without a bargain that i am out friday. >> we're not in a position to bargain. >> then -- okay then. >> deadlock. until -- >> okay, fine. you know what? he didn't come down. he came down and said help me. and i went upstairs, and, yes, i saw the [bleep] body. is that what you want to hear? >> no. we want to hear the truth. >> that is the truth. >> okay.

then tell us what happened? how did that play out? what did you do when you got up there? >> detectives reached into their toolkit. they'd just taken a dna swab from dan. they didn't have results but decided to bluff. how did your dna get on her? >> because i was right over the body. >> what's that? >> because i was right over the body. >> okay. how how did your dna get on her? >> that i don't know. >> dna doesn't just fall off. >> i don't know. >> okay. >> i didn't touch her. i didn't do anything. >> and then, something out of the blue. >> what did you see? >> saw two gunshots in her head. and i saw her pants like ripped and cut. i saw like [bleep] you written on the back of the shirt. >> was the seasoned actor suddenly forgetting his lines? >> where were the two bullet wounds? >> i don't know. sam said he shot her twice. >> okay. >> and i saw --

>> but you just -- >> i didn't see -- >> you just told us you saw two bullet wounds. you were -- >> no. >> -- standing over her. >> no, no, no, no. >> whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop. >> okay, okay. >> how did your dna get on her? >> i was standing over the body. i saw two bullet wounds to her head. >> it's exactly what you said, dan. you can't even keep your lies straight. >> listen, he said he shot her twice. when i walked in -- >> i saw two bullet holes to the head. that was, that was your, that your -- >> that's not what i meant. that's not what i meant. i apologize. >> dan was getting tangled up in his story. first he said he only helped sam after the fact. then he admitted he'd seen julie's body. he also contradicted himself, first saying sam told him about the bullet wounds, then saying he, dan, had seen them. with every slip, dan seemed to

put himself closer to the actual murder. dan says he could see two gunshot wounds? >> yep. >> meaning he was there when she got killed. >> yep. that's when the lightbulb went off. >> but dan still insisted he had nothing to do with julie's murder. but now he admitted he did help sam clean up the scene. >> went into his apartment. and that's when he -- that's when i saw julie. and i freaked out. looked over and then i said, okay, what do i need to do? so we found the two shell casings. sam picked them up. i'm like, take the shell casings so they don't find those. detectives wanted details. >> so why was, why does he write the message? >> i don't know. i don't know. he said he was just seriously messed up and had about three or four pills. >> how about her pants? >> her pants were -- it looked to be like cut. and so he said he used the scissors to cut them as best he remembered. he was blacking out a lot. he didn't remember everything

that he had been doing. >> this statement seemed to match the facts. julie's autopsy showed she had not been sexually assaulted. the scene had been staged to make it look that way. detectives felt dan was finally starting to cooperate. >> you're a good guy. you're a good guy. you just got yourself in a bad spot, man. >> you want to do the right thing. i know you do. >> i do. >> all you got to do is point us over to sam, and let's close this chapter. it is done. okay? >> where is my phone? >> what's that going to do? >> wait for it to ring. >> if he was waiting for a call from sam her, it never came. but dan, from the police station, did call his bride-to-be rachel. and a strange story now took yet another turn. >> no, don't. don't, don't, don't, don't. that can't be found. coming up --

as news of dan's arrest starts to spread, some seem more rattled than others. >> he freaks out and has this look of fear in his eye. >> when dateline continues! continues away things. fit together with away things. ♪ ♪ that's our thing.

♪ ♪ >> rachel buffett and dan

wozniak, two talented actors who had co-starred in plays, then fallen in love, and in less than 24 hours were supposed to walk down the aisle. instead, dan was sitting in jail charged as an accessory in the murder of julie kibuishi. and rachel was left to break the news to family, friends, and invited guests. >> i go to my friend's and knock on the door. and then at that point just start bawling. that's when i finally broke. >> with a friend at her side, rachel went to her parents'home to tell them what was going on.

>> and my mom's just -- she's lost it. she can't speak. she's bawling. >> it was a mess, and not only because of the canceled wedding. rachel's older brother noah was also under suspicion. you think noah knows where sam is? >> yes. >> noah was driving dan around in noah's smart car hours before dan's arrest, and so detectives brought in noah for questioning. that's got to be a brutal conversation to have with your parents. >> and my mom's already breaking down and hyperventilating just by me saying we need to cancel the wedding, and dan and noah are in jail. >> what finally happened with your brother? >> noah says that they questioned him for a while. and then the main detective said, all right. get this guy out of here. he doesn't know anything. >> turns out, he really didn't. noah was released and never charged. meanwhile, rachel notified dan's parents and describes a

reaction she did not expect. >> it was just his dad that was home. his mom was at work. so i explained what's going on to him, and he just has the opposite reaction. he's just completely so mellow and like he didn't even hear me. i remember one of the phrases he used was something like, well, he was a really good son. you know. he was a good kid. just like, did you just hear what i said? >> as she and a friend were leaving, rachel says she had another strange encounter. >> dan's brother and his girlfriend pull up and kind of wave us down. and so i get out and i walk up to the car window and tell them, you know, dan's been arrested, yada, yada, yada. and he freaks out and has this like look of fear in his eye. >> a short time later, her phone rang. it was dan calling from his jail cell. the call recorded by police.

>> what did you do? >> i helped sam cover some stuff up and helped him get some drugs. that's it. i didn't murder anybody. >> babe, why on earth would you try and cover for him? >> because we needed the money. >> no. we never need money. we need to be good people and just have each other. >> i'm sorry. >> rachel revealed she had new information for detectives. >> my mom's working on canceling all the wedding plans now. and i just talked to tim, and i need to make a phone call to the detectives now. >> why? >> because tim's involved. >> because of what? >> or -- i need to call the detective first because i need to call him and let him know before they catch me on this recording device because it looks like

i'm not trying to tell them right away. tim says he has evidence with him or he knew where it was or something. >> with that information, dan wozniak's mood suddenly changed. >> then i'm doomed. >> what? >> tim said that? >> yeah. do you know that tim has some evidence? >> yeah. oh god, oh god, oh god. >> it's the voice of a man in a trap. >> this is ridiculous. and i have to go tell the detectives the truth. >> no. baby, baby, tim did speak up? >> only to me so far, and it was in passing. i said i'm going to the police station right now, danny's been arrested. and he starts freaking out. he was really frantic and he said something and something slipped that he had evidence. >> no, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. that can't be found.

>> dan sounded desperate. >> no, babe. i'm going to do it. >> listen to me, no, no. >> what? >> trust me, please. >> dan begged rachel to come back to the police station. he said he was about to do something that was going to change everything, and he wanted rachel to be there for it. >> i have to tell the truth on what i did. and i think you know what it is. and it's bad. imagine the worst, and that's what i did. coming up -- dan alone in the spotlight. >> he starts pulling at his hair. >> i had a couple of reactions. the immediate reaction was, did i just hear what i think i heard? >> when dateline continues! when dateline continues try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need.

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here's what's happening. breaking overnight, police say nine people were shot when multiple people started firing at a ground gathered in philadelphia. officer says the victims are all adults, two in critical condition. the -- is not yet known but a manhunt is underway. singer aaron carter has passed away at the age of 34. he was found dead in his -- in california. they said the cause of death is under investigation. he covenant it on a quote, outpouring of love from the public. now back to dateline! >> from th public >> the plot line was as complex as anything on stage or screen. a young woman brutally murdered. her apparent killer vanished in thin air. and at the center of it all, the actor, the director, dan wozniak, in custody in orange county, california. the process of going back and forth with dan is pretty long and laborious.

>> yeah. it was frustrating. >> particularly frustrating because everette and the other detectives were beginning to believe that everything dan wozniak had been telling them was all just a grand, elaborate performance. but they still didn't know what the real story was. then the actor himself suddenly seemed to drop character. dan wanted to speak with the detectives again. what do you think's coming this time? >> i think he's going to give us more b.s., and he's going to add or change his story, and -- >> but he's not going to give you the truth? >> no. no. >> what's wozniak's demeanor at this point? >> he's just kind of beyond himself as we bring him into the interview room. and at some point he sits down and starts pulling at his hair. >> you said you wanted to talk to me. what's going on? >> i'm crazy, and i did it. >> you did what? >> i killed julie, and i killed

sam. >> okay. all right. >> i killed them both. >> all right. >> you didn't see that coming. >> no. >> dan wozniak dropped a bombshell on detectives. sam herr was not a murderer on the run. he was already dead. and he, daniel wozniak, was the killer of both sam and julie. so when he blurts that out, what's your reaction? >> the immediate reaction was, did i just hear what i think i heard? >> even for seasoned detectives, the story dan wozniak told was almost beyond imagining. dan said he went after sam first. they drove together to a theater, a place where dan had once taken the stage. dan had told sam he needed help moving some heavy items down from the attic. >> i said, you need to bend down and help me lift this thing up.

and when he bent down, i grabbed the gun. i shot him once and then he was still alive. he was still talking saying, i need help. >> what did he say to you? >> i need help. something hit me. it felt like an electric shock. >> and then, wozniak said, he fired again. >> he started bleeding. he wasn't moving. he wasn't talking. >> dan said he took sam's cell phone and then drove to the theater to face an audience. in this video, shot by a cast member's husband that very night, you can see dan and his fiancee rachel performing in the musical "nine." this was a different theater from where sam herr's body now lay. and dan, who had just committed murder hours earlier, showed no signs of stress as he played the starring role apparently

effortlessly. dan told police that during the show, backstage, he texted julie from sam's phone pretending to be sam. those were the odd texts that interrupted julie's dinner at her brother's house. >> i was saying, you need to come over tonight. you need to come over tonight. >> uh-huh. >> no sex, just i need you to come over tonight. >> after his twin performances, one onstage, and the other as sam herr, dan drove back to the apartment complex and waited. julie arrived, wearing the tiara her brother had given her that evening. >> i said like, sam just called me, and he was going through some stuff. she said, yeah, me, too. i said, i have a key, let's go in. i opened the door, i let us in, and then i went to the bathroom real quick because i was really nervous. loaded the gun again. >> and? >> went back out into the hallway and then said, oh, by the way, did you see this in sam's bed? she was like, what? i was like, he was really freaking out over it. lean over, look at it right there.

when she was leaned over, i put two bullets in the back of her head. >> dan admitted scrawling those nasty words on her back, and to splitting her pants with a pair of scissors. the next morning, he said, he returned to the theater with an ax and a saw. dan used those, he said, for the gruesome task of dismembering sam's body to make it harder to identify him. dan said he scattered some of sam's remains at a local park. but sam's torso, he told them, was still in the attic of the theater. >> okay. what was going on in your mind when you were dismembering the body? dismembering sam's body? >> i was actually smiling and laughing. >> okay. why do you think you were doing that? >> i don't know. i reached a point to where i couldn't even believe that i was doing this. i don't know.

i don't know. >> and that next evening, dan took the stage once again in the musical "nine, " yet another pitch-perfect performance captured on videotape. you've sat across from a lot more murderers than i have, but that seems astonishingly sort of cold-blooded and remorseless. >> it was shocking, and these were two of his so-called friends. it's horrific. it's sad. it's horrific. >> investigators, of course, wanted to know, what was all this about? what drove dan to do it? >> your motive behind killing sam was? >> money and insanity. >> money and insanity. [laughter] i don't know. i don't know why i did it.

>> the centuries-old motive -- money. more than $60, 000, in fact. sam herr's combat pay. >> when he was deployed, basically all the money that he was earning in the military just went into a savings account. he didn't spend it when he was deployed. >> and dan wozniak wanted that money? >> yes. >> and julie kibuishi? dan said he killed her to cover his tracks and to frame sam. >> to make it look like he was on the run and he did it. >> he was the one that did it. >> right, and that if he was disappeared completely, you'd never find him. and it would all go away. >> but none of this was going away. especially for those left behind in the wake of two murders. steve herr, sam's dad, remembers when police showed up at his door. >> they came in, and they said, sam's been found. he was murdered. and for whatever reason, i said -- i don't know what made me say

this. at least he wasn't dismembered. okay? the next morning, i get a call from the costa mesa police. he says, steve, before you find out, we just want to let you know sam was dismembered. that's when i just lost it. >> the very next day, sam herr would have turned 27 years old. sam's friend, ruben. >> you know, the night that it was his birthday, his father's praying to find his head. sorry. so it's very upsetting, you know. >> when police told you they thought that julie had been killed essentially to cover up a different murder, sam's murder, what did you think? >> it's probably the pain is more painful than you're ripping your own body parts, you know, apart to hear that your daughter's being killed.

it's like that, and you just -- i don't know how to describe it. >> dan wozniak was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. dan's older brother tim, along with tim's girlfriend, was also arrested and charged with accessory to murder. detectives believed they had helped hide some evidence, including the murder weapon. wesley, the teenager who had used sam herr's bank card, was not charged with any crime. and despite his confession to police, dan pleaded not guilty. he was jailed without bond, and if convicted, could face the death penalty. a year after his arrest, dan wozniak sat down for an interview with msnbc's "lockup."

by then, it seemed, his story had changed again. he now claimed he did not kill sam and julie. >> they were saying that i shot both of them and decapitated one of them. it's not true. >> and then dan spoke about his ex-fiancee, rachel buffett. he said the hardest part of being in jail was missing her. >> if i was given the opportunity to talk to my fiancee right now, i'd either say can i be with you out there or can you be with me in here? >> here in jail with him? an unusual comment. was there any possibility rachel had something to do with these crimes? you think dan's protecting rachel, or is rachel protecting dan? >> dan would be protecting rachel. rachel's protecting rachel. >> you think she knows more than she's saying? >> oh, definitely. >> just what did rachel know? i asked her. >> this is my name.

this is my life. this is my entire future. and i have nothing to hide, and i'm innocent. coming up -- >> that conversation between the two of them felt rehearsed? >> yeah. i was expecting oh my god what did you do? >> rachel the actress, or rachel the accomplice. >> police and investigators don't believe you are on us with them. were you honest with them? >> when dateline continues! >> when dateline continues try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. the abcs of ckd 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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what are you saying? >> i'm completely innocent. >> and she agreed to sit down with us because she wanted to tell her story. >> i'm innocent. and it's -- that's what hurts me most, i think, in this whole situation is they're trying to say i'm somebody that i'm not. >> so who is rachel buffett? she says just a wannabe actress with some very realistic dreams. >> there's a gazillion movies made about the blonde that comes from oklahoma to be a famous movie star. it's a dime a dozen in l.a., you know? but it was still something i liked to do, so i continued doing it. >> and in the course of doing what she loved, she met dan. >> he actually fell for me first. and at the time he was -- he had already kind of become my best friend, and i was hanging out with him so often. >> he eventually professed his love and asked her to give him a chance. to win your heart?

>> something like that, yeah. >> and he did win her over. he proposed, and she said yes. >> i wasn't head over heels in love, but i was okay with it. >> rachel said money was tight for the young couple. >> you know, neither of us had career jobs or anything. so yeah, money was always up and down and hard to get. >> but rachel says she and dan continued to plan for that may wedding, and that her parents said they'd foot the bill. >> my parents are traditional, and they were going to pay for it. >> of course, that wedding never happened. one week before their scheduled nuptials, on friday, may 21st, 2010, the day dan wozniak told police he murdered sam herr, rachel says her fiance was acting strangely. >> he said he had borrowed money to pay the rent, and he had borrowed it from loan sharks and just saying, yeah, i lied to you. and i'm in trouble now. and i owe bad people money.

and, you know, i'm going to get hurt. >> rachel says she saw sam herr that day leaving the apartment with dan. but remember, she and dan both told police sam had last been seen with a third man. a guy in a black hat. rachel now says she never claimed to have seen that person with her own eyes. when dan and sam left, there was no third person with them? >> i was under the impression that there was a third person. i heard about that person. >> from dan? >> i believe so. that's how i remember it now. >> but at the time, police say, rachel did say she saw the nonexistent third man. it's a major reason she was charged as an accessory. you know, of course, that the issue of the third person is a crux of this case? >> i know now, yeah. i don't remember saying i saw him.

i can believe that i told the police there was somebody, and i probably would have said it with confidence because i trusted dan. >> when dan returned to the house without sam, rachel says dan was almost frantic. >> it looked like he was having some sort of panic attack or heart attack. he was like, pacing around the room, holding his heart, leaning up against the wall. >> rachel says dan told her he needed to go to his parents'house to get his things. he returned in time for them to head to the theater for that night's show. and by all accounts, both dan and rachel's performances in "nine" that evening were on their marks. maybe even too good. during this emotional scene on stage, captured on this video, rachel broke down in tears. some of her fellow cast members

later told police that crying on cue was unusual for this amateur actress. and some of them speculated she was crying because she already knew sam herr was dead. >> people who think i'm guilty and are looking for some sort of justification i think are clinging to that. but i just think that's utterly ridiculous. >> so the tears you shed on stage, that was acting? that wasn't guilt? >> that was acting, and, you know, you sit there and like you think of anything that's made you upset throughout the day or week when you're trying to cry for a scene. and that's what i was doing. and it was because i had had a stressful day, i guess. >> but that crying episode

wasn't the only thing investigators found odd. after the two performed in "nine" that night, dan was back at home texting from sam's cell phone, ultimately luring julie kibuishi to sam's apartment. sam had a flip phone which had a very different look from dan's smartphone. you never noticed that the phone he was texting on was not his regular phone? >> no, i didn't. >> and then there was the couple's shared computer in the apartment. the computer on which police later found searches for how to hide a body and quick ways to kill people. you ever see any indication that he had searched for anything relating to murder or violence or how to cover up a murder? >> no, i did not. >> and using that same computer, rachel posted a comment to julie on facebook the night she was killed. you returned a message to julie almost right at the time that she had to be meeting dan at sam's apartment? >> uh-huh. >> that caused police to question another part of rachel's story. that she didn't see dan leave the apartment that night. she told them she'd fallen asleep on the couch watching a movie. rachel says when she was called to the police station interview room a few days later, she was shocked when dan, whose story

was still evolving, told her his elaborate tale of helping sam cover up a murder. >> there's nothing he can do at this point to -- >> sure, absolutely. >> -- to make it better? >> absolutely. he can tell be truthful with us. >> you know, i was just like speechless at this time. i'm kind of on overload. and in shock and also growing angry. >> but if you watch the tape, rachel seems rather calm. >> why did you lie to me? what does noah have to do with any of this? >> nothing. he drove me to pick up the money. >> from sam? >> from wesley. >> who's wesley? >> wesley's a kid i did theater with. >> detectives felt they were watching two performers acting

out a script. so that conversation between the two of them felt rehearsed? >> yeah. and i was expecting an oh my god, what did you do? how could you help him? it wasn't that. it was just very odd. >> so if police or prosecutors tell us that was all set up between the two of them, they were a couple of actors and they were reading lines? that's what? that's bull? >> that's bull, yeah. >> you had no idea what he was going to say. >> that's correct. >> rachel said she didn't know that dan had murdered sam and julie until he called her from his jail cell to confess. and that's first time you knew about it? >> that's correct. >> investigators found more reasons to suspect rachel. for example, the way she echoed dan's claim that sam was having family problems. sam's parents and friends all say that was a lie. your repeating that story is being taken by police and prosecutors as an example of

you continuing to advance a narrative that your boyfriend set up to make the murder happen. >> well, two things. i told them that, yeah, dan said it, but also i think sam confirmed it. like sam also told me that or confirmed it in some way. i don't understand why people think it's odd that i would use the same language or terminology that dan had used. because obviously i'd heard it, you know. >> detectives also wondered why, when they spoke to rachel after julie's murder, did she ask police whether they had looked into whether sam had killed julie? when you met with detectives you asked them, did you look at sam? are you examining sam as a suspect? which was at the time exactly the theory that dan wanted the police to pursue. so in that meeting with detectives, were you essentially doing dan's work for him? >> no, i was not. that was -- the way he set it up made that the obvious conclusion, that everybody should look for sam. the police were doing that, too. and me, as an outsider, would assume that that was a logical thing to do. >> did you at any time make any statement or take any specific action to shield dan from

scrutiny or suspicion? >> not in any way. >> reporter: police and prosecutors don't believe you were honest with them. >> mm-hmm. >> were you honest with them? >> i was. i know my heart, and god knows my heart. and that's my comfort is god's in control, and god knows i'm innocent. i never tried to help dan wozniak. i told the truth to the best of my capability to try to help the police get to the bottom of things. my heart was always in the right place. >> but ed everette believes rachel as innocent bystander is just another actor playing a another role. rachel buffett says she had no idea that dan wozniak was a murderer, that he was going to kill sam, that he did kill sam, that he was going to kill julie, that he did kill julie. she said she didn't have any advance knowledge of any of that.

>> but ed everette believes rachel as innocent bystander is just another actor playing a another role. rachel buffett says she had no idea that dan wozniak was a murderer, that he was going to kill sam, that he did kill sam, that he was going to kill julie, that he did kill julie. she said she didn't have any advance knowledge of any of that. do you believe her? >> no. >> she wasn't charged with murder. >> we don't have the evidence to prove it. she's a better actor than daniel. >> but before rachel would have her day in court to proclaim her innocence, it would be dan wozniak's turn. coming up -- rachel gets a starring role in dan's defense. what did she know? >> she's learning about all this incredible stuff, and she has no reaction. you can see it on the interview tape. she has no reaction. >> and two families in mourning finally get an answer.

>> everything is based on me knowing the whole story. >> when dateline continues! when dateline continues in as little as 2 weeks. dupixent is an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that's not for sudden breathing problems. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. get help right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor about new or worsening joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. ask your specialist about dupixent. my husband and i have never been more active. including steroids, without talking to your doctor. shingles doesn't care. i go to spin classes with my coworkers. good for you, shingles doesn't care. because no matter how healthy you feel, your risk of shingles sharply increases after age 50. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults

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she was found guilty of

accessory to murder after the fact, and sentenced to two months. the final scene of the tragedy that stormed in onstage. and split into real life. >> a month before this happened, we were walking in the park, and you know that saying, to take care of your mom and -- we have this. he said if something happens to me, i lived the good life. i saw so many things i never thought i was able to see. >> was that a premonition? maybe. it was important for steve to hear his son say those words. i lived a good life. it wasn't always that way. as a kid, he struggled. he went through rough times. >> he went to the army and found a purpose. he became a man and grew up. >> june doesn't want to show her grief to her family. and mourned privately. with a gift her daughter gave her. >> she was a music person.

my birthday and mother's day she used to make me a cd. to play that in my car. that's her gift for me. i go to work and come back. i play that cd and i take this one long way to the road that is straight and without a signal. i use that road. i turn on the and blast the music and call i call her name in my car and cry. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> i'm craig melvin >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline. >> i was tied up in tortured. these people almost murdered