>> i wonder why i didn't do more. i should have done something different. i'll live with that, for our. forever and ever it will haunt me.

>> high school sweethearts with a growing family, then it all went up in flames. >> there's a fire, 9-1-1. >> his wife was inside. >> i believe somehow it wasn't true. >> none of it made sense to me. >> but buried in the ashes, secrets. >> i don't care what you think you're seeing, you are dealing with a murder. >> the gun, how did it end up completely underneath the body? >> in the front driver seat there was a note. >> she had rekindled a relationship with one of the executives. >> did someone have something to hide? >> did you murder her? >> no. >> did you pull the trigger? >> no. >> did you kill? her >> no. >> he had answers for everything. >> your head is spinning, you realize this is it. >> you're going to hell for what you've done in this case.

>> it was dark, past 3 am, a week crescent moon struggling to pierce the night. kingman county, population 3000 was asleep, except -- on a quiet residential street, a woman unable to sleep watched a crime show on tv. what was that popping noise she heard or was it her tv show? or just our remnant of the windy day licking on her windowsill? the silent night closed in again, april 30th 2011, tornado seat isn't. and there was a storm that night. a world win even their sweeping all of fit into its vortex, but it began not with when but was fire.

>> 9-1-1, do you have an emergency? >> yes. >> what's the problem? calm down. >> there's, there is a fire. >> 3:51 am, the man on the phone to 9-1-1 was frantic, out of breath. >> and my wife is, i. >> here's the actual video of the one officer on duty that night, speeding to the burning house where he met the 9-1-1 call or outside. you can hear them both recorded by his patrol car dashboard video cam. >> where you? at >> right here in the driveway. >> he said that his wife was still in the master bedroom, in the back of the house, second floor. but if that was true? it didn't look good for her. with a pastor by caught this video on his cell phone. by then the volunteer fire brigade was arriving, not much any of them could do for the woman inside. as the man calm down a little, he told the officers he was able, only, to rescue his two and four year old son, carried them to safety. so somewhere in there his wife,

their mother, was dead. there was more to his story, as you will hear. much more. but for now, the dismal business of sorting out what happened. so, where to begin? the man on the street said his wife's name was vashti, vashti seacat,. >> it was a name out of the bible, there was a queen who my dad taught was neat so we named her vashti. >> her sister kathleen lived through hours away. either she nor her brother rich could believe what they heard that dark morning. >> the first thing i did was called the sheriff's department. just to verify. >> did they help you? did they tell you anything? >> first he asked why was, then explain my relationship to vashti and then he said yes, there's been a fire. we believe she's deceased.

>> and the man standing outside his burning house? that was vashti's husband, brett seacat, her first love. >> they met in high school, they did some stats for a team and he was a wrestler. first little of it high school. first boyfriend girlfriend. >> they broke up and got back together a few times as people do until they finally married in 2004. >> that first love, always holds a special place in your life. >> but by dawn on the 30th of april 2011, as you will hear brett certainly knew what to do in a crisis, there was nothing here anyone could do to get it back. the life he had with vashti and their two boys, now motherless boys, brendan born in the fall of 2006 and bronson less than two years later. >> when they had their babies it was a very happy time. my sister was mother of the year. >> at four in the morning she would get up, hand make baby

food. >> while. >> so her kids could have organic, healthy food. >> she lived for those babies. >> not just her own kids -- >> she was the first to help someone, at the boys daycare, a little boy had -- it was cancer, leukemia or something -- she stayed up and baked many loaves of banana bread and sold those to raise the money for that void to have treatment. >> what was brett as a dad? >> he did lots of things for the kids. i will tell you, he did walks with them. he would play outside with some. he was very engaged as a dad. he was very proud of his sons. >> brett he was a law man from a family of lawman, a former sheriff's deputy and for the last few years he had been teaching officer recruits of all types at the training center. where bobby seacat, one of his

brothers worked before him. >> he was hired to replace me when i left there. >> so what was the job? teaching? what >> he got into the accident investigation, but he was much more into physical training. defense tactics than i ever was. >> he had more interest in that type of thing? >> he did. >> personal combat stuff? >> he did, growing up he got into martial arts. he was into wrestling in high school. and then he got into bodybuilding, martial arts things. he was a lot bigger than i was. >> the training center job gave him a set schedule which was a regular hours a change from being a sheriff, especially being with the two boys cramming for his attention. >> he was close to the boys but he was very masculine with the boys, he was like raise the mass boys. they were tough, they wrestled a lot. he would wrestle with them. he would toss them across the room on the couch and they would bounce off the couch. and come right back. >> a terrible thing to happen

to such a beautiful young family. even if the fire was all you heard about. but now brett seacat headed to the local enforcement a few blocks away and there he repeated to fellow law enforcement officers something he'd said on the 9-1-1 call. that the fire was not what killed vashti seacat. coming up. what did happen to vashti? >> she was lying on her left side, she was under the covers asleep. >> a surprising piece of evidence right there in the bedroom. >> the firearm was actually under her left hip which would've been against the mattress with the barrel facing downward. >> firearm? a gun? in the bed? >> when dateline continues. by asking your healthcare provider if an oral treatment is right for you. oral treatments can be taken at home and must be taken within 5 days

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chaos that last morning of april 2011 in kingman texas. vashti seacat was dead her house burned near her, and her husband a little boy had just started to understand what had happened to them. the can't believe it stage, just like her siblings kathleen and rich. >> i believed somehow it was untrue. you plead with god or you just want a miracle to happen. >> no miracles to be had. and that might have been the end of it really, an awful tragedy but these things do happen and for all the loved ones are forgotten by the end of the world. except, those volunteer firemen weren't quite sure what they were dealing with. so they took the prudent state and called the fire marshal -- >> we got a lot more training, we have a lot more exposure to the scientific side of things. >> that morning he was the agent who showed up at the

house to take a look around. >> if you look at it from the front of the house, all you really notice was the fact that part of the roof had collapsed as you made your way around, it was heavy fire damage, to include collapse to the second and third floor which is significant. >> the front facade was up and the rest was -- >> it wasn't down but anybody going by could say that a significant fire had gone inside. >> you heard there was a body inside. did you hear anything else? >> normally when i arrived at the scene like that i will meet with the on scene investigators, the fire chief, local officers and they'd informed me, as a first arriving officer got there that he made contact with brett seacat and he indicated that his wife was inside. >> they also told him that when the first responders arrived, the windows in the master bedroom were still intact, which would've tempt down the fire inside the room where vashti was last seen and that

meant there was some chance, at least, that some evidence would still exist in their. wouldn't be can split the incinerated by the flames. and sure enough, when monte got inside what was left of the house, he saw the body of vashti seacat lying on the mattress in the master bedroom on the second floor. >> she was lying on her left side, her knees were drawn up, it appeared that her elbows were bent. there is still a significant amount of blanket and covering on her, like she was under the covers, asleep. >> also there, a weapon. >> the firearm was actually under her left hip which would've been against the mattress with the barrel facing downward. >> it became clear, the gun had been the source of a single gunshot wound to the side of her lower skull. there were other rooms to. oddly enough, you can hear gunshots going off during the

fire in that cell phone video shot by a passer by. [noise] it had to be, agent monty, when the fire exploded the remaining bullets of the gun sending the bullets into vashti's body. something else didn't burn up completely. >> we noticed a red plastic container, very close to car back on the mattress itself. >> plastic container, for what? >> it was a gas can. >> clearly a gas? can >> yes. >> so, what did that tell you? >> our job that day was to determine the origin cause of the fire in declassify, whether it was accidental, whether we couldn't to terminate a cause or someone intentionally said the fire. >> that would make a suggestion, if there's a gas can on the bed. >> yes, that would be an indication. >> suspicious?

oh yes. but maybe not what you're thinking. maybe not murder. in fact, the answer to what happened to vashti seacat was right there in her husband's call to 9-1-1. >> she shot herself, but she's in the fire. >> but why would the mother of two little boys killed herself? that was a story only her widow or brett seacat could tell. coming up. >> she wanted to make everybody happy. >> brett seacat has some secrets to share. >> she said that she would put one face for the family and then be a different person at home. >> so brett knew, and nobody else? >> correct. >> inside a relationship on the ropes. >> i made a perfectly heard that i was gonna do everything i could for her not to see the kids again. >> when "dateline" continues. dishes still coming out dirty? it may be your detergent. only cascade uses dawn... as a built-in pre-rinse system. it rehydrates dried on food... ...lifts it off...

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lead kbi agent. in bashed east purse they found a post it note with a you know

don for you. >> he's about to discover that he's dealing not just with grief but with a heavy burden of guilt though it took a while to get to that part of the story. >> usually when i interviewed people, i want them to start beginning and they. did >> you tell the story about how you met him in high school, and who is making from the very first moment. >> she want to make everybody happy, she really worked on it,

she really cared for people, thought about it almost to the point of neurosis i was. that >> as why in recent years you've been paying way to measure tends to drop in when she was home >> she was very dedicated to her job, i always thought that that took away from her time with the kids. the kids and i may be playing in the liver group and she would be working. >> making matters worse, said brett, was that vashti was the present had been for a long time, something that almost no one knew. >> he'd inform us that vashti -- there would basically be to vashti, she would put on a face for her family and a different face at home. >> so brett knew, and nobody else. >> she would get depressed over

something, and she would never talk to anybody about being depressed, she was always worried about how people viewed her. even as her boyfriend, as her husband who the only reason i've been got exposed to that is because i spent night with her. >> things got so bad, brett said, her depression was affecting their marriage and they started seeing a therapist. he also told investigators that to help her lose weight, vashti took a hormonal supplement, h c g which has been linked to depression. and he remembered something, that now came back to haunt him, he told them. that one night he and vashti were watching a drama on tv during which. >> someone had committed suicide with a firearm and she had asked him if that gun would be a good going to do that with, and he said yeah, i've got one of those but the dirty harry gun which he indicated was the 44 magnum that they had would be a better tool to do that with. >> so you look back on it than in the interview with you as oh my god, i told her out to kill

herself. >> right. >> but it got even worse said brett when vashti told him to his dismay that she wanted to split up, and served him with divorce papers and he very upset, he said, told her the night she died -- >> i will go to her, and i made it perfectly clear whether was truthful or not that if this went to court i was gonna do everything i could to make sure that she doesn't see the kids again. >> there was no sharing a bed anymore and after he fell asleep on the couch downstairs, he said, his cell phone rang. it was vashti calling from the bedroom upstairs. >> when i answered she said are you awake for? you need to come get the boys. >> brett said he jumped up and heard a loud noise. >> and then i just hear someone

slamming the door. >> and then he said he heard someone walking around in the second floor and went upstairs. >> there were small flames around the door, the flames were about this high. >> and then he said he ran into the master bedroom. >> the bed was on fire and the whole room could've been on fire, i'm pretty sure it was. >> but i was just looking right there. and vashti was laying on her back, right in the spot where she sleeps. >> he said he reached over her right shoulder and around her neck, -- >> i pulled her up, and she sank down, just waffled in my arms down straight. then all of a sudden, it sort of came to me dead, fire, kids. >> i just dropped her. >> that's when he ran to the boys room, scoop them up and ran downstairs, put them in the car and then called 9-1-1. then, ran back into the house to try and get vashti vashti, he covered his face with a wet

>> and now vashti was dead and brett couldn't stop wondering, he told agent falletti, wondering if she was thinking about the kids as she prepared to end her life? >> she didn't want me to say goodbye, to say night night, that was the big one. she did love those kids. i could see her going in their kissing each one. >> brett said, he explained to

the boys, especially the older one, that mommy is in half and now, that she's with god. >> you talk about that every night, right before bed. >> and he cop to cop, it was as if brett seacat was in a confessional booth. full of sorrow for threatening to take away the boys, the three trigger he was shore for her suicide. >> did he seem remorseful about? >> yes he did. >> he showed remorse that he had driven her to commit suicide. he had given heart no other out than to take her own life. >> coming up. a journal -- >> in the front driver seat was would appear to be a note to her two children and brett. >> could it be a final message to her family? >> she told her family to take care of each other and brett i took care of the house for you. >> none of it made sense to me. >> when "dateline" continues. there's nothing like volunteering at the fire department.

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garland all of the appointment of the special counsel with two cases involving former president donald trump. jack smith will oversee the criminal probes into the handling of classified documents at mar-a-lago. and interfere with a chancellor of power after the 2020 election. trump asked the appointment of the special counsel, calling it a witch hunt at a defense at mar-a-lago. now back to the line! around >> >> the known facts were stark. quite clear. vashti seacat was dead. a fatal bullet wound to the head. her house burned around her, her boys mother less, her husband would or. now, the trick would be, finding evidence for or against the story behind the apparent suicide, brett seacat's story. which was long in coming said lead kbi agent.

in bashed east purse they found a post it note with a list of expenses. >> indications of money that she needed in her life insurance. >> the included funeral expenses. and then they had a good look through vashti's volkswagen and in her truck they found printed material about clumping with stress and anxiety. but more important, investigators discovered something falletti new is absolutely key. >> and the front driver seat was a journal. as you open that book and go past some of the notes that she had written in reference to her children, kind of bookmarks with a string that usually find in those types of books was will appear to be a note to her two children. and in that note she is trying to explain, tell the children i love them. she's telling her children to keep -- take care of each other and

made the comment that brett i took care of the house. for >> the note also said, she would be watching over her sons from heaven. >> all those words on that page seemed pretty clear, it was a good bye note. investigators also talked to vashti's friends and family, colleagues at cox communications where she worked in human resources. others who knew her well. they said vashti had been going to a therapist for several months. that she had been losing a lot of weight recently. and taking the hormonal supplement a cheesy. could it have affected her mood? brett's half brother bobby was dumbstruck by what happened. couldn't comprehend it. social he peppered him with questions. >> none of it made sense with. me i said, where their problems? he said yeah, she filed for divorce. and he told me they've been to see a counselor. they've been good through counseling for six months. i said, what would cause her to do this? and he said, i use the boys as a weapon. something i never should've done. if she tried taking custody of

the boys i would take the boys and run away with them. he was beating himself up about that. and i have course said, probably half of all the people who have ever gotten a divorce that have kids involved have said something similar. >> bobby was learning things about vashti he had never known, he said. like when brett told him before vashti died she had been spending evenings out. >> going out partying and dancing and drinking. >> so, where with the kids be when she did that? >> with brett. and i'm not saying the kids didn't mean a lot are. she was a wonderful person on the surface. and there was a different vashti that we were unaware of. it's upsetting to be made aware of the aware of it. >> but brett, vashti's going out was a sure sign she was sinking into depression. if it a pattern he had seen before. as he told investigators. again, bobby was shocked.

didn't know anything about it. >> before this happened, i had never heard anything about her being suicidal. and that is why i have some disappointment in my half brother. if he felt a duty to protect her, i understand. but there are other people there to help you through this. in hindsight, i'm sure he wishes he could've shared those things. >> the one thing jumped right back at bobby. something he saw the weekend before vashti died. she seemed sad and withdrawn that time she saw her. sitting by herself in the house. while her young sons were hunting for easter eggs outside. >> she was not typical vashti. who was usually bubbly and talkative. it was unusual that any easter egg hunt occurred and she didn't even get off the couch and come outside. >> bobby and his wife noticed. asked how she was doing. >> oh she told us that day was she really did it like work. and work was a struggle for her

daily. she said, i got into hr to give people a future and hope. and i don't remember the last person i heard. >> according to bobby, vashti said when she totally off employees it was difficult for her. especially if she was close to them. >> she said, if they're not your friends, they take the news and they leave. if they are your friends they say your office and cry on your shoulder for an hour. >> as brett filled his half brother in on everything, bobby came to understand that apparently the emotions of vashti's job, the strain of her divorce, her depression, and brett's threat to kate take the kids from her proved too much. sadly, she took her life. leaving brett and the boys to go on somehow themselves. >> i've gotten past anger towards her. now is just bothers me. there's just things i think in

her life that derailed. >> but to set the house on fire with her own little boys inside? >> we're trying to assign rational thinking to someone that i believe was getting ready to take their own life. >> so, for brett's family it was starting to make sense. but for vashti's family, it just made no sense at all. coming up -- questions and suspicions. >> he didn't like people. he more wanted to isolate my sister and cut her kept her all to himself. >> i don't care what you're being told, i don't care what you think you are seeing, you are dealing with a murder. >> when "dateline" continues. when you're through with powering through, it's time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. powerful relief so you can restore and recover. theraflu hot beats cold. (dog barking) we love our pets. but we don't always love their hair. which is why we made bounce pet hair and lint guard

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it's bigger kingman county sheriff's office. >> i said, i don't care what you're being told, i don't care what you think you're seeing, i said you are dealing with a murder. >> a murder? even as they grieved, kathleen

and rich had become suspicious of brett. ever since brett called kathleen to tell her the news and freeze day in such an odd week. >> he said, vashti killed herself and then set the house on fire. so, how it was said to us was backwards and. i just from conversations her and i had had, i knew. i just knew. >> what did he sound like? >> no emotion. very calm. no tears, no hysterics. >> just very matter-of-fact. >> i am hysterical. i'm not married to her and she's not the mother of my children and i'm hysterical. but he wasn't. >> week or so later, brett drove down to oklahoma to speak directly with kathleen and her husband. >> and he had answers for everything. like, why she did what she did. why she thought she what she thought. it was like a script.

answers for everything. we're normal people would be confused. and there was a picture of her that was a poster sized picture on my fireplace, and i looked over at it and said, she was such a good mother. and i broke down and he said, well i'm, over that. i'm just kind of angry at her and ready to move on. >> they had to admit that brett 's social interactions had always been a little cold. sometimes inappropriate. and his reaction to vashti's death was not out of character. >> he didn't like people. he more wanted to isolate my sister and have her all to himself. i almost felt like vashti and the children were more of a possession -- >> they were his. >> like your clan. >> everybody stay away from my stuff. >> yeah.

>> so, it was a different kind of love than maybe what i would define as love. >> early on, at least according to her siblings, vashti questioned her decision to marry brett. wondering if she should stay in the marriage. that is until she found out she was pregnant with the first of her sons. >> i do think brett treated her well while she was pregnant. he was very proud he was going to be having sense. and the seacat name was going to be, you know, pushed on. that several times in their marriage it didn't feel right. i know she missed family. she wanted to reconnect with friends. she felt forced to not have the same friends. and that bothers her. >> did a change the way she was, her personality? >> those boys were her life. so, i think she was so focused -- >> focused and wrapped up in the children that you know, she probably didn't notice it like we did from the outside. >> by the fall of 2010, said

kathleen, vashti was miserable again. she was feeling depressed then. so she and brett start facing a therapist, together, and alone. but things didn't get any better. so in the spring of 2011, vashti filed for divorce. >> this was an a spontaneous, oh i think i'll just get divorced. and i know she had thought eight through well enough. >> she had had enough of it and told kathleen so. >> she said, he's a grandiose narcissist and is not going to get better. it's not going to change. >> but was vashti depressed as brett was saying? >> not anymore said kathleen and rich. they talk to her all the time they said. and though she was sad about the divorce, she was looking forward finally to a happier life. she felt liberated, they said. was excited about her job. was losing weight, starting new friendships. i'm planning a vacation with you?

>> and a concert, and a white trip, and a springfield trip. and we had just gone shopping the week before. and the clothes were still in the bag at our house. in fact, she had so many things lined up for us to do, that i was thinking i can't keep up with her. >> so, they did it by the story at all. >> she was not depressed. she was anything but. >> the wednesday before vashti died, when brett was served with a divorce papers, she spent that night with their sons at a friends house. i was going to stay there until friday. when brett was supposed to be out of the house, that was the plan said kathleen. >> he got a hold of her on thursday and told her to come home. that she owed it to him to let him say goodbye to his kids. he told her he couldn't be out by friday, he had nowhere to go. his parents didn't even know they were contemplating divorce. he didn't have any friends to go stay with. he said, he needed a few more

days to get out. could she please come home and let him tell his voice goodbye and just talk. i begged her to not go. as she said, kathleen, my only way out is to try to reason with him. she said, i'm not a monster. i'm not a monster. he has nowhere else. >> rich talk to vashti that friday about dinnertime. >> the whole conversation was, paces, how are things going in light of the situation. everything she said was, well, brett's having a really hard time with this. brett brett is really struggling with this. >> it hurt her that he was torn up. >> in less than 12 hours later, vashti was dead. kathleen rich told investigators that's the truth, as they saw it. they were certain brett killed vashti, made it look like

suicide and because he was a man who actually trained law enforcement officers -- >> you are worried that because of his training he knew how to be the system? >> oh yeah, he would brag about. he had books, you know, he knew how to do it. >> coming up -- brett seacat under scrutiny. >> if you bend over a bed that's been on fire, he would have some type of singeing. there was absolutely nothing. >> and a desperate family. >> i remember grabbing somebody that was working the scene and i said, give me some hope. and he said, in this instance, justice will be served. >> when "dateline" continues. an get it bad. and for those who do get it bad, it may be because they have a high-risk factor. such as heart disease, diabetes, being overweight, asthma, or smoking. even if symptoms feel mild, these factors can increase your risk of covid-19 turning severe.

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straightforward determining from evidence was suicide and what's murder. brett said it was obviously suicide.

her family said, no way. so, now investigators had to figure out who was right. they scoured the wreck of the seacat house for clues. >> i remember grabbing one of the kbi, somebody that was working the scene and, i said, give me some hope. are you finding something that's going to let everybody know what happened. and i remember he looked at me and he said, i will tell you this, and in this instance, justice will be served. >> but what did that mean? as another investigator told them, just -- >> justice will be served. and maybe justice he didn't know. we don't have emotions in this. we are here to collect facts. >> and collect they did. including a bit of unborn material on the dining room table in the seacat home.

quite odd. >> it was actually a powerpoint that included, almost like an instructor would be teaching a class on different types of death. suicides, homicide, i believe was listed on their. fire, blunt force trauma. things that an officer or an investigator would be looking at when they're investigating a death. >> that would make sense though if he's a teacher or a policeman? >> individually, that clock probably could be looked at. >> in fact, said brett, that's exactly what it was. >> it was people that he had brought home from school, or from class, that he had taken i believe in college. and it was just scrap paper and he pulled it in there because the night before the morning she passed away, they had been working on a budget. and we did find what looked like somebody was preparing a budget for their bills together. because they had separate accounts. so, he was trying to show that he could help her out and pay off some of these. bills >> and that was the activity in the evening before she died? >> correct. >> so, it was kind of a cooperative activity. >> according to mr. seacat, yes.

>> also brett said that when he ran into the burning bedroom to try to save vashti, he was only wearing pants, no shirt or shoes. so, -- >> i would've expected to see some type of injury from fire. all we end up finding was a very minor singeing of his legs and here. you get more than that if you're lighting a barbecue pit and you set yourself. he had a couple of minor blisters on his feet. if he bent over a bed that is on fire to get his wife, i would've expected his chest to have some type of singeing. there is absolutely nothing. >> what's more, the kbi found a small amount of gasoline on the pants he was wearing. suspicious? maybe. but proof of murder, staging the scene? not even close. there was an autopsy, of course. the results of which could be seen as suspicious. or not. >> there was no suit in her airway, her lungs. that would indicate that there were no rest taken prior to the

fire getting in to the house. >> the fire was late after she was dead? >> you can make that assumption. >> is it possible that she could have poured the accelerant around various places in the house, let them all, hopped back into bed, covered herself up, shut herself and then died with -- and still had no suit in her lungs? i mean, the fire is just getting started? >> it's possible. but if she's made that decision to go to that length, i would expect that she would be very excited. her respiration would be very rapid. she would be breathing heavy. >> there would be something in her lungs? something to indicate? >> that would be my experience. i've worked multiple fatality fires over the years. >> but atf investigators opinion aside, facts or facts. and the coroner said there just weren't enough of them to determine whether vashti's

death was homicide or suicide. just too much fire damage to know for sure. >> so, agent falletti and his team poked around for whatever circumstantial evidence there might be. they went to where brett worked and were told by coworkers at the law enforcement training center that on the day before vashti died, brett took two computer hard drives to the maintenance shop there. and asked, how to destroy them. >> ultimately they showed him a torch and he used the torch to basically burn at a very high temperature, he's that to torch the hard drive. >> and then threw them away. two different trash cans. along with a couple of cellphones which he had first pulled apart. troubling. on the other hand, it was a like he was skulking around or hiding any of that unusual activity. even as his colleagues for help. so, back to the house. and the neighborhood around it.

door-to-door went falletti and his team of investigators. and three doors down from the seacat house was a woman who said she was having trouble sleeping that night. as seoul was a week in the wee hours, watching tv in her living room. >> at some point she believes she heard what was a gunshot. and she believed that was sometime before the fire trucks and the police officer showed up in front of the seacat residents. >> exactly when each of those things happened, she couldn't say for sure. but, reviewing the tv show she was watching, she could tell them which scene was playing when she heard that gunshot. and that's how the kbi was able to determine the gun went off long before brett called 9-1-1. >> we believe it was about 30, 35 minutes prior to mr. seacat calling 9-1-1. was when she heard that gunshot. >> to do something? >> right. >> the atf's who discover the fire was not simply on the matter of lighting the bed on fire. >> was that where the fire was started? >> in my opinion, there were

multiple fire started on the second floor of the residents. >> interesting. but it didn't rule out the possibility that vashti herself started the fires. >> there's a lot of things in limbo at that point. >> yes. but their suspicions pointed in one direction. towards brett seacat, who is going from grieving would or, to a serious person of interest. which is half brother bobby found preposterous. especially when it came to what the kbi thought was brett's suspicious behavior at the training center. as a former cop and cop trainer himself, bobby just knew his brother didn't do it. >> when you are in love law enforcement and you know about identity theft, those are things you do. you breaks unfolds and uber burn hard drives. not only was he well versed and identity theft, he was the substitute instructor of it. i think in hindsight, if he had known what was about to happen

that very night, he wouldn't have thrown cellphones away. he wouldn't have burned hard drives. he would not have done anything, and especially would have spent the night in that house. >> because it would draw tension to him? >> absolutely. >> was it disappearances, or was it more than that? coming up -- >> things are not looking good it. looks like he has something to do with this, right. >> oh no, there is no way. okay? i didn't do this. >> anger, accusations -- >> did you murder her? >> no. >> did you pull the trigger? >> no. >> did you kill her? >> no. >> when dateline continues. ♪breeze driftin' on by...♪ ♪...you know how i feel.♪ you don't have to take... [coughing] ...copd sitting down. ♪it's a new dawn,...♪

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chat with investigators looking

into the death of his wife, it wasn't as if he could suddenly relax as if the worst two weeks of his life. >> distract me from all of the -- [inaudible] >> i did a little talking. very few questions. we basically just let him go, and he talked for multiple hours. >> brett knew the rules of court, had to know that he was very much a person of interest but he was content to chat for something like seven hours. did not bring a lawyer with him. did not ask for one. even when the investigators zeroed in on what they saw as holes in his story. >> things are not adding up. i think you know that. we just want to make sure we get all the facts right. and that is true. >> what do you want to know? >> brett rylan lee answered almost every question they had. why why there was no evidence

on his body to backup what he did on the night that vashti died. >> [inaudible] and clothes, you had no plan? >> [inaudible] >> no fire on the bottom of your feet. if you walk through the fire you would have some kind of injuries despite of small [inaudible] on your feet. >> i don't know why i wasn't burned. i had some sort of weird, black charring. you guys have pictures of that. did i know that i stepped into the fire? i do not. >> the investigators were also starting to think that the note in the journal was forged. >> to be honest with you, when i looked at that notebook? [inaudible] it's lance one way the part of the time, it's like the other way the other part of the time. the days were different. >> it's not my handwriting. >> but why the fire before vashti died beside destroying

phones and hard drives. he was inside of his office which was unusual at the training center. >> you know why it was locked? i was crying. >> you had the door locked and what were you looking at? >> my divorce papers. >> the problem is, brett, you are alone. you're still in love with her? and she was gonna leave you. there was no doubt about that. >> that's not what [inaudible] >> we'll some people do. >> you have no idea how impossible it is. >> well you could've killed her. >> but could he answer this central question, explain the thing that what it makes sense to anybody. why vashti, even if she was intent on suicide. why she would destroy the house to? why set it on fire? >> she really did not like that house. we were gonna have to fix it up. we did not particularly have

the money or resources to fix it up. and she started really heading that option. >> but it's hard, said brett. her reason may have had more to do with vanity. >> she was a very, very beautiful girl. and always thought about where people would see, i think she might have shot herself and assumes that [inaudible] , so she lit a fire and shot herself. >> sitting just a couple of feet away, agents shook his head. and said he did not believe it. >> we asked him if he thought that he was sitting in my shoes, interviewing me. and some of the things that we saw. and heard what he had told us. would he think that things did not add up? >> [inaudible] >> but you see where we're coming from? >> yeah, i see where you're

coming from. this is 100 times worse than what i had pictured in my mind. both of, i just thought that i lacked any evidence. and now you're saying. >> there is a lot of evidence that i know, knew existed. >> well the hard evidence looks real bad. >> it's not looking good, and they're adding up to it. we need to know why. >> there is no lie. okay? i didn't do this. [silence] i love vashti. >> i sure you did. >> do. >> i'm sure you still do. but people do things to people. >> i would not [bleep] my kids like this. ever. [silence]

i wouldn't need [bleep] her family, and i wouldn't [bleep] my family. i didn't want to give up vashti. i fought hard to try and keep us together. >> in fact, said brett, if he had murdered vashti. he would've made a better job of it. >> i'm smart enough, if i wanted to kill my wife. i could come up with something better than this. this is [bleep] insane. this is what a crazy person does. >> not necessarily. crazy in love, crazy for these kids. you know. >> don't try to twist it around. >> no i'm not. >> then fled-y got to the point. >> did you murder her? >> no. >> did you pull the trigger? >> no. >> did you kill her? >> now. >> brett left the station then, went to be with his boys.

and whatever his thoughts would've been. but not for law, because no matter how adamant his denials were, they just did not add up to the k b i. however pressed he said she was, it made no sense that she would've lit the house on fire with her two sleeping sons in harm's way. the next day, brett seacat, was taken into custody. he was formally charged three days later. >> brett seek at, did then and there unlawfully, feloniously, intentionally, and with premeditation. cale vashti s seacat. your bond is $1 million. >> he was also charged with arson, and endangering his children. brett could not make bond, and so remained in jail. to await adjourn needs decision. and what really happened, and the seacat, home in texas, in the early hours of --

. coming up! a note. >> some of his actions were reckless because the clock was winding down. >> the gun. >> how did it end up completely underneath her body when she was sleeping on her side? >> the threats. >> she said do you think that brett would burn the house down with me in it? and i, i was taken aback. by that. and i said, not with the kids at home. >> the prosecutors come on strong. >> so when those threats did not work, he had to kill her to maintain control. >> when dateline continues! n dateline continues

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♪ ♪ ♪ >> as kingman coped with the tragedy in its midst. the smallest victims of the vashti and brett seacat story and dirt what horrors we could not imagine. kathleen left her home in oklahoma to help care for the suns shortly after her sister died. and perhaps more than anyone,

she was learning what violence death could do to a family. >> we held those babies all night. they would wake up, they were traumatized by the fire. so, to rock the little two and a half-year-old begging you. please ask jesus, praised bring my mommy back. i will be good. i need a mommy. that breaks your heart. and this went on for a long time at night. sobbing for hours. >> those poor kids. i mean, you are trying to process that mommy is gone forever? and these people over here think mommy killed herself. and these people over here think my daddy shot my mommy? >> the trial to decide one way or another finally began in may 2013, two years after the fire. two years in which the local media covered the seacat case in a big way. >> it's looking that brett seacat will finally face trial in the death of vashti seacat. >> he asked to have his trial move to another county, which might have been less saturated

with news of the case against him. but he elected to keep it right here in kingman's historic courthouse. two blocks from his ruin home. >> the defendant intentionally, and with premeditation, committed the murder of his wife, vashti seacat. >> but for all the talk that had been around town, then assistant attorney general amy, had precious hard evidence to drop on, not even an autopsy report. because the coroner had not labeled the death a homicide. no, the evidence was not hard. it was circumstantial. in other words, she would be asking the jury to look at all the instances that put two and two together. >> hey guys, we [inaudible] i. he approached her in bed while she was sleeping. he shot or, in the head, he set fire to at least two places in

the house. to cover up his actions. and he did all of this while there two, young sons were in the home. >> the motive? quite simple said the prosecution. brett did not want a divorce. but he did want custody of his sons. and he would do what it took, even kill vashti to keep them. their marriage counselor took the stand. >> he said that he felt that vashti was going to run. he could just feel it. that she was going to leave him. and that if she divorced him, she was divorcing the entire family. including the children. and that he would take the children, and she would never see them. even if it meant leaving the country. so i told him it was not legal, that it wasn't going to help the children. it would hurt them. a great deal. that they needed access to both of their parents. >> did you talk to him about

divorce couples having two households? and what was brett's comments about that? >> he said he had seen children of divorce. and he did not think it was worse for them to have just one parent or household, he thought it was brother. >> and as for his claim that she died by suicide, the therapist said that she did not believe it for a second. >> i asked her whether she would commit suicide. and she said, no. for two reasons. one, her religious beliefs and her faith. and the second was, that she could not do that to her voice. that she just loved being a mom. that she couldn't leave them. they needed her. >> the prosecutors showed the jury a photo of the contents of her purse. which contained the post-it note, listing various costs. including funeral expenses. >> vashti seacat, as all of her friends and family testified

was an organized person. as a mother, and her career at work. and that list is something that somebody planning out what they might do in their future, when they're going to get divorced. which we know that vashti seacat was doing. >> prosecutors also assured george the powerpoint paper on the dining room table. the presentation about homicides, suicides, and fire. true, brett was a law enforcement trainer, but those were not his subjects. >> he was not teaching arson, he was not teaching homicide, he wasn't teaching -- evidence. >> no, but those materials proved, said the prosecutor, was premeditation. it was brett's deadly homework. but what about that last entry in her journal? the one that read like a final farewell? forged, said the state. by brett. the thing is, said the handwriting expert, it was well done. look closely, that slight

shakiness. he called that. >> the term that we use in the document, is a tremor of fraud. >> the tremor of fraud! and it appeared to the prosecution that he forged that notes the day before vashti died. the same day that he was torching hard drives, the same day that he as a staff member at the training center where he could find an overhead projector. something so outdated, it was in storage. the prosecutor said it appeared that he used the projection like to recreate her writing in the journal. >> some of his actions were reckless because the clock was winding down. >> vashti had told brett that he could stay into the house until noon sunday. the prosecutor said, she was planning to go out in saturday evening in wichita falls. and spend the night there. >> well it's friday, it's friday evening. this was his last opportunity while they lived in the home together to kill her. >> then there was a lack of evidence where there should

have been some. if this were a suicide that is. >> did you find any such in the airways? >> no. >> and he said in the lungs? >> no. >> the autopsy finding that she had no soot in her, lungs in her airways, and that there was no carbon monoxide in her blood, that was a key piece of evidence for the prosecution, because what it showed, with the jury could infer from that. was that she did not breathe than any smoke. if he didn't breathe in any smoke, the fire was set. >> after she was dead? >> after she was dead. >> and something else, a weird little detail, and yet according to the prosecution it was telling. when she died, vashti's bladder was quite full. >> they're probably would have been a urinary urgency or the needing of going to the restroom. >> and the importance of that for the evidence, is that big claim from brett see cat is that she is walking around the

house, setting these fires, holding her breath. not breathing any smoke while she has a strong urge to urinate. that makes no sense. that is something that the jury needs to decide, whether or not in their common sense and experience, whether they thought that made any sense at all. >> just another point to add to the unlikelihood of this whole story that he was telling you? >> that is right. >> the claim, suicide weapon, did not make sense either, so the prosecutor. 44 magnum reuben red hawk. such a big, heavy gun. >> she killed herself, how was she able to get that heavy hand gun up to her head, and pull the trigger, and do so in just the right downward angle that it slices right through her spinal cord? and there was a kick, or some recoil to the gun? how did it end up completely underneath her body when she was sleeping on her side? >> the prosecutor said that the angle of the bullets proved one

thing,. >> that's consistent with someone standing over her while she was sleeping, shooting her. >> because, that the prosecutor, that's what he said he would do. he not only woke her up one night to tell her he had a dream that he killed her. the friends and colleagues testified about what they told the k b i about the weeks before she died. she told them that incredibly, brett tried to kill her, and burn the house down. and make it look like suicide. >> she said, do you think that brett would burn the house down with me in it? and i was taken aback, by that. and i said, not with the kids at home. >> tragedy was, said the prosecutor, some vashti did not believe him either. >> and so when those threats did not work, he had to kill her to maintain control of her. >> in other words, that the prosecutor, planned, premeditated, murder.

it looks bad for brett. doesn't it? but then, you haven't heard the bombshell the defense had in store. >> coming up! there >> vashti had been fighting, and confiding in brett that she had rekindled a romantic relationship that she was having with one of the executives at fox communications. >> an affair? that wasn't the only surprise ahead. >> what other mistakes did they make? >> something about the investigation just stinks. >> when dateline continues! n dateline continues and can help you breathe better 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,

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here's what's happening. western new york is getting pummeled with weight effect snow. more than four feet fell on friday, causing road closures and power outages. authority said two people died from cardiac arrest. and the national football league moves the buffalo bills game from home to detroit as a precaution.

forecast shows an additional 6 to 12 inches and blanket cities in the shores of lake erie, and lake ontario through sunday. the most intense fall started this morning. now back to dateline! dateline >> red sea cat, unable to pay a lawyer to represent him was lucky. in one particular way. his court appointed defense attorney just happened to be veterans of murder cases. val and roger falke. >> my dear grandmother used to love to put together jigsaw puzzles. >> men who understood perfectly well, that the puzzle didn't always go together the way the prosecution tried to make it look. >> there's a second side to this story. and that is, that vashti seacat depressed, and confronted with

either losing her career or staying in the marriage, decided instead to take her own life. >> but why twitchy do that? here came the bombshell. >> jim vashti seacat had confided in brett's that she had rekindled a romantic relationship that she was having with one of the executives at cox communication. >> vashti claimed the defense, was having an affair with the cox vice president on the evening before she died, he gave her an ultimatum. stay in the marriage or he would expose her affair. along with his route to take the children, said the defense, where the triggers that sent an already depressed woman over the edge. >> she suffered from absolute depression. what can depression lead you to? among various things that can go wrong. suicide is one. >> under cross examination by

attorney walker, the sea cats therapists testified that she had a history of depressive system. starting when her brother died in an accident when she was young. >> major depressive disorder would be that occurring more than once. for a longer period of time. and possibly in the pattern. >> and with regard to what you wrote down regarding mrs. see cat where you're describing an episode or a disorder? >> i was describing that this was an episode, but there have been others prior. >> a lot of folks think that if you are depressed a week ago, but you're haven't been depressed since? you are cured. now, i have the experts say that that is not the way it works. >> nor is it possible to anticipate if or when a depressed person might take their own life. admitted the therapist. even when someone is making future plans, as she was. suicide is still possible. the defense argued.

mind you, they are about to say it also would not have been the first time for vashti. or at least, brett was ready to claim that she had attempted it before. >> brett wanted to testify about the suicide attempts that she had made on herself. some while they were married, some before. judge said, well. show me the evidence of this. and, we had looked, and looked, and looked. and could not find. >> couldn't find anything! >> couldn't find hospital records that far back. with that should not be a surprise to anybody. because hospitals don't keep records anymore. >> even so, by judges orders. he would not be able to make that claim in court. what about the post-it note found in her purse? the one that listened funeral expenses? >> it could very well be that that is her figuring out what things cost. and whether or not insurance is

gonna cover it. that is what i think it could've been. >> who? >> who knows. nobody knows. prosecution does not know. i do not know. >> but it has some significance don't you think? >> you certainly could portray it as being significant. you could also portray it as it being lower to popularize. >> remember how the prosecution argued that vashti suicide note found in the journal was a forgery? possibly committed by brett? the defense hadn't and writing expert of its own. that concluded that vashti did in fact write the note. and brett asking for the overnight projector at work, hours before vastly died? the attorney who cross-examined the coworker, the one who helped him find it. >> mr. seacat was not secretive when he asked you this question? >> no. not at all. >> he goes and ask someone to help him find an overhead projector? he asked people to take him up to where it is, he carries it

down in full view of anybody that was possibly in that place? and he carries it back? now, that sounds like somebody who did not have anything to hide. >> and what about the states point that no soot was found in her lungs? under cross examination, the coroner allowed that it could be possible under the defense scenario that she lit a fire just before killing herself. >> if someone lit a fire and shot themselves, within seconds, would you expect to see such in their lungs? >> not necessarily, no. >> as for the powerpoint found in the cease cats diming room table? the one that discuss suicide, homicide, and fire investigations? meaningless. said the defense. >> what the prosecution would have, you would assume, right? is that this really, really smart cop was stupid enough to be looking at all of this stuff

the night that he tries to burn the house down? please. i certainly wouldn't try to hide evidence by setting a house for blocks from the fire department on fire. and praying that they would not get there until the whole thing burned to the ground? that is silly. it's just silly. >> what's more, brett said, most of the powerpoint print out had been in a tray. in another room. as speck paper. that the k b i must've move those papers to the table. just to make it look suspicious. like brett's use of an over head projector was suspicious, and his destroying of phones and hard drive seem suspicious. all too ridiculous, said the defense. >> the state wanted you to believe that he was trying to destroy evidence of a crime? what evidence did they try to destroy? they never said what evidence he tried to destroy. this guy is such a supercriminal that, where does

he go to destroy that? he goes to the kansas law enforcement training center. which is full of what? former cops. and he get somebody to help him destroy those things. that wanted to destroy those things. there are innumerable fire ponce. if he wanted to get rid of that, you throw it into a fire pond and nobody would find it. >> in fact, the states whole investigation, says the defense. was at best incompetent, maybe at worst. brett and attorney -- , claimed that vashti car disappeared for the crime scene for three days. even though it was supposed to be sealed off for a crime scene. they showed the jury as a series of photos taken from different vantage points, which the defense argues makes it look like the days have been moved in the days of the fire. it was across the street from the sea cat driveway. >> when you first observed the driveway, was the volkswagen there?

>> no. >> it was? not >> now. >> do you remember seeing it in that driveway ever again? >> three days later. >> three days later. but if i understand your territory, you didn't see anybody bring it back? >> no. >> i didn't think he was telling the truth. if i thought he was lying i wouldn't put him on. it to me it implies that the investigation is faulty. how do you let somebody get into the crime scene and drive it away? >> so it was either a gross incompetence, or intentional? >> i think it would be as both. and if that happened, then what other mistakes did they make? there's something about the investigation that stinks. >> just smelled bad, said him. the state claimed it found gasoline on the pants, when the defense expert said. >> i would not make a determination that it's gasoline. >> and maybe worst of all, he said, the kansas bureau of investigation did not even bother checking for john shot residue on brad's hands. test, the defense claimed,

whatever revealed if he actually fired that gun that night. >> if you've ever seen with that gun looks like, it's up to the side of that cylinder. so that stuff goes somewhere. and onto your skin, is where you're looking for it. yet, some. >> they didn't look? >> he they didn't look. >> but he's a cop? >> but seacat didn't have much faith in that maybe i. >> we call brett see cat. >> the star witness for the defense? would be the last witness. brett seacat himself. coming up! cold blooded killer? or grieving husband? >> i didn't think it was appropriate to be dragging my wife's name through the mud. >> did you love her? >> i loved her. >> did you kill her? >> no i did not. >> brett story from the stand, his life on the line.

>> in my heart of hearts, i know. that it wouldn't have made any difference what anybody said to brett. because he wanted to testify. >> when dateline continues! >> when dateline continues >>

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sworn sir. >> it is, call it unusual for a defendant to testify in his own murder trial. dangerous, his lawyer might advise, to subject himself to the aggressive questions of a skilled prosecutor. but. >> in my heart of hearts i know. that it wouldn't make any difference what anybody said to brett, because brett wanted to testify. he wanted to. he had to. he believed that if people just listened, the truth would come out. >> mr. seacat, can you tell us your full name please? >> brett seacat. >> at his request, no video was

taken of him. audio recording only. as he sat out, with confidence, to tell the jury what happened. beginning 21 hours or so before the fire. >> on that morning, when i said goodbye, she said see you tonight, and actually gave me a big kiss. which i thought was odd. >> why did you think that was odd? >> because, in the last week, week and a half, we have been back and forth about 50 times on divorce. and so, it just let me know that we were back on the not divorce track. >> but by the time he did return to the house, that evening, said brett. things had changed. >> i couldn't figure out why she was, she was in a big hurry to get a divorce. which was something that had never happened before. i told her, we haven't really

worked on our marriage very much. my angle in the discussion was, i'll give you a collaborative divorce. if we work on the marriage just 3 to 6 months. >> he said that vastly seem to agree to that, especially when he made it clear what she would do if she went forward with the divorce right then. >> basically, i told her if this goes to court that, that i was gonna do everything in my power to destroy her. >> brett told the jury, things that he had never told the kbim vesta gators. that he threatened to share private photos of her. and that she had several recent affairs, including one with the --

at cox. and that he threatened to dispose her. a -- >> -- >> as it was, him and his defense team did not put on any evidence about an affair with the cox executive. or with anybody, at that effect. and then the lawyers finish with the key questions. >> did you love her? >> i loved her. >> did you kill her? >> no i did not. did you pull the trigger on the ruger red-hot. that is resulted in the bullet that went through her neck, in severing her spine? >> no i did not. >> so, his direct testimony. hours of it seemed to go really well. but now of course, here came the prosecutor. put him on the spot. >> cross-examination, miss hanley? >> she wanted brad to explain.

how it was possible to do what he thought was impossible. make that 9-1-1 call, and stay on the phone. while trying to get her body out of a burning house? >> my wife is upstairs. i'm about to go upstairs and try to get her out. >> what's your phone number? >> oh, oh it smoke everywhere. just a second. let me get a right wag. >> how he was able to make that call, and talk to a dispatcher while he was supposedly running up and down the stairs twice. in smoke, in fire. wedding a rag, holding on to his phone. how he did not drop the phone, fall, cough, gas. >> turn the water faucet on, grab the dishcloth. >> yes ma'am. >> holding yourself onto? >> i don't think i'm holding it to my ear, but it's definitely still in my hand. >> while you're talking to 9-1-1 at this time? >> you're correct. it must of been to my ear. i just don't remember that element of it. >> and then she asked him about

the divorce. >> she wanted the divorce. right? >> depended on when you talk to her. >> and when she told you that she was thinking about divorce, that's when you would threaten her? >> i'm sorry? >> when she told you that she wanted a divorce, you threatened her? wouldn't you? >> no, vashti never. we talked about divorce a lot, but the first time that i found out that she wanted a divorce, wasn't she told me that she had filed. >> and then? then, point blank. she accused him of murder. >> you threatened to kill vashti, burn the house down, and make it look like she committed a suicide. >> i absolutely have never said anything even remotely like that. >> you never made that threats to vashti? >> absolutely not. >> you killed your wife, didn't you? >> no ma'am. >> you shot or in the head? >> impossible. >> you burned the house down

around her. >> i would never burn our house. >> and you did it while you are two kids, two years and four years old are in the house? >> absolutely not. i would never expose my children to any situation like that. >> the investigation was thorough, in this case. and the k b i agents looked for any side that would lead us to a different conclusion than brett seacat killed his wife. and all the evidence that was uncovered, and all the evidence presented at trial on both sides led to that conclusion. >> vashti family was upset about what brett said on the stand about her character. but they said that they found his testimony revealing. >> i was almost embarrassed that he was still claiming that he was innocent. when there were just, so many things that would have had to line up perfectly, that would've had to have been a fluke. >> but brett's brother, bobby, felt the trial only confirmed

what he had always believed. >> i left that courtroom, 100% convinced that he did not do it. >> up to the jury now. >> your head is spinning at that point. because, you realize this is. it and it was scary. >> coming up! double drama in the courtroom. the verdict. >> ladies and gentlemen have you reached a verdict? >> yes we have your honor. >> and something even the judge never saw coming. when dateline continues! when dateline continues! e. -[ gasps ] that's me. just leaving you a voicemail. my number is 618-437-7425. okay. can anyone tell me what julie did wrong there? you got to repeat the number. i mean, no one's ever gonna get it the first time. -nope. -didn't leave her last name. no, the -- the phone tells you who called. she didn't mention a good time to call her back. how am i supposed to know when to call her back? no. she just shouldn't have left a voicemail. 9 out of 10 times, a text will do. progressive can't save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle

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nothing that works anyway. to allow person to successfully protect the jury's verdict based on the time it takes to make it. the jury deliberated six hours. what did that mean? the brother bobby was nervous

of course. but had a good feeling. >> i think that the state in every respect failed to prove and make their case. >> ladies and gentlemen, have you reached a verdict? >> yes we have your honor. we the jury find the defendant brett guilty of murder in the first degree. >> guilty, on all counts. the reaction in the courtroom was muted. >> it was a strange mixture of emotions. because, there was this part of you that thought, when they say guilty. i'm gonna get all of this off my chest, and i'm gonna feel good. but then there's this big part of you that realizes at the end of the day it did not bring her back. >> the truth is, everybody was just as hurt. nobody won. so you think, why am i not feeling better? because, what got better?

he is behind bars. and he needs to be behind bars. but, the lies that it affected? will forever be affected. >> the lawyer all but said i knew it. because. >> i don't think that mr. seacat, got a fair trial in kings men, kansas and i would never think that. but >> it was him who insisted on being trialed in his hometown. and in his lawyers view, he paid the price. >> let's not blame the jury, right? it to me became are obvious that this jury did not exactly look kindly upon mr. seacat. >> it was gonna be an uphill battle? >> it was gonna be an uphill valley before we even started. >> but agent folett-y? something different indeed. >> i believe that mr. seacat thought that house was gonna go up in flames. and law enforcement and fire were not gonna find very much there. and he knew this local police department. and they would probably just

think it was what he said it was. and go about their business. but, the kingman police department in the sheriffs of this and other agencies insisted. and fortunately, for vashti and her family, we found evidence to convict him of these charges. >> brett seacat is an unusual man. adamant that he was innocent. certain that he was set up by the state that was out to get him. by in-laws that did not like him. and even by the judge. in fact, particularly the judge. which became abundantly clear at brett's sentencing. when seemingly out of the blue, brett lashed out with a truly remarkable, incendiary, venomous attack against the judge. >> this day belongs to you, judge solomon. this is your day. this is the day that you get to take your place in front of the cameras, and passed sentence on a man who worked so hard to convict. and that you know what was innocent, but a man that you have to help convict so that you could get this day.

your day. so go ahead and collapse your 30 pieces of silver, judge solomon. go ahead and sell custody of my little boys to her family. go ahead with what you think will own you a spot on the kansas supreme court. go ahead with the sentence that guarantees your spot in hell. just like hanley, jeff newsom, and those 12 jurors. you are going to help for what you have done in this case. your corrupt assistance will bring you an appeal. the evidence will be presented, and i will be freed. and with that, i will step aside and let you have your day. after all, you purchased it with your soul. so you have earned it. >> what did you make of that? of his statement? >> i liked the fact that he said what he thought. when you believe you are innocent, why not say you are innocent? why not say what you think was wrong? say it! because it isn't going to make any difference. >> did it? here's how the judge responded. >> i heard a few things that i

did not anticipate. i won't bother addressing them. because they are so bizarre, they do not deserve a response. they merely affirmed to me that a jury of 12 kingman county citizens made the appropriate decision in this case. you claim to be vashti protector, and in the next breath on the stand, said the evening in question. you would destroy her. at trial, you made every effort possible to drag her name, and the memory, and reputation through the mud. vashti was not indecisive about divorcing you. she was not depressed, and she was not suicidal. the families hit on the head, so did several witnesses at

trial. about you being arrogant, about you being controlling. about you being sent centered and narcissistic. in some sort of bizarre, ultimate reality. you have not admitted guilt, you have not admitted responsibility. and you didn't, this morning, even express remorse. that vashti is no longer on this earth. >> and with that? he said vince brett seacat to the maximum allowed under the law. he will serve 30 years before his first shot at parole. and now? another once graceful home, has been torn down. the reputation of brett's family, a family of lawmakers. is tarnished. and the c cat sons are growing up without either parent. and we'll have the heavy burden of knowing that their father

was convicted of killing their mother. vashti. the woman named for a queen. >> i miss her every day. you know, just dumb things. like seeing a dragon fry. or fireworks, or something. it will not go away. i hope that i figure out what my new life is gonna look like. at some point, and i can accept it. but, with time. they say it gets better. i just think, i just hope that it does. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ by temporarily delaying ovulation—and you can resume your regular birth control right away. i've got this. ♪♪

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