asthma, or smoking. even if symptoms feel mild, these factors can increase your risk of covid-19 turning severe. so, if you're at high risk and test positive, don't wait. ask your healthcare provider right away if an authorized oral treatment is right for you. find your beat ask your healthcare provider right away your moment of calm find your potential then own it support your immune system with a potent blend of nutrients and emerge your best every day with emergen-c

among my patients, i often see them have teeth sensitivity as well as gum issues. does it worry me? absolutely. sensodyne sensitivity & gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. there's no question it's something that i would recommend. as a business owner, there' your bottom line is someth always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data

or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable 5g network. with no line activation fees or term contracts. saving you up to 60% a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. i'm craig melvin. comcast business. powering possibilities. and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline!

>> in 2011, fred mueller was happily remarried and running his successful business in texas. but up in lake city, colorado, there was a new da. and he assembled a team to look into the mysterious death of mueller's first wife, leslie. they began to see what the sheriff had suspected from the start. >> the defendant story did not matchup with the landscape, the scene and all of the other evidence that the colorado bureau of investigation was able to develop. >> at what point did you finally, all of you, say we got enough? let's go get him? >> i think it was when we felt like we had gone through this thing to death. when we had absolutely everything we could possibly put together to take to the jury. >> february 6th, 2012. just over three and a half years since leslie mueller died. on monday, fred was at his office when a texas rangers showed up with an arrest warrant in hand. sheriff ron bruce down from

colorado, stood a few feet away. >> he looked at us almost in shock and he said, i can't believe you people are taking this series. >> how was that for you to finally make that arrest? >> it felt great. it felt great. and at that point, i said, leslie we're going to make this right. >> alex was in school when he was suddenly pulled out of class. >> there were some texas rangers here to talk to me. i kind of asked, what's going on? why are you really hear? your father has been arrested. >> did you say anything back to them? >> why? oh, we can't tell you that. we just have some proof. they said it took you four years. what exactly are you doing? they said, we just can't tell you that. >> did you ever think for one second, well, there must be something? he must have done something for him to be arrested to be going through this? >> no. we never doubted his story. we never doubted -- we never thought he would've done anything wrong. or anything to her mom, ever.

that's something that i can't even fathom. because he would've never done anything like that. >> the kids believe the authorities had it in for their dad and trumped up things that were true. like that their father showed no emotion after their mother's death. >> he was obviously panicked. he was panicking, he was shaking. he had been crying profusely. >> remember, only alex was in colorado at the time. and thinking back, he got angry about the way he and his dad were treated. >> they separate us like you would with criminals. separate myself from my dad. separate vehicles. >> to the kids, it all pointed to a rush to judgment that turned into an obsession. >> if you go into it looking for trouble, you're going to find it. >> we were also as a family never informed what they were doing at cottonwood creek. that they were paying for experts, doing all kinds of tests on the water. and all these different things like that. this was all a closely guarded secret that they never felt they should share with either

him or the family of the victim, of my mother. >> fred mueller spent the next year in jail in colorado awaiting trial. >> he sunk into such a deep depression, right after mom died. he kind of sank back into it when he was sitting in jail. >> it was the more the fact that he was cut off from his family for a year. >> the kids were eager for their dad to take on his accusers. attorney roger segel was part of france's legal team. >> after reading through the discovery and the evidence, what were your first thoughts? >> why was this guy arrested for murder? was my first thought. it was a question from the very beginning. what evidence did they really have? >> he'd soon find out, in court. more than four years after leslie drowned in cottonwood creek, fred mueller would stand trial for murder. coming up -- the prosecution challenges fred's entire story. including, stunningly, the one

thing that never seemed in doubt, his rock-solid marriage. >> fred was telling people that in fact, the marriage had grown stale and he did have a wondering eye. >> when "dateline" continues. i tried everything to remove fabric odors,

but my clothes still smelled. until i finally found new downy rinse and refresh! it doesn't just cover odors, it helps remove them up to 3 times better than detergent alone! find new downy rinse & refresh in the fabric softener aisle. among my patients, i often see them have teeth sensitivity as well as gum issues. does it worry me? absolutely. sensodyne sensitivity & gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. there's no question it's something that i would recommend.

nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. there's no question it's something you get advice like: just stop. go for a run. go for 10 runs! run a marathon. instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. >> four and a half years after start stopping with nicorette.

leslie mueller's death, her husband fred's murder trial began in colorado. their children and friends new wife dropped everything to be in court. and to pray that their dad would soon be cleared. are you all just anxious for this trial to start? >> yes. definitely. >> i want to see why they put us through this. what do they think that they have? >> as the trial got underway that frigid january, 2013, inside the courtroom the prosecution felt and icy chill. normally when you walk into a courtroom during a murder trial, it's very divided. i walked into and everybody was on fred's side. leslie's family included.

it was that daunting to you at all? >> i wouldn't say daunting. it is certainly unique. we had to stay focused on what we thought and what we needed to do. we believed that the defendant was responsible for his wife's murder. >> it would all come down to two competing versions of what happened here. fred's story, leslie accidentally went over this cliff and was swept away by the current. or, the prosecutions. that fred was lying to cover up leslie's murder. >> two people went on a hike and only one person came back. >> the prosecution began its case with testimony about fred 's behavior that day. they called jennifer sparks, whose house fred drove to looking for help. >> did you observe him become emotional at any time? >> no. >> she told the jury fred's lack of emotion concerned her.

>> what conversations did you have with your husband about that? >> i told him something is not right. be careful. >> her husband, justin, testified that fred's demeanor seemed staged as the group drove together to look for leslie. >> it just sounded like somebody was crying that there were no tears. he acted like he was very, very upset. and then, a few seconds later he would act like we were kind of buddies driving down the road in the car. >> the prosecution had hoped to bring the jury up to cottonwood creek. but in january, the terrain was virtually impossible with snow and ice. so, it was up to the prosecutors to set the scene. and show why they thought fred 's story defied common sense and science. >> injuries are going to tell you a story that leslie mueller was drowned by her husband. >> i solemnly swear -- >> prosecutors called michael golob, affirmed first trained rescuer on the scene. >> i'm asking, what happened? tell me how it happened?

he said that she had apparently fallen off of the waterfall. >> fred told golob the same thing he told investigators. he'd watch leslie swan dive off the cliff, hitting granted before sliding into the water. >> all of a sudden i was struck with the fact that there was no trauma. >> did you see any blood on leslie mueller? >> there was no deformities. there was no blood. >> even leslie's clothing seemed unscathed. >> did you notice any markings, tears, scrapes on the jacket? >> there was none. it was remarkably pristine. >> the pathologists who performed leslie's autopsy was also surprised by the lack of injuries to her body. >> did you observe any injuries to misses mueller that were consistent with breaking a fall? >> no, i did not. did you observe any consistent with falling on her head and shoulders off a cliff onto granite, as described? >> no. >> and what's more, investigators found no forensic evidence that leslie ever hit that rock. >> there was no fibers on the rock.

there was no blood on this rock. there was no hair on this rock. >> this is a very unique case in the sense that the evidence is lack of evidence. there is no evidence. >> that's the tough part of the case. what we have is a lot of evidence that what the defendant said is impossible. >> and here was the heart of the prosecution's case. those tests investigators conducted up at the creek. tests they said proved fred's story was a like. they should the jury the videos of those tests, pointing out in one, how the female stand in wasn't swept downstream. and in another, the mannequin wasn't washed over the waterfall. and eventually sank to the bottom. >> are you seeing any sliding of the mannequin? into the water, no. any bruising or brusing? no. >> the prosecution's drowning expert was blunt. to her, fred's story was pure fiction. >> there's nothing in that environment water wise that

could've gotten her to that spot. a human being had to physically put the body in that position. >> so, what really happened? in the court, the prosecution could only hint at that dramatic story the sheriff told us. his theory of a struggle. a chase. and a drowning. he felt there were no witnesses for any of that. so he never actually was presented as evidence. an investigator who searched the area where fred said leslie fell, did testify about finding fred's broken glasses. >> this side was broken, the left-hand side was sticking in the dirt. >> did you see any thing on the ground? >> four foot from the glasses, there were what appeared to be scuff marks. as if somebody had slipped and had moved the dirt. >> and on the stand, that this witness, the coroner. >> those are the gloves that leslie was wearing. >> try to connect those scratches on fred's face to the

plastic bumps or nuns on leslie's gloves. >> the plastic nevins are a lot more consistent with a scratch marks on mr. mueller's face, then branches or twigs. >> however, after a defense objection, the judge ruled the coroner statement conjecture. and told the jury to disregard it. so, even though the prosecutors were not allowed to tell the jury how they thought the murder happened, they still had a theory to present for the why. they were high school sweethearts. he had never abused her, to anyone's knowledge. he had no life insurance policy on her that he was trying to collect. what is the motive? >> fred was telling people, one being an employee of his, and another a close friend, that in fact the marriage had grown stale. that it was the same old, same old, between he and leslie. and that he did have a wandering eye. >> and according to the prosecution, his eye had wondered here. >> we were very good friends.

>> fred's former assistant testified that fred called and texted her a lot outside of work. >> did that ever make you uncomfortable? >> a little bit. >> and once fred talk to her about leslie and divorce. >> he had just mentioned that their interests had grown apart. >> so, according to the prosecution team, fred picked an idealic spot out of nowhere to find a way out of his marriage. and then, concocted the story of her fall as a cover. >> two people went up, one came back. and we've only got his story. and we know that story is false, through and through. >> the defendant has asked people to believe what is impossible. impossible. >> but fred's lawyers were about to turn the state's case on its head. those tests at cottonwood creek, in fact, any so called evidence

of murder, just didn't hold water at all. coming up -- defense experts tell the jury that the way leslie died is absolutely clear. >> what is it in my opinion? accident. that's what i would have put on the death certificate. >> when "dateline" continues. if you're living in the darkness of bipolar i or bipolar ii depression, caplyta can help let in the lyte. discover caplyta. caplyta is a once-daily pill proven to deliver significant relief across bipolar depression. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta treats both bipolar i and bipolar ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants may increase these risks in young adults.

elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report fever, confusion, stiff or uncontrollable muscle movements which may be life threatening or permanent. these aren't all the serious side effects. in the darkness of bipolar i or ii depression, caplyta can help you let in the lyte. ask your doctor about caplyta, from intra-cellular therapies. music (i swear) jaycee tried gain flings for the first time the other day...and forgot where she was. you can always spot a first timer. gain flings with oxi boost and febreze.

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. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: just stop. go for a run. go for 10 runs! run a marathon. instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. >> i'm dara brown. start stopping with nicorette.

here's what's happening. despite persistent inflation, retailers are staffing up for the holiday shopping season. adding between 450,000 and 600,000 seasonal workers to deal with unexpected, robust weather. expecting robust demand. from companies have skiing -- and boosting hourly pay. -- on strike and more than 30 countries, including the u.s. on black friday. the traditional hot start of the holiday shopping season. they're calling for better pay and working conditions. now back to dateline!

now back to dateline >> >> for three, cold colorado weeks, as prosecutors laid out their case for murder, fred mueller's defense attorney, roger segel, sat by his side. >> how was fred feeling throughout the trial? >> he was nervous. his life is on the line. he was tense. nobody out about it. it was stressful. >> fred's children found it especially hard. >> it was the worse experience you can imagine. the worst day of your life. imagine that being analyzed by a room full of people and drug out publicly and scrutinize. your personal, private tragedy being exposed to the world and picked apart. >> to the siblings, each day in court felt like an unrelenting attack against their family and their father. >> you can't react. you can't see anything. you just have to sit there and

take it and watch them say all these horrible accusations about my dad. >> looking for one person to stand up and say, this is preposterous. this entire -- there is no evidence. he's a good guy. he's never shown any history of violence. and it was his wife, for goodness sake. we're stopping this. >> now, fred's lawyers were ready to push back. the defense co-counsel told the jurors there was an obvious rush to judgment that contaminated the entire investigation. >> kind of an evil, suspicion from the get-go. >> first responder michael golob testified that neighbor justin sparks started making accusatory comments while they were still trying to revive leslie. >> justin at one point turn to me and said something along the lines of, i never trusted that guy. >> i think that the suspicion started with mr. sparks. and never stopped.

>> you think it was somewhat of a snowball effect? >> yeah, i do. >> and even though golob was a prosecution witness, he admitted he personally didn't find anything odd about fred's behavior that day. >> he just seemed to have trouble focusing. he seemed panic. everyone deals with tragedy difference. i fell in the context, it seemed appropriate. >> but what about that important evidence against fred? the apparent lack of injuries on leslie's body? >> did you wonder why your mom didn't have more injuries as some people feel she should? >> no. >> you can't say what people are supposed to -- >> she was bundled up she was, in cold water. we thought about this more than anyone should ever think about what their mother's body died after she died. >> the defense called its own forensic expert, veteran pathologists warner spitz he testified there were some injuries. bruising on her hand. an apparent small skull fracture that no one else had highlighted. >> if you look carefully at this, you will see that there is an area here that is not

like it should be. >> after looking at the medical examiners report, and leslie's x-rays, dr. spitz said there was no evidence this was a homicide. >> what was it in my opinion? accident. that's what i would have put on the death certificate. >> a veteran emergency room doctor backed up spitz conclusion. saying not all false or catastrophic. >> i don't see how you can rule out a fall from any of the circumstances or injuries that i've seen. >> and then, it was time to counter all of those prosecution water tests. the backbone of the state's case. the defense saw major problems with those tests and called its own water expert. a hydrologist who had been measuring current flows for 40 years. >> increase of stream flow and as a general rule, an increase of stream flow comes in the late afternoon and evening. >> the defense expert pointed out that water in the mountains changes constantly. and in 2008, a year the year

leslie died, there was more snow melt than usual. >> it was 2008 a high-water year? >> it is a tremendously high water year. >> those prosecution tests were done more than a year later and in a different season. not spring, but summer. when the creeks water level is usually lower. >> the flows on august 4th and fifth, of 2009, or less than the stream flows on may 3rd and mid fourth of'08. >> all that so called evidence that proved fred's story was impossible? the defense said it was useless. >> the testing that you do in 2009, is not necessarily going to reflect what did or did not happen in 2008. the bottom's of the creek change, the walls of the creek can change. there's erosion up creek. you can see the more times you go up there, you can see every time it's a little bit different. >> and the defense attacked the

states expert for what it said was another flaw with the mannequin test. >> you do not start that test with the mannequin falling from the ledge. right? >> absolutely not. >> and therefore, your testing did not account for any kinetic energy that would have been initiated from the fall. correct? >> that's correct. >> and what about fred's story? a jumpy dog distracted by a blue jay and a swan dive towards the rocky water? the defense said it was the truth and not at all farfetched. >> it is steep and angular. there's ice on the rocks, it is slippery. so, it seemed perfectly plausible that she had fallen and floated. >> the defense brock inaccurate canine behavior expert who analyze the last photo of leslie. said the young border collie look spooked and ready to bolt. >> the dog is under stress. the dog is pushing back.

he's pushing back from mrs. mueller. she's trying to control him with the ear pinch and the dog is looking totally off in another direction. >> to the defense, it was clear. fred's story was entirely plausible and the prosecutions was not. >> why would he do this? why would a guy who was married for 27 years, with no history of violence, no history of any sort of domestic dispute, all of a sudden decide on his vacation that he was going to murder his wife with his bare hands? it just seems that part of the case seem so farfetched. >> friend after friend arrive from texas to support fred. even his in laws took the stand. leslie's own mother, jenny, vouched for her son former son-in-law's character. >> all those years, any signs of fred being abusive or violent to leslie? >> no, i never saw a sign in fred being violent. to anyone. >> and each of fred's children

also faced the jury to tell them about their parents long and happy marriage. ariel described one nightly routine. >> mom and dad would walk to the pond that was in front of our house about 200 yards, holding hands and they would be out there for 30 minutes to an hour. while the sun would be setting. >> amanda recalled how devastated her father was in the wake of her mother's death. >> i know he was not sleeping well. he was stay in bed a lot during the day. he cried all the time. >> and alex his testimony brought out an emotional response from fred in court. >> did you ever see your dad able to get over it? >> no. i'm looking at him right now and he's not over it. >> but what about fred's former assistant? the woman who had given prosecutors a semblance of motive? in fact, during cross examination, the assistant said fred and his wife showed affection for each other all the time. >> if he was at his desk, she

would come in, she'd go straight to his desk. she'd give him a kiss and she will go back to her desk in the back. >> the absolute bottom line is, there is no affair with the assistant. and fred did not kill his wife. he certainly did not kill his wife for the assistant. >> the defense wish sure it had shown the jury who fred really was. people who knew him best said no way in the world could he have killed his wife. but now, it was up to 12 people who didn't know fred at all to decide whether he did. coming up -- waiting for a verdict. >> the longer it took, the more we were getting nervous. >> and then, a bombshell -- >> i was almost in tears. >> when "dateline" continues. alright, the reason why your dishes aren't as clean as you'd like... isn't your dishwasher, it's the detergent. i recommend cascade platinum and a new routine. let's watch it work! only cascade uses dawn... as a built-in pre-rinse system. it rehydrates dried on food...

...lifts it off... ...and breaks it down. for sparkling clean dishes the first time. ok, who wants to start? just scrape... load... and we're done! cascade platinum. scrape, load, done.

when a truck hit my car, cascade platinum. the insurance company wasn't fair. i didn't know what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. i was hit by a car and needed help. i called the barnes firm, that was the best call i could've made. i'm rich barnes. it's hard for people to know how much their accident case is worth. let our injury attorneys help you get the best result possible. >> it indicates we are ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪

deadlocked. >> hopefully so, the judge had no real choice, he declared a mistrial. >> it was extremely disappointed.

extremely disappointing because it was nothing that we thought we deserved. that we do deserve. >> mostly i felt for fred. you know? ultimately it's his life that's on trial. so, i felt sad for him that we couldn't get this resolved for him in the form of an acquittal. >> in fact, the defense had been very close. 11 of the 12 jurors voted not guilty. >> i heard the jury vote, i was almost in tears. and i thought, how they did miss what we were trying to say? >> after the mistrial, the defense argued for his release on bond and the judge granted it. >> i just can't wait to be able to give him a hug and to talk to him whenever i want. >> now, one full year after losing his freedom, fred was going to get out of jail. his daughters and new wife, wendy, gather to embrace him. son alex, who was traveling,

called in for an update. >> we're at the deal right now just waiting for your dad. >> i hadn't given him a hug in a year. we haven't been able to see him in person in a year. >> yay! [applause] yay! [applause] >> i love you guys. >> it was so wonderful to get that hug that we waited for. >> do you remember what you said to him? >> i love you. let's go home. when's the next flight out? [laughs] >> come on, let's go home. >> it was so emotional. we were also excited. we finally got to take dad home. >> home to texas, but for how long? fred was only out on bond. he still was charged with murder and had the threat of a retrial hanging over his head.

>> we were extremely hopeful that they could change their minds and decide not to go forward again. >> we were really hoping for that. >> more than just hoping. in fact, the family actually met with prosecutors and lobbied against another trial. did that weigh into whether to go to a second trial at all? the fact that this entire family, leslie's family included, did not want a trial? >> absolutely. we have to consider their position. we have to consider where they're coming from. >> then, one part of the decision was made for them. the judge threw out the most serious charge. first degree murder. why? the judge ruled prosecutors it did not have enough evidence to establish premeditation. >> we did manage to get an acquittal on the first degree murder charge. >> the prosecutors could still move ahead with second degree murder. but would they? that 11 to 1 vote surely made a retrial daunting.

>> 11 to 1 is not a great outcome for the prosecution's perspective. >> but the prosecutors spoke to some of the those jurors and found out, to many of them, not guilty didn't mean innocent. >> behind those numbers were a group of people who, by and large felt that, something had happened here. that fred mueller was not telling the truth. >> prosecutors weighed it all and made their decision. fred would stand trial for murder again. >> i remember having a moment, thinking, i can't do this again. and my mom all this would be like, well you're gonna do it. i felt like she was saying you're going to be fine and it's gonna be good. >> your mom was kind of guiding you through -- >> yes. she was always, suck it up, you can do it. >> but the second trial would by no means to be a carbon copy of the first. with new attorneys and new witnesses, both sides hoped that this time they would see a

different result. coming up -- the defense comes out swinging. >> what the prosecution asks you to believe is that fred mueller went from this, to a homicidal maniac within seconds. >> but then, a defense witness says something that might do fred more harm than good. >> fred is very successful. he could sell anything. >> would jurors think fred had sold everyone a lie about what happened to leslie? when dateline continues. 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. so, if you're at high risk and test positive, don't wait. ask your healthcare provider right away if an authorized oral treatment is right for you.

did you know some of your detergent's fragrance disappears in the dryer? downy in-wash scent boosters survive the washer & dryer for freshness that lasts 6 times longer than detergent alone. release freshness with every touch... with downy in-wash scent boosters. my husband and i have never been more active. release freshness with every touch... 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 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache,

shivering, fever, and upset stomach. shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. ♪♪ olay faced expensive gels that don't last and wiped 'em out. new olay hyaluronic lightweight gel moisturizer is supercharged to hydrate 2x longer and outlast a $400 cream face it! it's time for olay. >> october 2013 felt like a

grim groundhog day. fred mueller, again in court. his family supporting him from the gallery. did you feel at all like, ok, we know how this works no? we're a little stronger this time around? >> i did feel that way. we can cut out the extraneous stuff and really focus on the

no case. >> but there were differences from the first trial. to ensure an untainted jury pool, the case had been moved northeast to suburban denver. more than 250 miles away from cottonwood creek. >> the evidence in this case is that leslie mueller did not fall off a cliff. >> this time from the prosecution, jurors heard a streamlined up version of events. and how, according to the state, fred mueller told a story that defied logic. >> like most murders, this one is hard explain. does it make sense. it doesn't make sense how and why this could happen. >> the witnesses to that awful day again came forward. neighbor jennifer sparks again told how she thought fred was acting strangely when he pulled up to her house. and she added this new detail -- >> he was petting my dog. >> squatting down, petting that dog? >> yeah, the dog was right here and he was just putting the dog.

>> she felt that the defendant's demeanor was oddly calm. that he bent down and petted the dog. she felt like his demeanor was misplaced. >> for the prosecution, this trial was a second chance to explain to the jury how fred's story didn't match up with the scene. >> this area was not vast. it was a huge. it was actually quite tight and actually quite small. it's making the defendants statement impossible. >> our primary goal in the second trial was to get that jury to the scene. >> the judge considered a visit to cottonwood creek, but ruled it was too expensive and impractical to bring the jury that far. >> not being able to do that, we did our best in the second trial to bring the scene to the jury. >> this second jury had a new 3d model of cottonwood creek to examine. and fresh testimony to consider. that apparent small skull fracture of leslie's that offense highlighted in the first trial, no way said the states new witness. who was an expert in reading

x-rays. >> could you determine that there's any evidence of a fall from 20 feet on to a hard, granted surface? >> i didn't see any evidence of that kind of trauma. and it see any evidence of it. >> prosecutors hammered home their key points. leslie had no injuries from a fall. and tests showed she could not have floated downstream, as fred said she did. >> it just doesn't seem as a likely scenario. >> so, they argued, must fred have drowned her right where she was found. right after a violent struggle. >> it was our intention to streamline the second trial as much as possible. and focus in on the critical points of the case. >> but fred mueller also change things up in this trial. he hired a new powerhouse attorney, who had a roster of high profile clients like kobe bryant. >> what the prosecution prosecution asked you to believe is that fred mueller went from this, to a homicidal maniac within seconds. >> fred's new lawyer argued that the state's case was beyond flimsy. >> the theory that because

leslie mueller did not suffer any significant injuries in her fall from the ledge, fred mueller must have drowned her. that's their case. they won't give you the way of that theory. they won't give you the how. >> the defense, again, criticize the prosecutions recreations. and told this jury there was no way anyone could know for sure what water flow and death are on the day leslie died. >> if someone measured the actual stream flow of cottonwood creek within days or a week of the incident, it would be informative. >> and several new defense witnesses took the stand. there was a biomechanical engineer who examined the mannequin used in this test. >> frankly, it's not even right to call it testing. >> according to the defense is new expert, the states test had a big flaw. the dummy couldn't sink or flow in water the same way a human does. in fact, it was an even

designed for this sort of experiment. >> as far as buoyancy is concerned, it's not a scientific instrument for determining this. it's the wrong tool for scientifically probing -- >> and this time, the defense brought in an expert to explain away possible holes in france story. the expert said extremely stressful situations play tricks with memories. maybe fred did not actually see leslie fall on her head as he said he did. >> false memories happen to us all the time. it's not a lie, it's just a memory that happens to be incorrect. >> but no expert could help the jurors understand how fred truly felt about his wife of almost 27 years. to wrap up their case, the defense brought out france family to talk about how happy the mueller had been. >> did you observe anything that led you to believe that your folks were having difficulty in their marriage? >> no. never. >> leslie's mother again

defended fred. >> i've always had a good relationship with fred. >> but the prosecution's ears perked up when she offered a new detail about her son in law. >> fred is very successful. he could sell anything. he's a wonderful salesman. >> in final statements, the prosecutor used those words against fred. >> what we learned about the defendant yesterday is that he can sell anything. but he can't sell you the impossible. >> from our perspective, that's why he try to do. he tried to sell emergency responders, cbi, the sheriff's office, and quite frankly these juries -- try to sell something, a story that was just simply impossible. >> could this jury rise to the challenge and once and for all make sense of what happened at cottonwood creek? coming up --

jurors get the case. >> either you believe crazy story a, as she fell off the cliff. or you believe crazy story b, that fred, who has no history of violence, killed his wife. both stories are crazy. which one do you want to go with? >> when "dateline" continues.

i was injured in a car crash. i had no idea how much my case was worth. i called the barnes firm. >> it took more than five years, when a truck hit my son, i had so many questions about his case. i called the barnes firm. it was the best call i could've made. your case is often worth more than insuran call the barnes firm to find out i could've made. what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible. ♪ the barnes firm, injury attorneys ♪ call one eight hundred,est resul eight million ♪

dozens of witnesses, and hundreds of pieces of evidence into colorado courtrooms to get to this moment. again, 12 men and women were trying to decide if leslie mueller was murdered or a victim of a freak accident. >> we all agreed that the accident, the fall, was completely crazy. i just kept thinking, well crazy things happen in life all

the time. >> we spoke to seven of the 12 jurors. >> either you believe crazy story a, that she fell off that cliff. or you believe crazy story b, that fred, who has no history of violence, killed his wife. both stories are crazy. which one do you want to go with? >> what were the key pieces of evidence for you, or the lack thereof? >> lack of injuries. >> you felt that she should've had more injuries? >> absolutely. >> i mean, to fall 15 to 20 feet unto granite platform, face first. to go headfirst down three waterfalls and hold on, to be described as pristine. >> show of hands of who believed fred's story? >> we did take at one point in time, we all said let's vote and see who thinks he's lying. and we always tense. okay, we convicted him of lying. [laughs] >> the question beyond that was,

if we don't believe his story, does that make him guilty. he is not on trial for lying. he's on trial for murder. and i need to know how and why. >> the jurors wondered, where was the evidence that fred drowned her? if he really did kill her, prosecutors never provided any clear explanation of how he did it. >> there was no evidence to put him down at the recovery site. there were no footprints in the snow. there was no defensive wounds on her. if there was a scuffle, i would think she would have some bruises. she would've fought back. >> they poured over technical testimony about water in the creek. to them, that flood of data and expert testimony was a complete wash. >> you can bring all the experts in and all the water tests -- it was just pointless.

>> fred and his wife have returned to texas. where his wife ran the business. and -- officially remains open. >> without further investigation, without any further witnesses to come forward to provide any new bit of evidence. at this point the case is open. >> so fred will of essentially have this hanging over his head,

potentially forever? >> at this point, the case remains open. >> fred told us that he is well aware of this legal limbo. he says that he wanted to do an interview with dateline, but is concerned that anything that he says will be distorted by the prosecutors and investigators who still believe that he did something wrong. >> leslie got to me. >> and that picture of leslie was prominently displayed in sheriff ron's office until he retired in 2019. he said the photo is still with him. >> i think it was just the magnitude of the terrible tragedy that stuck with me, and will stay with me the rest of my life. >> you get teary eyed when you talk about this woman that you have never even met? >> correct. >> not even a member of your family? >> yes. >> what is this connection that you fill with her? >> i cannot put a finger on it. but certainly it does truly haunt me. yeah. i think that i let her down.

>> leslie's family chooses to remember her vividly, not as a victim but as a cherished wife and mother that they lost too soon. >> we don't want people to forget about how wonderful of a person that she was before the accident, and all the great things that she did. >> all the babies that she delivered and the lives that she saved, she was a great great person. >> once with the home the mother once loved, now, sold they are making their way as a family far from colorado. those magnificent rockies? season change, waters rise and fall, and some believe that the secrets of cottonwood creek will remain a mystery forever. >> i'm craig melvin. and this is dateline! >> i just knew that something happened.