grief out to the manila bay. her own personal memorial. >> i am not leaving with his ashes, so it was just something i felt to memorialize him in that way. since he is still here. >> she hopes he would be proud of her, his little sister. but she doubts he'd be surprised. she's been searching for whatever bit of dust he was left in. and so he'd probably tell her, if such a fantasy were possible, that he lived all along in her heart. please, please have somebody come here right away. >> it was disturbing, a young,

handsome police officer. a young, beautiful wife. >> someone i talked to almost every day is gone. it does not make sense. >> when you hear suicide? >> no, no way. >> things about it started stinking. >> she had met another man? >> yes, a big, messy triangle. >> how many other women besides you was he having an affair with? >> ten. >> ten? >> you've got so many girlfriends. >> i know. >> she had told her boss that she had done something bad. >> i think the last statement within her diary said it all. >> we knew we would get here. we just knew that we had a lot of hurdles to get over. >> i will never forgive myself. never. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the life of a police

officer. it's full of danger. and stress. >> they have rough days at work. and they end up holding it in. >> they're our first responders. >> it is hard. it is hard work. >> from one call to the next, you don't know what's going to happen. >> but our story is about what happened when a first responder had to face a crisis in his own home. >> baby, please wake up! >> a cop pleading for help, from his fellow men and women in blue. >> tell them i'm a cop, please. tell them to hurry, please. >> in one moment, a family is shattered. >> it was like disbelief. it's a surreal moment. >> and over time, an entire communities secrets would be revealed. >> i laid there and cried. it does not make sense. >> it starts here in the

village of los lunas, mexico. 25 miles south of albuquerque. tera chavez grew up in a loving family with her twin brother, josh, and young brother, aaron. joseph cordova and theresa cordova are the parents. >> she was a loving girl. >> she was always working with drawings and poetry. or just writing. >> melanie gonzalez was tera's best friend growing up. >> she was amazing, she was shy. i know a lot of times in school, people thought that she came off kind of stuck up. >> that wasn't her? >> not at all. >> then one day at summer camp, that shy girl met a handsome boy who would change her life in so many ways. levi chavez. >> how did she talk about him? >> she loved him. it did not take very long

before she fell for him. he was charming towards her, and she thought he was gorgeous. >> tera was quiet and artistic. levi was a guy's guy, who loved boxing. they were in the desert. tera got pregnant when they were still in high school, and they got married just before her graduation. >> he was happy about, and scared as well, just like she was. something that neither one of them expected. it just happened. >> every time we would see them, they were happy. >> michael romero is levi's uncle. and as the town magistrate, >> he performed the ceremony.

on the wedding day, the whole town was there? >> yes, the whole town is there. it was a joyous occasion. a loving couple. >> and together, they dreamt of a life that they'd have. tera worked as a hairstylist but had bigger goals. >> she was really wanting to start her own business. >> her own business meaning her own salon? >> yes. so she approached me. i'm all for it. i will be a silent partner. although, she did laugh at me. because i was not silent. >> levi chavez worked long hours as an officer at the albuquerque police department. it was his dream job. in his world, police work was known as the family business. >> his grandfather from his father's side was a police officer and he has four or five uncles that are police officers. and i am an ex police officer myself. >> so he was a natural? >> he was a natural. >> by 2007, they were raising two children. and had settled to a new house in los lunas. while levi was out fighting crime, tera was finding out that life in the suburbs was not entirely crime free. terry's brother aaron. >> she called us and said someone is trying to break into my house. we checked and it looked like

someone tried to mess with it a little bit. >> whoever did that did not steal anything, but it put levi and tera on alert. she suggested he keep one of his on-duty guns at home to protect herself. >> when -- >> they have a high crime rate. there are a lot of break-ins, a lot of crime in the area. >> and levi and tera were about to experience it firsthand. levi bought an expensive new truck. late one night, tera was home alone and heard her dog bark. she looked outside, and the truck was gone. >> she said, hey, levi's truck got stolen. >> and i said, well, what happened, is levi home? >> she said no, he was at work last night. >> that made melanie worry, and it turned out, there was plenty to worry about. two weeks later, on a sunday, the kids were away, visiting levi's dad. levi himself had a quiet weekend on patrol.

but when he stopped to check on tera, and saw what was in front of him, this police officer found himself on the other end of an anguished call to 9-1-1. >> please have somebody come here right away. please. >> coming up! the distraught husband, overcome by guilt. >> i will never forgive myself. never. >> when dateline continues. now i'm staying ahead of it. dupixent helps heal your skin from within. so you can have clearer skin and noticeably less itch. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent. after advil. feeling better? on top of the worlddddd!!!

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albuquerque police officer, levi chavez, called 9-1-1 from his own home. >> baby, please wake up. please. >> he told police he had found his wife lying in a pool of blood in their bed. in a panic, levi chavez begged for help. >> they are on their way. levi is it going to be easier if you go to another room? >> i cannot leave her. >> okay. >> oh my god. >> aaron jones was a detective with the sheriff's department in los lunas. >> when i got a call from our sergeant that a police officer's wife had been shot. >> it was just after 9pm when jones got to the chavez home. >> it was disturbing, there was a young, handsome police officer, a young, beautiful wife. >> joan saw tera lying on the bed with a gunshot wound to her head. and he found this glock 17 by her body. it was the same gun levi said he had given her for protection. >> it was a service weapon? >> it was a service weapon. >> that he had left at home? >> yes. >> and on the night stand, a

three word note. i'm sorry, levi. jones quickly determined that tera had not been a victim of crime, but had turned the weapon on herself. she was only 26. >> we do have a high suicide rate. unfortunately, valencia county has a high rate of suicides. and it was a police officer's wife. >> within minutes, members of levi's own police department in albuquerque came over to the house to offer levi support. as the news of tera's death spread, one officer called tera's best friend, melanie. >> she just came out and said it. mel, tera is dead. and it took me a minute to process it. and i was like, what do you mean? i do not understand. >> at the scene, police saw an unconsolable husband. >> he kept referring to himself as a piece of crap, and other things. and that he should have just

been a better husband. that he should have been with her. >> i will never forgive myself, never. >> jones, the local detective, took a statement from levi, the big city cop who had bared his soul t orest for a while. >> the rest of my life, i will never be able to move on. >> he told jones he blamed himself for the suicide. his wife was prone to depression, he said, but he did not take it seriously. now, it was too late. >> how old are the kids? >> ten and six. >> the detective did his best to bring a weeping levi chavez under control. >> whatever is going on right now, take a deep breath. >> you're trying to make this guy feel better? >> i am always concerned that, possibly, my sympathy and empathy had gotten to the point, he might hurt himself. >> officers went through the scene in the bathroom, and stumbled on something. tera, the writer, had kept a journal tucked under her mattress. >> parts of it were very dark, it described a young woman that was having some dark times in their life.

>> tera had laid bare the depths of her despair. writing, sometimes i just want to disappear. and, i'm depressed. i want to fall off the face of the earth. and every day i feel my time and work, kids and endlessly trying to make my marriage work. i'm getting nowhere, i never do. >> sounds like depression to me? >> classic depression. >> and police found another page of writing that sounded desperate. torn up and buried in the trash can. and levi showed detective jones something else. >> i got a text. >> a text he received from tera earlier that day. >> it says, i'm afraid i'm going to hurt myself. i'm so, so, so upset and hurt. >> open and shut. by 2 am, police were wrapping up their work at the chávez

house, and detective jones headed to tera's parent home to break the news. >> he introduced a deputy and chaplain, and said, it is about your daughter. so i am already feeling weak. >> what did you think? >> i thought that it was a terrible traffic accident. i never thought to hear otherwise. >> i asked him what happened, and aaron jones said, it is an apparent suicide. >> possibly the most painful news a family can ever hear. but they were not prepared to accept it, and they felt a deep conviction that no one outside the family saw coming. >> when you hear suicide, what do you think? >> no way! no way! >> that girl loved those children. and i knew right then and there that she would not take her life and leave those children behind. >> coming up!

heartbreak and disbelief. >> that's not the tera i knew. i never would've in 1 million years thought that she would take her life. >> was tera's death definitely a suicide? >> something about it just started stinking. >> when dateline continues! all of that finger-pricking and all of that pain, my a1c was still stuck. there is a better way to manage diabetes. the dexcom g6 continuous glucose monitoring system eliminates painful fingersticks, helps lower a1c, and it's covered by medicare. before dexcom g6, i couldn't enjoy a single meal. i was always trying to out-guess my glucose and it was awful. (female announcer) dexcom g6 is a small wearable that sends your glucose numbers to your phone or dexcom receiver without painful fingersticks.

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piercing sadness in this tight new mexico community. tara chavez, the wife of an albuquerque police officer, had died by suicide. i lay there and cried. i couldn't believe it. somebody that i talked to every day is gone and you don't know why, you don't understand it. it doesn't make sense >> when levi's uncle michael tried to helped his nephew the next morning, he says he saw a broken man. >> he was in bed and i don't know what to say. it's the worst that could happen to anybody. >> what did he say to you that day? do you remember? >> he was too emotional, he couldn't speak. >> along with the shock, tera's best friend was overcome with a sense of disbelief. >> part of me was like, no,

this isn't right. this isn't what happened. like, they're lying. it's not true. >> that's exactly what tera's parents were telling the detective, who'd come to their home with that terrible news. for one thing, they told him there was simply no way tera would leave her children. you would not be the first family of a loved one who committed suicide, who did not want to believe that that was possible. >> josh, i don't know about other families. but i knew tera. i knew tera. >> but, what about the depressed person who emerges from that diary that police found at the scene? tera's family points out, many of the darker passages in that journal were several years old. >> her journal, i think, was an outlet for her to vent sometimes. >> gena cordova is tera's

sister-in-law. >> i mean, i'm married. i have kids. sometimes, i just want to disappear. it doesn't mean that i'm going to harm myself in any way. >> the very last entry, three months before her death, suggests tera was, in fact, the opposite of depressed. tera wrote, goodbye to the person i used to be. welcome new day, happiness. >> i think the last statement within her diary said it all. happiness. >> her family says she had lots to be happy about. tera was finally making plans to open that new hair salon she had long dreamed of. >> she was even starting to look at real estate. >> she was so excited to do it. >> gina says tera had an appointment to look at this location with her dad, scheduled for just two days after her death. >> she was thinking about how she was going to decorate and how it was going to be, you know, girly. she was just really excited about it.

>> that's the tera her brother, aaron, saw all the time. he says, two days before she died, tara had sent him this funny video of her kids. >> sounds like you are dancing. >> they were dancing around the shop, just being goofy. they were joking around. it was pretty funny. nothing on that video suggests that she was in a miserable place. >> there's a little second that you see her, she's laughing because her daughter and her little boy are just goofballs, you know. >> tera's best friend, melanie, reread the last text tera sent her around that same time. she saw nothing frightening. >> it was real simple. she just said, hi, i haven't talked to all day. how are you doing? >> doesn't sound like someone in the middle of a terrible depression. >> not at all. >> could you have conceived of her taking our own life? >> it's not the tera i knew. i never would've in 1 million years, expected or thought that she would ever take her life. >> melanie and the cordovas say, their instincts were telling them that something was wrong in that suicide scene at the house.

and they let detective jones know it. i talked to aaron jones, i don't think he believed you. >> i'm sure he didn't. >> it look like a suicide. >> that's correct. >> something you said to him or some way you said it made him think that he needed to dig a little deeper. >> yes. i promised tera's mom and dad that i would look at it. i knew that i couldn't just close this case without looking at it and digging into it. to begin with, jones knew from experience, that bedroom scene was very unusual. women make up just 10% of gun suicides. and he wondered about that recent break in attempt and levi's stolen truck. had someone been casing the neighborhood? maybe targeting the officer's house? >> i wanted to check and make sure that there wasn't any kind of indication of any kind of break-in or maybe somebody else had done this. >> nothing seemed to be missing from the house.

and jones could find no sign of forced entry. still, he went back to the photos in the bedroom. he started noticing things. like, what appeared to be a swipe of blood on the bed. what could that smear of blood on the bed sheets indicate? >> well, it could indicate the fact that she didn't commit suicide. the fact that the person that fired that fatal round would've had blood on their hands. >> and the detective remembered something else from that night that now struck him as odd. a red substance in a toilet, on the other side of the house. was it tera's blood? and if so, how did it get there? >> you're in a situation where someone died, they certainly didn't get out of bed and go bleed in the toilet. >> jones also focused closely on that gun and noticed the patterns of blood on it. to the detective, it looked like whoever had fired it had to be left handed. the areas of the gun that didn't have blood on them. >> it's like a perfect

handprint. it looked like a perfect handprint of a human hand. >> a left hand? >> yes. >> tara was right-handed. >> yes. >> was it suicide or could it be homicide? jones turned all of it over in his mind. he even handled the gun himself. you physically put a glock in your own mouth? >> yeah. >> unloaded, i hope. >> of course. >> the medical examiner, however, had ruled tera's death suicide the day after she was found. and the lid on this case might have been shut then and there. but jones hesitated. >> it was written as a suicide, unless i came up with something pretty contradictory to that then my job was to write it up as a suicide, closed case. >> why didn't you? >> i just couldn't do it. there was just something about it. something about it started stinking. >> after three weeks of investigation, instead of closing the case, jones asked

the medical examiner to change the manner of death from suicide to undetermined. now, the hard part, determining what really happened to tera chavez. coming up, tera had a secret. she had met another man? >> yeah. >> it's a big, messy triangle. >> but, was it a motive for murder? when dateline continues. advil, dual action bites, pain, two ways. advil targets pain at the source. acetaminophen blocks, pain signals, advil, dual action.

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or even body armor. now, back to dateline. back to dateline. >> the more detective aaron jones looked at that scene where tara chavez died, the more questions he had. then, he said, a light bulb went off. something that seemed like the key to the case. jones said that when he found the gun next to tera, the magazine with the bullets was not locked in place. it had been partially released. suggesting what? >> suggesting that the scene was tampered with. >> so someone uses the gun to shoot tera, the gun recycles. and then what? in putting it down or dropping it. it accidentally released it? >> that's what i believe. yes.

>> but if tera did not shoot herself, who shot her? now jones would have to delve into tera's life and relationships. and soon, he learned that tera had a secret. >> she had another man? >> yeah. >> jones heard from melanie and others that tera and her husband had been growing apart for years. and three months before she died, tera stepped over a line. his name was nick wheeler. like levi, he was another handsome police officer in the pd. nick would get his hair cut by tera every thursday. and sparks flew. >> what drew tera to this guy? >> his personality. he treated her great. another guy that comes in and is nice to her, and shows her attention. and treats her good. >> and you've got the recipe for an affair? >> exactly. >> but there was a problem,

tera was married to levi, and nick? >> he was married to a friend of ours. >> a friend of yours? >> yes. a big, messy triangle. >> and they said it wouldn't get in the way of the investigation. he was going to take a long look at his friend. and he was gonna go over something that now seems suspicious. the night tera was found, nick had caught him digging for information. >> probably within an hour of being on the scene. i got texts and phone calls from him. >> nick wants to know what? >> i wasn't sure at first. he was asking questions about what was going on, if i knew anything. >> wasn't it concerned about keeping his affair with tera under wraps? or something else? melanie told the detectives that tera had broken things off with nick before she died. and told melanie that it had not ended well. >> she just told him, it's not right.

were both married. what we are doing is not a good thing. >> her conscience? >> yes. >> he did not want to let her go? >> did not sound like it. >> now, jones thought nick could be another suspect. so he visited nick's home, and did not tell him the conversation was being recorded. nick quickly admitted the affair. the wife was there to hear everything. >> there's gonna be some things on here, this is your husband. >> i know. >> tell me. >> tell her. >> tell me. >> detective jones saw himself witnessing the type of domestic argument that witnesses only hear after the fact. >> did you sleep with her? >> and when we're saying sleeping. we're talking about sex. >> how many times did you touch her? >> well, she kissed me in the truck. >> and you kissed her back?

>> and i pushed her off. >> why don't you just leave me? >> because i didn't want to. >> but she wanted to kiss you. >> then, samantha said something that surprised jones. she had known all about the affair! because tara had confessed, and apologized. >> she was so nice and i told her and said, i'm not gonna say anything until nick tells me. because that's his responsibility, as a husband. >> what did she say? >> she said she didn't want me to kill her. she didn't want me to go after her and ask. i would never do it because i understand where she was coming from. >> so did you believe that the two women in the love triangle had made peace. did you believe that. >> did you believe it was possible that nick or his wife had killed tara? >> absolutely. >> well, let me ask you a question, did you kill her? >> now. i really loved her. really i did. i did. >> that left one more question about the man in the middle. neck. where was he that weekend tara

died? >> well, i'll make sure the main thing i need to make sure. that you're not with the care. >> she was with me. >> he was her alibi and she was? >> pretty much yeah. >> and that doesn't necessarily mean anybody is lying sometimes it just works out. >> yeah, they were a couple. and i know by experience they spent a lot of time with friends, family, or themselves at home. >> the investigator says that he did not dismiss them as potential suspects that he had no evidence to link them to the death. so john strident focusing on the man that they needed to look at. tara's husband levi. and joan says that there was plenty to examine. >> their whole relationship seems like it was just a rollercoaster. >> coming up! investigators find out that levi had a lot more to hide than his wife dead. >> how many more besides you where is he having an affair with?

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mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. if the death was homicide and not suicide than her husband would be the natural suspect. and it didn't take long for the detectives to find out that when it came to levi, in

albuquerque cop, there apparently was something about a man in uniform. >> he is a charming guy. >> he's a very charming guy. >> he clearly knows how to talk to women. >> he could really does. >> there is no evidence that levi knew about tears brief affair with nick but it turns out that levi was carrying far more secrets than his late wife had. levi had been cheating on tara, but that doesn't quite tell the story. levi chavez was racking up so many in the tell it is that he could barely remember some of his girlfriends names. tara's friend melanie says that that kind of thing had been going on ever since high school. >> and it wasn't just one girl, two girls, it was numerous girls. >> so you never really stopped? >> no. >> detective jones tracked down this woman, rose, a married mother of three. rose says, at the time of tera's death, she and levi had been sleeping together for two years. >> by the time i came around, i was shocked to be number three. >> number three?

he was having a third affair? >> no, when he opened his phone, i was number three on his phone speed dial. >> llevi was open with you, not just that he was married, but in addition to being married, in addition to having an affair with you, and another girlfriend, someone who was, well, a little higher up in the hierarchy than you were, and you are okay with that? >> yeah. >> juggling multiple mistresses while married was apparently nothing new for levi. rose said, levi's multitasking skills made it all possible. how many other women besides you was levi having an affair with? >> ten. >> ten? >> yeah. you and ten other woman? >> yes. >> how did levi find the time to be with ten different women and still, presumably, fight crime? >> we were actually almost neighbors. we lived really close to each other. >> that would be essential in a situation like that. >> yes. >> you couldn't have a one hour commute to see somebody when

there's others. >> i think a couple others lived around. >> what did you guys -- >> the running trails, the kids, school my school, the deposit between our houses. >> so there was meeting up outdoors? >> yeah. even if i went to his house, the kids were there, he would just pop in a movie and have the kids watch a movie and we would take off and do adult things. >> rose says, those adult things didn't have anything to do with love. >> i don't love him. >> this was just facts? >> just. sex. >> listen to this, one time when rosen levi were together at his house, she noticed a photo near the bed. >> i put two and two together and asked him, he said, yeah, we're married. >> rose recognized the woman in the photograph because she knew tara, and had just figured out she was sleeping with her hair husband. >> and you say, great, honey, lie down. not, i gotta get out of here, this is weird. >> it was a little weird, i'm not going to lie. but, there seem to be no love

lost between us. i was like, there's no love there, so i don't care. >> rose told detective jones a lot about her affair with levi, but didn't seem to know anything useful about terrorist death. so, jones turned the others on levi speed dial, including heather handy, a fellow cop and levi's department. jones interviewed heather, but she didn't seem to have any leads. so he found his more serious girlfriend at the time, another cop, named debra romero. >> i think she believed that levi was going to be the real deal for her. >> levi had admitted to jones in the very first conversation that he'd been with another woman the night tara died. now, debra romero would become a key part of jones's investigation, as he began to track levi's whereabouts that weekend. >> he said he hadn't been home until he discover the body.

>> all right. >> the detective believed tara had been killed, sometime on saturday night. levi story was that he'd been on duty until midnight and then went to deborah's house. jones went to talk to her. >> what is the first, first recollection that you have of seeing him, physically, at your house? >> when i woke up. he came into the bedroom. he was in his uniform. >> debra confirmed that she was with levi from the time he got off work that night, until the following evening. >> -- >> so, mistress as alibi, maybe not a squeaky clean defensible, for now, at least, their stories were in sync. >> jones still had questions for levi. the next time levi came to his office, john set up a camera to record their conversation, without levi knowing. he wanted to see how levi would react to the suggestion that tehran had not killed herself.

seems like you caught him off-guard. >> i did. i wanted to make him know that i had some concerns about some of the behavior that was going on. >> at first, it was all pretty routine. >> but whatever you need, i mean, i understand. i have nothing to hide. >> then, jones told levi -- he was suspected terror had been murdered. >> you understand why this whole thing looks -- >> no. i really don't. >> i walk into your house at night, and i really, honestly believe it's a suicide. the problem is -- somebody killed her wife. >> i don't know. that blows my mind. it would be easier to tell my kids that. i can't -- i think i would've saw something. >> jones tells levi, he has some questions about all those women. >> you know the problem is, what it looks like as you've got so many freaking girlfriends. >> i know. >> you don't even know their names.

>> i told you. that i know. >> your major rodeo, dude. >> a major romeo who said he still cared for his wife, despite all those infidelities. >> she was my partner. >> who? >> tara. we might not be in love -- business partner or paraphrasing partner? >> we did so much. together. >> it almost look like she was or nanny. >> i'm sorry, man. i don't know you want me to tell me. >> bad husbands, i'll probably take the cake. >> i don't know what to tell you. day i had nothing to do with this. >> he admits to some of the affairs, admits to being a bad husband, but he says he's no murderer. i don't see a guy who looks tremendously guilty there. but you did. >> not necessarily over just that. i mean, it was the totality of everything. >> that's because the totality

of everything for jones included some starting information he was getting. something tara's family and friends say she told them just before she died. coming up, >> she made a couple statements to me that if anything ever happened to her that levi did it. >> did tara have a premonition about her own death? >> when dateline continues. ♪ birds flyin' high , you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze driftin' on... ♪ [coughing] ♪ ...by, you know how i feel. ♪ if you're tired of staring down your copd,... ♪ it's a new dawn, ♪ ♪ it's a new day... ♪ ...stop settling. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good. ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy makes breathing easier for a full 24 hours, improves lung function, and helps prevent future flare-ups.

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has never believed that she took her own life. and they also did not buy her husband's story about how he found her. >> there were a lot of, just suspicious things. nothing added up. >> to tears sitter in law, gina, the so-called suicide note found on the bedside table did not make sense. for mostly what he did not say. >> i think my first thought was, i want to read it. because i want to see it. >> and the note says i'm sorry

levi but does not mention the kids. can you conceive of her not mentioning her children? >> no. she would never have left her kids. she would not have left her kids. >> detective jones had come to agree. but one sentence did not believe like a suicides note, at least not one she would write. >> she was a very expressive person. >> you would expect a more detailed and expressive? note >> absolutely. >> tara's best friend also told the detective that the behavior of the levi, she knew was much worse than the philandering he admitted to. >> he would break or so down verbally. he would tell her all the time that she was worthless. that she was nothing without him.

>> tara tried to keep it to herself. but especially, from her dad. >> we did not like seeing our daughter go through, which he was going through with levi. and being the father, and wanting to fix everything, i think it created this curtain of, do not let dad know. >> but in the months before she died, tera did tell both of them that she was getting fed up with levi and that she was going to end her marriage. >> she was telling me that the kids would be fine, they were getting divorced, and she would be moving forward. >> after terrorists that, the court order said that levi never appeared to be the grieving husband but seemed cold and distant. by the time of the funeral, levi had already wiped away all traces of his dead wife. >> everything my daughter did in that house, was either in a box. or somewhere. somewhere else, it wasn't in the house and the longer. >> we were there to pick up clothing for a viewing that was going to happen wednesday afternoon. >> and there was nothing left? >> it was nothing. who does that? who boxes up the person that

made that house what it is? >> within 48 hours! >> within 48 hours! she was gone! >> it made the family wonder if evidence of levi's guilt was also being boxed up and hidden. especially when they learned that potential evidence from the house had been destroyed the knights tara was found. remember that red substance that detective jones found on the toilet that night? it turns out it never made it to the crime lab. >> were you going to collect that evidence? >> no. >> because? >> because it had been flushed by an albuquerque police officer that had been in the house. >> one of the friends that had come over to offer support? >> friends. coworker. >> so, was it tara's blood? was it even? blood we're never gonna now. >> no. >> and that bedding with the mysterious blood swipe was also removed by apd cops.

tara's family could not shake the feeling that levi's fellow officers might be helping out their friend. and that the local investigators in charge, should've stopped them. >> i was extremely angry with the albuquerque police department sheriff's department. i was beside myself with them. how could you allow another agency to come into your jurisdiction and enter that house? >> the jurisdiction of the man who found the body? >> yes. >> detective jones says there is no evidence of a conspiracy or cover-up. and he blames himself for not immediately treating the house as a crime scene. because of that, he was forced to work backwards to find both evidence and a possible motive. and soon, he found something interesting. a life insurance policy that covered tara. >> how much money would leave i get in the death of his wife? >> $100,000. >> what about suicide? >> $100,000.

>> and, terrors family told the detective that the couple, heading for divorce, had financial problems. but the main reason that tara's family and friends believed he had something to do with their death was this. >> she had made a couple statements to me that if anything happened to me, he had done it. >> did you take that seriously? >> obviously not serious enough. it took me awhile to think, oh my god! maybe she was right! >> and her mom said that a few months before she died, tara told her the same thing. >> she did tell me, if anything ever happens to me, leave i did it. and i immediately asked her if she was okay. and if the kids were okay. >> and she told me, everything was fine. >> but why say something like that? >> i couldn't tell you why she said that. but she did tell me that. >> tara told her mother not to worry. and, not to say a word to her dad. >> and you didn't tell him?

>> and i didn't tell him. >> i don't blame my wife for anything. tara knew me well. she knew that i would intervene. >> is there any part of either of you that things that he may not be responsible for this? >> no. >> now, the family and the detective were on the exact same page. >> you don't believe that she killed herself? >> now. >> you thought he killed her? fake? that made it look like a suicide? >> yes sir. >> but to feel like levi was responsible for the death was notched widely shared by law enforcement. more because he had that alibi, deborah o'mara, who said that they were together that night. jones wanted to interview levi's police coworker who had been on the scene that evening. and his many other mistresses for more information. but some, weren't talking. after a year, the investigation had reached a standstill. >> i was allowed to officially

work the case for sometime. but after that, i worked it when i could. and however i could. >> levi's uncle, and family of cops, felt the investigation was pure witch hunt. >> when the police start to focus on levi, what do you think? >> when you mentioned please, my thought is not police. it is aaron jones. >> you think this is all? him >> all him. >> he was driving the bus? here >> he was driving. and he was the only one on that bus, outside of the highway. >> while joneses bus was stalling, the albuquerque press tour was rolled on with the story. even though no arrests was made, levi was put on administrative leave at his job. and remained the one, and only, person of interest in the case. >> to be honest with you, they did not have a case. and i think they were trying to make levi look like a bad guy. >> so maybe he's not a good husband. but he's not a murder? >> no.

definitely not a murder. she took her life and, levi found her. >> but jones refused to give up. and was determined to dig up new information anyway he could. he began to think outside the box. and suggested something highly unusual. >> i told the court at the time, if you have to sue me, to me. but in order to get some answers on this case, you have to file a civil suit. >> so they did. a wrongful death suit against levy. the city of albuquerque and members of the police department, claiming that they had all prayed a role in terry 's death. it was a huge fishing expedition, but would they catch anything? coming up. levi's first testimony under earth. and one of his girlfriends tells a new story about what happened the night he found his wife's body. >> he was like my wife just died while i was in the shower. >> when dateline continues! e waves. there's nothing like volunteering. but my moderate-to-severe eczema can make it hard.

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determined to help keep their son-in-law arrested for their daughter's murder. so, for their civil suit, the family's lawyers subpoenaed more than 50 people for depositions, with the hope of learning something new. >> levi travis -- >> levi was called in to give it videotape deposition. >> were you aware that officer wheeler was seeing your wife? >> he'd always been cooperative with police in the past but this time, levi was under oath. now as, his lawyers invoked his fifth amendment rights against self incrimination, levi was far less chatty. >> when do you remember receiving an alleged text message from tara, saying she might hurt herself? >> we're going to assert the same privileges to. that >> so little was learned from levi that day. attorneys also put his talkative mistress, rose slam under oath. in her death a decision -- something that she had never told police. later, told us. >> the night that i had talked

to him and texted him, he said, my wife just died. i said, what happened? he said, i don't know, i was in the shower. i heard a pop. >> levi told you that he was there, in the house, in the shower? and her pop? >> yeah. when he got out, he found her dead. levi's story to investigators had always been that he'd been one of his other girlfriends, debra romero that night [00:46:50] slama. and only found her dead when he returned home to check on her slama. this story that roe says it's quite different. you know you're the only person that tells that story yes you sure that's what he said to >> i'm absolutely positively sure. >> this new story was puzzling to jones but it did match one thing the detective recalled seeing at the scene, a wet towel. rose had even more to reveal in your deposition. remember, she'd been sleeping

with levi, but also had been a client of tara, at her salon. presumably, you chatted with her the way women do with their hairstylists? yeah it was this double edged role as paramour to levi, and as it turned out, confidant to tara, that would put rose slama at the center of this investigation. lead investigators to a possible motive. the last time she saw tara, rose says, terry told you something odd about that truck that had disappeared from the family driveway. you had a conversation with terror about levi's truck being missing. >> we were talking and i was, like well, what's going on with the truck? have you guys heard anything about it she said income of stolen. would you mean and income stolen roe says, terry told her the story of the trump being stolen had been a lie and that she believed her husband, levi,

the cop, was mixed up in something very illegal. she said that leave i had some friends take it to claim the insurance, so he had the truck. taken so tara was very upfront with you that she thought the truck's disappearance was part of an insurance scam by levi yeah she told me that she was going to call the police and tell them. >> and, when she later saw levi, roe says she told him his wife thought he was involved in some kind of scam. well was levi's response when you told him about that she did know she was talking about would you maintain the truck was legitimately stolen yeah if terrell was telling row she thought her husband was a criminal, what might happen next i believe he was scared because she was going to turn him in and he had a lot to. lose >> to detective jones, that sounded like a reason for levi to want to make sure his wife disappears. and he found more evidence to suggest terral was planning to report her husband. six days before she died, the new mexico insurance fraud bureau received a tip about a fake stolen vehicle. the investigators note say the caller's name was sara, but later said he thought it could've been tara.

in fact, the woman's contact number was for the salon where tara chavez worked. what did you learn from the people who work at the salon? >> about three days prior to her death, she told her boss that she had done something bad and if she ended up dead, levi killed. >> i feel a sense of responsibility. for tara's death. i never said anything about the truck to leave i then what maybe she will be alive. maybe if i just kept my mouth closed, it would've been okay. she still be here. but that's my cross to bear and i over family a great apology and i have apologized to them, and i hugged them. that's something i have to live with. >> as the civil lawsuit wound its way through court, detective jones retired from law enforcement. the revelations that came from the suit jump-started the

investigation into tara's death. eventually, it caught the attention of prosecutors. bryan mackay was in assistant da. you thought the truck was a motive? >> we think the trove was the motive in a really simple sense. he's just moved to a pd, he's wanting to move up the ranks. i'm sorry, you know the brass is going to do something if everyone's going around your wife's reporting that you're committing fraud. >> all of the defendants, except, leave i settled there parts of that civil suit, denying any lie ability. the court of a family got what they really wanted. in april 2011, more than three years after terrell's death, levi chavez was charged with her murder. coming up -- >> there's no way that he could've done. this >> levi chavez goes on

trial. >> the perfect homicide equals suicide. >> when dateline continues. plan a didn't work out? get plan b one-step. plan b helps prevent pregnancy before it starts, and it won't impact your ability to get pregnant in the future. find it yourself in the family planning aisle no prescription, no id. i've got this. ♪♪

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his job as a albuquerque cop after he was indicted. >> the trial for an apd officer, accused of killing his wife is finally underway. >> tara's family and friends thought justice was near. >> was there a time when you thought the levi was never one to be prosecuted? >> no. we knew he would get here. we just had a lot of hurdles to get over. >> levi's family saw the trial very differently. as a chance to clear his name, and. there's you ever have any doubt as to whether he was capable of? >> i had no doubt, from day one, -- i was advocating there's no way that he could've done this. >> david serena is --

levi's defense attorney. i think the evidence strongly suggested that the investigators ignored all evidence other than evidence pointing to levi's guilt. >> all rise. >> two families, once joined by marriage could now hardly look at each other as they sat on opposite sides of the courtroom. >> the state set out to prove levi, the cheating husband, killed tara and stage two suicide. keeping her from exposing a big secret. >> this was not a suicide. >> it was a purely circumstantial case, but lead prosecutor, ryan mackay, thought he had more than enough to brandi levi a cold blooded killer. >> so, the perfect homicide is a suicide. you begin by talking about the perfect murder. is that what you think this was?

. >> yeah. a cop knows a suicide, if they're convinced early on of this is a suicide, its coast. it's over, it's done. there is an investigation. mckay thought levi didn't count on the determination of tears loved ones, who took the stand to make their own passionate case. that tehran never would've killed herself. there's no way that terror would've done this, no way. she said that she was done, she was done putting up with him and his shooting. she was ready to move on with her life. >> prosecutors thought a big part of their case would be levi's alleged involvement in a stolen truck scam. rose slama came to court to testify about what she'd heard. i had asked her about the truck situation and she had told me that levi had had it stolen for insurance. prosecutors told the jury, they would prove this was levi's motive for murder. >> telling people that he is involved in some kind of fraud. that's bad news. the state couldn't really deliver on that supposed

motive. levi always maintained the truck really was stolen and fraud charges were never really filed against him. the judge wouldn't allow any testimony in a trial that would back up roses story. the jury also never heard family or friends testify that tara thought levi might hurt her, perhaps over the truck. all of that was hearsay. still, mccain's co-counsel, and keener, believe that they had much more evidence against levi and made his infidelity the centerpiece of their case. they said levi had simply grown tired of tara. >> how would you describe him levi chavez was a very me centered person. everything about levi is about levi. >> coming up, levi's lovers take the stand. >> when you went to the residence, did you have a sexual encounter >> yes, i did. >> one mistress, his alibi, changes are story. >> is there any way for you to actually know what time you got

there i do not know when dateline continues. after advil. let's dive in. but, what about your back? it's fine. before advil. advil, dual action bites, pain, two ways. advil targets pain at the source. acetaminophen blocks, pain signals, advil, dual action. >> i am richard louis with

their hours top stories. china's foreign minister offered no apologies for meeting with secretary of state anthony blinken for the suspected chinese surveillance balloon. that's according to blinken himself who spoke to nbc's meet the press. the two men saturday, at the munich security conference. and north korea fired a ballistic missile into japan's west coast on saturday. the launch comes after north korea warned of the strong response if south korea and the u.s. carried out planned military drills. now back to dateline! back to dateline

>> prosecutors in the levi chavez murder trial were dealt to major blows. first, the judge blocked testimony supporting their theory, that levi was involved in an urn sherine scam. second, he bullock statements from friends and family, who alleged terror felt threatened by her husband. but the state had another card to play. it was time to put the cheating husbands loved life on full display. among the mistresses who arrived in court, was katrina. i verizon store clerk who i met shortly before tara's death. they began an affair the day they met. a few weeks later, they were in bed together again, in the same home where tara had died. >> when you went to the residents, did you have a sexual encounter? >> yes. >> did you know if the children were there? >> he said he they wear. but i did not see them. >> next up, a fellow apd

officer. regina sanchez. tara had called her when she learned that regina had been sleeping with levi. >> the nature of the phone call was to get mad at me, ask what was going on. >> why she upset? >> yes. very. >> investigator showed that not long after that phone call, someone had typed in a web search on levi's computer, how to kill somebody. >> after the how to kill somebody search, there was a rod page that was visited and that's on how to kill someone. >> the states implication, levi thought murder might be easier than divorce. >> the prosecution said levi had grown tired of tara. >> that computer shows you that something is going on. he tells tara she is holding him back, calls are aware through this piece of skin. >> the prosecution suggests that levi had a plan to get rid of tara for a new girlfriend, heather hindi. she was the other albuquerque calk, who got to know levi in the weeks before terry's death. >> you indicated that you

didn't start a sexual relationship until the end of november of 2007. >> correct? >> 63 days after tara died, the man who once tearfully told aaron jones he would never get over his wife suicide, gave heather a diamond ring. >> and when did you get married? >> july 5th, 2008. >> the official story is that heather and levi met just a couple weeks before tara's death, but things didn't evolve until long after tara's death. >> knowing what we know about levi, do you believe that? >> no. i think she was ultimate goal. >> the state had something else. debra romero, the mistress who had been levi's alibi, now took the stand to testify for the prosecution. >> i actually think he called me that evening. >> romero, originally, told investigators that levi was with her, right after his shift ended. during the period when it's believed terral was killed. now, years later, she testified

that she couldn't be sure when he arrived at her house. >> is there any way for you to actually know what time you got? there >> i do not know. >> according to the prosecution, levi got off work at midnight and it's something that his cell phone records show was highly unusual. he shot off his phone for about 15 hours. >> on october 21st, after midnight, 2007, the defendant turned off his phone. >> his phones off for a longer period of time than it had been off in a very long time. >> yes. that was a huge piece of evidence because of timing. i mean, really? that's the only time this big break, and it happens to be when your wife is killed? >> prosecutors been laid out for the jury exactly what they believed happened that night. they said, leave i got to the house, walked inside the bedroom where he found his wife asleep. >> slams that gun in, and pulls

the trigger. instantly killing tara travis. and then he pulls the gun out, turns it over and he lays it down. >> and then? >> and then at that point in time, is when he hops in the shower. comes out, nothing, nobodies responded. towel, that's when he says that text. >> prosecutors said, it was levi who sent that text from terrors phone. i'm afraid i'm going to hurt myself. i'm so upset, sad and hurt. it was the text levi would later show investigators but detective jones took the stand to describe what he believed was levi's one mistake. >> did you push the magazine release, in this case? >> no. >> detective aaron jones testified that he had found the gun at the scene with the magazine already released. the state called experts to the stand to say that if sarah had shot herself, she wouldn't have

been able to release it. >> i found that better than five pounds of direct pressure in order to release this magazine. >> prosecutors believe that the person who released a magazine was levi, the cop. they said levi's perfect plan wasn't perfect after all. >> this is not a suicide. that man killed terror travis. >> the defense was relatively to tell a very different story. one of a loved sick woman and the spiral of despair. coming up, the case for the defense starting with a cross examination of the lead detective. >> he's a world-class cop, maybe your clairvoyant as well. >> i'm working on it. >> i bet you are. i have no doubt. >> turns out, he had a troubled past.

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try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. >> it seemed all of albuquerque was transfixed on the sex drenched marriage in that was the levi chavez trial. prosecutors argued the former police officer killed his wife and staged it to look like suicide. now, it was the defenses turn. their first argument, the reason investigators initially thought that dara took her own life was because she did. defense attorney david serena. >> it was called a suicide because their own investigators, whose job it is to go and see what kind of death it is, called it a suicide. >> stating what he knew the jury must of been thinking. serena admitted levi was a failure as a husband, with said that didn't make him a

murderer. he was completely unfaithful to her. >> in just about every way. >> absolutely. >> just about every opportunity. >> absolutely. but, you know, he talks about tara being his partner. she was his partner because they had gone through so much, they had children together. >> all along, levi's family felt the investigation into tara's death was flawed and fueled by an obsessed detective. >> when one theory came up and it didn't pan out, then he had another theory. i think in police work, you could have evidence, you have to have something to hold on to. >> in a series of testy exchanges, the defense tried to discredit aaron jones on the stand. >> thought of as a world class caught, maybe you could be clairvoyant as well. >> i'm working on. it >> i know you are. i bet you are. i have no doubt about that. >> serena grilled jones about his work history. it turns out he had been fired

twice and formally reprimanded for his handling of cases, including one that caused jones to be written up as unfit for duty. >> he basically found you in a five-page, mentally unfit -- right? >> that's what he ultimately said. yes. >> jones was later found fit to serve. and left law enforcement voluntarily. but the defense argued that his troubled record cast a cloud over all of his police work. >> how important was it to, sort of chip away at aaron jones? >> it was absolutely necessary. absolutely necessary that the jury see aaron jones for what he is. >> remember jones theory that the blood patterns showed that the shooter was left-handed while the shooter is right-handed? >> well it never made it to court. because it couldn't be backed up by forensics. and the insurance policy covering suicide that they found suspicious? the defenses shows that it was

an old policy. that had been in place for years. through levi's military service. >> my clients never changed the amounts or coverage, or clauses, or anything of his insurance policy right? >> i didn't note that. >> and took oust more doubt on the investigation, the defend said that he never took a closer look at terrence, and his former buddy nick wheeler. >> so they never took your dna, did they take fingerprint exemplar from you? >> now. >> in the and the sheriff's department concluded that there was no evidence that nick wheeler and his wife had anything to do with tara's death. as for rose flaw? >> he's scratched it. and that was at. >> you had an itch and he scratch that. that was it. >> they argue that rhodes

couldn't be trusted, in fact she was facing felony charges of her own. >> you are arrested for fraud over $2,500 right? >> yes sir. >> and forgery over $2,500 right? >> yes sir. >> the defenses lasted that rose made up the stories, hoping for leniency with her own legal problems. which he says all stem from a messy divorce. she would later plead out the lesser charges and get probation. but she swears that all of her testimony was the truth. >> i got no deal. i testified because it was the right thing to do. >> and the rest of that parade of mistresses? the defense argued those women would only bolster levi's case. proving that he was a lousy husband in our crumbling marriage. which gave tara ample reason to be depressed, even suicidal. >> he was not a good husband, and he was not there. and he did not respond when she was making these cries for help. and he feels horrible. >> the defenses suicide expert,

andrew berman testified, all the evidence pointed to tara taking her own life. >> she had a number of chronic and acute risk a factors for suicide. >> and the i'm sorry note left on her side table? they said that was too ambiguous to call it a suicide note. but the wrapped up page found buried in the garbage, the experts said that had the hallmarks of a real suicide note. >> the line, i'm hoping it will be happy now. is something that we sometimes see in suicide note. >> originally, they suspected that both notes wears forgeries. but their own handwriting expert confirmed that carole wrote both of them. >> so you came back with your opinion that tara wrote both of these, so-called, suicide notes. >> i don't know what kind of notes they are served, but they are those most. >> one thing to keep in mind, no expert on either side could say when those were written. that day tara died years earlier?

no way to tell. but the weekend tara died, the defense said that there was no evidence of her fat spiraling out of control. she called levi 315 times. and that is the reason that levi shut off his phone. not to escape detection, but to escape his wife. >> if he doesn't want to be having his wife bugging him, when he's hanging out at his mistresses house. >> he wants no record of where he is. >> look at this, the prosecution's theory said that he knew about all of these cell phone power paintings. he didn't know anything about that! >> there is no police officer in america that doesn't know about that. >> well, he doesn't know that there is going to be a trail of where he is every minute. i have to tell you, levi is not a criminal mastermind. >> that's still left the question of how tara could have

shot herself. and then partially released the gun magazine. the defense hired a crime scene expert to make his video. demonstrating how they believed it could be done. >> let the magazine released. >> but when it came to court to do the same demonstration in person, he failed. >> if you work the trigger, and get around to the magazine. sometimes i, can sometimes i can't. sometimes you hit the magazine released, after you fire a gun. but today i can't! >> there are smiles on your faces when that happens. >> i'm sure there were! >> did you think that was a pivotal moment of the trial? >> i did. because i've handled the same handgun.

my daughter was -- i have big hands. and, i cannot one handedly release the magazine. it just does not happen. it is not a cap of the button. you have to press it and release it. and when that did not happen, yeah. i felt pretty good. >> it was a high five moment for the prosecution. >> did you think when that's happening, this is like the greatest thing? ! >> absolutely, and the fact that he gets up there to show how his theory would work and is unable to do it, once again, absolutely with what we were saying she could not have killed herself. >> you think you are gonna get a guilty verdict at that point? >> i don't know what we are gonna get. did i think that that was very crucial key evidence? absolutely. but i've been doing this too long. some people sit there and have to come through a unanimous verdict. i gave up trying to guess what

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woman that was described at trial, was not her daughter. >> tera was a very needy person. a very desperate wife. >> i, walked out of their numb. it was horrible.

>> attorney david said tera chavez was as sad, needy woman desperate for male attention. and the breakup with nick wheeler center over the edge. >> that was the double whammy because she thought she found someone else to latch her start to. and he said, no to her also. >> latter start to? how about, you know, make her feel happy and not cheated on. there is very little to suggest that she was going to latch her start to anybody. >> i think you're right. she wanted someone who trudge her right. >> now, the man that had treated her so wrong was going to take the stand himself. >> please sell your last name. >> levi travis. c h a v easy. >> he said that he they had been living on the edge of divorce for years. and she had become lonely, and depressed. >> did she express ever

thoughts to you that she just wanted to disappear off the face of the earth? >> all the time. >> and he said the weekend that she died, he did ignore the 315 phone calls his wife plays to her. >> she would call and i would hit the end button. >> levi says he worked till midnight on saturday, then went directly to his girlfriend's house. >> debra is nice, she is a nice person. i liked her. i did not want to take my phone in there, ringing off the hook. and have to explain, that's my ex. i'm sorry. so i turned it off so i wouldn't have to deal with it. >> his attorney said the account of the next day. sunday. the kids were out of town at his dad's. he went from deborah's house to his mom's house. where she was watching desperate housewives.

his mom said she couldn't reach tara and was concerned. >> when i was talking to my mom, it's coming to my head, the threats. and 200 phone calls. >> what do you mean by threats? >> i'm gonna hurt myself. come home. >> threats to herself? >> yeah. >> okay? >> so i had that information and she just corresponding totally. and then my mom said, she called in second didn't want to go to work on sunday. i was afraid. >> he said fear made him race to the house to check on tara. >> i walked in, and the house is dark. [inaudible] >> do you need a little time? you need a little break to collect yourself?

>> [inaudible] so i walked in. and our bedroom is to the last. and there was a little [inaudible] a little light on from the tv. [inaudible] >> he says he instantly knew what had happened. and that he was to blame. >> it felt like i was telling myself, this is your fault! this right here! it's your fault! because i didn't answer the phone, i blamed myself. >> what emotions were you feeling? >> guilt. but gayle does not begin to describe it. [inaudible] and it felt like god was telling me, this is all your fault. this is all your fault! >> after his emotional account of finding tara. the attorney gave levi a chance to explain away a series of other prosecution points.

that computer search for how to kill? levi told the jury, that all came from his passion for martial arts. >> i remember looking up, how the ribs somebody's throat out. because i wanted to find that martial art. >> and rose's llama? levi testified the rest of her story that it was a lie. >> she told you that she thought that your truck wasn't really stolen. did she ever say such a thing to you? >> she never told me a thing like that. i don't even know for sure if tara really cut her hair. >> and remember how terrible things were so quickly packed up? levi said that his family did that all on their own. >> did you know anything about family members of yours boxing stuff up? >> no i didn't have anything. all i know is, the bed was gone. >> to close, the defensive aurier had two more questions for his final witness. >> did you kill your wife, the mother of your children, why tera chavez? >> absolutely not. >> did you temper with any

evidence to make her death look like a suicide when it was really a murder? >> absolutely not. >> the prosecutor, mckay, tried to rattle him. grilling him about texts the state believed that he had fake from her phone. and showed investigators. >> you thought that was an important text into? >> of course i did. >> the prosecutors found it suspicious that levi delivered all of other texts that weekend. >> yet you deleted every techs except for that one! >> how is i supposed to know how many tech side the lead? >> and put him as a lying philanderer. the answer? that was the old levi. and he was now a changed man. >> is it possible for any person to change in one day? there is a process. >> and leave i was not afraid to interrupt to make his points. >> and it tells us that.

>> i was telling the jury that's a process. let me speak to my jury please. >> referring to the jury as my jury. >> can i speak to my jury please? >> your honor. no. you need to answer the question. >> in nearly six hours of testimony. levi chavez tried to show he had nothing to hide. and that he did not kill his wife. >> turns out, levi did not do it. no one else did it. tara wrote the suicide notes. and they are suicide notes. >> but with his jury agree? >> coming up. >> as they begin deliberations. jurors are unanimous on at least one point. >> someone made the comment, can we all agree that levi chavez it's a dirt bag? >> but with that change the verdict? when dateline continues! have you thought about your wish? i wish that shaq was my real life big brother. awe.

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was drawn to a close as the judge charged the jury to deliberate. >> go into the jury room. -- >> was tara chavis's death a suicide or a murder? >> if he is convicted. life in prison? >> yes life in prison. >> or he walks free? >> yes. >> behind closed doors, after five weeks of testimony. the jury could finally discuss the evidence. >> it is mentally, emotionally draining. >> we spoke to six of the people that levi called my jury. >> what did you think of him continually were referring to you as my jury? >> that was a little disturbing. >> i didn't personally have an issue with it. it was about him, so i didn't take it personally. but some jurors were offended

by that. >> i think what offended some people was my jury. like your my friends or something. >> taking for granted that you are on his side? >> almost implied a level of collaboration. that you're never going to get. >> he began deliberating, and took a big vote. and realize they were far from unanimous. but they did agree on some things. >> all of you know someone who has had an affair? >> yes. >> any of you know someone who's had as many affairs as levi chavez? >> no. >> someone made the comment, can we all agree that levi travis is a dear bag? >> and apparently, they could agree on that. while simultaneously setting it aside. concentrating on the evidence and not levi's bad behavior. >> we all felt that we couldn't judge him on his character. it was our job to judge him on

the facts that were presented to us. >> but some of the comments, the state said levi made about his wife. they couldn't get over. >> he called her a useless piece of skin. to me that meant, i am done with tara. so that is what made may think that he killed her. >> they thought long and hard about how tara was found. and about the gun that killed her. they asked for the glock to be brought into the jury room. >> we played a lot with the gun. we put the magazine then, we took the magazine out, we put the magazine and. we comparative for the full dose. >> at the end of the day with the evidence, they couldn't agree. >> my question was, what happens if we can't make a decision? i thought for sure there was no way. we were too far apart. >> the jurors went home for the night. and when they came back the next day they took a vote. now they were unanimous. the court summons the cordoba and chavez families.

>> i was shaking. i was not quite prepared for that moment. >> how did levi look? >> he looked very worried. >> before i called the jury, and find out what the verdict is. i have heard throughout this trial there was a lot of animosity in this courtroom. you can cut the tension with a knife in here. >> the judge ordered quiet in the courtroom, and instructed the families to leave separately after the verdict. >> okay juror, has the jury reached a verdict? >> yes. >> can you read it for them? get mr. chavez prairies rise. >> we find the defendant, levi chavez, not guilty. of first degree murder. as charged in count one. >> not guilty. levi chavez was about to walk very. >> where you're looking at levi at the moment that it was red? >> yes. all of us were hugging.

and set up prayer after. it's very, like it's over. >> but the end of the family in court was in agony. and quickly left. >> judges has not been served. >> justice has not been served? >> i immediately put my arm around teresa and got her out of there. and i wanted to get her home. >> i was shocked, disappointed. and disgusted with our system. >> so how did the jury reach that not guilty verdict? prosecutors they said, had simply failed to make their case. several said they were baffled at how little evidence was presented. >> when the prosecutor rested i was like, seriously? i was expecting much more from them. >> i really would've hoped for them to take out two of the mistresses and put it something else that would put in more of idiots but it did it. >> they just simply did not believe one of those witnesses. >> rose?

>> no. >> did interest? they're >> not at all. >> what did you say? >> don't trust her within ten put full. >> aaron jones? the police officer? >> definitely not. >> jones testified that the magazine had been released. but when the jury looked at the photos, they weren't so sure. >> for me, no one proved to me that the magazine was unseeded. >> so the fact that the defense expert tried to show that it could be done, and couldn't do it. that wasn't such huge fail for the defense? >> no. >> remember, the jurors never heard the comments attributed to tear from her family and friends. but if something happened to her, leave i did it. in the end, all of the jurors that we spoke with said it came down to reasonable doubt. one was upset that they were not able to convict. >> it was not a decision that i wanted. to give. but i had to. because of the reasonable doubt. >> so you think levi got away

with murder? >> unfortunately. i do. >> the jurors that i talked to said they were stunned when the prosecution rested. they thought to themselves, that is? it's there is no more? did you not screw this up? >> now. we gave them the evidence, when we were allowed to give, and that was out there. we don't get to creates the evidence. >> my question is, was it worth it? >> yes. >> even though you didn't get the result you wanted? >> yes. >> yes we know the truth. >> we know the truth, and tara's words even though they weren't heard in that courtroom. they are being heard today. >> not guilty. i'm innocent. i told you. >> after the acquittal, levi charged out of court. and straight through the press corps that he felt had been harassing him for years. >> i didn't do anything wrong. >> you are the only member in the family, who was willing to

talk to us. how come levi does not want to talk? >> i feel like the media has really, i don't think they gave him a fair chance. and none of my family has ever said anything that. but we are all victims, and i really do feel sorry for them. i really do. they can take this apology from my family. but. levi was, is a victim. >> when we last spoke. his attorney said that leave i had no plans to return to law enforcement, and hope to go to law school someday. after the trial, he remembered in the albuquerque area with his wife, their young son, and levi's to kids with tara. >> you think he'll be an excellent husband to her than he's been to tara? >> he has been an excellent husband and brother. >> the court -- later decided to drop their wrongful death civil lawsuits

against their former -- . >> we're all here to remember tara. >> a few weeks after the trial, family and friends came together to remember tara chavez. on what would've been her 32nd birthday. for all of those who loved her. tara is never really that far away. >> i'll be in good company if something ever happened to me. i have [crying] i have my baby. she is my angel. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i'm andrea canning and this is "dateline". >> she and her son danny were in the basement of their home when the doorbell rang. danny bounded up the steps to answer the door.