of it all, what kind of a life would she have had with him? a thought, perhaps, best lef packed away, like a lot of things >> i had a wedding dress, th house's book, the venue booked catering booked. we were just a little over two months out >> boy oh boy, a wedding dress is such a symbol what do you do with a thin like that? where do you put it >> i haven't even looked at it >> where do you put it >> it's in my mom's basement she's moved a couple of time and it's in her basement >> i'm craig melvin. and this is dateline >> it's shocking it just kind of, you go into crisis mode.

i don't think they knew exactl what had happened other than that he was covered in blood she was just broken and lost there is a murderer out ther and it is terrifying >> it was supposed to be a anniversary celebration. 32 years together. >> they were in love even afte all those years. they were very happy together. >> suddenly, an intimate momen turn to infinite terror. >> i just heard, help, someone is in trouble. i was scared i was scared >> a husband found murdered in a closet a wife, tied up in another >> they found her on the groun with her hands by hundred back >> she had bruising on her arm and on her face. >> inconsolable. screaming, crying. >> who could be behind this? >> well their only daughte desperate for justice for he dad. be careful what you wish for >> everybody gasped.

nobody could believe it. this terrifies me because this can happen to anybody. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, and welcome to dateline she was his teenage crush, then, puppy love turned into a lifelong love affair eventually, high schoo sweethearts jamie melgar and sandra got together and had daughter they celebrated a 32 years together when jamie wa brutally murdered. to crack the case, they had to investigate a allusion where the of the great houdini here is dennis murphy with "unspeakable". >> the scented candles wer lit. the jacuzzi jets turned on high it was a belated anniversary evening, but not some bi

blowout. sandra and jaime were just not that kind of couple. >> there were so kind to eac other, so respectful >> it was really the start of life love for the two. they raised a daughter, did al the usual things that families do and now the time for jimm was right around the corner -- >> they sat there and talked about the future and what they were looking forward to. >> but the future for these tw would last no longer than th flame on that candle by the next afternoon, there would be blood, lots of it somehow, someone had turned cozy celebration into monstrous crime scene. >> it was just - there was horrible >> but in the world have happened in that house >> i have no idea. >> the story of the two begins as high school me cute sandra, the new girl fro morocco, assigned a seat and her classroom just in front of jamie melgar their daughter doesn't know ho many times she heard tha story. >> he used to pull her hair in the middle class apparently, one time, he

invited her eye skating. and he told her that a bunch o friends were going, when she shows up, it was just him an one friend who eventually. left >> so a bit of a scheme going on there >> yes but it went well >> and that was. that sandra and jaime were a done deal. an inseparable couple. sandra studied nursing and jamie juggled a job as a computer programmer whil investigating in real estate >> a happy family? >> definitely. i was a daddies girl growing up >> and jamie carried himself a a goofy guy? >> was he an easygoing guy >> yes very easygoing. he would crack the worst jokes >> they were so bad that you would just stop and grown an they got known as john jokes >> melissa and sarah would rol her eyes and say, oh uncle jim >> we the melgar's lif revolved around church too they joined the jehovah' witnesses in the relationship. but by the her early twenties,

daughter liz left the church she rushed into a marriage a bad one. >> he was involved in heavy? drugs >> yes >> that was the end of it >> that was it. i did not want to live tha kind of life >> but her parents marriag just kept going throug sickness and health. in fact, in recent years, wa jaime looking younger than eve on a vegetarian diet and he wa on the exercise regiment >> he just wanted to make sure that he was in good physical shape. >> your mother had a cluster o problems >> yes >> lupus, chemotherapy got involved too

>> she also had epilepsy >> did you ever have seizures? >> yes she did >> then december 2012 worl around their 32nd anniversary sandra was ill on the actual day, so they went out to get ten days later, on decembe 22nd >> she was finally feeling better to go have dinner >> the next day, the 23rd, the marissa's family would joi them to have a late lunch. >> on the way there i remember texting him. >> texting your? uncle? >> yes >> i didn't get a response >> was it unusual that heat he did not text back? >> yes >> they got to the house aroun 4 pm and knocked on the fron door >> nothing no answer. >> one marissa's father, jamie's brother herman, went t the back of the. house no sign of them. >> we thought maybe the left maybe they want to go that get something. and my dad, said no his truc is up there. and finally you that's when my dad said, okay will go inside. >> herman walked into th garage door and allowed himsel

into the front door. the visitors huddled in th entrance hall. expecting a greeting fro sandra and jamie, but not. came just as they got ready to leave, they heard somethin that sounded like sandra >> it was mumbling >> where was the voice coming? >> we did not know my dad, i remember, ra straight into the master bedroom. >> what marissa race after her father >> i just heard him saying help, some is in trouble >> ways get out? this >> point yes i was. scared >> the voice was coming from inside the walk-in closet attached to the bathroom herman moved closer, nudged cross the doorknob was a dinin chair. he opened the door, and ther was sandra, on the floor, tied by her arms and angles alive >> he said that she did no look well at all >> as marissa we's mom cut sandra loose her dad spoke.

>> where is your dad, wear your uncle >> the answer to that. unspeakable. >> what had happened to we jamie melgar and to his wife >> coming up >> she looked like she had age ten years overnight. >> broken, and lost. >> sandra melgar, the only possible witness to a terrible night. but what you remember? when dateline continues. ♪ tasty ♪ ♪ sweet or savory ♪ ♪ always satisfying ♪ ♪ gimme blue diamond! ♪ ♪ crunchy, tasty, sweet or savory ♪ ♪ always satisfying ♪ ♪ gimme blue diamond! ♪ ♪ crunchy, tasty. sweet or savory, ♪ ♪ always satisfying, gimme- ♪ blue diamond almonds. there's nothing like volunteering at the fire department. there's nothing like hitting the waves. but with my moderate-to-severe eczema it hasn't always been easy,... ...since my skin was so irritated and itchy... ...and even worse with all my gear on. now, i'm staying ahead of my eczema.

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trying to calculate he family's terrible new reality. >> i still didn't know everything that was going on >> in the bedroom, open drawers, a tossed wallet. had this been a home invasion? and where was her uncle jimmy? then she glanced to her side and there, about 20 feet awa from the bathroom, next to jaime and sandra's bed >> i just saw his ankles >> and this is in a closet are of the master? so, you just saw his reach >> yes, i didn't even know wha had happened to him. i just know his ankles wer tied up. it was horrible. >> there was jaime, naked, covered in blood on the floor. not far from his safe. a red robe encircled his jets. a phone cord looped around his ankles sandra, now freed of her ties, sprang from her closet captivity. a former nurse, she checked fo his pulse and found none >> your and is distraught, she's crying >> yes, yes. >> marissa, what in the worl

had happened in that house >> i have no idea. i'm not sure who could've done something like that to him to them. >> first responders weren' exactly sure what they had bee dispatched to either >> they told us that there's possibly two victims and that's all we knew when we got. emt stephanie robinson was the first responder on the scene she checked on jaime he was clearly dead? >> yes, clearly. >> you know gunshot wounds fro stab wounds -- >> you couldn't tell there was so much trouble i dr blood. i didn't notice the gash on hi neck >> next emt robertson far foun her way to sandra. by then collapsed on a chair i the bathroom, a family membe by her side. >> she was bold up a little bi and she was crying hysterically >> the emt started to assess sandra, who said her head her. but -- >> she said she has no injuries >> still, sandra seeme disoriented. what time was? it morning or afternoon? then, between gulping sobs sandra said she simply could not remember what happened the night before she'd been unconscious

maybe had one of her seizures. >> she said after a seizur that it's not uncommon that sh falls asleep for several hours >> by now, harris county sheriff's investigators ha descended on a crime scene tha was once just their modest home jamie, they could see, had sub suffered multiple stab wound to the torso by the looks of it, well over dozen. the crime scene unit got t work inside. collecting evidence. things like a bloody chair nea jaime's body and a kitchen knife fished out of the bottom of the jacuzzi sandra, seemingly in shot from her ordeal, declined to go t the hospital instead, she went to talk with investigators. >> let's start with yesterday. >> sandra told investigators the last thing she remembere was her anniversary night with jaime. >> we went out >> and what time was that? >> i'm going to say about 8:00 i mean, i'm just guessing. i don't know >> sandra told them they stopped for mixers at a cvs on

the way home >> what time did you get home, do you think >> probably midnight >> she said the intended t share some late night romance. candles, strawberries. >> we made some drinks then we went and got in th jacuzzi. >> in your master bathroom >> right >> and then what >> stayed there for about mayb two hours. talking and drinking >> but the intimate jacuzzi wa disrupted by their dogs barkin outside in the yard. >> he got out and said he' more was moving the dogs to th office because they were too loud we don't want the neighbors to complain and he just, you know, was talking taking a while so, i got out and was going to get dressed -- or change in my closet >> maybe that's when she had the seizure. >> that's all i remember, unti i woke up. >> as they talked, sandra brok down who could have done this, sh wondered she recalled for the detective the scary moment on their wa

home >> i think when we left cvs, there was a -- car following us, because when we came in our neighborhood, i was still behind us. and he was really close. >> something for the detective to check out after sandra was done talking, her cousin diana who had rushe into town to help, met her at friends house. >> she looked like she had age ten years overnight. she couldn't stop shaking. so, i didn't want to ask for too many questions >> liz, remembered now, was an ocean away living in europe when sh finally got her mother on th phone. what did you hear in her voice >> she was just broken and lost she was just devastated. >> at that point you had ver fragmentary information? >> i knew my dad was killed in a home invasion and thankfully my mom was still alive >> that's not any kind of news

you should ever hear >> it's shocking it really doesn't sink in for while. you just kind of go into crisi mode >> liz booked the next fligh back to texas. >> i just knew i had to ge there. >> had to get back back to a new reality with a murdered father and traumatized mother grieving would have to take number while the daughter held everyone together. nothing made sense >> coming up - >> were you worried about your mother whoever this person was my com back for her >> absolutely. she was traumatized. >> tips begin to trickle in. who could have done this >> you're getting informatio right a way about a sketch neighbor >> that's right. just got out of jail who was suspicious >> when "dateline" continues nds, explore new worlds, and to start screening for colon cancer. yep. with colon cancer rising in adults under 50, the american cancer society recommends starting to screen earlier, at age 45. i'm cologuard, a noninvasive way to screen at home,

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home, liz melgar landed in houston. a daddies girl, shake and even more by the face that wa missing. >> i think at that time it really hit me that i was not going to see him anymore he was not going to be there t pick me up from the airport. >> still very rookie sandr came to pick up her daughter >> we both just broke down a the side of each other >> she had been through terrible ordeal, you don't eve know the full story yet? but did you see the injuries on? her? >> she had bruising on her arm

and on her face. >> did she have a bump on he head >> she did she told me her head was hurting and i could feel i back there >> liz insisted her mom ge some rest. so the next day, when it detectives came by the house where listen center were staying, the daughter was th one to field their questions >> and you flew in yesterday >> that's. right >> okay. >> and lewis thought it pruden to record the conversation she's just a complete shock an she has retrograde amnesia and she has a hard time rememberin things as they are because o the seizures >> this had witnessed her mo seizures before. and she theorized that's what' might've kept her alive during the home invasion. >> i think she probably had seizure and that probabl figured out whoever was there. and maybe they thought the - >> the detectives asked liz to keep them updated on her recovery >> because if she could ever

remember - >> because - >> right now at this point w have nothing >> i've been asking. i've been asking her >> and then the detectives asked liz if she could pay a visit to her parents house >> anything is missing because we have to start searching for the eye victim that are missing >> i can't imagine you going t the house repairs at happy times and then it's a crim scene. >> absolutely, it is the one place you are supposed to be safe and it has just been -- it's been tainted. >> she went through the hous room by room cataloguing which he thought was missing. a tv set, jewelry, cash, and medication last stop, the garage. the garage was full of thing that could easily be stolen an pond >> yeah. >> there, this fight something back to her eyes, was out of place. her middle school backpack sticking out of it, an xbo consul could this have been the killers loop, dropped in a panic as he ran from the scene this calls investigators, they return to the house, snapped even more photos, and collecte

the backpack as potentia evidence they later find beneath that xbox some of sandra's jewelry. and liz realized she had a idea for detectives, to. a possible suspect >> is it true that is that you told your investigators to tak a look at your acts? >> yes, i tried to give them a much in formation as they. could. >> during the last years of hi rocky marriage to, liz the w melgar's suspected that -- they never reported thei suspicions to authorities, but now this told to tactics, talk to the ex. by now, the murder break-i story was all over the news. >> deputies tell the melga don't -- >> they were starting to offer crime stopping tips. number one, check out for th guy caught outside lurking outside the house.

kprc tv cover the mel g. a. r. murder you have information - and he's up the block and mayb at the scene that night? >> that's right, a neighbor wh had just gotten out of jail, h was suspicious >> liz thought add him to th list of potential suspects >> did you have ideas for them >> i did >> she also suggested they tal to one of her parents tenants. someone who had disputes wit her dad. and it was a coworker of jayme she got a bad vied from. and, again, liz says she urged detectives to look at her ex he had a record of dru arrests. if not him, what if people i his circle months dragged by without word on the investigation. you believe someone is out there who got away with killin your father? >> absolutely. it was hard to sleep at night. every little noise was - it had me on edge. >> were you worried about your mother >> oh yeah >> that whoever this person wa

would come back for her? >> i was constantly. word >> and how is her health a that time? >> she had started havin seizures and we, you know, she was traumatized, she had post-traumatic stress, sheddin zaidi, she had depression. she was a mess >> this climb clung to the hop that one of the detectives - for the moment, it looked as though law enforcement was playing their cards close to the best according to colleen barnett from the district attorney's office, that was because the made some early observations about the crime scene. >> officers had investigated burglaries and robberies the were open a little bit but nothing was tossed but what about those items tha were lost detectives too careful notes of those notes

-- pricey things that had bee left untouched >> cameras, the bicycle, there was some painting equipmen there were things that weren't easy to take that weren' taken. and then there was stuff tha was taken that was put back in the garage does not make sense. >> the home, to investigators, should no sign of forced entry the garage door was the only way in for the intruder. but it looked as though it could've been stage. now to investigators, this didn't look like a burglar gone bad, but more like targeted killing and they theorize thei suspect. it was somebody who is already inside the house >> coming up >> my memory is so bad >> how murky was her memory, really investigators are about to listen very carefully to sandra's story when dateline continues.

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i am katie phang these are the stories that w are watching this hour u.s. skiers mckayla shiffrin has secured a historic victory during the event and sweet and she tied in the past, and beat stenmark's record in world cup wins she's now the most successfu skier of all-time on the world cup tour and in indonesia, authoritie held with tourism and mining activities in the country' most - loving gas in its biggest lava overflow since 2020. now back to big lie. >> welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin an anniversary celebration tha began with candles and strawberries, ended in murder. sandra melgar told investigators she had no memor of the killer who stabbed he husband jaime, and left he tied up in a closet. sandra's daughter liz offere several potential suspects her ex husband, a former tenant,

maybe a coworker but investigators had a theory of their own here again is dennis murph with "unspeakable" >> december 23rd, 2013 the day before christmas eve also the first anniversary o jamie melgar's death, wa impossibly hard for his family >> that's all we really thin about. >> should be holiday season, but it's an awful memory >> yes, yes. >> so imagine the family i waiting for an arrest to b made in this thing >> yes we were anxiously waiting fo that day to come that doesn't matter if it' tomorrow, for ten years from now, but we would like som answers. >> but law enforcement wasn' exactly forthcoming with the melgar family. might have been a reason they doubted jamie's murder wa a burglar or even someone else in the center and jamie' remote orbit >> there's always a firs submissions suspicion of famil members, if there is nothing that really makes sense. >> and that suspicion ha narrowed down to the perso

inside the house with jamie. sandra her account of a blacked out 1 hours after their anniversar celebration -- >> i wish i could recall >> to investigators, was jus too weird to be believed >> my memory is so bad >> it seemed implausible t them that sandra really hear nothing the entire night >> this is happening in a very small space. the husband is stopped today eight and found in one closet. she's been tied up in another. >> that's right. >> the investigators constantl studied that interview the conducted with sandra. they found her more indifferen than distraught. >> do you know what ha happened today >> my husband was murdered >> how >> i don't know. >> and when sandra broke dow crying, though detective couldn't recall seeing any tears. detectives believe sandra' story morphed overtime for instance, the part about how long she waited to get out

of the tub after jaime left to fetch the dogs at first, she was vague. >> and he just, you know, wa taking a while, so i got out >> then, more specific >> about 15 minutes, 2 minutes. >> later, another revision >> maybe about five minutes. >> and detectives were perplexed by what sandra claimed she did and did no hear that night. >> hear anybody scream >> no. >> hear the dogs well you could hear the do barking? >> yeah, because they were right outside the window >> but after almost two hours, as investigators pushed her, sandra seemed to tweak this ke element of her story >> actually, i don't eve remember hearing the dogs. my husband was the one tha says - he's got better hearing than i >> of course, the changes in sandra story could b attributed to shock. but as the detectives unit sandra was being deliberatel evasive. enhancing her story to align with a conjured up crime scene a sounds like a bloody event was it >> it was bloody in the area

that he was in there was blood in the carpet. there was blood on a chair he, himself was very bloody. and the closet, but nowhere an else in the house was there an blood. >> to investigators we are thinking, home invader would've dragged at least trace of blood on their way ou of the house but crime scene techs did no find any when the rest of the forensics came back, the findings ha limitations. reporter, amanda orr >> although you have the murde weapon, it's been washed and i water for several hours. >> kitchen knife >> kitchen knife a large kitchen knife. was found in the bathtub so, any dna that could hav been on it from the murderer was gone it was washed away >> what's more, no blood was detected on sandra in fact, no dna or fingerprint linked sandra to jamie somebody or jamie to sandra's and while detectives had a hunch about sandra, th evidence did seen didn't see quite there yet for an indictment as more time went by, it becam clear to members of sandra's

family, like her cousin diana, that law enforcement was eyein her. >> okay, it's okay for you t think that investigate her and then you'l see that there is nothing ther and move on. >> that, as the investigatio dragged into july of 2014, their worst fears were realized liz and her mom found out in a most unusual way >> i went to the mailbox and i had been absolutely filled wit flyers from lawyers, trying to get our business for a pending case >> did you know what that wa about? >> i had no idea what that was about. so, i got on to the harris county website and i entered m mom's name, and i saw that she had been charged with my father's murder. >> a few days earlier, a grand jury had quietly voted t indict her she turned herself in an posted bond. and then she hired veteran attorney mac secrest to defend her. >> quite frankly, i can smel bs from across the room. and when i sat down and spok

with her, her story wa plausible. i didn't hear anything tha rang kind of a false note. >> allison secrest, mac needs, served as counsel. >> she's a sweet person. she doesn't have a temper. and it was really apparent t us that she had a good relationship with her husband. >> they couldn't fathom ho sandra was under suspicion for a crime that defied physical possibilities. after all, she was found tie up, barricaded in her closet >> she believed she's had seizure. or maybe, she was actually hit in the head and was knocke unconscious. >> to these attorneys, the cas seemed suspiciously thin >> where is the beef worse the crime? i guess more importantly, wa the investigation? >> it had taken more than year and a half to indic sandra so, what were the detectives doing all that time? well, that's an involved story investigated by nbc affiliat kprc tv. the lead detective on the case ruben had become the center of a scandal.

>> a controversy is goin tonight over a documen falsified by a harris county detective now working for th district attorney's office >> the detective got himself into serious trouble for falsifying a search warrant in a case not connected to sandra 's and that cast a shadow on hi other investigations >> that became a really bi issue for the prosecution. and something that the defense would be able to definitely us against them >> after the story broke, th detective left the sheriff's department would a and the case against sandra, to did your lawyers tell you this thing may never go to chart trial? this thing has got so many holes in it? >> that's what we believed absolutely >> by the summer of 2017, it had been three years since sanders arrest she had a right to a speed trial. it was put up or shut up tim for the da's office. when you read all your stuff you, step back, you said, what do i have here what was the biggest problem

>> the biggest problem was tha i didn't have that man affirmative acts from he standpoint >> what do you mean? >> i couldn't put the knife in her hand i didn't have any eyewitnesses that she killed him. she didn't confess >> what did you have going for you? >> first story it was ridiculous. >> so, the prosecution made th call the people versus sandra melga would proceed to trial >> coming up - a deadly seduction >> the prosecution thinks that sandra melgar lowered jaime to the bedroom under the guise of six play >> she's massaging his neck. and then she makes a strik straight up. >> but where was the proof >> this case out to scare th hell out of all of you >> when "dateline" continues

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and a half years after jayme melgar was murdered in what' seemed at the time as a brutal home invasion. but now his wife of 32 years was on trial for jayme's murder, she pleaded not guilty it put daughter liz in a painful judicial paradox they're bringing you, th family victim justice in their mind and justice is puttin your mother away >> correct and i lost my father, and here

i am in a way losing my mother this is supposed to be the justice system that -- is just completely broken. >> prosecutor the collee barnett's message for the jury was simple, sandra, and only sandra could've done this. >> there is zero evidence -- >> we no evidence that anyon else did this. >> prosecutor set out to dismantle the idea that jayme' death resulted from a botche robbery. first responder, emt we told the jury that to hurt the crim scene looked off >> it was disarrayed, the draw has rippled out, nothing appeared to be missing >> and to the the prosecutor used sandra's own words agains her. the jury heard the wil interview, where the defendant looks so indifferent >> happened that day >> my husband was murder the

>> and sometimes her story t the detectives didn't seem t follow the facts >> she was telling a tale so she could go on with her lif so she would have to go to prison >> for instance, her story o jamie going out to quiet the barking dogs >> there is a neighbor who lived next to the melgar's who constantly complained about th dogs barking she didn't hear the dogs tha night, she slept wonderfully >> but of course, the was -- main problems for sandra was a big picture. you want us to believe that home invaders wer slashing your husband to death just feet away from you, and you remember nothing really >> nobody running? nobody saying anything shouting >> no. nothing. >> sandra's explanation wa that she had suffered from seizures and memory loss for years. reporter amanda we went into sandra's medical history refuting that. >> she did go to the doctor' office that she wasn't havin

seizures, that her medicatio was controlling it very well >> so if sandra was lying an didn't have a seat, or she had the time to what - >> she had a lifetime to get rid of the clothes to wash yourself up. we to get ready for the one bi finale >> though not required to prov a motive, the prosecutor offered one up to the jury anyway there was no evidence of infidelity or typical marriage troubles still, she suggested tha sandra wanted out, but there religion made it impossible to split up the usual way >> jehovah witnesses do no allow you to get divorced. unless jimmy gets we - starts cheating, which h wasn't we so wasn't - >> sandra too frail to commit close quarters crime maybe not.

the medical -- examiner's report conclude that jamie suffered 37 sho wounds so stab, stab, 20 injuries >> maybe not forced used, mayb a weaker person. >> so how did the attack g down the prosecutor had a vivid scenario of a lethal seduction >> the prosecution things that the sandra melgar lured jami to the bedroom and allure of sex play >> so she gets jamie to si down on a chair, and maybe she's massaging his neck and then she pulls it out an while he isn't looking she makes a strike, straight up, all the way up to his neck >> it was a traumatic show intel, for sure. then it was showtime for the defense. the prosecution's case was all invented non said, they said the very strong evidence light

>> the attorney told the jur that sandra was the victim of myopic bumbling investigation. >> this lady falsely accused >> and the defendant said that sandra attacked herself. >> she's been tied up. she's been left in the close for 14, 16, 17 hours >> they show these photos in court and said we -- sent her to a doctor and confirmed her injuries >> when sandra went to the doctor, she had a full examination. a hematoma was found on he head >> the blinkers detectives thought sandra was guilty from the get-go >> would you want us to find the killer >> of course >> i don't think you do.

>> and they said in the most trying of circumstances, sandr remained consistent an composed >> i had a seizure and, usuall i can't move anyway. >> another point, a forensic one, the defense told the jury of dna evidence that have been collected, but not presented b the prosecution. >> there is unknown male dna i various drawer pulls in th master bedroom, and the door handles, and also on tha backpack so it's huge because it points to a possibl other suspect. >> and the csi's had photographed a bloody swip from the safe in the closet. the defense told the jury ho detectives never went fo possible printed nor heade swapped for dna. >> isn't that the kind o evidence you want to hav available to consider? why won't you at least test it >> the defense ticked off more examples as what they regarded as inept detective work. they never brought analysi ex-husband for questioning, or that neighbor with this histor of petty burglaries.

>> the police are approach knock, and he doesn't answer and they leave and they never followed up o it >> and the defense thought the knew just how the investigatio got so bungled look at the man who let it >> what kind of murder investigation would you have where you knowingly, intentionally, and will fully, don't bring the lead investigator to court? >> the defense, not th prosecution, called the on time lead detective. they weren't allowed to tell the jury of the scanda involving that other case. but they asked him to accoun for a litany of procee informers in thi investigation. case in, point a pair of centrist socks found not in th evidence room, but instead i her filing cabinet, long after he had left the job. >> it's a really horribl investigation, it's inept. >> there's no physical evidenc in this case that points to he at all >> but there was another key element to this prosecutor's case she knew the jury had one bi question, was sandra a houdini

-level escape artist >> coming up >> how do you tell a tie u yourself up with >> all you have to do is - >> a lucky clever bag of tricks? could sandra melgar really pul something like this off? the jurors will have a stunner of an answer when dateline continues. because knowing that your chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetes could progress to dialysis is important. b is for belief that there may be more you can do. just remember that k is for kidneys and kerendia. for adults living with ckd in type 2 diabetes, kerendia is proven to reduce the risk of kidney failure, which can lead to dialysis. kerendia is a once-daily tablet that treats ckd differently than type 2 diabetes medications to help slow the progression of kidney damage and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks. do not take kerendia if you have problems with your adrenal glands or take certain medications called cyp3a4 inhibitors.

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prosecutors claim that she learned her husband jaime into their bedroom, then stabbed hi 21 time. the defense countered that there was no evidence linkin sandra to the crime, in fact she was tied up in the close at the time. but was she? the prosecution was about to unveil a stunning theory how sandra pulled off an elaborate and deadly hoax. here's dennis murphy with th conclusion of "unspeakable". >> sandra melgar's defense attorneys had try to portray the murder investigation a seriously flawed but, perhaps their mos persuasive argument was sandra herself. she didn't testify but "houston chronicle reporter brian rogers said her muted appeared spoke volumes >> there's an old adag indefensible if you can make your client look like a school mom, do it and she kind of come so cros that

>> kind of frail? >> small you have a hard time believing she could even yell. much less stab anyone. >> and how could that seem petite women have managed, a the prosecution contended, t which nature beneath the doorknob of the closet that sh was already inside and beyond that, find her ow hands and feet the prosecution had an answe for those houdini-like skills. >> she definitely prepared for this i'm sure she practiced the chair behind the door. >> the prosecutor said sandr had come up with an ingeniou way to wedge that you're under the doorknob from the inside by sliding a pillow sham along the floor. how is that, you ask well, she played the jury this video of investigators recreating the process >> the detectives videotaped themselves putting their chair on the pillow sham and pulling the pillow sham underneath the door, so you can pull it close from the inside. >> so you can pull it from inside the closet? >> that's.

>> prosecutor barnett said i wouldn't be all that hard fo sanders to tie her own hands behind her backs she showed us what she showe the jury >> so, how do you tie yourself up in that figure eight pattern? >> it's pretty simple. all you do is just put it on your tie, turn in the back, an you just mess around with it any kind of way. the point is, that it look legitimate not that it is legitimate, not that it is legitimate. but it looks legitimate. >> prosecutor argued sandra di this, just minutes before th family discovered her. which explained what the emt said she did not see on sandra 's wrist >> she had no bruises. no ligature marks. nothing. >> but the very thought that sandra could have come up with these elaborate tricks and executed them, that's shee speculation, said the defense. >> that's a theory, folks. there is no evidence of that >> a theory that the defense said investigators who didn' even try to cooperate with the eye witnesses who had foun sandra doctor liz said after that night, investigators never cam back to ask the family wha they saw >> they never really spoke t your family again, is that

right? >> yes, they never reached out to anybody they could have asked them about the theory of the chai and the math under that year you know they could have asked them about the surroundings >> and they would've heard how the family said they neede scissors to cut sandra free. her wrist so tightly bound >> i have a big problem wher they are not following through they're talking to witnesses who had personal knowledge >> the prosecution said it investigators followed the evidence and did a thoroug job. it was now up to a harri county jury to decide sandra's feet the first day of deliberations ended with no decision the jury said you have to go back to your office and how to go back and protect work >> you can't work. you try to do other stuff, but you really can't >> finally, on day two, ther was a verdict. >> we were all saying is going to be fine this is a joke no worries >> surely the jury will see it with the family see it >> exactly >> sandra melgar stood to lear her fate >> we the jury find th

defendant sandra jean melgar guilty as charged with the indictment >> sandra collapse into he chair, sobbing liz, the on devastated, graspe for her mother as she was le away >> it sucked the life out of me i just felt the room spin. and i just felt like my worl was collapsing >> we just could not believe it could not believe it wa happening to her >> to prosecutor barnett, this was justice. both for the state and for jamie melgar >> she's committed a crime and they found her guilty. i'm glad i've done my job and justice has been served. >> the jury sentence sandra to 27 years in prison her lawyers have begun the years long appellate process from behind bars, sandra wrote us this letter saying --

she's at peace because she knows she's innocent her family supports her, so, she's not giving up. analysts well, she and her kids do thei best to carry on without jamie or sandra. >> my daughter just loved he loved her nana so much and it was too heartbreaking t tell her that nana wasn' coming home. >> what do you miss about your dad the most >> every day when i look at my kids, because i know what wonderful grandfather he would have been. the jokes and the games. probably the choice he would have made for them >> they never got a chance t roll their eyes at a gym joke? >> yeah, yeah. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline". i'm craig melvin thank you for watching as we begin a new hour the manhattan da speaks. alvin bragg response t questions about the stormy daniel