that we really love each other >> some people call this a twisted love story >> i think it's true love. >> marckensy the car salesma who play the role of a lifetim said he was happy for th hollywood ending the good guys one. >> the detective in th prosecutor said you're the her in this. do you feel that >> no. not at all that was the right thing to do being a hero, noah, the one ou there every day, not me. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm natalie morales-less thank you for watching >> i'm craig melvin and this i "dateline" >> i got a call saying the house was on fire. the first thing they asked m was who would want to kill you who would want to murder you and i just kind of looked at

him like, what i couldn't believe it. was he watching me >> that fire was set very calculating >> years before his wife kille herself. >> yes he claimed she committed suicide days before she was du to give birth to her first child. >> she was extremely excited for that baby. she wanted to be a mom >> this wasn't somebod thinking about suicide >> exactly it made me wonder was he a murderer >> you are trying to prove a murderer with pretty much no evidence >> correct >> is he kind of gloating he got away with it >> he is thinking, well, catch me if you can. we are going to do her and her family justice we are going to solve this murder ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, and welcome to "dateline" meg purk was a young mom to be over the moon to be having her

first child. then, just days before her due date, she died of an apparen suicide. her family struggled t understand why, but in a strange twist, a house fire se decades later would point to a possible answer and pu investigators on a trail towards the truth. here is josh mankiewicz with "secrets from the grave" >> wander through any graveyard, and you will find them mysteries etched in stone. lives cut tragically short b war, disease, misfortune, an sometimes murder many who arrested in these peaceful places took secrets t their graves but some here are mainly awaiting waiting for someone to tak interest and ask questions as you are about to see, the

dead can be exceedingl patient. our story begins on a frigid march night in 2009, with house fire in stow, ohio that fire was important. not for what it destroyed, but for what it illuminated. >> 9-1-1, where's your emergency? >> it's uniondale drive. there is a fire. >> the house, or what? >> the house >> the caller was a 16-year-ol girl who told the 9-1- operator that she, her parents and her younger brother had al escaped, but barely. and her father took the phone. >> i don't really understand it -- the entire front of ou house is just engulfed >> okay. i'm glad everybody got out >> that dad was scott purk you will be hearing a lot abou him. purk said his family had bee sound asleep when he heard a

loud boom. >> it was like we heard an explosion. >> oh, you did >> yeah. and that's what woke us up it's real cold at the moment >> purk said he scrambled to get everybody up and out by the time the first fire units rolled up, the purk home was a roaring bonfire. firefighters smelled gasolin as soon as they got out of their trucks so a call immediately went out to stow police detective ken mifflin. >> when i got there, i saw the fire department still puttin out the blaze. someone had taken probably a pipe wrench to disconnect th gas line and it was blowing out natural gas. it was a very large roarin sound. >> at that point, the ga hadn't ignited >> no. it could have possibly blown up the person who said to the fir poured gasoline all the way to the gas meter and on top of th

gas meter. >> the idea was fire starts, the gasoline goes to the gas main, and possibly destroys th house, and everybody in it >> absolutely. >> mifflin found the pur family sheltered at a neighbor 's house, and asked the father scott purk, to step outside. >> we actually went over to my unmarked detective bureau car, and we sat in my car, where it was nice and warm. >> the first question is, wh would want to burn down your house? who are your enemies >> exactly, right. scott said he really didn' have any there was no one he knew tha was so angry at him that would want to try to harm him or his family so, the investigation basicall took off from there. >> perhaps it was the warm car on such a cold night, or maybe it was mifflin's warm manner either way, scott purk was feeling chatty >> he lost his job about eight or nine days prior to this

things were not going well i his life >> when asked how he and his wife tammy had spent the evening prior to the fire, pur responded with this little shocker. >> scott and tammy are swingers and they spent the evening basically apart because scot was at home, but tammy was out with a friend of hers. >> another man >> another man she was dating their son martial arts instructor, so sh spent the evening with him came home roughly 1:00 in th morning. >> strange, sure but scott purk was just gettin started. >> scott told you tammy brough him to leftovers from th dinner she'd had with the gu she was seeing >> right >> this is like, hey, you know here, honey, here is som

leftover orange chicken this other guy and i didn't eat >> right tammy went to bed first, and scott finished off the leftovers. >> no detail, it seemed, was too small or insignificant for scott purk >> it was like turning a fauce on once you turned it on, he kept talking. i kept writing down th answers. >> at times, it was hard t keep up. scott purk kept offering answers to questions the detective hadn't asked and there seemed to be so much more he wanted to say. >> what scott purk set nex would leave investigator stunned. and wondering if he was more than just a distraught homeowner who liked to gab coming up -- >> he's doing almost everythin he can to make himself sound like a suspect >> yes, exactly. >> as scott purk keeps talking suspicion keeps mounting about this house on fire, and

burning secret >> i was shocked, and it mad me wonder, okay, now i need to look into this, and i'm lookin at someone who i believe is an arsonists. now, i am wondering okay, is h a murderer >> when "dateline" continues ♪ 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. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing,

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>> in 20 years with a badge, detective can mifflin had neve encountered anyone quite lik scott purk

as the two of them sat in hi car watching purk's home being reduced to ashes, purk kep talking. same things he probabl shouldn't have been saying to cop who already suspected this fire was arson >> he was heavily in debt an he made no bones about telling us that he had actually figure out if his house actuall burned down, he would only all about $70,000 in debt. >> it's essentially sing hinting i'm not gonna find anything hide anything you're gonna find out monday >> right >> arson for insurance money too early to say, but a real possibility. >> he videotaped everything in his house. in case there was ever a fire. and he just did it recently an when i asked him how recent, h said, very recent >> and he was doing almost everything he can to mak himself sound like a suspect >> yes exactly. >> what was mr. purk up to a detective couldn't guess parked down the driveway, well

away from the burning home sat the purk family van. cleaned up and ready for a roa trip according to scott, he and his son had been planning to visit family in north carolina >> and what drew our attention was what he actually packe inside the van >> i'm guessing it was not stuff you would typically brin on vacation? >> all family photos cookbooks that had famil recipes for generations in there. to which he could offer no explanation about why those or even in the van. >> it was a few days after the fire at's house that stow' chief arson investigatio called detected skin mifflin >> and he says, you've got t hear this. so, he played me the 9-1-1 tape >> there's a fire. >> mifflin heard something o that initial 9-1-1 call from's daughter

something he wanted light delt here to. during a lull, can scott pur be heard calmly whispering t someone. >> oh, god, you forgot the ferry. >> he's talking about a pe ferret and his tone seem to be more rueful oversight va anguished alarm. >> that was a bit of a flag. leading us to believe that there had been a plan anyways, all along. >> and add in's money woes and his admission that an insuranc payout would clear most of his debt and like dell with spree saw o the idea of scott purk as an arson lid suspect. oh and mifflin wasn't finished on the night of the fire, th detective tall lidlel. had casually scott purk ha tuck casually added tantalizing detailed his lif story. >> scott just out of the blu

says to me, well, his firs wife had committed suicide i 1985 she was pregnant, nine month pregnant >> as if not only is my hous in embers but this isn't eve the worst thing that happene to be? >> i was shocked and it made m wonder, okay, now i need t look into this i'm looking at someone who believes in arsonists. now i'm wondering, okay, we'll see a murderer >> the two lawmen decided to pursue parallel investigations into scott purk. lidel take lead on the arson case mifflin, the suicide >> you guys know each other an you get along? >> he knows exactly what he' doing. >> we do work very wel together we have a great relationship >> mifflin his case had th highest hurdles. not only had scott purk's firs wife, meg purk by 24 years earlier, but she had died in akron, only a few miles from stow but a different jurisdiction what's it like to go to th

akron police and say hey, i' from a much smaller department but i think you've got thi case wrong back in the mid 1980s? >> you had to approach it very carefully, but we have a goo working relationship with th police department in akron and you have to make the phone call >> instead of waving off thi small town detective, the akro cops were willing to help. >> i talked to a detective who have dealt with in the past. he said, it's not a cold case, it's a closed case if you want to have -- use your eyes to take a look a it, we'll send you a copy of the report and he did >> according to the original police report, meg purk was 24 years old and nine month pregnant on the day she died >> scott stated that the morning of march 18th, 1985, meg had woken up sick. scott had made a doctor' appointment for her to go se her doctor >> later that morning, scott

said he was taking a bath when he saw meg walk past the bathroom door. >> he gets out of the bathtub, about for five minutes later and low and behold he sees meg hanging from a rope in the stairwell of their apartment >> the story is that he cuts meg down and tries to do som cpr? >> yes, once he saw meg hanging, then he grabbed a steak knif from one of the tables nearb and cut the rope, and then h started to do cpr. so, he calls for invest respon and meets them at the door whe they get their >> meg's unborn baby, a boy, died at that same day. meg lingered another 24 hours. she never regained consciousness. the detective had nothing he could test or examine. in fact, even the police photo from the scene had been tossed long ago still, nothing about scott purk's version of the stor felt right >> most women who are nine months pregnant and carry thei

child full term typically do not commit suicide that was the first thing second thing was, he was in th apartment when his wife hung herself and a stairwell of their apartment. most individuals do it b themselves with no one around. >> both of those facts wer available to the akron polic back in 1985 >> they had their doubts tha this was a truly a suicide however, they just didn't have enough >> next, the detective examine the original autopsy photos. what did you see >> what stood out in my mind from the autopsy photos was on meg's neck there were lines on her neck that looked like belt mark was on her neck, not a rope mark. >> the detective figured the only way to find out what ha actually happened in tha apartment in 1985, was to lear all he could about scott and meg purk >> coming up - something disturbing about meg

's past. >> there was an on the coffe table and it said that she had tried to hang herself. >> and something dark from scott's. >> he was an inter burglar >> the ninja burglar >> he would actually commi burglary dress up as a ninja >> how many burglaries are w talking about? >> at least ten burglaries he would come into your bedroo and what you sleep and the take your wallet or purse of your night stand >> when "dateline" continues wrinkle guard penetrates deep into fibers, leaving clothes so soft, wrinkles don't want to stick around. make mornings smoother with downy wrinkle guard fabric softener. how do i love thee? ...let me count the ways. ♪ love can get a little messy...

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♪ ♪ ♪ >> in the weeks after scot purk's house burned down police in stow, ohio heard a earful from people who eithe knew him or knew of him. >> him and his wife ar swingers they go to the holiday inn o route eight, and they have orgies and stuff >> there is plenty of gossip and speculation and tip call like this one, but occasionally, there was something new. >> his wife and child back i the eighties had been hit by a drunken driver >> remember, purk told the detective his first wife too her own life now, it seems he told at least one of his former lovers a entirely different story >> he had told my girlfriend that he went over there an killed the guy, cut him up, an buried him and she's like, "oh", you know they had sex, you know what mean and then he's confessing >> the detective, of course, knew better. scott purk's first wife meg an their son died in akron, i 1985

her death was suicide by hanging, according to th coroner's report 35 years later, meg's memory i still fresh for dawn kracker dawn and meg were best buds in high school. >> she was quiet people say she'd remind them o janice joplin, in her hippie kind of bohemian attitude, but she was very much more reserved she'd come into a room o something, and people just wanted to be with her. >> meg had been a seriou student back then, an amateu poet who managed to get severa of her pieces published. >> some of her poetry was a bi dark >> meg's brother, michae metcalf. >> sometimes about sadness o walls, even death. >> you ever read it and worr about her? >> back then, no, not really

>> dawn, who had known scott since first grade, told th detective he seemed like a model boyfriend to meg >> he did everything exactly you would expect a goo boyfriend to do. he opened doors for her, h took her out, he did everything, you know, you would expect fro someone who is interested in somebody to do >> though meg was charmed, her family never warmed to scott when they married in 1981, her family was not invited >> they didn't run off and elope. we had a wedding ceremony in the area, and i guess reception. >> but her family wasn't there >> she knew how we felt. >> nevertheless, meg over th moon when she learned she wa pregnant as her due date approached, sh wrote this letter to her grandmother, a letter she neve got the chance to mail

"just think, any day now, yo are going to be a grea grandmother, and i'm going t be a mother. a mother it's even hard for me to believe, but i am lookin forward to it" those did not sound like the words of someone thinking of suicide. >> she was extremely excited for that baby. and that was one of the things she always wanted. she wanted to be a mom she wanted a family. >> so, dawn was stunned when on march 19th, 1985, she heard meg had been rushed to the hospital >> and then i get the phon call, and... kind of like th floor drops out from under you it was a shock >> who was on the phone? >> scott >> do you remember anything he said >> it was, "dawn, i've got bad news meg tried to kill herself. she's in the hospital.

they don't know if she is goin to make it". >> she did not as for suicide -- well, ther had been times before sh married scott, when meg ha spoken of taking her own life. >> there was an incident one time where she locked hersel in a bathroom, and said she wa going to cut her wrists. this was over at a friends house. but, you know, after that, she came out, she had not cu herself or anything like that. >> dawn kracker said something similar happened, once went sh and meg shared an apartment. >> i came home, and i saw on the floor, and there was a not on the coffee table, and i said she had tried to hang herself using the court from the mini blinds. >> did that note explain why meg wanted to take her own life? >> there wasn't an explanation other than she felt that everybody would be happier i she was gone

>> to underscore his claim tha meg had hung herself, miffli says, scott gave one of he poems to the akron detective investigated her death >> at the very end of the poem it says and that she kille herself. >> and, what maybe that is the equivalent o a suicide note, or reflectiv of the way meg purk wa thinking >> exactly >> except, according to family members, that is something meg had written back in high school, and in no way represented he mood in the days before sh died scott, they felt, was usin that poem to promote his own theory, and her family wasn' buying >> honestly, my first though is what did he do? >> right off the bat >> absolutely. >> you know, the investigators were getting information fro the family members that nobody could believe that meg had killed herself >> scott said he couldn' believe it either, and was a shocked as anyone.

in fact, he told the detective he was so rattled by his wife' death, that it changed him int a criminal that's right on the night this house burned down, amid all the talk of death and debt, and his swin lifestyle, scott purk told the detective he had been a famous burglar. dressed in black, from head to toe, carrying none shocks, and throwing stores. scott had been so prolific he'd been nicknamed the ninjas burglar. >> the ninja burglar >> that was a thing in stow? >> i think in stow and surrounding cities, because he burglarized homes an businesses, and broke into cars, and stole things from cars >> how many burglaries are w talking about? >> at least ten burglaries four b and es. he'd come into your bedroom an what you sleep and take your wallet or purse off your night stand. >> once arrested, scot confessed and starting in 1986

did six years in the joint he used the time behind bars t earn a degree in crimina justice. >> scott fancied himself as very smart individual, wheneve i would talk to him. and i think it was part of his strategy to try and show me ho smart he was >> of course, it was possibl state scott purk was not a smart as he thought he was thanks to his own loose lips scott had already made himself the prime suspect in not one but two criminal investigations so, imagine the investigator surprise when, in 2010, a year after the purk's house burne down from an arson fire, the same thing happened to another house just around the corner >> coming up - >> i got a call in the middl of the night saying the hous was on fire. >> another house in flames

>> the gas meter itself wa disconnected and was jus hanging by the inlet fitting >> so, the gas is escaping int the air? >> correct >> was another arsonists a work >> the first thing they aske me was who would want to kil you? and i kind of looked at hi like, what what are you talking about >> when "dateline" continues 24 hours later when your dishwasher is full, let finish quantum clean your dishes. if the stains aren't gone, your lasagna is on finish. (baby babbles quietly) let finish quantum clean your dishes. - shh. shh. shh. so hungry. - the usual? - yes. (phone clicks) (positive winning music) - [narrator whispering] go for grubhub. (triumphant music) (baby sighs quietly) when your v-neck looks more like a u-neck, that's when you know, it's half-washed. downy has 7 benefits that condition and smooth fibers

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with your hour's top stories wyoming now the first state to ban ambush and pills under the new law which takes effect o the. first there could be six month in prison for describing any rug that makes an abortion while abortions almost an eigh circumstance, takes place on sunday and more agencies in new yor are preparing for potentia

indictment of former president donald trump a decision from the manhatta district attorney's office it is expected for hush mone payments to porn star. now back to dateline >> welcome back to "dateline". i'm craig melvin as his house sat ravaged b flames, scott purk made series of startling claims t detective can mifflin. he and his partner quickly suspected scott words not only the arsonists, but a murderer. who killed his pregnant firs wife, meg. now, a stunning new developmen was about to add fuel to the fire back to josh mankiewicz with "secrets from the grave" >> amy remembers well the nigh her duplex apartment in stow ohio, caught fire. it was march 27th, 2010. a rare night off for the 2

year old intensive care nurse. >> i was at my boyfriends. i got a call in the middle o the night from a neighbo saying that the house was on fire we were only about two minutes away, so drove over very fast. >> amy says she jumped out and ran toward the firefighters wh were working her half of the duplex where the worst damage was >> the first thing that they asked me was, who would want t kill you who would want to murder you and i just - kind of looked at him like what what are you talking about and then they asked me, don' you smell the gasoline and that's when i stopped and realized that that's all you could smell, was the stron odor of gasoline >> you involved in anythin illegal? >> no. >> anything extramarital >> no. >> anything that's going t

make somebody angry enough t make you make them want to d away with you? >> nothing that i could thin of at all. >> investigators heard the sea story from the older woman who lived in the other half of the complex. jim lidel was there that night he says even the landlady wa checked out to see if she migh have had her own buildin torched for the insuranc money. >> obviously we had to go look at that, at her. she lived nearby, but she wa fine financially, she was stable an was successful with he rentals. so, she had absolutely n motive for burning it. >> one thing was obvious, this fire was no accident >> the gas beater itself was disconnected and was jus hanging by the inlet fitting the responding fire crews had difficult time extinguishing this fire until they were able to shut the gas off. to the meters. >> so, the gas is just escapin into the air >> correct >> nothing about that look

like an accident and it doesn' even look particularly subtle. >> no. not at all >> the scene had all the earmarks of a fire at's house year earlier the disconnecting gas lines. gasoline poured around the foundation everything seemed to match >> i'm not the brightest bul in the box you know but all of a sudden, the lik did come on. [laughs] i realized that the modu operandi, or the emerald, wa the same >> one block away? >> correct one block away >> and almost exactly a year before >> at almost the same time i the morning. >> for the past year, jim ha lidel analyze the evidence fro the blaze at scott purk's home he was convinced that fire had been an inside job and based on what he knew abou arsonists, this fire was likel set by the same person >> it's unusual for them t switch method once they have a pattern that works for them. find something that works.

the will do something very very similar on each of thei fires. >> it had to be scott. we took that was also anothe scott was trying to show u that there is a serial arsonists in the neighborhood, but it wasn't him. because he left on the other side of town now >> investigators were no fooled mifflin and went lidel to th apartment complex where th purks had been living says their house burned down. the family car parked outsid and still warm on that freezin night reeked of gasoline >> and then in the apartment we find a gas can sitting righ inside the apartment and a pai of boots that had fresh bloo on them. that is just screaming to us we have found our guy. >> of course, had scott purk always been their guy. that said, the lawmen were still no closer to actuall

making an arrest >> you can't really connec scott to the gas used at eithe fire >> correct >> and nobody saw him, it's th middle of the night. >> exactly >> so, you have a pretty stron circumstantial case, but not a tremendous amount of proof >> right and now we have to dot our eye and cross our t's, do our du diligence. because he's our guy still >> coming up - >> he was pretty confident tha it was not a suicide and tha this was a murder. >> the death of meg purk, decades old case, and a bold new strategy to solve it >> he looks at me a can just tell that all the color in his face has dreamed right out he just looked like he had jus been a ghost >> when "dateline" continues -whoo-hoo! -[ laughs ] well done, ma'am. what...did i do exactly? with snapshot from progressive, you get a personalized discount

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arson case, even for one tha seems open and shut. proving a decades old suicid that might actually be homicide? well, that is more a matter of timing and luck. in the case of meg purk, the stars aligned in the summer of 2011, when detective ken mifflin walked into the office of summit county ohi prosecutor sherri bevan walsh. >> i actually still remember when detective ken mifflin cam to my office, and he was basically asking for m assistance to file a motion to

exhume the body and reopen the case he was pretty confident it was not a suicide, and this was murder >> my guess is you guys have plenty of open cases that are, as of that moment, unsolved? you probably didn't need one i a closed file reopened right away >> we have, unfortunately, a lot of homicides in summit county, ohio, and we wer probably, i would estimate a that time, already working o another 50 homicide cases when the detective from stow came t us and said, hey, i have a really old case i want you t consider presenting to the grand jury >> but evidence did th detective have well, almost none beyond a few old autopsy photos and a theory of what had happened the only physical evidence, if any existed, would involve meg purk's body. so, if this case was to go forward, meg would have to b

exhumed. >> deciding to dig up a body that's been buried for a lon time is not an easy decision she's got a whole family tha was there when she was put i the ground, and they might hav their own opinions about whether or not digging her u again was the right thing to do >> exactly it was a tough conversation to have with -- i went and spoke with meg' mom. >> she believed with the res of the family it wasn't suicide. >> exactly and they were very supportiv of all of us to do a examination. >> with meg's family on board, the prosecutor asked a court t order her examination. >> we definitely needed th body of meg purk to be exhumed for the medical examiner >> if the body is not in goo shape, could this go forward >> if it had been to decomposed, it's unlikely this case would ever have bee prosecuted >> while the detective pressed

forward, that summer, lidl report up the murder investigations in august 201 scott purk was indicted for tw arson's. the fire in his home, and th one at amy's duplex. >> can we show you of photo of scott purk i'd ask if you ever knew him >> they did, and i've neve seen it before in my life. >> not somebody crossed path with in your personal life hospital, anywhere >> i don't remember seeing him at all >> the day after the indictmen was handed out, jim and anothe officer staked out scott's apartment. >> and we weren't there mayb 15, 20 minutes at the most and here comes scott's van pulling in he pulls in front of his apartment. we pull in and block him fro leaving. >> two and a half years afte the fire at his home, 18 month since the fire at amy's duplex scott purk was in custody, and

based on what he saw inside th van, they feel the arrest wa made in the nick of time >> he's got a cooler full of pop, and on the front passenge seat of his vehicle was hi cell phone that had the batter removed so no one could trac him. >> suggesting he's about to hi the road >> we were certain he came bac to the apartment to grab a few clothes and he was going t head out >> purk was read his rights, and at that point, the man who would literally talk himself into serious trouble suddenl refused to say anything to investigators. after being processed, detective mifflin paid him a visit and delivered a messag scott purk probably never sa coming >> i let him know, you know, w are looking into his first wife's death he looks at me, and you coul tell all the color in his face drained right out, and that' not what he expected he looked like he'd seen a ghost.

>> scott purk was done talking but the long very body of hi first wife, meg, had a astonishing tale to tell more than two decades after he death. coming up -- >> the bruises on her neck o going their own way? >> yes, and they're not from a rope >> bombshell new evidenc emerges from the grave >> how is this in 1985 >> i don't know. >> and all these years later, dramatic demonstration o scott's story. >> you think to yourself, we are getting close to the finis line here? >> we are. >> when "dateline" continues (terrie) if you're a smoker. i have a tip for you. make a video of yourself...

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i should get paid more for this. you get paid when you win. from xfinity. home of the 10g network. was scott purk arrested on two counts of arson, but investigators were determine to add another charge. the murder of his first wife meg. to cement their case detectives would need help fro an unlikely source, me herself. back now to josh mankiewic with the conclusion of "secret from the grave". >> meg purk and her unborn bab boy were very together in this graveyard. detective can mifflin wa certain that meg had taken secrets to her grief

truths which could prove her husband, scott purk, had put her there. in september 2011, just week after scott purk's arrest, the remarkably well preserve bodies of and meg her baby son were exhumed >> it was amazing to actuall meet her it really was. thinking that we are going t do her and her family justice. >> she was holding that baby i her arms in the casket >> yes >> hard to see >> it was very tough it really brings everythin home >> a lot had changed since tha day in 1985 when this summit county coroner had declared me 's death a suicide first of all, instead of a corner, the county now had a bird certified medical examiner the staff was all new, bette trained. forensic technology was much improved and, thanks to an excellent an bowling job, the marks on meg' body were still there.

>> you could still see the bel marks that go across her nec and then down towards her back >> so the bruises on her nec are going the wrong way? >> yes and they're not from a rope, the belt market is going dow back towards her lower back, which indicates someone' behind you and they're pulling the rope they're pulling the belt towards them in a downward direction, to strangle you >> how was dismissed back in 1985 >> i don't know. >> that second autopsy als revealed other things that wer missed the first time, but wer no less damning for scott purk >> they found a bruise in th lower back, which was amazing. >> all those years later >> yes, and that was scott pur probably using his need to hol his wife down while he i strangling her with the belt >> to test their theory,

investigators went to th actual apartment where scott and meg purk had lived in 1985 with cameras rolling >> according to the maintenanc records there, there had never been any replacement of an other reeling around the stairs so, all of that was still in its original condition >> the railing was smooth. no sign anything heavy had eve dangled there. investigators then went to a vacant apartment a few doors down and hung a dummy, roughly the same size and weight as me from the banister for a fe minutes, before cutting it down [noise] >> well, just that action alone created several indentations in the soft pin wood that we were tied off to. >> and the first time around when meg actually died, ther were no indentations

>> correct correct. >> later, investigators us modeling clay and groups o varying sizes to try and recreate the marks they'd seen on meg's body. >> and we could not recreate that ligature mark with rope >> only a belt or a stripe o some sort, the confirmed, coul have made those marks on meg's mega >> you think to yourself, we'r getting close to the finis line here? >> yes, we are es, we are building this case. i think is going to lead t justice for the victim >> the summit county prosecuto agreed >> we wanted to make sure that justice was done and we also we're working with a famil that never believed that meg purk killed herself. and we wanted to make sure tha they got justice >> all that would have to wait there was still the matter o the two are since. scott pleaded guilty in both cases.

and the judge sentenced him to the maximum, 28 years in prison in november 2015, scott purk was brought from his priso cell to stand trial for me purk's murder. he pleaded not guilty. though the case was largel circumstantial, their testimon of the medical examiner wh reexamined meg purk's body proved decisive. >> the medical examiner ha some really key findings tha showed strangulation and not suicide by hanging >> and that was never in the original report? >> the original report did not reflect anything about the strangulation mark from a belt even had markings of the stitching and a belt that th medical examiner was able to find 30 years later that was never noted at all in th initial exam >> dawn hicks was scott purk's court appointed attorney >> there was never a time when i thought that he had a role i

the death of his winds wife. >> hicks argue that since ha meg a history of attempted suicide, and nobody knew wha really happened, it wa reasonable to conclude that th coroner in 1985 had actually gotten it right. you pointed out to the jur that prosecutors didn't really have any hard evidence what they had was this wonderful recreation >> that's true yes. >> juries like hard evidence >> you're absolutely correct we fought very hard. >> after a six-day trial, th jury found scott purk guilty o murdering meg, as well a tampering with evidence. >> it was almost unbelievable. after all this time, it finall came through the truth is out he's guilty. he's going away. >> the judge gave scott purk 1

years to life on top of hi arson sentence we may never know why scot purk murdered meg, or why he mentioned her to the detective mifflin that night, as the watched his house burn we do know that if he hadn't meg's secret would likely have remained buried with her >> i got into this job to help people, and there's nothin better than making a famil happy with an outcome for case and in this case, it's beyon happy. it's beyond words. everybody -- they can finally rest in peace that this has been resolved th way it should have been. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline". i'm craig melvin thank you for watching >> hello, i'm andrea canning and this is dateline

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