autumn's family felt they ha gotten justice their anger towards thei husband had been overshadowe by all those what ifs. >> not only do i grieve autumn and the loss that she is to me and to us as a family and to our community and our friends. but also her patience. you know, my heart breaks fo her patients >> it was all doctor autum klein had ever wanted to do. help others. now, that chance is gone swept away, way too soon >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin thank you for watching >> hello, i'm craig melvin and hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." this is dateline >> there was no way that you could look at this and say tha this is the person who ran

away mystery had this sinister side to it. oh my god, oh my god this is really happening it' happening right now. >> in the dark waters of miami miles out to see a federal agent hunting for drug smugglers spots a specific jus boat >> i noticed the passenger rolled a large double bag of the side of the boat >> drugs, the agent never foun any. and no one could find a missin young mother either. >> i was afraid for her. >> lynn was just months away from her wedding when sh vanished leaving behind a younger sum and a mystery. inued on land and at sea.>> anyd broken in and abducted her >> no. >> the search continued online and at sea, no bag, nobody, no case >> i didn't have anything that would show she was actuall dead >> decades go by, and th mystery is almost forgotten. but not by everyone.

>> they knew he was the bad gu they just couldn't put him i jail >> all they needed was a miracle, or a witness. >> it wasn't april fools, it was a body ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ing plans seemingly dateline a devoted mother with weddin plans seemingly vanished int thin air florida police suspected fou play but with nobody, no witnesses, no crime scene, this investigation went cold. then a new prosecutor wa determined to find out was this the story of a runawa bride or a woman who ran int trouble? here is dennis murphy with wha lies beneath >> you don't need a moon ove miami to it to be beautiful by night. the skyline reflected in - but it's not for everyone.

>> i am so so worried abou you. you. the night on secret errands. the dark waters. afraid of the creatures that looked down below. afraid of the creatures above. who scuttle through the nigh on secret aaron's. on secret aaron's. who knows lynne friend. are. dennis murphy (voiceover): local newscasts >> you just may share thos fears after you hear the story of a woman named lynn. >> none of this makes sense to anyone who knows lynn. >> local news told a story o this good name >> she really was that all american girl. american girl. california >> a good mom. >> she adored her son, the were inseparable >> little did anyone suspect for the next 20 years, the story of lynne would haunt a young boy's life and a secret would remai locked away for decades, tha would explain everything what happened to lynn, to pu her in the crosshairs of miami tv news. was that she was missing

just flat out gone no one could imagine lynn, a responsible hospital administrative aide. just snapping and walking ou on her life. least of all, on her five year old son kristen. >> one thing is certain, lyn is - >> jennifer, a miami reporte that covered the disappearance >> for her to disappear, without leaving word for her son was just something tha everyone knew would neve happen >> esther sanchez met lin when she came to work at parkwa hospital in fort lauderdale. at the time, lynn was stil living with her fiancée. a business owner named clifford when the two married in 1989 esther was the maid of honor >> she wanted whatever gir dreams, of getting married having a beautiful wedding, an looking forward to havin children the goal of a white picket fence. >> when baby christian cam along, lynn, the proud mom mad her boy one of the mos

photographed children in south florida. over the moon with being a mom less so at being mrs. clifford >> i thought they were a poo match. >> within a year of christians birth, the marriage wa floundering. lynn and her husband parte ways and later divorced. >> she was upset that he dreams had fallen apart. but she was very happy with th fact she was a mom >> so disappointment about it, but maybe christian was no part of it >> he was her number one priority in life she lived for him. >> consumed with being a mom and man out of the picture for the foreseeable future but then along came ahead. he was a consultant from nashville, working on construction project at he hospital >> he set eyes on her righ away he was a southern gentleman, and he would walk in and he would say hi, and tha he would leave and that went on i think for a year

and then one day she said think i'm going to go out on a date with ed >> and that one date turne into a world win romance within months, lynn and ed got engaged, and mapped out future together in nashville he was very fond of the boy, and looked forward to them all being a family together. lynn had been awarded custod of the child, although she ensured that christian's fathe clifford had generou visitation rights. >> she had agreed to everythin that clifford wanted she tried to play, nice sh said if this is what you wan we will do that. >> in august, 1994, the cloc was counting down to movin day. lynn was home packing when e called from nashville at about 8:00 on the sunday night she told him she would b running out for a few minutes, but would call him back, a soon as she returned home. two hours went by, and no limb phone call the fiancée left a message o her answering machine. >> hello it's me, it's about 9:15, and i'm a little worried about you. and hope everything is okay.

>> close friend esther lived i the same condo complexes lynn. and esther noticed her friends car was gone late at night she became concerned esther started calling to. >> i'm very -- really worried you didn't tell me you are going anywhere >> unanswered messages piled u throughout the night >> hello, hello. it's 10:30, and i had hoped would hear from you by now >> i am so so worried abou you. i have no idea where you are call me. bye. >> the next day, a neighbo spotted lynn's car abandoned about a half mile from her home a front tire was flat. soon the cops arrived an esther let them in lynn' condo. >> what i noticed that was ver odd. she is very meticulous and ver neat and she is very frugal the television was on, the lights were on, the ai conditioner was on

>> lynn appeared to have close the door of her town house north of miami on a sunday night. and vanished into the thic night air. so this has become very ominou for you? >> so now it's very very scary >> what's in the world had happened to nice lynn? law enforcement officers fro all over south florida we're looking for any trace of her coming up empty. >> a wedding, a move, a ne job. lynn was facing enormous changes and stress in the days ahead. is it possible she just took off? and if she was a runaway bride had she run into trouble coming up -- >> did you think maybe she got cold feet? and taking a timeout somewhere >> without her son, never. >> and they lincolnton is!

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instead, start sdennis murphyorette, (voiceover): days passed and clues were few in the disappearance of lynne friend. the missing mother of a five-year-old boy seemed to have gotten in her car on a rainy sunday night and never come home. lynne's friends and fiancé, ed o'dell, pleaded for help. all i want is lynne back. i just want to marry her and take her away and live happily ever after. for a missing a friend of ours. dennis murphy (voiceover): they handed out flyers and searched the residential area where honestly, i was very afraid. >> they handed out flyers an search the residential are where her car was foun abandoned. >> honestly, i was very afraid >> a town house she left with

tv still on. ed an investigator assigned by the florida department of la enforcement, was frankly perplexed what he didn't fin at her condo >> there was no sign of an struggle at lynn's house her house was exactly as you would expect it. she was two days away from moving she had boxes ceiling to floor >> any sign that someone had broken in and abducted her >> no. >> cops also came up empty whe they searched her abandoned ca with a flat tire inside they found a waste pouc with her drivers license >> there was no evidence, no fingerprints, no foreign dna evidence >> forensically are not coming up with this all kind of glue? >> no we are not >> that says this explains everything >> no. >> so what did happen to the 3 year old single mother with all due to fuel forensi clues to examine the investigators became - learning just who this missing woman was. woman was. , a new life altogether. layers of her life

what they saw right away wer big stressful changes on her horizon. a new marriage, and a new city a new life altogether. had it all become too much her best friend esther sanchez did you think maybe she go cold feet moving was taking a timeout somewhere >> without her son, never. lynn would have to be dead, to not have christian >> and what about her so christian? could he help fill in an pieces of the puzzle sensitive thing, the child here, is five years old. but maybe he has a story t tell >> no, i don't know how much a five year old child coul provide at that time >> in truth, precious little the night linda disappeared, christian had been with hi father for the weekend like lynn her ex, clifford had also met someone since his divorced two years before. he was engaged to a woman name janet.

she lived in texas, and learne of linda's disappearance a lon distance >> clifford had called me an said he had received a phone call stating that ellen had disappeared. they found her car and the didn't know where she was. >> this is a very traumati thing that has gone on he has lost his mother whether you shielded him fro it >> the news we shielde christian. as much as possible. >> going to take this area - >> meanwhile the massive investigation into linda's disappearance had one goal to find her or at least he body if she was in fact dead >> are you prepared to dea with the worst >> no no i cannot think that. i will not think that. lynn is the woman that i a going to marry she is my life >> i think he really wanted to hold it together and to be dignified. >> jennifer was a reporter for miami's nbc station. >> i think that as the world would come out of his mouth he

would realize what he wa actually saying was that the love of his life was dead. >> i have to believe for christians sake that she i still alive. because he is just a five year old child. and he needs his mother, and h loves his mother so much >> ed it was driven, he woul not give up trying to find the love of his life he called on everyone, even th president to ask for help. >> he started a campaign writing to president clinton and lo and behold. we get a call from the fbi that said they would know like to join the investigation. but even with the top la enforcement agency in th country in on the search for lynn there was still no break in th case but then out of the blue, th deep dark blue, a chance encounter produced a lead from a most unlikely place in the case of a missing woman. >> coming up the federal agent on the lookout for a drug runners run

into something strange >> i tell one of my crew members, light them up as soon as the lights up the boat, the chase is on. >> when what lies beneat continues. it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala is a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma that can mean less oral steroids. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala. [sniff] ew. gotta get rid of this. ♪tell me why!♪ because it stinks. ♪have you tried♪ ♪new downy rinse and refresh?♪ it helps remove odors 3x better than detergent alone it worked guys! ♪yeahhhh!♪ new downy rinse and refresh

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dennis murphy (voiceover): the waters beach are where the vigilant off miami beach are where the vigilant agents of the us agents of the u.s. customs and border protection service go t work every night and here at the --

pursuing cocaine cowboys and their go fast boats was th reality back in the 1990s. custom agent tim remembers i well well very prevalent lynne friend disappeared, agent >> on that long ago sunday night, lynn disappeared. agent tim and his crew lef their dock on the miami rive at dusk. they knew nothing of the missing woman case their focus was on interceptin drugs and smugglers. they headed outside into the dark open ocean waters tha lead to the bahamas. a hotbed of smuggling. about three miles out. they idled and doused thei running lights >> it was a beautiful night, the odd ocean was calm and we were listening to any boats that might be in our area so i hear this boat coming out and through night vision goggles i can see there were two people on board. the two people on board were i dark clothing, goggles bandanas around their heads.

>> it was around 11:00, th agent and his crew running dark they tailed the boat surreptitiously. quickly the element of surpris was lost >> i watch the passenger turnaround, and he spots i think. i tell one of my crew members, light him up with a spotlight. as soon as he lights up th boat, i notice the passenger rolled a large duffel bag of the side of the boat the chase is on. we think we have a narcotics case, a smuggling case tha went bad and at some point they jus stopped their vote, and both o them put their hands straigh up in the air. up in the air. during the questioning tha followed agents returned to the spo where the bag was dumped, bu it had already sunk. and with no drugs found on the boat, agents released the two. but their boat was seized for follow-up investigation. just another night in th office in the war on drugs or so agent him thought. >> so a week goes by, an sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. the newspaper.

story about a missing woman. her name is lynn that's an unusual last name, s of course it registered with me that i just stopped a boat, week prior, with a guy with th same last name >> it was clifford, lynn's ex-husband with him was a miami beach man named allen. who turned out to be the co-owner of the boat >> the bottom of the article was the detectives name and phone number so i called the number at first he didn't believe me. he thought it was a prank call >> hardly, light bulbs clicked missing pieces fell into place a missing ex-wife, a forme husband busted dumping something off shore on the ver night. leslie is an agent with th florida department of la enforcement. that's a fortuitous matchup in this case? >> the customs officers in thi case did such an amazing job >> is there anything you wan to say >> now ten days after linda' disappearance, investigators

the media laser focus on clifford and then there was thi investigative nugget ed reported to the cops that ed reported to the cops that the night linda disappeared, she told him that she was goin to clifford's house to pick up the child support payment. the detectives got a searc warrant for clifford's place they seized some items and his car. but found no evidence of fou play anywhere. >> i never gave thought that h >> i never gave thought that h had anything to do with lindse disappearance. >> but investigators weren't s sure so they turned their attention to the area where custom stopped clifford's boat. with waters 1000 feet deep, th agent asked the u.s. navy fo help but there was a little problem >> the u.s. navy is preclude from providing assistance to law enforcement. without reimbursement. so they were willing to provid us three days of searching for $48,000. >> and you were going to get a

bill at the end of it? >> we had to pay upfront actually >> two months later, the fee covered, the u.s. navy was ready to join in the search. it's ship was fitted out wit sonar that could image of th ocean floor. >> but no gym bag? >> no, no bag, nobody. the experts told us that it wa beyond a needle and a haystack >> the navy said it had to pul the plug when the money ra out. but linda's fiancée ed stepped in >> and ed wrote a check to the navy for another $13,000 to extend the search one mor day. >> the extra day bought on promising citing >> we saw what we thought was black bag on the ocean floor >> grappling hooks were sent down searchers on a deck held their breath, but it wasn't what the were looking for >> plastic garbage bag >> what was in the garbage bag >> it turned out to be bee cans, garbage. >> the navy search had fizzled out. detectives were back at square one. and they had already ruled out

one of the people closest to len. >> went about ed, do you hav to suspect the fiancée? >> not at all. he was in tennessee at the time all of this occurred we have the phone records. >> so after months, detectives were no closer to solving th case they had no dna, no forensics, no blood spatter nothing to help. and despite their suspicions about clifford, law enforcemen couldn't say definitively what happened to his ex-wife. >> we didn't have the body, an we didn't have any eyewitnesses >> back in 1994. catherine had been in th miami-dade state attorney fo two years. when this case came into her office she was determined lindsey wil not end up in some cold case file >> this was not the easies case as you might imagine. >> couldn't even say definitively if she was dead she may have taken the train t georgia, no one knew >> that's correct, we didn't >> that's correct, we didn't really know that she was missing.

we believed it we had a little boy we wasn' sure what he was gonna say w didn't have access to him. so really what you had was ver little and so you had to really build it you had to stay tenacious. >> tenacious indeed. because clifford actually ha an alibi one he wasn't proud of perhaps but it explained what he was doing that night and why there were two men and a vote. >> coming up, an undercove sting that didn't quite go a planned. >> he said oh, i took th recording device and i put i in the diaper. >> when dateline continues she found it. the feeling of finding the psoriasis treatment she's been looking for. sotyktu is the first-of-its-kind, once-daily pill for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis for the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding that outfit psoriasis tried to hide from you. or finding your swimsuit is ready for primetime. [dad] once-daily sotyktu is proven to get more people

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the next generation 10g network. only from xfinity. they are our top stories the future starts now. florida has a state of emergency after heavy rain flooded earlier this week. and some parts of fort lauderdale, over a foot fall o rainfall turned streets into rivers no injuries or deaths have bee reported and the 20-year-old who leaked

classified documents has bee charged with unauthorize retention removal, and transmission of national defense information. jack to hera was an ic official from the national guard. he allegedly began posngti the documents, december of las year now back to dateline >> months passed, >> months passed, and with n success in finding lynn's body police appeal to the public fo help they put together a crim stoppers reenactment video tha aired on local tv. showing two men dog thing a ba in the ocean then trying to evade customs agents a reward was offered, but th tip line stayed mostly silent. neither clifford nor allen would tell police directly wha they were doing on the boa that night but customs agent tim though he knew when he ran background check and found clifford's priors. >> through the investigative findings, we learned tha clifford did have a criminal history and that crimina history was in drugs smuggling >> while the other man wit allen had no history of drug arrests.

smuggler, dumping drugs allen gold had no history with drug abuse, it was unknown smuggler jumping drugs into th ocean that night he said clifford was committing a crime that night. but it wasn't murder >> they were running drug deal together attorney peter ellison say that is why it was in the ba he dumped drugs >> he did it was that he knew it >> he also on the money in the punch out. >> according to his wife clifford's drug career ended when linda's appeared. we wanted to turn his life around he had a little boy to tak care of. he would take care of christia with his new bride >> a year after, clifford an

janet married. >> the investigators never really now you're putting together your new life with this man and you continue with all that stuff. >> after the first couple of years, the first two years, it really disappeared >> as the case receded from th public eye, clifford and janet focused on raising young christian. >> does he remember his mother >> i never wanted him to forge who his mother was so, i always made sure he ha pictures of his mother in hi room and he was allowed to ask any question that he eve wanted >> you become the only mom h remembers in his life. your mom >> i am on >> he calls me mom >> he understands. i'm not his biological mother. >> we'll kind of dad was close to christian >> he was a great dad. they went and played bal together they went fishing together they went on travels together. cliff is a phenomenal father >> meanwhile, up in tennessee, lends one-time fiancã©e, a odell, had moved on with his life, to married now, with children the dwindling friends of lyn

thought they would never see a resolution to the case of th missing woman. but there was one woman -- person in particular tha didn't like to see the dusty jacket of unsolved cases in hi file in 2010, one of miami's most experienced prosecutors took over the case, along with hi assistant state attorney >> what did you think th biggest problem of the case was? >> i had nobody. i had no witnesses and i didn't have anything t show that she was actually dead >> well, i think tha especially now, juries hav high expectations. >> the csi speech that so many prosecutors given jury selection. >> they expect physica evidence they want to see a body. >> the two reexamined the 16 year old file and took a fresh look at a lead from back the that had never panned out. an acquaintance of clifford's, someone named robert messier told police about a disturbing

conversation he had with the ex-husband not long after lynn went missing he said it happened over breakfast at this ihop >> clifford told them, this is never living the state with my child. she's going for a boat ride an she's never coming back. >> this is dynamite for an investigator >> it was great. we managed to convince missy that he should become our ally >> in other words, a snitch. messier, a convicted felon o probation at the time, agree to wear a wire matt clifford again a few week later. there was something that was worrying them about thei earlier breakfast meeting. >> my biggest concern is the conversation that we had it have i just want to make sure i into 20. >> oh, no. >> because i don't know. but >> i had no conversations. ever >> that, to us, give u confirmation that there ha

been an actual conversation at the ihop and that there was a discussio about the disposing of land. >> missy a turned out to be hapless, technologically challenged informant at another main meeting, messi wanted to make sure that h didn't find the concealed wire he used his own baby's cover >> we asked him, what was wron with the baby? we couldn't hear the baby wa screaming. he said, oh. i checked the recording device and i dropped the diaper >> the reason she was screamin is that those things get kin of hot we were just all appalled that he had done that >> investigators did believe the initial ihop story after messi was caught out in lie over something else, he wa quietly retired from the investigation. now 18 years after flynn wen missing, prosecutor decided to tell mrs. ihop story to th grand jury, absent of miss himself. >> we use that as part of th basis for the indictment >> marginal evidence, maybe. nonetheless, a goo

prosecutorial strategy the grand jury indicted him. >> are you clifford friend >> yes, ma'am. >> in 2012, prosecutors charge clifford friend with first degree murder. his attorney was flabbergasted when prosecutors would dare to build a circumstantial cas with no body mind you, wit this testimony of a very shaky informant. >> our investigators had done tremendous amount of work. we had boxes of files of dir on robert messy. but >> the defense didn't know is that prosecutors are puttin up a strong -- messy wouldn't be their strong main witness at all. >> we were gonna use him >> we were gonna use him have the defense running aroun looking for him and everything they could find on him >> and while the defenses coul do just that, spinning its wheels, prosecutors were quietly working on reeling i another prize. another, better witness. one clifford friend could only hope he would never see again. >> coming up, the only other

person on the boat that nigh breaks a promise 20 years of silence. >> he said, we have to dump th bag. >> when dateline continues -yeah, let's focus on the rv. -rv? okay, everybody, look at the rv and smile. this is what you want for your family portrait? good point. we bundled the boat with our home and auto first. -hey, team, get on in here. -team? oh. fun. now everyone say "24/7 financial protection with progressive"! 24/7 financial protection with progressive! okay. let's get some singles of me on the bike. honey. yeah. [ leaf blower whirring ] nicorette knows quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like... just stop. go for a run. go for ten runs. run a marathon. instead, start small with nicorette, which will lead to something big. ♪ i have type 2 diabetes, ♪ ♪ but i manage it well. ♪ ♪ it's a little pill with a big story to tell. ♪

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go for ten runs. run a marathon. instead, start small with nicorette, which will lead to something big. >> 20 years after linda' disappearance. clifford, looking more banke than killer was on trial for his ex wife's murder the motive prosecutors say was sitting directly behind him. the son christian, now 25. clifford the prosecutor' theorized killed limit to stop her from taking the boy to out

of state where she was t remarry. for the last 20 years. kristen had always been in tha place. right behind his father neve questioning his innocence. in court, it showed the jury his continuing support of hi father even as he was about to hear until now untold famil stories. among the first witnesses wa ed linda one-time fiancée. he described his last call wit a limb her call waiting beeped as she put him on hold. she said it was her ex husband clifford on the other line asking her to come over to his house and pick up some money h owed >> so when you hung up with her, that was the last time you eve spoke to her >> that is correct >> what did you do when yo didn't hear from her >> i tried to call her, and di not get through. and -- >> did you call her?

would you like us to take break? >> no i would like to finish >> all right sir >> to prove clifford kille lynn to stop her from taking their son away prosecutors called her divorce attorney he testified that one week before her disappearance clifford went ballistic in a family law court when a judge approved the boy' move to nashville. >> he was angrily yelling at his lawyer, that nobody, nobod would take christian away from him. >> but if these outbursts were at best purely circumstantia evidence the prosecution would need a lot more than that remember, lynn spotty had neve been found however, the night his e mouth shut all these years. pal allen were spotted in speedboat dumping a ba overboard. the state believed lives remains were in that bag remains were in that bag but allen had kept his mouth re. shut all these years

>> the key was finding a way t first island to cooperate. >> prosecutor michael named th other man in about an offer he couldn't refuse. he was subpoenaed to testify and given a grant of immunity. if he didn't testify the hamme would come down hard >> then i'll let you sit i jail until the trial is over >> at age 68, he didn't like the prospect of years in jail, he chose the door marked operation. allen limped into court with a certain bravado. he passed by his former friend clifford, moments away fro telling his version of tha fateful night 20 years before. he testified when he went to clifford's house, the so christian, who was supposed to be spending the weekend with his father was not there it turned out clifford had dropped the boy off at a babysitters. and then allen said he right away noticed a large canvas ba on the floor >> and when he pointed to th

five, or told you about th bike who did he tell you was in the bag? bag? >> he says clifford told him h and lynn had argued, and the things got out of control. >> next thing he knew it was over he had lost it, he knocked her down and choked her out >> said what did you take thao mean >> it means that she was in th bag, she wasn't coming back. and that was the end of lynn >> clifford said he would need the 30-foot vote they owne together together condo on miami beach >> wanted to use the boat to take her out pretty deep water, and dum her. >> and when he told you that did you immediately turn and run out the door >> no. >> no. he decided to help his buddy out of a jam because of hi son. >> i basically didn't want t see the kid fatherless and i figured it was the lesser of the evil i figured it was just a tragic

accident that happened and why make it worse? >> first allen said they got rid of linda's car, back at th house the two picked up the ba with her body. >> did you as you tried to lif this bag say anything to clifford about why did it wa so much? >> i did >> and what did he tell you? >> it's waited >> once on the boat allen says clifford wait it down even more more from the anchor line, and stuf that in as well? >> customs agents who stoppe to dump the bag. was missing. they also found cement block and rope allen recalled the moment ou at sea when he gave clifford a heads up that customs wa following them >> he said we have to dump the bag. he jumped in the back. grab a hold of the side of the bag and we went over the side. >> after a short chase wit armed federal agents, they sai

they had no choice but t surrender. >> i peed my pants but other than that he basically wante to know what went overboard. i told them that a tile blew over >> basically you lied? >> oh yeah, i don't really wan to tell anyone i just got done dumping a body in the atlantic >> he was asked why now? 20 years later did he finally stop covering for his pal. >> you had basically told me i i refused to answer that you would put me in jail >> certainly you're not here out of the goodness of you heart? >> no. >> were there any othe considerations that kept you from coming forward? >> i made a commitment to th guy 20 years ago i didn't se any reason to break it >> you broke it? >> only because you put me any box and i don't have a choice. >> a compelling witness fo sure, but was he credible? >> he's a character, he is despicable, but he i believable

>> prosecutors had one mor witness, a jailhouse snitch. the judge ordered us not t show his face. he testified that one night in jail he and clifford wer watching one of the spanish tv soap opera ironically the plot was a body drug dealer who killed his wif by throwing her off a boat >> do you remember an englis what he said to you? >> wow, remind me of what did. it's like a déjà vu. >> more damning testimony, o was it >> you are absolutely certai you and mr. friend wer watching that show >> the defense had done it homework, and was ready to pounce >> coming up, a son defends th man accused of killing his mother >> i know that he loves me too much to hurt me by taking my mother from me >> when dateline continuous.

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bridgett is here. she has no clue that i'm here. she has no clue who's in the helmet. are you ready? -i'm ready! alright. xfinity rewards creates experiences big and small, and once-in-a-lifetime. welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. i'm natalie morales. 20 years after lynne friend went missing, 20 years after lynn friend wen missing, her husband stood trial in her murder. with no physical evidence, the prosecution managed to present two strong witnesses next, it was the defenses turn and they were about to throw everything the jury heard into question here, with the final chapter o what lies beneath, is dennis murphy

>> the defense was behind on points after allen gold spun a hypnotic story about helping his friend, clifford friend, dumping his wife's body in the atlantic ocean one person wasn't convinced. christian friend, the boy wh lost his mother the age of five listen to two weeks of damning evidence that his father kille her. >> every night he came hom feeling more and more confiden that his father was innocent >> was innocent. not getting shaky about it >> oh, he wasn't shaky at all. >> did you have any moment where you wavered, janet >> never >> while his son and wif believed in him, how would the defense get the jury to believ its case an excellent place to start wa the jailhouse snitch he told that damaging stor about him and clifford watchin the spanish tv soap opera, i'l had capital, about a wif murdering drug dealer. clifford allegedly flooded out i did that >> you can't make this up. yes, you can't in fact, it turns out he did

>> during cross examination, attorney peter heller caught attorney peter heller caught this engine ally that sent the whole trial really private investigators workin for the defense uncovere evidence the state didn't know about. it turned out, clifford neve did watch that spanish languag tv program with the snitch >> the problem with his stor was immediately went and pulle her phone records. cliff and i were on th telephone when this episode wa aired. this niches story unravels to the prosecutions grea humiliation and a unhappiness. after that, whoops, the judg rips the state rips the state you want an answer? i made a mistake. >> you want an answer? i made a mistake at one point, i turn to mari and said, sometimes when it is too good to be true. it probably is

dennis murphy (voiceover): and here jurors and told them to just was the big point of the defense's regard the - >> and here is the big point o the judges newly - the judges newly - jurors, if the state would that was their whole key, was on a big fat liar like the to try and say if they put on one liar, snitch, what did that say abou allen goals, the star witness? prosecutors were concerned >> that was their whole key. to say if they put one liar, they put on another. the defense would put some - gold was a liar, also. and the reason that he decided to tell prosecutors what the wanted to hear was that he was afraid of bein charged with murder, to. >> i didn't whack the broad. so, i don't kill her >> you didn't whack the broad? >> you didn't whack the broad? >> i watch the sopranos a lot. >> it didn't take much proddin to show the court just how little respect gold had for th entire proceeding. >> do you think this is comical? >> absolutely. >> why is that, sir? >> it took 20 years to get here

>> so that's why it's funny? >> a sense of humor is different than mine. >> the judge eliminated th defense from offering a strike smuggling alibis, suggesting i was drugs, not one's body, i the bag clipper dumped still, the defense was able to shoehorn the thought that they were on a drug run that night. >> sir, [inaudible] to go ru some drugs is that true >> with nobody ever found, n dna and no physical evidence and clifford friends house t prove when was murdered their, gold couldn't with absolut certainty say that one's bod was in that bag. was in that bag. dy. a body in there? yes or no? >> it wasn't april fools there was a body >> but you didn't look in ther to confirm >> no. no >> with the state and th defense no resting their cases closing arguments boil down to one thing. would jurors believe allen gold?

>> allen gould was a vote as unrepentant the center a you're ever going to see the state put him on because h knew things but they wouldn't. knew things but they wouldn't. said, he fabricated it now in the hands of the jury. to save his own but. >> the 20 year old murder case was in the hands of the jury jurors deliberated late in the evening. around 9:30, they announced verdict. >> christian and i wer together holding hands. i had told him that no matte what happened, we would hold our heads high >> we the jury find th defendant, clifford bret friend, guilty of second degre murder >> second degree murder. the jury, apparently, believed gold story, but not that the crime was premeditated a sentencing, a few weeks later, lands long ago fiancée and -- spoke directly to christian,

reminding him of what he misse in life. >> it will not be able t understand lens love for you until you have your own child, when you know the love that yo never knew possible. >> christian, who sat silently throughout the trial, finall spoke. spoke. his father >> i'm not going to go into th frustration i feel in hearin frustration i feel in hearin that i missed out on growing u without my mother. i'm not going to go in how frustrating it is how to becom a good person in spite of my father, because he's the bes person that i know i've been asked why i neve question my dad about any of this, how many times by many people i never felt the need to he raised me and taught me right from wrong you've heard it said, many times that my dad loved me too much to let me go. i know that he loves me to

much to hurt me by taking my mother from me >> in court, judge teres poehler had the final word >> you treated lynn friend with us decouple - sir, look at me. with unspeakable cruelty your actions left your fiv -year-old child to grow up without knowing his mother the manner in which he dispose of the body was despicable by so cavalierly dumping her i the ocean. clifford brett front, i' sentencing you to life i prison >> more than 20 years ago, state attorney catherine fernandez run dole vowed tha lynne friends story would no end up in some cold case file. now, she says, there is justice, both for the young mother an for her son, even though h disagrees with the outcome o the case >> ultimately, it's all about boy, isn't it? >> it's all about a boy. >> that's right. except, i would beg to say tha i don't think a father who

would deprive a boy of the lov of a mother really loves the boy. he loved himself more, it seem to me. ean,>> markers, out west, ther a great opens guy. it's a florida, the ocean. always, the ocean. the vast, turning, tropica waters for aging friends stil remember, it is lynn's marker, to after a violent death, the place where they prayed sh might finally rest in peace. might finally rest in peace. of dateline. i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching hello, i'm craig melvin. and this is dateline >> nothing in this case make sense. >> they say doctors make the worst patients, no