harris family received letters after the trial, claimin someone else killed chiquita because she knew too much abou something. the cops will tell you tha every lead they chased dow brought them back to one man someone who robbed a family of a shining star april 2016, a louisian district court denied greg harris's petition for a ne trial. >> so, it is been years now. do you miss her? >> i miss her so much. everything i missed it all. >> baton rouge, the river roll on without that fiery young lawye who come so far, so fast >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin thank you for watching >> hello, i'm craig melvin, an this is dateline

♪ ♪ ♪ >> the clock was hatched, this dreadful plot. >> and it's like a movie script it's family rivalries an betrayal and murder. >> it was so horrific. what were the last hours o earth like for her ♪ ♪ ♪ >> it looks here on this storied family estate, a mystery tangled as that was th treat for the sky. >> i think she's dead. >> it eats at me, i can't slee most of the time >> a crime like a stor everyone could see it coming >> everyone in the town ha their suspicions >> she was missing, th matriarch with a group on he powerful families fortune, tha someone have a powerful motive to do her harm >> i saw bruises on bonnie's arms, like somebody had grabbe

her. >> she tried to kill me. >> who was behind this a search in the dark >> it's all right -- >> a secret in the family, and the jailhouse interview to mak your jaw drop. >> you said you wished you are dead, and then later she becam that >> this is a twisted tale deep in the heart of texas. >> people who are desperat will do desperate things ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, and welcome to dateline it's san saba, a city in the texas hill country, so tiny in size, it is huge the puc ongoing business, even calle the pecan capital of the world the name was synonymous with pecan harvesting, so the major arc of the family, bonni harkey went missing, it sent shockwaves through the

community. where was bonnie harkey? here's josh mankiewicz with th queen of the county. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> in this country, we alway love stories about power, money, and a struggle to get our hand on both. dallas was the saga of a proud texas family, rich and ruthless the story you're about to hear is like that, maybe less glitz and less glamour but then, j.r. yoking was neve as coldhearted, as some of the people you are about to meet this epic tale of greed an betrayal is set not in dallas, but in san saba, a tiny town i the texas hill country and it starts with a famil that learned how to make money well on trees. back on pecan trees. at the heart of the matter, fuel feud fueled by a loss for

land, stop by a battle o generations. and front and center, the life and times of the matriarch bonnie harkey, who controlled family fortune, a century in the make >> well, i always say she wa queen of the county, because she really was a big fish in a small pond >> this is teresa cooke, bonni harkey's knees >> they were well off and they were property owners >> and by local standards, ver well - >> by local standards, sure. >> they were so prominent in fact that the harkey name is carved on monuments, painted o road signs in san saba >> i am a sixth generation i my family here in this county. >> dwight harkey says all th harkey dissent from tw brothers who came from the hil country in the 1850s >> well, there were two boys they came and they were scouts they found this country an nobody lived here. >> a proud family history to b

sure but on march 25th, 2012, a new and bloody chapter was added >> i remember that sunny morning because of wha happened the rest of the day >> the events that would forever fix that day in th reverend saying crosby's memory, centered on 85-year-old bonnie harkey, an active member of th first baptist church of sa saba >> you can set your watch by bonnie harkey coming to church >> you could >> she would be right here >> she'd be right here, an even after she had to have 24-hour care, her caretake would bring her. >> the trouble began a few hours after church out of th harkey place, a few miles west of town. >> 9-1-1, what's your emergency? >> it was about 5:30 on the sa saba sheriff's departmen dispatch received this cal from a young boy >> i found my mom on the floor she, i think she is dead i am at the harkey residence >> it turns out th

11-year-old's mother was karen johnson, bonnie harkey's caretaker. >> and you don't know the edge was out there? >> no, ma'am i'm just really, reall worried. >> what phone are you using? >> i am using bonnie's house phone. i can't find bonnie anywhere >> within minutes, the san sab sheriff's department had deputies on the way. >> all right, i'm going to bod harkeys -- >> yes, sir. do you have any tear >> do you have an eta? >> five minutes. >> in the rural area where locals listen closely to polic scanners, some worry deputie might be chasing some dangerou desperado. >> is there somebody lose that i should be -- >> oh, no, no, no. >> okay, i was just wonderin because they're all setting up here near miss harkey place. >> the harkey place was a loca landmark, and john wilkerson, san saba sheriff's deputy in 2012 was among the first

investigators to arrive. >> when i walked in, of course karen johnson's body was lifeless, faced down on th doorway, which raised some suspicion. >> no sign of struggle >> there really wasn't any clear signs of struggle. there was some questionabl issues that we're at play. >> like what >> the fact that she was dea right by the front door, tha just did not make a whole lo sense. the fact that i found a broken fingernail on her hand >> karen johnson's son, the bo who called 9-1-1, told investigators he'd been playin a video game in a spare bedroo all afternoon, and had not heard or seen anything unusual strange, but what also concerned the lawmen was the fact that bonnie harkey was no there. >> so, you are thinking bonnie harkey is out there somewher maybe in the orchards. >> that was the thought with sheriff brown. >> bonnie had serious health problems she was frail, suffered from dementia in short, she had to be found,

and fast >> sheriff brown called th president inside the helicopte -- >> she couldn't have gone very far. >> correct, that's where our thoughts were. >> by nightfall, word of bonni harkey's disappearance had spread far and wide. her stepson, bruce harkey, who had been visiting his brothe in fort worth that we can, cal the sheriff's office wanting t know some details. >> this is bruce harkey. i'm getting some awful strange phone calls, and i'm trying to figure out what the hall i going on >> what are you calling in reference to >> she said they found som lady dead, and bonnie wa missing, and something about that having a road blocked off and anything >> in memphis, they heard th news within a few hours of tha first 9-1-1 call >> my mother and i always spea on sunday nights, and she ha called me and said bonnie is missing. and we both kind of went, oh no >> teresa may have bee

hundreds of miles from where searchers were looking for bonnie harkey, but she says sh knew right away her and' disappearance was connected to the decades long battle over the remains of the harke fortune. >> not home invasion >> no, her family. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> coming up - the search for the missing matriarch. >> i saw bruises on bonnie's arms, like somebody had grabbe her. >> and somebody sure seemed to know something - >> i might have some information about where bonnie harkey is. >> i was definitely concerned. >> -- when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ free spray. while flonase takes hours, astepro starts working in 30 minutes. so you can [ spray, spray ] astepro and go. trelegy for copd. ♪birds flyin' high, you know how i feel.♪ ♪breeze driftin' on by...♪

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>> if the harkey's of san saba wherever made into a televisio drama, it would be czech ful of character actors. they would be a gentlema farmer, a pair of impatien errors in waiting, and their dwell grandson, his enabling girlfriend, and the rock of th family would be a white haired matriarch named bonnie harkey. >> she had a book club she was just constantly, you know socializing >> there were roughly 200 acre to the harkey spread, valuable water rights along the san sab river, a rambling farmhouse, and nearly 3000 pecan trees. >> when people hear the harkey and that part of the country what do they think >> you know, the harkey's wher

the somebodies in town, and yo know, i know bonnie and sh enjoyed that >> and maybe that was just the way she pictured it. back in 1963 when bonnie meant and married riley harkey at the time, riley was a recently divorced father wit two boys bonnie, a single mom with teenage daughter of her own. >> it was a coup, you know, it was a coup, especially for a single mother who was really looking at how to find a husband or work through th rest of her life in the early 60s, it was tough to be a divorcee it was tough to be a singl mother >> now, nearly 50 years later, the queen of the county wa missing. searchers were still out on th orchards looking for bonni harkey, when a resident who ha been listening to the police scanner called with a vita clue >> i know things are crazy going on right now, but i migh have some information abou where bonnie harkey is >> the caller said she kne

that bonnie harkey's 28-year-old grandson carl ha visited her that ver afternoon. >> i'm 99% sure karl pressle is involved. >> who is carl pressley? >> carl pressley is the adopte grandson of bonnie harkey. bonnie harkey had a daughter connie connie adopted karl pressley a a very young age >> when you heard that calls came in, you thought this is what - >> we'll, i was definitely concerned. >> why so much concern over grandsons visit to his elderly grandmother? that is a tangled tale, really that begins with the way kar pressley came to join th harkey klan in the first place >> connie said that she adopte him from a homeless woman, a homeless couple who were livin in a car >> from homeless couple? >> yeah. and that they couldn't tak care of him, so they wer willing to give him up for adoption that's what i know >> teresa says there was alway

something a little bit off about carl, something that tended to make other peopl uncomfortable. >> it was very odd and very sa at the same time, but he seeme to be a very lonely needy child, very clean the shell and nobody really seemed t want him to cling to him >> but terry says there wa nothing bonnie wouldn't do for carl >> she would buy karl a truck, and he would wreck the truck and then she would buy him another one. and he would get a job, he los a job. she would house him. he was stealing pecans from th harvest and selling them i mean, she was constantly bailing him out of one situation after another, you know, giving him money >> in spite of that, call move out than anything that came ou of these trees he was known to be verball abusive to his grandmother i he didn't get what he wanted teresa says that once when she

dropped by to visit bonnie, sh had an unsettling encounte with carl who was also there >> everything i said he'd argu against. he just fought with me, fought with me. it's like he couldn't get alon with anybody and i saw bruises on bonnie' arms, like somebody had grabbe her, and that little old lad bruises so easily, that i said to my mother on the phone, i said, i would not be surprised if carl pushed her down th basement stairs. >> given that history, it wa understandable tha investigators, once they learned that the last person was seen bonnie the day sh went missing was karl pressley >> we were pretty sure that if you were able to find, carlo are gonna be able to fin bonnie harkey. >> according to the tipster, carl was with his girlfriend lilian king. they were riding in her car. >> do you have any information on her vehicle >> all i know it is that she's driving into thousand and four mustang. >> soon just about every law

man in texas was on the lookou for that 2004 mustang. but in the meantime, deput wilkerson says the san sab sheriff took a more personal approach >> he's trying to call her cel phone, sending multiple text messages >> you have numerous brushes with law enforcement >> absolutely, absolutely. >> wouldn't it be great if police can just text suspect and get them to come in? but the world does not wor like that, except perhaps in san saba just after midnight, car pressley responded he was in normangee, texas, he told the sheriff, where he and his girlfriend living in a trailer at an rv campground. though normangee is more tha three hours from san saba, car promise the sheriff he would b back by daybreak >> i think maybe about the tim my phone was closed, it wa about 7:00 in the morning. and dispatch told me that carl pressley had showed up to th

sheriff's office, and cher browne needed me up there asap >> and so, with little or no sleep, deputy wilkerson said h headed back to the office, and in a face to face encounte with the man most likely t know where bonnie harkey was ♪ ♪ ♪ >> a devoted caretaker that, and a family matriarch missing now, another life in danger -- >> coming up - >> i had to do what he said. >> -- when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> here is the thing about lawmen in rural texas. they don't have all the gadget and gizmos that come wit working in a big city. >> this is a different world you work on a limited budget - >> so you have to improvis improvise? >> yes, you have to improvise. >> and that is what san saba deputy john wilkerson did, whe carl pressley, the chief suspect in the disappearance o bonnie harkey and the death of her tear caretaker came in for questioning, wilkerson is th video recorder embedded in his car. >> we're ready recording? >> that's my interrogation out there -- >> my name is john wilkerson i'm starting, i'm starting a the sheriff's office here. this is chief deputy bil price. >> he was not under arrest, bu carl pressley war prison

stripes for his intervie because investigators had take his clothes, so they could win tests on them. >> i am not making any accusations at this point. i'm just trying to get him locked down and get hi original story >> from the beginning, car pressley admitted he and his girlfriend, lilian king, had gone out to his grandmother' house for a visit that sunday. >> do you remember how long hi state there do you remember ho long you stayed there? >> the interview started to, you know, pretend like you could not remember certain things >> eventually, calls memor improved he remembered how he took hi grandmother out of the house t protect her from some toug guys he owed money to. >> the story is that he wanted to protect his grandmother he picks her up in the evening and drives her to rainey's crossing, and drops her off in the bushes >> an 85-year-old woman? >> correct >> wilkerson was not buying, but officers did search that location, and then carl told them another story

he said he'd taken bonnie back to his trailer home in normangee. >> he misses his grandmother and he wanted to see her, whic again didn't make a whole lo of sense >> that was becaus investigators knew nothing t suggest that carl pressley had ever missed anyone during hi 28 years on planet earth >> we are trying to figure out where is your grandmother at look at me where is she at? >> i think she's up there. >> okay, where up there? >> the normangee >> where did you put up there? >> in hilltop lakes. >> in short order, texas rangers and local lawmen nea normangee were combing car trailer and a surroundin campground for clues but they found nothing until carl was flown to norman g >> i told her i wanted to show her a fishing hole down by the creek, and we went down there,

and stuff happened >> tell me what kind of stuf happened, carl >> it's hard, sir. >> is this going to be her >> right there, right there. >> all right, all right, all right, carl, it's all right -- come on, carl. that's all right >> i did not mean to i did not mean to. i did not major mean to. >> i didn't mean to. i didn't mean to >> bonnie harkey was dead. her body lying in a creek be near carles trailer, burie beneath a pile of sticks and leaves so, carl admits that he pushed her on the back of her head, holding her face underwate until she no longer moved. >> it was the same story lillian king had already given to law enforcementback in sa saba she'd been there, she said when the caretaker was killed,

and she stood audley by whil karl killed his grandmother. but in millions telling of the story, she could very well hav been karl presley's thir murder victim that day >> he had three knives on him, three. you know, so, i had to do what he said. >> what had driven car pressley to kill one of the fe people on earth who had ever loved him? that was a question to which n one could supply an answer >> she doted on karl >> she did vote on him and no one could quite understand why >> and i bet she couldn't in the last four, five hours of her life >> yeah -- yeah ♪ ♪ ♪ >> investigators did not kno why carl pressley killed his grandmother, but they were pretty sure there was more t this murder than met the eye and that there could be clue in the harkey family history ♪ ♪ ♪ >> coming up -

1 million dollar in harriton's a neighbor from hollywood, and a harkey with a hand full of e wives. >> just constant drama >> -- when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ it's good to go. before advil. advil dual action fights pain two ways. advil targets pain at the source, acetaminophen blocks pain signals. advil dual action. ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪ acetaminophen blocks pit's spring! non-drowsy claritin-d knocks out your worst allergy symptoms including nasal congestion, without knocking you out. feel the clarity and make today the most wonderful time of the year. claritin-d. scout is protected by simparica trio, and he's in it to win it. simparica trio is the first and only chew with triple protection. oh, fleas and ticks ♪♪ intestinal worms... wow heartworm disease, no problem with simarica trio.

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top stories. and medical group in sudan say at least 56 civilians are dead and 595 wounded. as clashes turn into a ful blown battle for power into th country on saturday. this comes after months of escalating tensions betwee rival factions of armed forces saturday marked one decade since the boston maratho bombings the summer procession, victims families went to memorial site and observed a moment of silence. three people were killed, an more than 260 injured, went to pressure cooker bombs went off at the finish line in 2013 now, back to dateline. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the matriarch of a prominen

pecan growing family had bee brutally murdered by member of that family. but why? the more investigators pondere that, the more they came t believe the answer might b found in a long running family feud >> the first time i met th harkey family, i was in cour because we were shorthanded. and i got to sit through a little hearing where the harkeys where trying to gain control of the property. and you could tell it was very heated situation, ver heated >> that puck had been at a slo boil ever since that day i 1963, when bonnie harkey becam stepmother to her husban riley's two boys, bruce an john >> ruth and johnny just didn't like body, they didn't like he at all and so, almost from th beginning, it was acrimonious. >> what form that acrimony take? >> bruce and johnny were jus

rude to bonnie, openly insulting. her >> and riley put up with that >> he let it go, he just let i go >> a lot of blended families have rough starts, but thi newly-grafted branch of th harkey family tree never had a chance >> and i don't think riley mad a real effort with his boys to say, this is a wonderful woman i want you to love her like love her i think he just sat here and went >> reilly seems to have been better with pecans than with people >> yeah, yeah. >> soon enough, john was off t college, and bruce was shuttle off to live with his mother in nevada for a while that left only bonnie's teenag daughter connie at home. >> riley never adopted connie. she was an afterthought. she was just never brought int the family >> this is something less like the brady bunch and more lik the ewing's -- >> just the goings without the culture, it was really jus

constant drama >> the boys took different career paths john became a businessman. bruce had a number of differen jobs at various times, he was a cop in reno, a medicaid frau investigator for the texas attorney general's office, and a nursing home administrator along the way, he married an divorced eight, count them eight women. still, as the years roll by, the brother's feelings for bonnie seemed to fester. there were a lot of reasons fo that, but maybe the biggest on was a will their father, riley had drawn up shortly before he died and 1997. >> riley's will specifically said that bonnie good live o that property as long as she was a lie. and then when she died, th land would go to the boys.

and then there was a small inheritance for calm ghani and if connie died, there woul be a trust for carl. but the majority of th harriton's went to the person. >> though the property alone was worth more than 1 millio dollars, for the harke brothers, it wasn't worth dime because they could neither for it nor cell, until bonded. both especially seemed happy a the thought of that. >> he said he was the poores military in the county >> local pecan merchant sean oliver said that bruce harke was down and out in late 200 when he resettled insane sat after being away for man years. >> and he had no income coming in, and every time he'd go b to the property, all i could see was the millions what it thought was millions that wa missing out on >> i, then bonnie harkey was becoming increasingly frai woman, her dementia made i around a little too scans.

she was unable to manage our daily affairs, so her daughter connie became her guardian after kane died in 2011, bruce harkey thought karl pressley should be buys garden. when a judge tried to employ someone else, bruce and john challenge that in court, and bonnie asked the judge if sh could speak, the judge said yes, and she said i don't want that to my guardian i'm afraid of him. >> your stepson? >> yes >> i want to hear. >> the late inheritanc certainly. >> a lawyer named general dary sphinx was - tantamount chosen to manag business affairs bonnie's longtime there -- was asked to make sure tha bonnie's daily needs were met. it was betty and who had hired karen johnson, a known

relation the in-home caretaker that was killed the day bonnie wa kidnapped. >> you felt safe with can take care bonding >> i did but bruce wanted me to do is take her into a nursing home >> he told you that >> yes. i said, as long as we can have help, 24/7, she is not going anywhere >> bonnie's financial guardian gerald spanx, said he also butted heads with bruce harkey >> the best way i can explai bruce harkey is greedy and, fo lack of a better word, a jerk. he's just a solid turk >> according to sphinx, bruc not only accused him o mismanaging the harkey state but also tried to bully hi into accepting the sale of a chunk of land to their neighbor the actor, tommy lee jones, fo half 1 million dollars it was good for bruce, but sphinx says not for bonnie so, he killed it >> he wanted bonnie to get virtually nothing, and nothing less than $50,000 than what yo wanted her to get. >> and the rest of the money would have gone to bruce >> there was so it would hav gone to bruce and john >> yes >> and so, you said to bruce

i'm not for this >> and that, i mean he jus became irate and cost me, ou and said i wanted to d anything i can to get at you >> investigators were getting pretty good taste of the river of bad blood that ran throug the harkey family. bonnie harkey's grandson, carl pressley, and his girlfriend lillian king where in th county jail. and now, men with badges decided to take a harder loo at bruce harkey. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> coming up -- >> good now? >> we had some questions for bruce harkey, too. >> you didn't put carl up to what >> you really asked forrest gump to commit murder? >> forrest gump? then this in-house interview was like a box of chocolates we didn't know what we're goin to get >> because you said you wish she was dead, and then later she became that. >> -- when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ breathe better in as little as 2 weeks. dupixent is an add-on treatment

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go for ten runs. run a marathon. instead, start small with nicorette, which will lead to something big. >> the final decision to kil bonnie harkey was made on friday, two days before th murder as carl pressley laid it out for investigators, his uncle bruce was broke and could no wait any longer for hi inheritance. >> he set me down on the bed and he says, we gotta get ri of bonnie. we are running out of money. >> texans are generally though

to be pretty hard nosed when i comes to business. but carl pressley? not so much. >> bruce says, i'll give you $500 if this happens right now this weekend if bonnie dies i said, you are brockman, and threw a number out there, like $250 he said, no, no, no. >> for a little bit, according to carl, they argued about the price. he was adamant he was gonna pa him $500, and carl was adamant he only needed to pay him 2:50 >> in the end, carl says bruce agreed to pay him $100 down, and another 150 once the job was done >> we found out he stopped b his band, and later withdrew $200, which was great becaus that is a date and tim stamped. now i have you on video. then he leaves there, and abou 30 minutes later, he shows bac in front of lillian king's

house. and call ones out of the dol door to collect $100 from bruc harkey >> the idea that bruce harke was in cahoots with carl pressley seemed odd to some. >> evidently, bruce detested the fact that carl would refer to bruce as uncle bruce. but carl was always seemingl seeking approval and acceptanc from bruce >> jeff schumacher, one of the investigators on the case, believes bruce may have used that bit of psychology to hi advantage, when he decided i was long past time for bonni harkey to meet her maker >> so, when bruce says, hey, i want you to go over my murde plot happiest day of karl's life? >> you know, carl thought they was finally gonna receive that acceptance he'd been seeking >> a theory? perhaps. but then, investigators also

knew that bruce harkey had never made any secret about ho he felt about his stepmother bonnie >> excuse my language, but thi is exactly what he said. he said that -- [bleep] have a decency to die >> investigators did not kno if bruce gave karl, or jus manipulated him into killing bonnie harkey. but they were sure he wa involved so, two days after carl, investigators went to bomb his body, and bruce harkey was arrested and charged wit murder one law meant came to question bruce in jail, he did not minc words. >> bonnie was a poor miserable wretch of a human being, okay? she did not have to working -- i didn't go out there and say, somebody needs to color. i said she needs to go she needs to go. >> according to bruce, kar pressley had his own motive fo killing bonnie harkey. and that's because a yea

earlier, carl had sold his future interest of the harke estate to the harkey brother for a fraction of what it wa worth. but here is the thing, the brothers only gave him a fraction of the money they owe him. bruce says he told karl th brothers would pay him the rest, around $55, 000, once they inherited the orchards this is how bruce says car responded. >> how long after my grandmother's death do i get the money? carl, it has to go through probate first. hell, that could take years. i don't know >> according to bruce, the money he gave call shortly before bonnie's death was ga money, nothing more. then, bruce harkey turned th tables on the lawman, and as them a question that would become central to his defense. >> why would i plan on bonnie'

demise or offered to pay somebody to do what numbness did when, i'm thinking, this i just around the corner anyway, why, guys? >> when we spoke with bruc harkey through a thick paint o glass, he insisted he was an innocent man >> i had nothing to do with it >> you did not put call up t it >> absolutely, sir, no >> that's exactly like the first question my attorney asked me, would you really hir forrest gump to commit murder? i would not hire anybody t commit murder. >> so, the girl told investigators he did this al in his own >> i don't know what he did, but there's two people involve in it, and that would be cal and lillian, his girlfriend. other than that, i'm not gonna attest to anything because i don't know >> how many times in your life did you say you wished bonni harkey was dead? >> i don't know. several. >> i mean --

>> i can't give you a number >> that is one of the reason you are in here -- >> i understand that, okay >> because you said you wish she were dead, and then late she became dead. >> but i did not have anything to do with it. you can't wish someone dead an have it happen and then get 12 for it it's not against the law t have wishes. it's not against the law t make comments. maybe not, but when broussard' murder trial rolled around, he would have to answer for all o them, and more >> coming up - >> i would simply say that tha is devastating news. >> that cast comes back to haunt bruce harkey -- when dateline 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.

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>> now, with the conclusion of the queen of the county, her is josh mankiewicz ♪ ♪ ♪ >> in the years after bonnie harkey took her place alongsid the other harkeys in the san saba cemetery, life and th texas hill country came back t normal most people could only speculate about what reall happened on the day bonnie harkey and her caretaker karen johnson world. but jack schoumacher says he knows -- >> this is where karen johnson lay when she was murdered, right here

>> how was she killed? >> choked, smothered, just bulldogs down by carl. >> jack schoumacher says h knows that because car pressley told him how it all went down this weekend he also knows that bruce harke wanted everyone in san saba to know that he was going out o town jack vaughan, a loca businessman, says he had only nodding acquaintance with bruc harkey, and yet -- >> he started telling me how h was normally out of town all weekend long, stressed all weekend long, leaving earl saturday morning but i won't be back until late sunday night it might even monday before make it back in. so, i'm gonna be gone al weekend long >> by the time bruce harke went on trial in april of 2014 his nephew karl pressley had confessed to his part an killing bonnie harkey and he caretaker. carl's girlfriend lillian king had admitted her involvement with the two of them said to

testify against bruce harkey in exchange for lighte sentences, prosecutor sunn mcafee felt confident that h had a solid case against bruce >> the facts of the crime were so horrendous that i did not think once the jury believed that he was pardoned of th crime, that they did not hav any difficulty at all findin difficulty >> she and bruce harkey an karl pressley talked about killing bonnie many times. what she told us, she didn't learn what actually set in motion until the friday before the murder that is when she says sh overheard a phone conversation between bruce harkey and kar pressley >> because after he got off th phone with, facilitate me an said was gonna bruce was gonna pay me to -- >> lillian testified that whil bonnie and her caretaker wer in church that sunday morning, carl slipped into the house an hid. once bonded we turned home

lilian said, carl center a text, telling her to come distract karen johnson, while h smothered his grandmother. >> so, i rang the doorbell because it was open. and miss johnson came in and i was stepping in and closing -- i see this flash >> inside the house? >> so, coming up behind this johnson? >> yes yes. and i saw that it was karl and he was yelling at me t close the door, get in here, g in there with his grandmother. >> once karen was dead, lilian says, led bonnie to her bedroom, where she says carl asked he to pray. >> i see the pillow, and while they are praying, he start pushing her a bit. she fought him, and she did, but the doorbell ring. and it's scared car carl

so, he jumped up, and he wen to see who it was. >> lilian says that whoever it was left after about fiv minutes. it was then lillian told the jury that carl decided to driv his grandmother to normangee >> in your mind, was it clea that she knew that carl trie to kill her than >> yes >> what did she say? >> she looked at him and said, you try to kill me, and carl was like, no, grandma, i was not doing that >> lilian says the last time she saw bonnie harkey alive wa later that night, when she say she saw carl leaving bonnie to her death. >> i went to the bathroom again, and as i was coming out, i saw him in her, walking into the trees. >> you knew it was coming? how did you let that happen? >> it's hard for me. you know, if he did not hurt her, he was going to do it t me >> the prosecutors knew that a

jury would not vote to convict bruce on the testimony o lillian king and karl pressley alone. so, he used bruce harkey's own words against him. >> he talked about how h couldn't get his land until sh was dead and that she just doesn't have the decency. and he said all of this in the weeks leading up to the murder >> richard was bruce harkey' attorney he told the jury carl pressley wanted to kobanî harkey becaus he wanted the inheritance, and needed no prompting from his uncle. davis reminded jurors how many times carl had changed his story before telling polic through sport of the plot. >> my theory is it's all car and that was essentially our testimony. and the testimony of carl an the trial makes it clear tha this guy was erratic personality. he gave numerous different descriptions of what the event

were, how he did it, why he di it, and it was - >> originally, he did not do it? >> well, i did not do it, i di not deal with. and if i did do it, it was because this >> and finally - >> exactly >> sort of at the point wher prosecutors and police started to talk about the death penalty? >> and my question, and in any case where there is a statemen from a witness, was a lot to lose, what's the most likely t be the truth >> joe is my question karl presley's credibility, but the prosecutors had a bombshell in his arsenal. turns out, jurors, this was no bruce harkey's first time. mcafee told the jurors juror the ten years earlier he had done prison time for his rol in another murder plot, and in an unsuccessful one that targeted one of his many exploits >> i think there's a lot o things that were extremely similar in it.

and the main one is that h gets somebody else to do wha he wants done and he does it through influence. >> i will simply say that that is a devastating bit o evidence >> yes, because that makes m think, well, they got to tha -- guy >> just hypothetically speaking, let's say the case i purely circumstantial, and i looks kind of that, and then there is proof in front of the jury, this is -- by the way, he did it before that makes all the other evidence see much more important. >> if you are a prosecutor - >> that's great stuff. that is the end of this stor whether it should be or should not. >> it took the jury only one hour to reach a guilty verdict bruce harkey was steve day lif sentence as did karl pressley. lilian king was sentenced to 4 years for her role in th murders. >> i'm not a violent person. i'm not. and i loved miss harkey like she was my own grandmother >> and yet - >> i know.

i keep thinking, you know -- i hope i could do somethin different, but it's not goin to change. it's at me it eats at me. i can't sleep most of the time >> as for the estate bruce harkey had so fervently hope to inherent, that seem to be gone with the texas wind in the wake of bonnie's death, the orchards faded, and ther were no longer any harkeys living in the harkey home. >> and that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin thanks for watching. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales