but as the beautiful young woman she was. the vibrant center of her family. but grief, real and painful, comes to visit every day. >> you know, people say, oh, well, she's your spirit and she's your angel and she's in a better place and all this other stuff. i'm like yeah, but i want her here. i don't want my 28-year-old sister to be my angel. i want her to be right here in the thick of it with me. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline. " i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching watching. >> i'm craig melvin. i'm natalie morales. >> this is dateline.

>> it's never good news. 5:00 in the morning. i knew something was wrong. he just began sobbing and saying, no, no. >> it was just before midnight when the shooting started. >> he had been shot multiple times. on the ground. face down. >> a man was dead, but not just any man. >> how do you kill superman? >> how is superman dead. >> he was an olympian and a father, killed, his wife says, by an intruder in his own backyard. [inaudible] >> describe to me. >> but if their fought -- husband was dead, outside by was the gun found hidden inside. and what other secrets were hidden away? >> sometimes she would say things like, i would be better off the deep wasn't around. >> was the father defending the

family or was she? >> she throws that night. >> the mystery may not be who did it, but why. >> the truth will come out and justice will be served. i have to believe that. welcome to dateline. an elite athlete dave laut reached olympic heights taking ventura county, california where he grew up wearing that his beautiful bride. jane said there was uproar and then gunfire. place found dave loud dead and troubling holes in janes story. here's keith morrison with the

hometown hero and the homecoming queen. >> it was late when it happened, very late. too late. the sky had already fallen. no one saw it coming, no one heard the warning, but now in the night, it was done. they work hard here in their homemade garage jim, because in part it isn't just a gym. it's a kind of shrine. >> i look at the wall and there's a bunch of pictures. that's what makes it special, i think. >> these were the moments before they were born when a shot putter named dave laut became's family superman, and his little brother watched him win a bronze medal at the 1984 olympics. >> afterwards i just cried. how do you not? how do you not cry when you see your brother up they're getting

a medal? he's my big brother bodies like my superman. he was my superman. >> don laut is dave's younger brother by nine and a half years. dave and don shared a passion for athletics and fitness from their father. >> i remember my first milk when i was a kid was a protein powder. >> this is all really built in your dna almost, this part of your life. >> yeah it really. is here is where that dna was planted: oxnard, california. this is -- she knew the loudest growing up and that big old farming family of their childhood best friend. my dad's were both farmers old farming families were both from. a lob occurs were big. there were just lots of a lawbreakers you know it was, just a multiply they were good catholics. >> and helen's friend, jane grew up to be especially beautiful, featured in her high school yearbook is homecoming queen. but she was not ever concerned with that.

>> she's also very, very shy. >> how do you get to be a homecoming queen if you're shy? >> she's just also a very kind, person, very gentle person. >> and as that yearbook shows, a star volleyball player, too. >> she could spike -- i mean she's not that, topic she could jump. >> jane soon met that other gifted athlete, dave laut, already well on his way to becoming one of the best shot putters in california. they began dating after high

school, and sometimes let dawn the little laut, tackle on. >> she was wonderful she was fun. they -- just got along so well, they loved each other. it was just neat. >> when they got married in 1980 jane's friend helen's was a bridesmaid. >> going that morning in the wedding to jane's parents house, and all the girls getting dressed up, and that was really fun. it was just sweet, and jane was quite excited. she looked gorgeous, beautiful beautiful on her. wedding day he had her on a pedestal he always said such wonderful things about her. >> this is don's wife, rebecca. >> we talk became very close, we talk maybe once, twice a week in the phone, and probably four hours here and i we just hit it off, we were family. >> jane was there by daves side as it became a national and then world competitor. dave won the bronze medal in the 1984 games, but after his career faded quickly. he kept trying, but knee

injuries. he didn't make the olympic team in 1988. >> he was disappointed, but he knew -- it's like a point of your career when you know that something is done. it's okay, because you know you've gone as far as you can, and that door closes. >> and another door opened. dave became a high school biology teacher, coach and athletic director. and he was even better being a teacher and a coach than it was a throwing. >> if they've missed his former glory, his family said he never showed it. and of course, he remained alleging to his niece and nephews. >> i think one phrase that could describe him is a gentle giant. >> yep. >> he had so much patience, so much kindness. >> i don't, dave and jane struggled to have children. >> she wanted to have a family

really bad. i felt bad when i would get pregnant. >> and then in 1999, they adopted a baby boy from south korea, named him michael. >> they were happy. i have tons and tons of pictures of them. the three of them together they were happy. >> moments in time, inspiration on a garage wall, which these days is about all that's left. >> this does not make sense. no, it's not right. it doesn't make sense. >> ever since that august night in 2009. >> 9-1-1 emergency. >> i heard shots. >> you heard shots being fired? >> yes. >> when a superman fell to earth. >> coming up, would happen to run in with the propeller turned deadly? >> how many pops did you hear? >> two. >> describe to m, e it how fast. they >> were pop-up. >> when dateline extra continues. long lasting relief in a scent-free, gentle mist.

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oxnard, california. >> 9-1-1 emergency. >> the woman in full panic. >> he heard shots being fired? >> yes. >> the woman on the phone was jane laut, the wife of the hometown hero. >> oh my god. >> dave was still outside, she

said where she heard shots fired. >> where did you last see your husband? >> he told me to get back in, so i came back in and i heard the shots. >> how old is your son? >> he's three. >> stay with me. i have two officers near. i want you to stay inside the house. >> the officers had to lock down and call it a homicide team to investigate further. it was a brutal scene. >> ventura county da investigator says that by the time first responders arrived, there was no sign of uproar, but they did find dave laut. he had been shot multiple times. he was on the ground face down, with very obvious gunshot

wounds to his back, into the back of his head. >> james was a mess. she told investigators she had no idea who would do this. >> is there anyone would want to harm him at all? >> no. >> son michael, ten at the time, slept through it all and jane's brother took charge of him while jane went down to the oxnard police station to offer more hoops complete statement. it's been a perfectly normal evening, she said. they were in bed by ten, dave in the master bedroom, she in michaels room where she often slept because david about back, and then it was about an hour later, she said about 11:00. >> who was? >> dave came down the hall she said, worried about the dog.

>> so 11:15, she said she and dave crept over to a sliding glass door to a side yard. >> and then i heard something like, but -- something like that. >> did you see anybody else? >> i thought i, saw, like a shadow, or something by the trash cans. >> do you think you did? >> yes. >> and was it in frontor behind

it? >> well davis here, there is the gate. so it's over there. >> so how far behind him are you? >> about five feet. >> you see a shadow by the trash can. what do you do? >> he said, get your -- and then, going to the door. >> and then what happens? >> then i hear the shots, and then i shut the door. >> and the gunshots? >> but did it sound like? >> it sounded like a pop. like, quick. >> how many pops did you hear? >> three. >> describe them to me, how fast they were. >> pop, pop, pop. it wasn't pop hesitation pop. >> it was, one, two, three. >> i mean, like, this. >> as jane talked to investigators in the early morning hours, the awful news was getting around. >> we got a call about 5:00 in the morning. >> what happens to a person? >> you go to bed at night and everything's fine, and then the phone rings at 5:00 in the morning and suddenly your life is a very different thing? >> yeah, it's like an

earthquake. it just shakes your whole foundation and being. and things are never the same after. it was awful. >> he just fell to his knees. he was on the phone and he just began sobbing and saying, no, no. and it was horrible. >> you don't believe it but it's like, how do you kill superman? how is superman dead? >> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> a few days later, dave's friends and family held a candlelight vigil. >> he was so loved. and every step we take, we take because people like you are here to reach out to us and who are here to support my mother-in-law and husband, and our family, and we truly appreciate that. thank you. >> lift up your candles for dave. >> but they didn't know then, didn't know what the police had

discovered. a key piece of evidence, almost overlooked at first. >> a late investigator in this case walks in and he's just looking around and, i mean, you have a dining room table, you have a hutch. you have a grandfather clock. so, he opened up that clock and it was an, oh wow moment. >> and why would a prouder leave something so important in there? >> if the intruder was outside, how did a key piece of evidence get inside? and something else seemed odd, jane's behavior. >> coming up, she actually tried to keep one of the police officers out of the laundry room. she tried to close the door with her in the laundry room and them out. >> when dateline continues.

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what would that reality look like? well i guess i would've gotten us xfinity... and we'd have a better view. do you need mulch? >> jane laut told the police a what, we have a ton of mulch.

harrowing story, of a backyard prowler, and gunshots just outside her door. now, her husband, olympic bronze medalist dave laut is dead. but something seemed a little. for example, the investigator --, when police were still questioning jane in the house, she stepped into the laundry room. >> she actually try to keep one of the police officers out of the laundry room. she tried to close the door with her in the laundry room in him out. >> why? well, he said, jane was wearing pajamas when the police arrived, but in that laundry room, they found her jeans rolled up in the towel, tucked between the washer and dryer. her top was lying there as well, inside out. it looked like they've been removed quickly, stashed away. and when an officer tried to administer a gunshot residue kit to jane's hands, standard procedure of a shooting

investigation -- >> when the officer doing the test began getting the test ready, she did go into the bathroom and either wash her hands or wipe her hands on a towel, one of the two. before coming back to the table, and before the test was done. >> so, odd things. anyway, police scoured the place, didn't see any murder weapon lying around. and they were ready to take dave's body off to the morgue when something told the lead detective to look here. he cracked open the doors of the grandfathers clock in the dining room, looked inside, and there it was. >> this is more than likely the murder weapon. >> a ruger six shot revolver. surely, no prowler would've dropped a weapon right here in the dining room clock? >> the prowler theory did not make any sense whatsoever with

a hidden gun inside the house. >> so it wasn't long before investigators shifted their focus, from unknown prowler, to the woman who reported one. jane laut. remember those clothes they found in the laundry room? when they tested them, they found gunshot residue. so, did jane sheet dave? and then change into her pajamas before she called 9-1-1? and remember, jane specifically mentioned a red flashlight. so police bagged it, tested it, and found gunshot residue, as though she was holding the flashlight while shooting her husband. and if jen was the killer, this was about as cold blooded as it gets. investigator said that dave had been shot six times. >> we came up with a fairly logical explanation of how it was done.

>> shot one appeared to be fired from a distance, several feet. what found pieces of scrap on the garbage can, and the bullet hit the wall. that's what brought him to his knees, where the killer fired shots to win three into his face at close range. >> we find the one that goes through his cheek bone, it goes down the side yard, bounces off the concrete. it nicks the fence, and that bullet, we matched out on the sidewalk. >> shots five, four, and six hit the upper arm, and back, the back of his head. >> we believe shot six, the final shot, was the shot to the back of the head. >> from the very beginning, jane denied she had anything to do with it. >> i did not do it. i don't know what happened. i didn't do it. i'm truly scared. >> okay. >> but they didn't believe her. especially when they found out that the bullets that killed dave matched the gun in the grandfather clock. and now, don and rebecca laut began to look at things differently. things jane had told them

through the years. which maybe didn't add up either. >> i honestly felt like she was family, so, i am going to dismiss the strange feeling i get sometimes. >> like rebecca said back in the time, jane told her that two men put a knife to her throat and demanded money. >> and i said, well, did you call the police? did you yell? she says, oh, no, i just came home. i just wanted to get home. and i said, this was in the middle of the day? no one else saw? >> and she said no. >> and then there was her claim that peep someone was leaving threatening notes on her car. >> and then you would ask her and probe her, what kind of notes and she doesn't even tell you. >> the implication is that

someone's after her, and she's in some danger. >> yes. >> and now, one day look back at the things they noticed over the years, it was like something fell into place for them. >> there was a separation. it was like jane was the parent, and michael was the child. dave was in the way. >> you have the sense that she was pushing dave away? >> yes. i think that was the stress. on the marriage. >> there was stress, that was pretty clear, said rebecca. >> for a while, every time she would call me, it seemed like it was to vent about something she did not like about what dave was doing. >> so, evidence was carefully sifted for months. and then, in february 2010, jane laut was arrested and charged with first degree murder. the story, said investigators, was chillingly clear. >> this was an execution. she lured him out, shot him from behind, and then aggressed on him, sat on him in the second, third time. step back, shot him a fourth time. came up super close, and shot him two more times, one to the back of the head. >> there seemed to be plenty of evidence. jane's odd behavior, her lie

about a prowler, and on top of it all, the gun in the grandfather clock. so jane hired a lawyer and pleaded not guilty. and the story that came out there turned the whole case on its head. >> mr. laut was a monster. he was despicable. >> coming up -- what had been happening behind closed doors? >> look she didn't want to go down without a fight. she decided to fight. >> when dateline continues. getting inspired! volunteering! playing pickleba...! ahhh! icy hot pro starts working instantly.

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with a look at what is happening. president joe biden addressed press freedoms and the detainment of american journalist during his speech at the white house correspondents dinner on saturday night. this year's comedian host was roy wood junior, a correspondent for the daily show. in sedan, evacuations are going on by land, air, c, of american civilians despite a truce there between the nations to top generals.

nearly 2000 evacuees made the treacherous escape to saudi arabia on saturday. i'm jessica layton. now, let's go back to dateline. back to dateline >> welcome back. i'm craig melvin. dave laut was murdered outside his home and then police found the gun that killed him inside, calling the story the wife told the detectives in a question. what's she told him next would send the investigation hurling in a whole new direction. a stunning allegation points to another explanation for dave's death. here again is keith morrison with the hometown hero and the homecoming queen. >> sweet jane laut, now accused murderer. now dave was dead,

stories emerged. >> it seems like she was controlled in my opinion. >> and across the street neighbor. >> he's there standing there while she's pulling weeds pulling up gutters, washing his truck, and he's not lifting a finger to help or? come on. >> well, jane seemed one nervous? >> like a scary little rabbit. >> i was always a little bit leery about what was going on in the home. >> she said this remained of of a mother vulnerable creature. >> jane was like a scared little cat constantly doing a little twitch, looking over her shoulder to see if someone was behind her. >> and this from jane's former coworker. >> he was very aggressive, he was very demanding and when he said jump, she would go, how high. >> how strange it was she thought that jane always wore long sleeves even when it was hot outside. but more disturbing -- >> there were times when she would come in.

i noticed on her face it looked swollen and she would never comment how it happened. >> there were several times i saw bruising on her. one time on her face, her arms, her legs, several places. >> he was a monster, just a monster. >> ron pamier is john's defense attorney, and according to him dave loud as far from the hometown hero so many people believed him to be. the real truth about dave laut, he said, for nearly three decades, he subjected his wife to horrific abuse. >> like of all abuse, its power and control.

you have verbal abuse, names he would call her, over a long period of time, emotional abuse, the way treats are. we have physical abuse, that's everything from the pitching, the slamming, throng or down, pulling her hair, spitting on her. >> and jane wasn't the only victim. jay was angry that is adopted sign michael was not adopted. >> you call michael names like -- names that were just horrible. we have yelling at the street, but how he can't ride a bike, catch up football, throw. >> he was afraid of what he might do so she didn't report him. so she covered up his abuse and her injuries. we obtained this summary of a police report from the 19 80s in which chain reported that an intruder attacked her while she was alone at work. at the time, police found the injuries consistent with jane's story. in fact, danier said, dave inflicted those injuries, then ordered chain to lie and blamed a nonexistent intruder. a pattern of covering up dave's abuse, abuse which by the

summer of 2009, was getting worse. >> from june of 09 to august 09, it was escalating. >> but jane continued to take it. until that particular august 9th when something changed. that night, according to danier for the first time, they've threatened michael's life. >> she really believe that he was gonna kill michael? >> yes. >> jane had taken michael to the beach that day said danier. they were late getting home. >> dave was upset. he started screaming yelling. no one respects me. don't get any attention, nobody cares about me. >> james put michael the bed, got into pajamas and waited for days anger to subside. >> but he wasn't calming down, so about 10:30 or 11:00, he comes out of the room, he's upset and he's angry. >> and that's when she saw the gun said danier. >> he's holding a source talking about michael that they don't respect him and he's

gonna blow his head off. then he throws are against the wall. she falls down, she kind of crawls backwards with her hands and feet towards the back door. somehow she gets him out on the patio and said calm down, dave. come down. >> then out of the darkness, dave stumbled out of the patio. he loses his balance, and that's her opportunity. she just goes out, and tries to grab the gun. and they go down and the gun goes off and, she eventually gets a gun and she empties it. >> and then she said, she ran back into the house, but the gun inside the grandfather clock, and she called 9-1-1. >> she has no idea he's dead. he's down but she thinks he's getting up. women and abused relationships -- >> so yes she lied about the prowl or says danier. but did it almost automatically, her condition response to his abuse.

but once the police discovered chains lie, said danier, the mine was made up that she was a cold, calculated killer. and when police found those close shot in the laundry room fanny said, they believe that must be jane's attempt to hide evidence of a crime. those clothes when tested only had a tiny fragment of gunshot residue. and police never bothered to test the pajamas jane was wearing when they showed up. but danier did. and the tests were revealed that the pajamas were covered in gunshot residue, proving he says, that jane was wearing those pajamas when she fires. again >> still supports her story? >> it all supports it. >> and the claim that she's got up to wash her hands before residue test? that never happened. that was just the police

covering up a major mistake. >> calk lost a test. they search for they couldn't find it. >> anyway investigators looked at the crime scene evidence just plain got it wrong. once they concluded she was a murder, he says, i actually distorted the evidence to fit their story. >> people one about a 90 degree angle and hit the wall and deposit a piece of scalp matter on the ground. >> you're saying it's? impossible >> it's ludicrous inviolate slough's ex. >> and what's more he says, the dna on the gas gun was dave's, once again supporting jane's contention that he had a gun and then they struggled for it. >> his dna is on the trigger. there's no getting around that fact. >> one more thing said danier. one more bit of evidence that the police missed, even though it was right under their noses. bruising on jane's upper right arm, photographed the morning after jay davis killed. >> if you look at the photograph carefully, you see there's a little handprint. >> a handshake bruise that

helps prove says danier, this wasn't murder, it was self-defense. >> fight for your life reasonably. you have to conclude reasonably that you can use full force. >> and now looking back, said jane's childhood friend, helen, things began to make sense. >> we saw her less and less. >> more than two decades passed. helen had a long career as a social worker and gradually lost touch with jane. >> i would always send her christmas cards if they call me whatever, and i would never hear from her. >> and then helen heard about dave's death. >> everybody was pointing to jane and like a light bulb went off and i thought, oh my god, she was a battered wife. you didn't get it, you didn't see it.

>> but the very idea that jane was an abused spouse, that she killed dave in self-defense? absolutely ludicrous said the lauts, and an outrageous allegation. about dave. >> i know my brother, he's just a good man. he'd give you the shirt office back. that was just the way he was. >> can you see him losing his temper at the woman he's losing -- married to, abusing, or adding or? >> never. >> no, no. >> no said the lauts. >> no said the police. besides they said, maybe jane had quite another motive for killing dale out. a financial one. >> coming up. borrowed money. >> many thousands of dollars and even more money dave. >> sometimes she would say things like, i'd be better off with dave wasn't around. >> when dateline continues.

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always translate to material wealth. in fact, said detectives as they sifted through dave and jane's financial records, they found evidence they were struggling. >> the lauts finances were, they were living beyond their means. there was poor bookkeeping, poor management of the bills. it didn't happen just before the shooting. this is been going on for years and years and years. after dave was killed, said donna rebeca, they found out jane had been borrowing money from her mother in law.

>> jane asked her for a lot of money, give or different excuses why she needed money. >> to pay mortgages or something like that? >> mortgages, doctor bills. schools, tuitions, school supplies. >> how much money talking about? >> thousands of dollars. it was a lot. >> and when they found out that dave had three life insurance policies? >> i think we total it all up and it came up to 300, $350, 000, somewhere in that neighborhood. she was likely to see if a prowler had done this. >> was there any indication that she was capable of violent acts? or a stern person who could be violent? >> she said some things to me. and i dismissed them because i maybe didn't want to believe that she was capable, but sometimes she would say things like, i'd be better off if dave wasn't around. >> meanwhile, justice crawled.

a year passed, then two, three, four. jane remained free on bond, and dave's niece, meghan, fumed. >> she caused my family so much pain. and it's horrible. it's just, i hated. >> nephews erin and cody took it out in the garage weight room. >> i have a way of bottling and condensing it and i get it out when i lift. you get your motion going, you get your adrenaline going. >> in september 2013 -- >> dawn laut pleaded with the judge to get the case before a jury. >> i just want the court to know that there is a family and there are friends behind my brother. and it's been four years. and it's been very difficult. >> and then, in january 2015,

more than five years after dave 's death, in a move that shocked janes defense attorney, the prosecution indicated it would be open to making a deal. >> and i was blown away. >> a plea deal? yes, and what a deal it was. if jane pleaded guilty, to voluntary manslaughter, she would be sentenced to just six years and would most likely serve only three. it seemed like an admission of weakness from the prosecution, said bamieh, and the opportunity for a lifetime the for a woman facing first degree murder to life. and so-- >> i give her my strong recommendation that she took it. and she said no. the and i was just like, i was stunned. i said, jane, i just kept saying, do you understand, and she said, i understand fully, it is not on you, it is my decision.

and she was crying, and she said, i have to fight for this. >> mind you, by then jane had some powerful moral support from her old friend, helen. >> she rose that night. she rose that night. and became a very strong powerful woman and defended the life of her son. >> and then at last, in january 2016, jane laut went on trial for murder. her friend, helen, sitting right behind her. >> do you think she will go to jail? >> i don't. i absolutely do not. >> you believe the jury will believe her story? >> i do. >> and see it as a case of self-defense? >> i do, i do, i believe that. >> i sincerely believe her. and i don't say that about many people. i sincerely believe her. >> do you usually get this personally invested in a case? >> i am always invested in my cases, yes. but do i care as much about clients like i do about jane? no, i would be lying if i said

i do. >> but could he persuade a jury to believe in jane too? >> coming up -- jane takes the stand. >> the she has to testify. >> and the gun takes center stage. >> pull back the hammer, fire. each and every time. >> when dateline continues. trelegy for copd. ♪birds flyin' high, you know how i feel.♪ ♪breeze driftin' on by...♪ ♪...you know how i feel.♪ you don't have to take... [coughing] ...copd sitting down. ♪it's a new dawn,...♪ ♪...it's a new day,♪ it's time to make a stand. ♪and i'm feelin' good.♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd... ...medicine has the power

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facing 50 years to life for the murder of her husband, when prosecutors offer to cut jane laut's sentence to just 6 years if she pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, she said no. which he regret that decision? here is keith morrison with the final chapter of the hometown hero and the homecoming queen. >> dave laut was a son, he was a father, he was a colleague, he was a friend. >> more than six years after the death of olympic bronze medalist dave laut, the murder trial of his wife, jane, finally began in this ventura county courtroom. the prosecutor told the jury jane was a calculated killer. >> if you look at each of the six shots, they were administered by this defendant. as she was executing her plan to murder her husband. there is only one reasonable

conclusion. is to find the defendant guilty of murder. >> i'm about to talk to you for quite some time. >> defense attorney ron bamieh, said the real victim was jane, who suffered the utmost cruelty at the hands of her husband. >> he is not the hero of the olympics. he is the monster who abused her for 27 years. >> the defense call family, friends, and neighbors, they all testified that jane was an abused spouse. but the most important witness was the defendant herself. >> she pleaded not guilty. she has to testify. >> the judge would not allow camera to roll, when for the first time, publicly, three tiers, changed her story. she said that she took dave's abuse for nearly three decades, until the night he threatened their son. >> the fact that she could live with the fact that he could kill her, she could not live with the fact that he would kill michael.

>> on the stand, jane admitted that she lied in her 9-1-1 call. >> 9-1-1 emergency. >> something over there -- in the backyard. >> and later, to the police about a prowler. but she denied that she had any financial motive for killing her husband. after all, she did not ask for, nor did she receive a penny of dave's life insurance. >> jane would never be about finances, absolutely not. >> why do you say that? >> because, that is not her value. jane is about relationship, she is about family, she is about children. she's -- it's never been about money for her. >> of course, the prosecutor got his turn to cross-examine jane. there were a lot of, i don't remember's, about the night of the murder. she simply couldn't recall what happened after she fired the first two or three shots, she said. but she did admit that she was quite familiar with the gun. in fact, had used it several times before.

>> this single action gun, in the hands of this defendant required her to pull back that hammer, fire. pulled back the hammer, fire. each and every time. for the six times that she aimed at her husband and shot him. >> like this, said the prosecutor, as he played a video of a woman firing that very gun. but, said the defense attorney, that is not the only way to fire the gun. >> if you hold the trigger down, you can pull the hammer back. >> this is called fanning the gun, something you would expect to see an old western. but a prosecution expert countered that a movie is the only place he'd ever seen that. >> every expert that came up said that that is absurd. the accuracy of firing a gun six times and hitting your target six times in the dark is astronomical.

>> after seven weeks of testimony, final arguments from both sides, defense attorney bamieh made an impassioned plea to the jury. >> why would jane laut do this? why would she do this? when you think about it, there's only one real reason. only one. it's what anybody would do to protect their child. anyone. >> you do not have the right to kill your husband -- >> while the prosecutor urged the jury to look past the emotion and focus on the evidence. >> the defendants testimony is false, it is untruthful, it is unbelievable. it is a story conjured up to raise her battered women self-defense claim in a murder case, it was plan b, because plan a didn't work. and it's a lie. >> jurors deliberated for three and a half days. and then finally, march 30th 2016, announced they we're ready. jane, supported by helen and

other friends who had stood by her all along, walk to the courthouse and, what waited there? >> it all appears to be in order, i will read the verdict. we have the jury, in entitled action, find the defendant jane laut guilty of first degree murder. >> guilty, of first degree murder. a shock ran through the room. ron bamieh who so fervently believed in her innocence look distraught, and, jane comforted him. the woman who flat turned down a deal to do six years for voluntary manslaughter received the mandatory sentence, 50 years to life. and the story? not so fast. in 2021, jane's case was back in court. an issue, a gun enhancement of her sentence that was mandatory back in 2016 was no longer. judges could now use their discretion.

and jane's judge did just that. cutting her sentence in half to 25 years to life. for the conviction was a victory for dave's family, yes, but not one to celebrate. >> our faith causes to forgive, and we do. we forgive her. >> forget? no, not the lauts, not their superman. >> it is very difficult. i miss him every day. i miss him every day. i think i will always grieve. i'm always going to miss him, he is always a part of me. but, it is hard. >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. >> i'm craig melvin >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is dateline.