let our injury attorneys help you get the best result possible. ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ hello, i'm craig melvin and ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ this is dateline. >> she loved the beach. the tragedy of it all. the violence, horrible.

final moments of her life. unimaginable. >> she was a free spirit and paradise. >> that have been her lifelong dream, to have her own resort. >> then, like footprints in the sand, she disappeared. >> just strange. >> something is not right. >> some said the motel owner had simply checked out, and left town. >> they saw her in line to get onto an airplane. but >> our prized car turn up the next calm behind the wheel. >> we thought, oh my god, it's, him he killed her. >> was it really that simple? her personal life is very complicated. a younger boyfriend. >> the young man was very charismatic, drop dead gorgeous. >> and an estranged husband. >> then caught them having sex -- >> the case really started to sizzle when -- >> we didn't know.

>> this is a murder mystery of epic proportions. >> both of us were obsessed with the case. >> can is get any more bizarre? ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, and welcome to dateline. she had moved there for her first piece of heaven on earth, life on a sunny island in florida. so, when she vanished, her friends knew it wasn't her idea to leave. but, that wasn't all they were sure about in that complicated missing person case. here is keith morrison with, a place on the sand. >> there is a little island, it's a little bit of fantasy, off the coast of florida.

>> a little bit of paradise? >> it is paradise. it just gets better and better, we think. >> anna maria island, where a high rise condos are banned, is seven miles of on spoiled white sand, and spoiled houses, unspoiled people, to, most of them. >> when you come across the bridge, it's a whole different life, you're like a, i'm here. >> and here is where he she found her little paradise, too. came all the way from germany for it. sabine musil-buehler, and whether they called her subpoena or sabine. they all knew her here on the island. >> a larger than life person? >> absolutely, and the minute you met her, you are drawn to her. she was just one of the people you want to get to know better. >> and even now, looking back at what happened to sabine, and the awful mystery. it doesn't seem possible. not here. >> nothing happens on the

island. it's sweet town, we don't have things like that to happen here. >> no, and certainly not to her. sabine made good things happen here, crazy things, happy thanks. here at the 50s motel she bought and reimagined, along with tom buehler, the man she married within two weeks of meeting. her partner at haley's motel. long-time friends nancy ambrose and suzi fox. >> it had always been a lifeline dream to have her own resort, and haley's came on the market. and at the time is pretty rundown. and we were like, oh, you've got your hands full here. we knew that she and tom could do it, if anybody could do it, they could turn this around. >> oh and they did. >> tom did the fixing, and sabine how the ideas.

they invited the whole town to the quirky events and dress up parties. >> hello, welcome to haley's motel. please, join me for a tour. >> this is her with jack mo, her ever-present parent. she was a star of her own promotional videos for the hotel. >> i hope you like this so far, but -- >> neighbor barbara hines. >> so being a never saw something that had broken wing that she didn't try to fix. >> sabine it was a rescuer, people, pets, dogs, turtles. when suzi fox took over the anna maria total watch, nesting turtles are very big deal here, she asked for help. >> i told sabine, we my fourth volunteers, and there's nine sections on the silent one mile long. and they said they take as many as i needed to give them. >> i watch or put a huge leather back in the water.

unfortunately, it was missing a flipper, and he swam in circles so he kept coming back to the beach. and sabine jumped in the water without a second thought, and she was up to here talking to the turtles face like, she can tell this 400 pound total to turn around. or will him too. >> so, you get the idea. >> she's just amazing, she's as one of those people that cared about everybody. >> like nancy ambrose, for example, but she was battling cancer, and nobody would give her a job because we're demanding treatment schedule. until the day she met subpoena. >> explain what my situation was, she is a great, that's fine, i want to work. i was like really? it was one of the happiest days of my life, because she was giving me a chance. >> so we sabine had passions, animals, her hotel, her white

pontiac convertible. and 2008, a new camp passion. campaigning for barack obama, an uphill battle on this predominantly republican island. so, on election night, sabine was certainly up for a party. she had arranged to meet nancy, in fact, for what they hoped to turn into a victory celebration. >> she was so into the election, she was so excited, she wanted, obama to win. >> stranger when nancy it arrived, she could not find sabine. >> and i had thought she already left, because i got there late. >> her husband tom had been there earlier, to, but without her. still, nancy didn't worry, about then anyway. >> it wasn't until a couple of days later, that i realize she was missing. >> how was it possible? the woman who loved to celebrate, didn't, at the moment a love to talk called no one.

the woman who loved her motels and there wasn't there. sabine was gone. >> coming up. first troubling clue, her car with someone else at the wheel. >> flag started going off. >> who was this mystery driver? >> she would've driven to a very rough area, and it came to my mind that maybe she was carjacked. >> we need to know the truth, and we need to know now. >> when dateline continues. . try head & shoulders shampoo. dandruff is caused by irritation to a germ that lives on everyone's scalp. unlike regular shampoo, head & shoulders contains zinc pyrithione, which fights the dandruff-causing germ and helps prevent it from coming back. it's gentle on hair and provides up to 100% dandruff protection, clinically proven. try head & shoulders shampoo and conditioner. for best results, use with every wash. this has been medifacts for head & shoulders. - representative! - sorry, i didn't get that. - oh buddy! you need a hug. you also need consumer cellular. get the exact same coverage as the nation's leading carriers

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keith morrison (voiceover): the air was somehow different on tiny anna maria island >> the air is somehow different, that november of 2008-- on tiny anna maria island, then november of 2008. not just because obama won the election, but because sabine musil-buehler, the one and only, was not around to celebrate. not with our friends, not with her pets, not at her motel. >> she would never, ever leave her animals. she would never ever not go to haley's to work. that was her baby. >> then, two days, later 2:30 in the morning, i see the neighborhood across the bridge on the mainland, the patrol had pulled over a white pontiac comfortable with a burned out taillight, as the cop approached the car, the driver ran. it was a wild chase, and they caught him. his name was robert baroda, and he had a story. -- and the manatee county sheriff 's office. >> mr. corona original story,

is i was doing crack with the owner of the car, and it wasn't reported stolen. >> he said he knew the owner was? >> yes, and had permission of the car. >> but when it detectives checked the registration, they learned a convertible belong to sabine. and corona had a record. >> he's a known street criminal. >> and they learned from sabine 's friends, there had to be something very wrong with the story to have her doing drugs and drinking with a felon, at a smoky bar, in a seedy part of town. >> she would never be buying drugs, she would not even allow people to smoke around her, she would not allow people to smoke at haley's hotel property. >> she was a health fanatic? >> she was, she had a personal trainer, she was very into health when. >> so, they arrested corona. installed him in the county to jail. and in the morning, drove over

to haley's motel, to talk to sabine's husband, tom. and? tom said he hadn't seen sabine in a couple of days. he hadn't filed a report, but did after the police came around. >> what was you like? what was your impression of the guy. >> he was concerned, for her well-being, she wasn't answering her phone, he couldn't find her. >> and, something else, according to tom. but sabine never let anyone drive a car, not even him. now, there was a stolen car, a missing woman, and unknown criminal. not adding up to a good combination for sabine. >> flags started going off, and shortly thereafter, detective started to get involved as a missing persons case. >> but, then it got worse. when detectives went over the car, they found blood drops in the backseat, a patch of the rear seat had been cut out. so, they sprayed luminol around, and found more blood traces on the rear seat. her friends were horrified.

>> then we thought, oh my god, he killed her, it must have killed or. >> there was a homicide investigation -- corona in jail. >> i put my business card down on the table, and so we are a homicide tactic, as we need to know the truth now. he said, don't like me 20 murders, and then he changes story. >> corona's new story? he never met anybody named sabine, he just found her car parked behind a place called the gator lounge, i'm not exactly upscale wine bar. in the jailhouse interview, he claimed it was just a crime of opportunity. >> you didn't see anybody, did you? >> i didn't see anybody. so that's why decided to take the car. you know, so i gotta side, and see the keys on oh, no one i

mean? and joyride, you know? >> so the vehicle was left, like somebody wanted it stolen. so he just took the liberty of stealing that car. >> was the second story any more true than the first? the local paper jumped on all this, of course, and bonner joy heard a lot of stories. >> there were a number of people who speculated that he she might have gone to a town to unemployment celebration, the area she would've driven through was a very rough area. and it just came to my mind that maybe she had been carjacked. >> certainly, something very bad must have happened. something, maybe, that happened in her car. so, was corona her killer? or was he finally telling the truth, that he stole her car outside that bar. but that was true, how did we get there? and where was sabine? >> could it be, sabine had plans that nobody knew about.

had this free spirit simply skip town? coming up. >> there were two women at the sarasota airport, and they were sure they saw her up ahead, in line. you know, to get onto an airplane. >> 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 ] nexgard is the flea and tick protection that's #1 with vets. your vet trusts it for her patients... ...and her own dog. plus, its delicious beef flavor is #1 with dogs. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. ask your vet about nexgard.

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we planned well for retirement, but i wish we had more cash. you think those two have any idea? that they can sell their life insurance policy for cash? so they're basically sitting on a goldmine? i don't think they have a clue. that's crazy! well, not everyone knows coventry's helped thousands of people sell their policies for cash. even term policies. i can't believe they're just sitting up there! sitting on all this cash. if you own a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more, you can sell all or part of it to coventry. even a term policy. for cash, or a combination of cash and coverage, with no future premiums. someone needs to tell them, that they're sitting on a goldmine, and you have no idea! hey, guys! you're sitting on a goldmine! come on, guys! do you hear

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when they found her car, there was blood in it. and the fellow who had stolen, it kept changing his story. so, the logical conclusion was dark indeed. but still -- she could've gone back to germany to see her family, or something? >> right, and there was extensive leads an investigation to determine that. >> in fact, apparently she had been seen, alive and well at the local airport. her friend -- chris tollette told the story. >> there is her friend at the airport, who said they were sure they saw her op-ed in line to get onto an airplane. >> but when detectives check out the tip. >> her passport wasn't used, checking surveillance cameras in the sarasota airport, the tampa airport to make sure that she did not leave the country,

or fly out. >> a couple of weeks went by that way, lots of tips, no verifiable sightings. and then finally they got the dna back on that blood in the car. >> we were able to get her toothbrush, and some other kinds of items for a dna comparison. and we're able to matchup, that was in fact her blood. >> her husband tom told the local news reporter from that first morning, when he was told about her car. >> the second i knew, when the police told me, they found her car, without her in it, and with the keys in the car, i knew sabine it was no longer with us. i knew something it happened to her, immediately. >> so, it looked like this guy corona might be on the hook for murder. but beyond the blood? the evidence did exactly jump out. but who else? had she made an enemy? when detectives started looking at her life, that account wide net, she was like a magnet.

everybody wanted to go to her lavish parties. >> there is a waiting list to get on your party list. >> exactly. >> she could even get a little racy, for sleep a little anna maria island. >> one of the more unusual things, she hired some people from germany to come here to do nude body paint. that blew up. nude body painting on anna maria island? you can't do that here. >> but, sabine did what had to be done, it could be a tough business. and with the economy begin to tank in 2008. but once was sunny and light, was gray with worry. sabine and tom were in trouble. neighbor barbara hines -- >> the real estate market folded. i knew from sabine, not from tom, that they were highly leveraged. >> please call me for a reservation.

>> and while sabine use your marketing skills to try to keep the hotel afloat. she and tom couldn't do the same for the marriage. after more than a decade, as husband and wife, they were that in name only. but what they did not do was divorce or divide of the business. >> they were always still good friends. very good friends. >> as the romance, fight the marriage front? >> the romance part kind of -- >> maybe romance changed. >> it certainly did, as a detectives couldn't help but discover, tom and sabine had taken up with other people, both of them. he, with a woman he'd known quite a while, she was a local artist, who once worked at the motel as a handyman. and then, there is the matter of the life insurance. how much did he take out on her life, the cops asked? $100, 000, said tom. despite what was apparently an

amicable break up, people on anna maria island could help but wonder about tom. more than a few said serena's friend caryn hodge, a lot of people whispering inspecting him in a way, because they didn't know. >> he did promotional stills for the hotel, and became good friends. >> there is no evidence found, there is no, nothing about who didn't. this is a murder mystery of epic proportions. >> so it was. but then, 12 days after she vanished from the face of the earth, somebody set fire to haley's motel. >> i'm sure my mouth was hanging open. just going, can this get any more bizarre? >> what was this all about? >> we just didn't know. >> dead or alive, where was sabine? >> coming up. sabine's husband, that 100,000

policy, wasn't the whole story. >> it came out later than it was 300,000. money, a motive? or just maybe jealousy? >> he had caught her having sex in room 11 of the motel. >> when dateline continues. check. psych! and i'm about to steal this game from you just like i stole kelly carter in high school. you got no game dude, that's a foul! and now you're ready to settle the score. game over. and if you don't have the right home insurance coverage, well, you could end up paying for all this yourself. so get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem, yeah, like me. thanks, bro. take a lap, rookie. real mature. getting this? water doesn't have to be boring. with over 40 delicious flavors, cirkul starts a party for your tastebuds. no sugar, no calories and no artificial flavors. just good times. try cirkul, available now at

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with a look at what is happening. at least 20 tornadoes destruction hundreds of miles were reported across nebraska friday. this wench tornado crossing a road in spalding was just one of them. there could be more tonight. the national weather service putting strong thunderstorms, large, hail and potential wind damage for parts of the missouri valley overnight. and, in texas, it was agents should brace for a wet mother's day weekend where parts of the state, near the mexico border, expected get more than five inches of rain. for now, let's go back to dateline. dateline >> welcome back to dateline and

i'm craig melvin. i'm craig melbourne. the missing persons case of sabine musil-buehler, had just taken a turn to the bizarre,, 12 days after she disappeared, a fire at or motel. had any chance of finding her also gone up in flames? keith morrison picks up on her story, a place on the sand. >> the torching of tom buehler tom buehler haley's hotel here in anna maria island, turn out to be this just as -- they did know was that it was no accident this was arson. it started in a building beside that main hotel structure, a building that once served as tom and sabine's living quarters, nobody was hurt, but there were questions. was a personal? and attempt to destroy evidence?

for wet? around town, some people wondered if tom had something to do with it. others dismiss that as just plain nonsense. photographer jack ohca with who we will find her for the -- >> that's on the mystery really started to wow, another element of this puzzle. >> why would somebody do that? >> it's bizarre. >> surely, it had have something to do with whatever happened to sabine. >> why would that place burn down? for somebody trying to destroy some evidence? >> it was a theory. we weren't sure if something happened there, or issues buried somewhere, we just don't know. >> months went by, without a decent lead, though it was not for a lack of trying to find one, especially where their instincts were telling them, that sabine was likely buried on the beach. >> we'd always come out here to this very spot, and stand here and review the case, and brainstorm the case. >> detective sergeant john kenney, and jeffrey bliss kept

organizing searches of the beach, looking for any area where the white sand beach looked disturbed. >> we took cadaver dogs, what them up and down the beach, we used to ground printed trading radar to check various spots on the beach, trying to find the skeletal remains. >> to no avail. >> and in november, 2009, the first anniversary of whatever had happened, on the beach sabine loved, they had a little memorial. husband tom tossed a flower wreath into the surf. >> there was no hope. we knew, she was gone, she was no longer alive. >> but apparently, the life insurance company wasn't so sure. and right around the time of that memorial search to the beach, tom went to court to take the first step to get that money. >> wasn't tom who petitioned the court to declare her dead? >> yes. >> if he's declared dead, he has a lot of insurance money. plus the ownership outright of

the motel. >> correct. >> yes, that. funny, tom had told the detectives before, that he held a 100,000 dollar policy on sabine but, when he filed papers to declare her dead? turned out, there was a second larger life insurance policy, that he forgot to mention. >> it came up later, that it was 300,000. >> the revelation made the newspapers. attorneys for the insurance company argued that, under florida law, sabine had to be missing at least five years before she could be declared dead, and you have any insurance money played out. at the hearing, reporters noted unusual group of observers listening to the proceedings. >> the whole back row of seath

was taken up by detectives to the insurance company, why were there? >> but tom was not successful. >> they denied a deficit of get, and he was denied the insurance. and i could see, why they would deny the death certificate, there was nobody. >> but then police knew, corona didn't kill sabine, a barmaid was able to confront essentials of a story. so, he was convicted of car theft, not murder. and detectives kenney, who as an island cop in known sabine and tom for years, decided to have another try much closer to home. he asked tom for any detail, no matter how small. that might take the investigation beyond the conjecture and whispers of suspicion, the floated on the island breeze. >> he wanted the whole background of their courtship, their marriage, and how disintegrated. >> well, how did it to disintegrate? >> he told me that it just slowly, like, blew apart. and they stayed together because they're very good friends, and they owned a business together. >> but, and this seemed unusual,

while they stayed married, they moved in with other people. remember, in the year before she went missing, tom started dating a new woman, and sabine took up with a handsome younger man, who once worked at the hotel. his name is bill, bill cumber. >> the man was very charismatic, drop that gorgeous. >> 30 years younger, in fact. >> sabine it was 30 years younger. and very different from tom. but tom, meanwhile, was still her business partner. and that's where things got a little dicey. one day, tom found sabine in a room in their hotel with her new lover bill. >> he had called him having sex and room 11 at the motel, but he said it wasn't a jealousy thing, it was a lack of respect that having sex with his wife in the hotel room. >> not jealous? maybe.

still the detectives knew that sort of thing could very well drive a person to do terrible things. so, tom and bill. then one of them harm's have been? the interview build, the first-time, back when sabine's stolen car was found, learning that in 2008 they started dating, and eventually they moved into an apartment together. sabine told her friends, that she'd hit the jackpot with bill. friends like joyce. >> she even had his picture in her wallet, and she was so proud that he was so handsome, and i could see that she was head over heels. >> maybe this was going to be the love of her life, they were going to have a wonderful future together. >> the last time sabine's friend saw her, he was with bill, jack had never met him before. >> she came over to me if you give me a big kiss and hug, how are you.

and she introduced this man to me, and he shook my hand, hey jack, long time no see. and look at this guy thinking, like, i don't really know this guy. question was, did anybody know bill? >> coming up. >> -- i think the world is somebody missing somebody special. >> motion from bill. >> and a surprise from a stranger. >> he said, you have no idea what you've just done. >> was he about to blow the case wide open? when dateline continues. >> when sabine disappeared from ched up to her boss and said 'dan i want a raise'! his name is bob. woolite protects your favorites from fading, pilling, and stretching. so you can wear them as long as you love them.

pilling, and stretching. keith morrison (voiceover): when sabina disappeared >> when sabine disappeared from from anna maria island on election night, 2008, anna maria island, on election night, 2008. detectives took a good look at the two men close to her. estranged husband tom, and a boyfriend bill cumber, with whom she was living at the time. >> typically in any missing persons case, you look at the inner circle first. husband, paramour. >> bill gave the detectives the story of what happened the night she disappeared. we sabine left the place at about 10 pm, and then you go to the obama victory party. the next thing he knew, detectives were at his door telling him they found her car, and there was blood inside. a few days out, that they will tell the story again to a local tv reporter. >> i think it's a tragedy, i

think that the world missing somebody special. -- somebody special. he told a reporter, he blamed himself in a way. because sabine left after they argued about a smoking. >> i feel responsible for her leaving, leaving here. as far as what happened after that, i have no idea. >> the detectives were busy looking at records, and discovered that, bill once spent some time behind bars. that was after, and unrelated to his stint as a handyman at the hotel. and tom and sabine went to see him in prison, sent the money, wrote to him. and he wrote back. >> and tom, i think, just started writing him back. and started trying to help him. >> as sabine and tom's romance cooled, her letters to bill heat it up. and was was bill was released on probation in 2008, sabine was waiting for him. sabine's friends, however, did not share her enthusiasm for

bill. >> they didn't want him to be around her, they pretty much said, if you're gonna come don't bring that guy. >> just a saw something off about him? >> yes. that she did not. >> now, sabine saw a young, fit, artistic man, who just needed a break. bill was something of an amateur artist, though his sketches never seem to amount to much. but sabine whether determined to help build jump-start his career, it is our work strolled, maybe start about woodworking business. >> she had set him up in a wooden shop, bottle is tools. >> and around town, they certainly look like lovebirds. still, two weeks after he sabine vanished, the detectives

asked bill to come in for another interview. and that's when he told him about -- the argument. [inaudible] but they push him? they challenge them? yes they did. so you doctor? >> you are nothing to do with happened there? official efforts? >> no. >> but tries they might, bill cumber did not crack. so, they sent him a home, that kept an eye on him. >> but made you think that he was the guy who would've killed her? i mean, they were going out together. >> that an argument that day, at least one. >> was there any other evidence that pointed towards him besides that? not before he indicated to support men. >> without sabine to pay the

rent, bill was evicted. the detectives got permission to go in there. >> the first time i entered the apartment, there is a heavy scent of bleach. >> wait a minute, how long after? >> for four weeks. >> and the smell of bleach was still strong at that point. >> we went in and searched it, and we found additional blood evidence with dna. >> was it all that sadie? >> something bad happened right there. >> but, bill told the detectives, that was innocent blood. sabine once qatar self here. then she found bill's dna on the driver seat of sabine's car, but she told detectives that she let him drive it. >> we knew that even her husband was not allowed to drive our car. >> then they looked at bill's hands. >> he had an injury on his hand, that is consistent with the friction burn, that i myself had gone, --

just on the shovel, getting on the palm of your hand. >> bill said, he fell off his bike. and more detectives looked that bill cumber, the were selected for him. the reason he did time in prison, for example? he was convicted of arson. >> he was jealous of his girlfriend, paramour, >> they had an argument, and he tried to burn the house down with her and her kids in it. >> it turned out that the haley's motel fire, was intentionally started with accelerant. those shoes were tested later, and had traces of accelerants to. but that wasn't enough to make a case. so, do they arrest bill, charged with murdering sabine? no they did not. and nobody case would be very tough, so the prosecutors, there is no proof the woman was even dead. so, the detectives turned up the heat. >> so there's always somebody knocking at the door, i wanna talk to, you i want to talk to. >> we had a legitimate safety

concern for our residents. especially if he wound up getting with another female. >> and bill, couldn't take it. he left anna maria island, a lot of the county. unfortunately for him, that was a probation violation. so, before long, phil was in jail. well, detectives kept looking for sabine. everywhere, no trace. then, in 2011, three years after she disappeared. a man named edmonds was clearing brush in front of his house on the island, right next to the beach. >> and underneath a log, there was kind of a small purse. >> looked stolen, said ed, so we showed it to a deputy. >> and his eyes got really big, and he looked to me and said, you have no idea what you've just done. >> it was sabine's purse, her drivers license confirmed it. >> we had this league, as far as the purse been recovered, it is only two blocks of north where they actually lived. so, detectives kenney and bliss,

got an army of police equipment, and started searching the area for her remains. but again, after weeks of digging through the sand and bush, nothing. >> both of us were obsessed with this case, we know he didn't. >> another thing kenney new, is that tom didn't do it. some people who had been suspicion of tom, but privately detectives alongside cleared him. >> another thing kenney new, is that tom didn't do it. some people who had been suspicion of tom, but privately detectives alongside cleared him. >> i could tell that he didn't do it. but we went through the steps, we alibied him, and we did everything that needed to be done to make sure.

>> apparently his attempt to cash out the insurance policy so quickly, there's just a matter of financial survival. >> i would've never thought that tom had anything to do with this, that's why it felt so broken hearted. >> so, with tom in the clear, detectives consulting with other jurisdictions on how they handled nobody cases. they line up all the friends that and circumstantial evidence, and finally the prosecutor told them, they were ready. in 2012, four years after sabine vanished. bill cumber was indicted for second degree murder. but it was not going to be an easy case. >> obviously, you have evidence that goes with the body. cause of death, manner of death, and we didn't have that. >> and what would it take for a jury to believe handsome bill was a killer? >> coming up -- >> i was like for you, after all those years of trying to

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10g network only from xfinity. the future starts now. keith morrison (voiceover): the days the die days slid by rather slid by rather more slowly for bill cumber, more slowly for bill cumber. back in prison on parole violation, and under indictment for murder. but, he did have visitors. detectives kenney and bliss,

both it moved on to other cases, but they still made time to press build come clean. >> we traveled three or four times up to where when he was in prison, and trying to interview him. >> but would you say? >> he said he had nothing to do it, i don't want to talk to us. >> of course, they don't believe that. the detectives were sure that bill killed sabine. and in 2015, they thought they had an offer he can refuse. >> we got the blessing in the state attorney, to offer him a deal. >> the deal? tell detectives where to find the body, and exchange for a lesser sentence. >> he makes the statement, i'll take my chances with jerry. the hair on my neck stands up, because it is a very telling statement. and it isn't man's gonna say, i

didn't do it. >> bill would be taking his chances soon. his trial was just a month away. so, detectives approached the one person who, maybe, could take persuade bill to take the deal. >> detective bliss actually told the defense attorney is our property office, and viewed all the evidence. >> there was sabine's blood on the couch, and comers hand with the boosters, and the evidence in her car, that cut upholstery with her blood, and bills dna. >> they went to cumber and said, you know, we're gonna have a tough time with this.

>> pretty soon, prosecutor art brown got a call. >> i received a feeler from mr. cumber's defensive tierney, that he might be interested in a plea offer. 20 years in prison if he would tell us the location of sabine. >> do you know? bill bit. on october 15th, 2015, a bearded bill cumber, pleaded no contest to second degree murder. and he sat down to answer questions of the tape recorder going. >> because that interview? like >> chilling. >> according to bill, the argument about smoking was just part of it the bad, part started, when sabine told him they were done.

>> so, she's saying she can't go on with this anymore. what happens at that point? >> i lose control. and i hit her in the head with my fist. and it's a disgusting situation. >> what is her reaction to being struck? >> she got scared and she covered her face with her hands. >> okay. >> what do you do at that point? >> i reached and grabbed her throat and started choking her. >> he choked her until she stopped moving, he said. she never fought back. >> did he seem remorseful?

>> somewhat. i mean, it wasn't teary eyed. he was kind of getting it off his chest. >> i just couldn't believe what i did. i stared down at her, and all things were kind of going through my mind. i can't believe what i've done. >> he said he took a sheet off the bed, rolled her up in a, we did about an hour, drag her out to the car. he drove her out to the seat where she blood on the cut out

upholstery, and then he drove to the beach to bury her. >> did you bring the shovel with? >> yes. >> on the way to bury her, he stole a shutter shovel from haley's motel. and then, after he buried her, he drove to the the gator lounge, left the keys in the car, hoping somebody would steal it. then, he took a bus back to the island, and the trolley back home. >> i thought he minimized certain aspects of his involvement in the murder. >> minimize what? >> he says that it was just a split second moment of insanity. i think there was a little bit more calculation than that.

>> after the interview, detective bliss put bill in his car, drove to the beach. then, in handcuffs and leg irons, he shuffled down the long path to a place in the sand where he had often sat with sabine. this is where he brought her body. >> a spot where they used to set up all the time, right off the road from haley's motel. buried in the beach right there. >> right here, where he and sabine came to watch the sunset. >> which way to put her in? >> her head is here. her feet is down there. >> you detective bliss mapped the area with tiny yellow flag. >> four, five feet. >> and then, the detective gave bill an opportunity, whether he deserved it or not. >> go ahead. >> i told him, if you wanted to say a prayer, you could. that's when he got teary eyed and emotional, and he >> >> well i'm craig melvin, and this is dateline. >> she was an 18 year old girl it broke my heart, it