person anymore. he's not a human being >> anything you want to say to him if he's watching this? >> i just want to ask why. why? what was he thinking? did he not think this would affect me and jeanette? i mean, i want to know why he thought it was okay for him to do this. i feel like money and power is what got to him. >> and he cared more about money and power than he did about -- >> his own family. >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. you for watching >> i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morale us. >> and this is dateline! >> she was home with the kids, her husband out with friends

when it happened. >> he said something about his kids telling him that there was a robbery. >> all they told us was there was an intruder. >> their home, so deep in the woods, now shrouded in a mystery even deeper. >> this is a real whodunnit? >> very much so. >> the police had suspects. >> i remember telling them they want to be alone. >> they also had a problem. >> why would the sky go up and kill this woman? >> her family had questions of their own. >> something is not my right here, something is wrong. >> and then, someone remembered a phone call and a fib. >> i pulled out my phone, and i'm like, that is strange. >> a killer living two lives. >> everything that you thought you knew was all a lie. >> hello, and welcome to dateline, kelly and tom clayton's seemingly happy life

together came to an abrupt end when she was found brutally murdered, investigators set out to uncover the truth, finding stories of betrayal and a witness who may have seen everything. the clayton's daughter, charlie. but in this case, not everything was as it seemed, here with the house in the woods is andrea canning. >> he wasn't exactly sure where the house was or what had happened there but he knew that it was bad. >> these ones are not fun to do. >> finally, he founded, down the secluded driveway, a man on the front lawn waving him in. >> what's going on. >> i'm the neighbor. >> inside the deputy could see signs of a struggle. blood on the floor. >> blood on the wall. blood on the steps. >> a broken wall. he searched the house. >> the kid's room. this one is clear. he had been a local star of sorts. kelley, she was a hometown girl raised right here in the finger lakes region of new york state. >> when you

grow up here, it took for me to move away and go to college before i came back and really appreciated how pretty it is. >> how did you see kelley's sense of humor. >> she was very goofy. always happy. loved to have fun. loved to laugh. sarcastic. witty. she always made things fun. >> funny and beautiful. couldn't keep a girl like that in a small town forever. after college, she broke news to her big sister kim. >> she was very entitled by bright lights out west. >> did you see her off. >> absolutely. i remember she parked at her mom's house. i remember just running down the street. >> did you have any parting words or advice for her when she left. >> i actually have a photo of us hugging. it was like -- it's such a sad photo to me. it's like the saddest day of my life. >> kelley came home to visit often enough. including christmas of 2003. by then,

elmira had a new attraction, a minor league hockey team. we enjoyed watching him skate. he was fun. he really was. >> he was tom clayton. he served as the instigator. the guy who starts fights. he and kelley locked eyes. it was game over. >> she met him that weekend. she met him? >> she met the bad boy. >> yes. >> was it instant. >> yes, it was. >> they were married about two years later and after that came the kids. almost ten years into the marriage, kelley still gushed about her tom. >> she was just talking about he's the greatest guy. i hit the jackpot with him. >> did it make you happy hearing that. >> yes. it really did. tt was like, wow, there's something

out there like that. >> greg and linda miller got to know the clayton's well over the years. hosted poker games with tom as a frequent guest. affectionally called the former skater, hockey puck. one thing they didn't envy about the claytons. >> because it's out in the middle of nowhere. we both said we could never live out in the woods like that. just being out in the woods is scary enough sometimes, you know what i mean. >> no one remembers kelley feeling uncomfortable. even at night, even alone. except one evening. andrea was chatting on the phone with kelley. ahe wasn't her usual happy self. she was like, all right. i'm tired. good night. all right. leave me alone. >> why was it odd she might want to go to bed early one night. >> i think she was really stressed out. but she didn't -- she was a night owl. she stayed up. her kids stay up late, you know? it wasn't normal. >> neither, of course, was what followed. >> sir, you need to calm down so i can help you, okay? >> yes.

>> what's your name? >> my name's tom. >> tom clayton was on the phone to 911. something about his wife. she wasn't breathing. >> how long has she been down? >> i don't know. i don't know. i just got home. >> greg and linda miller got to know the clayton's well over the years. hosted poker games with tom as a frequent guest. affectionally called the former skater, hockey puck. one thing they didn't envy about the claytons. >> because it's out in the middle of nowhere. we both said we could never live out in the woods like that. just being out in the woods is scary enough sometimes, you know what i mean.

>> no one remembers kelley feeling uncomfortable. even at night, even alone. except one evening. andrea was chatting on the phone with kelley. ahe wasn't her usual happy self. she was like, all right. i'm tired. good night. all right. leave me alone. >> why was it odd she might want to go to bed early one night. >> i think she was really stressed out. but she didn't -- she was a night owl. she stayed up. her kids stay up late, you know? it wasn't normal. >> neither, of course, was what followed. >> sir, you need to calm down so i can help you, okay? >> yes. >> what's your name? >> my name's tom. >> tom clayton was on the phone to 911. something about his wife. she wasn't breathing. >> how long has she been down? >> i don't know. i don't know. i just got home.

>> the clayton home tucked down a pocket of a long dark road. it would never be home again. >> what had happened? when we come back -- coming up, what had happened to kelley. >> police discover the disturbing scene in the home. >> he pointed to the kitchen area. okay. >> when dateline continues. year ♪ it'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. my a1c was up here; now, it's down with rybelsus®. his a1c? it's down with rybelsus®. my doctor told me rybelsus® lowered a1c better than a leading branded pill and that people taking rybelsus® lost more weight. i got to my a1c goal and lost some weight too. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2,

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[ laughter ] it's spring! non-drowsy claritin knocks out symptoms from over 200 allergens without knocking you out. feel the clarity and make today the most wonderful time of the year. live claritin clear. >> car accidents, drug overdoses. those are the kinds of emergency calls deputy dean swan of the steuben county sheriff's office responds to. the one he and his partner got after midnight on september 29, 2015, that was a first. >> how long has she been down? >> i don't know. i don't know. i just got home. >> we received a dispatch from our 911 center. unknown possible medical situation. i responded. to be honest with you, en route i did not feel -- i felt there was something wrong here. just -- >> why? >> cop intuition i guess is -- >> that what it was. >> that maybe this isn't medical. >> that yeah, there was

something more to it. it just seemed that way. >> his instinct proved right. still, he didn't expect what came next inside the home of tom and kelley clayton. this is footage from the body camera swan was wearing that night. he arrived to find a man outside coming towards him. it was a neighbor. >> hi, how you doing? >> i'm okay. >> what's going on? >> tom just came. i'm the neighbor. tom just came over and got me out of bed. >> why? >> there's -- he's right in the house. he's -- >> okay, what happened though? >> his wife is in there. >> i went in, located mr. clayton. and he was kind of down on his knees. kind of bobbing up and down, visibly upset and in the hallway between the hallway and the transition area between the hallway and the dining room. >> anybody else in the house, tom? just you? >> oh, my god the kids are at

the neighbor's house. >> i say, "where's your wife? " and he pointed to the kitchen area. and that is when i walked around and i located the victim on the kitchen floor. >> oh, oh. okay. >> it was tom's wife kelley. right away the deputy knew she'd been murdered. what did you see? >> the victim. there was blood, blood spatter on walls, ceiling. victim had blood pooling around her head. >> tom, where were you when this all went down? >> playing poker with my buddies. >> tom said he had just come home from a poker game to find kelley dead on the floor and his 7-year-old daughter, charlie, saying something about a break-in. >> i came home and my daughter said there was a robber in the house and she saw them. >> okay. come on out here, man. come out here. i want you to have a seat. you don't need to see that any more okay? >> his kids were home? >> kids were home when this occurred. >> where were they? >> when i got on scene, he had taken them to the neighbor. so i never saw the kids. >> what did you think about the person capable of doing this to this mother with her children at home? >> this -- it was -- it's --

there's no way to describe a person like that. they're not a person. >> the officer led tom to his patrol car. >> alright, come on. >> can i get that water? >> yeah. we'll get you a water. take it easy, bud. take it easy. come on over here, tom. i'm just going to -- you're not in trouble. i'm just going to have you take a seat so we can talk to you, alright? take it easy. you're not in trouble, just sit right down. i'm going to leave the door open. just sit right there and relax. >> then the deputy and his partner went back inside the house to make sure the killer wasn't still hiding inside. >> ok. kid's room. this one's clear! >> as they searched, guns drawn, it became clear how the crime unfolded. >> there's blood all over up here. >> from what i could see, the attack started in the main bedroom, went out into the main hallway. a fight ensued. looked like there were pictured knocked off the wall. there was

a landing. the stairs go straight down. and then there's a left turn landing. and there was a big hole in the wall, like where a body part of some kind had gone into the wall and broke the wall. i knew that just from my experience, training that, "okay, this started up here and worked its way down there." >> and she was fighting. >> she was fighting. yes, she was fighting. >> next they searched the basement and the rest of the house. >> i don't see any blood down here at all. nothing there. >> were you able to clear the house? did you find a robber? did you find -- >> nope. >> -- an intruder or any evidence of an intruder? >> yeah, we cleared the house. and we found no -- nobody in the house. >> and no sign of forced entry. but when they went into the garage they realized how the killer might have gotten in and out. >> side door to the garage was open with the inner door open that goes into a laundry room. that door from the laundry room into the kitchen was also open. >> by then, more officers had arrived. and tom clayton, outside by a police car, was still a mess. >> come on over here and sit

down. >> i can't, i can't. i'm shaking. >> well, that's what i'm saying. you want to sit down somewhere. sit down. >> i keep doing it. i keep sitting down and getting back up. >> i say calm him down and say, "calm down. sit down. relax." and just tell him, "hey we just need you to stick around becau we have talk to you, try to find out what happened here." >> but to find out what happened, they'd have to go to another house where one of the county's top lawmen was about to perform one of the most difficult interviews of his career. >> it took me, personally, a long time to get to work through in my own mind. it stayed with me quite awhile. coming up -- a child witness. >> she observed mommy fighting with what she termed as "the robber." >> and a chilling suspicion. >> i just remember corey walking up and down the road the whole time, something's not right. something is not right. >> when "dateline" continues. (man) it's pretty simple. i kinda just want things the way i want them. (woman) i want a network that won't let me down. even up here! (woman #2) with an unlimited plan that's truly right for me. (woman #3) with verizon's new myplan, i get exactly what i want.

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the scene. she'd gotten the call, kelley had been hurt badly. >> so it's pitch black. and all you see are new york state trooper cars, sheriff cars, corning police cars. i see ambulances. all these lights. >> oh, god, where's my sister? >> i first run to the ambulance, because i think they're going to be working on my sister. i'm like, "where's my sister? where is she? " >> police explained the awful truth, kelley was dead. >> we were screaming, wailing.

i mean, i was throwing up on the side of the road. >> you can't believe she's dead. i mean, it's, like, it's inconceivable that she could be dead. >> they wouldn't let you see kelley either, right? >> no. they just kept saying, "kim, you don't want to see her." >> was your first instinct that maybe there was some kind of a home invasion? >> yes, it was. >> some stranger. >> yes, it was. >> kelley's best friend got a call from kim's husband corey. >> and my dad drove me there. and by the time i got there, everyone was there. >> i just remember corey clenching, keep clenching his fists, and walking up and down the road the whole time. something's not right. something's is not right. something doesn't add up. and we were all just so confused. they wouldn't tell us anything.

>> nothing, you knew nothing. >> nothing. >> can one of you stay with him? that's the husband. >> one comfort, officers told the family that kelley's children were safe at a neighbor's house. they didn't mention what the eldest, charlie, had been through. >> she saw everything. and she saw it happen. >> steuben county sheriff jim allard interviewed the 7-year-old that night. he was astonished by her poise and bravery as she gave him the details of what had happened. >> her story begins that she was in her room playing on her tablet, and she said she heard, mommy, yelling run, charlie run, repeatedly screaming it. run, charlie, run. mommy got to her door and got the door closed. then she heard more commotion. she opened, went into the hallway, followed the commotion down the hallway to the steps and to the kitchen and observed mommy fighting with what she termed as "the robber." she got up and pantomimed for me of a

person standing over another person with an object in their hand, striking that person that was on the ground. and she described the object as a cylinder that the robber, as she kept calling him, used. >> she went on to give the sheriff a detailed description of the so-called "robber's" appearance. >> she described the person to me as a male wearing jeans and a dark shirt and a mask. and i officially asked her, you keep saying it's a man. how do you know it's a man? and she told me, "because of his eyes." and i said, well, what about his eyes let you know it's a man? she said, his eyes are just like daddy's. so then i stood up and i said, how tal was the guy? was he taller than me or was he shorter than me? she said, "he was same height as daddy." and i said, okay. and then i said, how much did he weigh? does he -- was he heavier than me? was he thinner than me? he was the same as daddy. and she says, "and the mask he had on is just like daddy's mask that he wears

hunting." >> after the robber left charlie said she rushed to hug her mother and then knew there was one more thing to do, she had to go upstairs and take care of her 3-year-old brother. >> to the sheriff, the 7-year-old's story was both chilling and heartbreaking. >> it was a memory i'll have with me the rest of my life. it's one of those that takes a little part of you with them or with it. here's a little girl who does remind me very much of my own daughter. and she's working through, "i just watched mommy brutally attacked. it could be daddy. where am i? where does this leave me? >> but could it be true? did she really just see her father kill her mother? this had been a very bloody murder. and deputy dean swan had looked tom clayton over carefully. >> did tom have any blood on him? >> i did not see any on him. no. nope. i actually checked him for any injuries, or any blood, or anything on him. and he had nothing. >> tom had told the deputy he'd

only just come in the door to find his wife dead. he'd been gone all night at his friends'house, the millers, playing poker. so that's where investigators went. >> i heard the banging on the door and ringing of the doorbell. and i woke him up. i'm like, somebody's banging at the door. >> what time is this? >> this is, like, 6:00 in the morning. >> 6:00. >> right. >> that's pretty early to get a knock on the door. >> "nothing good happens from answering the door--" >> right. >> at 6:00 in the morning. >> when greg realized it was the police at his door, his first thought was that his daughters had been in a car accident. >> the investigator told me, "no, nothing is wrong with your daughters. did a guy named hockey puck, as you know him, or tom, play poker here last night? " >> hockey puck is tom's

nickname? >> correct. and i said, "yes, he did." he said, "well, when he went home he found his wife murdered last night." >> wow. >> and instantly it was, like, we're looking at each other and it was like we're in a state of shock. and i said, "obviously you probably want to come in." >> greg gave the officers the details of the previous night. tom had been in his basement playing poker until around midnight. >> and normally what time did the game wrap up? >> usually the games would go at 1:30. but we quit at 12:00, and by the time everybody got out of there, it was about 12:10. >> it sounded like tom was telling investigators the truth about where he'd been at poker night. they later determined the murder happened before the game wrapped up. >> this is a real whodunit? >> yeah. very much so. >> come on over here, tom. you're not in trouble, okay? i'm just going to have you have a seat so we can talk to you. >> so despite what the little

girl thought she saw, the investigation was far from over. authorities were asking, who on earth would want kelley clayton dead? coming up -- >> investigators dug into their past, and their marriage may not have been as happy as many thought. >> i remember kelley, you know, not wanting to be home alone if he was there. a suspect who's no surprise to some. and a second suspect who is. >> it doesn't feel like a slam dunk here. >> no, it does not. when dateline continues. ahhh! icy hot pro starts working instantly. with two max-strength pain relievers, so you can rise from pain like a pro. icy hot pro. introducing astepro allergy. now available without a prescription. astepro is the first and only 24-hour steroid-free spray. while flonase takes hours, astepro starts working in 30 minutes.

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hours top story. it just minutes president biden will be speaking for the g7 summit in hiroshima, japan. ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy met during the summit, biden announced a new package reiterating the support for ukraine and the ongoing roi with russia. the president is expected to

hold a news conference in just a few moments. these are live pictures from japan. we are watching that podium for you, we will bring that to you live when it happens, but for now back to dateline. o dateline welcome back to dateline. she said kelley seven literally quitting revealed what she saw the night of her mother's murder. clayton's attacker had the same eyes as her father and the mask resembled one he wore while hunting, but tom clayton had an alibi backed up by friends. so if tom didn't attack kelley, who did? here again is andrea canning with the house in the woods. >> investigators were trying to figure out what had happened in the murder of kelley clayton. they were looking to the family for leads. >> they were like, "listen, like, do you guys know of anyone that possibly, like, could of done this? " >> kelley's niece molly had an

idea. >> i kind of, like, looked at my mom. and i was like, "yeah." >> molly, only 16 at the time, told police she'd spent the summer working for her uncle at his restoration business, servpro. and there she met one of his employees. a man named michael beard. tom told her to keep her distance. >> he never really wanted me around michael beard. he didn't want me, like, working with him. >> michael beard was no stranger to the family. >> he actually had done work at my sister's home. my sister would give his daughter charlie's hand-me-downs, clothes, toys. my sister would make lunch for him when he was there working at her home. >> while kelley was kind to beard, she told her sister she didn't always feel comfortable around him. >> i remember kelley, you know, not wanting to be home alone if he was there. you know, he -- he was civil. he was nice. but i'd -- i don't think she wanted to be left home alone. >> now, molly told investigators that her uncle

tom had recently fired beard. >> michael beard was fired september 17th. and then kelley was murdered the, like, night of the 28th, 29th. so it wasn't long at all. >> was it possible that beard was angry about losing his job and that kelley's murder was some kind of revenge? molly went through her cell phone and her facebook contacts and gave investigators beard's address. >> i gave that to them. and -- they were just like, "okay, thank you." >> the steuben county sheriff's office needed all hands on deck and called in the new york state police for assistance. >> i was contacted by investigators the day of the homicide. >> investigator matt lambert was assigned to run down the michael beard lead. >> what did you know about michael beard's background? >> he actually was a pretty well-respected employee until september 17th, when -- when tom had fired him. >> why did tom fire him? >> stealing from jobs and drinking, i think, on the job and that he fired him on the

17th because there's maybe some complaints from other employees at servpro. >> so there's some issues there? >> right. >> but beard was polite and cooperative when the investigator knocked on his door. >> we said, "hey, can you, you know, take a ride with us up to the barracks." and he said, "yeah, just let me let my wife know." >> and he already knew what it was about? >> we told him that we want to talk to him about the -- the homicide of kelley clayton. >> the investigator asked beard where he was the night of kelley's murder. he said he was home except for a beer run. >> he actually kind of alibied himself at that point saying that he was at that store the night before, and that same clerk working she could prove that he was in the store the night before. >> did -- did he express that he knew anything about kelley's murder? >> no, he didn't say that he knew a thing about the murder. >> is heelling you anything about tom clayton? >> no. just that he had worked for him. >> and beard denied any hard feelings toward his former boss, said he and tom were still friends. in fact he told the investigator it was tom's partner who fired him, not tom.

and tom was even trying to help beard find another job. >> are you getting any bad feeling from him? are you suspicious of him? >> not at all. >> so you're thinking this is going to be something that we're going to cross off the list? >> yes. i didn't expect to see him again. >> to the investigator and those close to kelley, michael beard didn't seem like a good suspect after all. >> did you think it was -- it was possible that he's a disgruntled employee? he was, you know, taking revenge? >> i didn't. because if you're disgruntled, why wouldn't you kill the person that you're disgruntled against? i mean, "i'm -- i'm angry at you, so i'm going to go kill your wife." >> but as a matter of procedure, the investigator asked beard for a dna swab and permission to look through his cell phone. >> he was very, very forthcoming. very willing, no problems. just very cooperative. >> while the state investigator was checking out the not-so-promising michael beard tip, sheriff's investigators had tom down at the station. detective donnie lewis said

they still had questions. >> for the most part, it looks pretty good for tom. >> correct. >> this alibi is pretty strong. >> absolutely. i mean, the witnesses that see him at the poker game, we know where he was all night. >> that's not the end of the story, though. >> that is not the end of the story. >> not the end of the story because there was something investigators just couldn't get around, the daughter's story. her description of the killer, it was powerful evidence they couldn't ignore. and so just hours after the murder -- >> defendant was remanded in steuben county jail without bail. >> they arrested kelley's husband tom clayton and charged him with murder. >> how can you arrest him? what are you arresting him based on? >> there -- there's a lot of suspicion. there's a lot of -- and basically we have to have probable cause to make an arrest. >> what was the probable cause? >> the biggest thing, the oldest child had made comments that it looked like daddy, it had daddy's eyes. >> and as of the end of today -- >> tanner jubenville covered the story for nbc affiliate

wetm-tv. >> i don't know how they charged him honestly. i don't know how they charged him so quickly. >> he says the arrest had everyone in the newsroom scratching their heads. >> thomas had a great alibi. i mean, he was at a poker game 15 minutes away. even hours after they arrested him, i don't really know what grounds they had as far as actual evidence connected him to the death. >> if tom was killer, then there had to be a hole in that rock solid alibi. or maybe the authorities, thinking the husband always does it, had acted too fast. >> it doesn't feel like a slam dunk here, arresting this man. >> no, it does not. coming up, the mystery of the missing phone call. >> i pulled up my phone and i'm like, see if there was a number there. and there was nothing. and i'm like, "that's strange." >> when "dateline" continues. while flonase takes hours,

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he was part of our family. we were part of theirs. >> the millers were also confused. they knew tom couldn't have killed kelley because he was at their house when she was murdered. >> was this a normal night, just like any other monday? >> absolutely, just like any other monday, yes. >> but now the millers wondered, had they missed something? they started thinking like detectives. >> i'm, like, going over everything in my head. and i'm like, "what the heck? why? " you know, all this stuff. "who could it be? what's going on? " >> then linda miller remembered tom at the poker game, asking a favor. >> i was doing dishes, and he came into the kitchen and said, "hey, can i borrow your phone for a second? " he says, "i left mine out in my car. i have to call work." i said, "oh, okay. sure." i said, "oh, it's on charge. just a second." and he followed me into the bedroom. and i unplugged it, and i handed it to him. and he

said, "thanks." and it seemed like just a couple of minutes later he was back and like, thank you. and he put it on the table. >> it wasn't odd at the time, but now the phone call around 11:00 p.m. seemed important. whom had tom called? >> i pulled up my phone and i'm, like -- see if there was a number there. and there was nothing. >> so there should be a number if -- >> should be a number he called -- >> he called somebody on the phone. >> right, and i'm like, "that's strange." and i said, "greg, can you look at my phone? " >> i says, "there's -- there's -- there's nothing." >> is part of you thinking, "oh, maybe he just decided not to make the call"? >> no, because i heard him talking. you'd hear the -- like, the mumbling, just a voice speaking of sorts, ut nothing intelligible. >> as the millers struggled to make sense of that, they called the other men who'd been to their house that night. the poker players recalled the same detail. tom's phone was always with him. >> he had his phone at the

poker table? >> that's what poker players are saying. yes. it was -- it was there. yes. yes. >> so he has his phone at the poker table, but he's telling you he's left his phone in the car? >> uh-huh. that's what he told me. >> more than a little suspicious, the millers kept digging. they went online to check linda's phone records. and there it was, the number tom dialed about an hour before the murder, a number they didn't recognize. investigator donnie lewis took it from there. >> so what i did was i got the number and put it into actually facebook on my phone, and as soon as i put that phone number in there the profile that pops up is michael beard. >> michael beard, the ex-employee who'd been so cooperative with investigators. suddenly, he didn't seem so innocent. now police had to reconsider their theory of the crime. maybe it wasn't tom who'd beaten kelley to death.

maybe his daughter's description of the killer was wrong. maybe it was michael beard she saw. >> this phone call, this is, like, the key. this is it. >> that's the first real connection that we had that put beard anything to do with the murder. that kind of just alerted us right off the bat as we need to go talk to michael beard again. >> he denied any type of involvement. he even denied receiving the phone call. they never talked. >> did that seem odd to you? >> that did seem odd. he denied having any type of conversation. he said he didn't even remember receiving it, and he wouldn't have answered a call that wasn't -- that he didn't know the number. >> and when investigators looked at beard's phone, there was no sign of a call from linda miller's cell. >> it had been, uh, erased. he explained that away by saying that he, the night before, had to recycle his minutes on his phone. it was a little bit suspicious to me. >> did you start to come down really hard on him? like, i don't -- we're not buying your story? >> it wasn't hard. it was more like i was trying to say, "let the truth out, " because he was having physical -- like, his

stomach was rolling. and i was saying, "mike, just let the truth come out. let it come out. it wants to come out. let the truth come out. it's not adding up. you got to stop. you hear your body right now. your body's telling you that you're not telling the truth. just get it out." >> while investigator lambert was speaking with beard, he was interrupted by a colleague who had been grilling beard's wife. she mentioned a dramatic piece of information, something about a big payment beard was expecting to get from tom. $10,000. the investigators confronted beard. >> at that point, he was just defeated. i looked at him and said, "$10, 000, is that why you killed kelley? " and he looked at me and said, "yes." >> this was your big moment? >> that was the -- that was the win. >> michael beard was arrested for murder. and tom, already in custody, was now accused of orchestrating the crime. but tom's newly-hired defense attorney wasn't having it. >> he wants to be reunited with

his children. he frankly is grieving the loss of his wife. >> investigators had quickly arrested tom based largely on a child's description, which turned out to be wrong. now his attorney said they seized on a confession that was anything but true. who would be believed? >> this is every innocent person's nightmare. coming up, a secret revealed. as tom clicking story starts to unravel. >> he told me he was sleeping with other women. >> was that enough of a motive for him to murder his wife. company dateline continues. di rare diseases and cardiovascular conditions, for generations to come.

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hiring a hitman to kill his wife, and kelley's family and friends who once loved tom like a son and brother were trying to process the idea that he might be a killer. >> the betrayal and the confusion. you don't know what to think. the fear, just because nothing is making sense and you try to make sense of something that's not logical. >> this has been such a betrayal of someone that's been in our lives for a number of years. >> were you trying to give him the benefit of the doubt at all? >> i want to say there was no looking back. you know? i believe he was involved.

>> if kelley's sister had any doubt about tom's guilt, it was erased when she saw him in court for the first time. >> i was there at his bail hearing. he had a bullet proof vest on, shackles, no emotion. he doesn't look. he doesn't cry. and he gets out on $250,000 cash bail. >> that's pretty low. >> and he's been out ever since. >> and he seemed determined to profess his innocence to anyone who'd listen. >> he said, i'd like to tell you my side of the story. i said, i really don't want to hear it. i don't want to get any more involved. and he's, like, partially crying and he's saying, you know, i wouldn't do that. >> months went by as the state prepared the case against each man. michael beard was the first to go to trial. in court, he recanted his confession and changed his account of the murder. but prosecutor weeden wetmore said evidence put beard at the crime scene.

>> his dna was found where she had fled after being struck in the head with the murder weapon. >> it took jurors only seven hours to convict him. >> a jury finds michael beard guilty of what the prosecution is calling a murder for hire scheme. >> if beard's case had been a slam-dunk for investigators, tom clayton's would be anything but. the prosecutor knew he couldn't use beard to testify against tom. >> even if he came forward and said, "i want to testify now, " he had lied so many times. he had lied at his own trial. >> beard had changed his story so much at his own trial that he wouldn't have been a credible witness. >> tom and his lawyer pounced on that, telling reporters that beard acted on his own. >> this is purely mr. beard's doing, what we do know is that mr. clayton had nothing to do with the death of his wife. >> and tom's lawyer didn't stop at michael beard. he went after the investigators. he said they had tunnel vision when it came

to his client. >> he said, "you'll hear it. you'll hear it from the body cam video." >> she's beat the (bleep) she's beat up. >> you got a suspect? >> the husband. >> the husband? the lawyer believed everything that followed in the investigation had been poisoned. >> he was simply just being wrongfully accused and police just rushed to judgment and that therefore led to an incomplete investigation. >> and in fact, investigators never found evidence that tom paid beard for a hit. >> as far as tom clayton, there was no conversation overheard. there was no money exchanging hands. you couldn't even use the confession from michael beard. so, there were a lot of things you didn't have. >> right, but if you look at thomas clayton's conduct, he never mentioned michael beard. everybody says, "michael beard should be an immediate suspect." he never mentioned michael beard to the police. to >> as they prepared for trial, investigators kept digging. they discovered a flurry of

calls and texts in the weeks leading up to the crime. >> clayton was contacting beard, saying, "hey, we have to meet. he was getting him a bicycle, so he was having these clandestine meetings. >> investigators also pulled surveillance footage from outside tom's business. they believed this was video proof of a conspiracy. that's beard, they say, in a red truck that tom loaned him just hours before the murder. and that's tom following in his green servpro truck. >> also know that during that time period beard turned his phone off, turned it on, turned it off again. >> why do you think he did that? >> well, the inference to be drawn from that is that he has guys are not naive. they know that there's a possibility of being tracked with their phones. >> then, after the murder, the video shows what looks like beard returning to tom's business to drop off the truck. there are its headlights entering the lot. and investigators believe that's

beard getting on the bike tom gave him, pedaling away under the cover of darkness. >> the trial for thomas clayton is now set to begin. >> the courtroom was packed as tom's trial began >> i have never been in such a tense, anxious atmosphere. the courtroom was typically tense throughout the entire trial, but as far as anxiety was concerned, i have never been in a room that was filled with so much anxiety. >> the only one who didn't seem tense to the reporter was the defendant himself. he saw tom clayton smiling and kidding around with family members. his lawyer, though, was on the attack. he told the jury how investigators had immediately labeled tom a killer on the night of the murder. >> i think he attacked her. >> i'm afraid lloyd, here in your city at msnbc

headquarters. breaking news this hour, president joe biden, wrapping up his meeting with what what leaders at the g7 summit. as you see there, some live pictures in hiroshima, japan. we are waiting for him to come to that with a microphone, very shortly. he is expected to deliver a speech, in just one moment after meeting earlier this morning with many folks, including ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. we will bring you president biden's speech, live. i want to go straight to msnbc news white house correspondent, mike memoli in hiroshima, japan with the president. you know, mike, this time around as you have been reporting, we are bringing together two major theaters of international security in japan, right? we are just mentioning volodymyr zelenskyy, they're meeting with the president and of course, you've got china, china, china, big on the topic there. that's why they are ostensibly meeting in asia this time around. what do you see right now in terms of those two major international security topics,

themes, coming together on this major day there? >> well richard, you are right. the issue of the war in ukraine certainly has ultimately dominated this summit. the main focus of the first day on friday, the closing day today. the issue of china has someone been overshadowed by the president's domestic political challenges at home, as you see president biden about to take the stage, some significant developments as we deal with the talks over the debt ceiling, appear to have hidden in a significant snag. we will hear from the president and his first solo news conference in month, to address one of the main sticking points, the red lines moving forward. >> mike, thank. you we go to the president as he makes those remarks. >> before going to what we accomplished here at the g7, i want to take a few mid minutes addressing the budget negotiations i have back home, to deal with. before i left for this trip, i met with all four congressional leaders. we agreed the only way to move forward was in a bipartisan

agreement. and i have done my part. we put forward a proposal to cut spending my more than a trillion dollars. on top of the nearly three trillion dollars in deficit reduction, that had previously proposed to the combination of spending cuts and new revenues. now it is time for the other side to move from their familiar streaming positions, because much of what they already proposed is quite frankly unacceptable. so let me be clear. i will not agree to a deal that protects for example, 30 billion dollar tax breaks for the oil industry, which made 200 billion dollars last year, they don't mean that, instead of another 30 billion dollars. while putting health care, 21 million americans at risk by going after medicaid, i want to agreed to a deal that protects toured billion dollars in excess payments for a pharmaceutical industries, refusing to count that, while cutting over 100,000 school

teachers and assistance jobs, 30,000 law enforcement officers jobs cut across the entire united states of america. i will not agreed to a deal that protects wealthy tax sheets and crypto traders or putting food assistance at risk for nearly 1 million americans. it's time for republicans to ex out there is no bipartisan deal to be made solely on their partisan terms. they have to move as well. all four congressional leaders with me they default is not, let me say it again, default is not an option. excuse me, the expectations for them to live up to that commitment, america has never defaulted, never defaulted on our debt, and they never will. the speaker and i will talk later on the plane as we head back because, it's 5:00, 6:00,