years, but i am not going to anymore. david, i forgive you, i'm not going to allow myself to let you rule my life anymore. >> but there is a question for which gayle will never get a comprehensible answer. >> why? and how could he ever harm such a nice person? i mean, nikki was such a good person. >> the hardest question always the why. the coldest fact, the young woman gone too soon. >> that is all for this edition of dateline, i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. you for watching >> hello, i'm craig melvin. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." and this is dateline. >> i call mom, she did not answer. i'm pretty much knew in my

heart, something was not right. >> a mother vanished. >> i cried myself to sleep, it was awful, realizing that your worst nightmare has come true. >> a family, anguished. >> she is gone. do you have any idea how hard that was? >> now, the questions begin in a southern gothic mystery. >> the case is puzzling. we did not really know what had happened. >> who could ever imagine you could have a murder in your family? >> soon, there would be secrets. >> we were dealing with a person leading a double life. >> and one of them would prove deadly. >> anyone say i know that you did this? >> it hurts too much for me to say that out loud. >> hello, and welcome to

dateline. it is a case that centers on a mother who had gone missing, and the small town secret that led to a very big surprise. here is keith morrison. >> suppose for a minute you are sitting in your car, smack dab in the middle of tuscaloosa, alabama. and the point of southwest down highway 69, and kept a sharp eye out after half an hour or so. you roll into a suitable place called moundville. one stoplight, one main street, one general store. been around a long time, this moundville. and it is a sow truth as the sheriff says, even here, everybody used to know everybody. it is not that way anymore. >> so many different people moving in from around the world. >> trying to escape the crowds? >> escape the crowds or running from something. >> where have you gone, and the

griffith? he's up and left us, can ellis fights real crime nowadays. >> crime in this county is the same crime you see in any city, just a smaller version. >> still, moundville is moundville, and neighbors do tend to know more of each other's business that i might do in tuscaloosa, for example. which could be a bit of a nuisance, as you are about to see, if you need to keep a secret. especially, for example, if your secret is about a murder. to begin with, this thoughtful young woman was just a girl of 17 back in 2007 when things started coming apart. and the way things do you, when parents don't talk about it. kelsey mayfield saw that trouble look in her mom's eyes, mostly. her mom, teresa. >> i could just tell that she was very stressed. >> ever clear to you what it was she was stressed about? >> money would be the main thing. she just wanted to be sure that

she had enough money to take care of her family. >> a lot of that going around of course, moundville no exception. like so many americans, kelsey's dad, scott, had to work two jobs, neither of which paid very well, just to keep his head above water. >> very hardworking. then it took two jobs to take care of our family. >> but money troubles aside, teresa seem to have a happy life as anyone could see, including teresa mother, reba. >> teresa wanted a husband who cared for, someone to care for her and have a family. >> and it was sweet and kind of corny. even after kelsey's two little brothers arrived, she could see the signs of her parents affection for each other. >> every night before he got ready to go to work, he would give her a kiss on the cheek and say goodnight, say i love you. >> in the town, teresa was the softball mom, a model of backs and balls. she shuttle kids back and

forth. >> there was a time when i had a softball game, and tenor and kobe had a baseball game, all the same time. and you say 30 minutes at kobe's game, seven is that tenners, game and 30 minutes at my game. >> i was watching the clock to make sure it was all okay? >> she was just an amazing mother. there was nothing she would not do for myself for my two brothers. >> then, there was sweltering morning, june, 2007. teresa drove off to run errands and did not come back. kelsey was babysitting the boys at eight and 11, hours ticked by. she called her mom, where are you? >> and she did not answer. and then i called her back around lunch, she did not answer. i pretty much called all day long. >> her dad was at work, her mom was -- who knew where? it was not like her to do this. >> was to the sort of person who take herself on with her everywhere? >> yes. >> and they could easily get hold of her? >> yes. >> and you could not? >> no. >> by nightfall, still no word.

kelsey was in a panic. she called her dad, who by now have gone from his day job to his night shift at a local factory. >> i'm sure you told your dad you are worried? >> we kept in touch during the day to see if one of us had talked to her. >> did he seem to be worried? >> he did. and we could never get in touch with her. >> at midnight it was clear something was wrong. scott left work to file a missing's persons report with the moundville police. and then they all waited. >> what was it like for you that night? >> it was awful. i was very scared when she did not come home. and i pretty much knew in my heart that something was wrong. >> the next morning, said kelsey, she woke up in a house that no longer felt like home. she called her grandmother, reba, at her home in prattville, a town two hours away. >> she said is mom down there, at your house? and i said no, she's not here.

and she said mom did not come home last night. >> so what was going on here? >> i was just turning upside down, you know? i am just tying a knot. >> reba called teresa's younger sister, ashley, and her office in the local circuit court. >> mom called me and said tracey is missing. so i said you know what, but you make some phone calls. >> right away, actually called the sheriff of her town, and she called a sheriff ellis. >> to see if they knew anything. and his response to me was, it is bad. it is bad. >> it certainly was. they had found teresa's truck on a dirt road less than one mile from home. she was stuck behind the wheel, and she was dead. and this much was perfectly clear. it was not an accident. >> coming up, the investigation

begins. >> we had to ask ourselves, who took her to this location and why was she murdered? >> when dateline continues. n dateline continues ahhhh... with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary. spray flonase sensimist daily for non-drowsy, long lasting relief in a scent-free, gentle mist. (psst psst) flonase. all good. i'm gonna pull over and stretch my legs. i think you were supposed to keep left there. hmm? what is this place? the other side of the rest stop. bundles as far as the eye can see. if you're looking for a first mate, i know a guy. me. i'm the guy. is this oak? [ sniffs ] four types of jerky. this is where i live now. you could save a ton with progressive by bundling your boat or rv with your home and auto. hey, guys! free bags! they're just giving them away! with gold bond... you can age on your own terms. retinol overnight means...

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before advil. advil targets pain at the source of inflammation. when pain comes for you, come back fast with advil liqui-gels. >> it was a lovers lane, a keith morrison: (voiceover) it was a lover's lane, a quiet, dusty, dead end road miles quiet, dusty, dead and road miles from main street moundville. a spot so uncommonly traversed, a car with engine running, taillights blazing in the night could go unnoticed. it was here where they found teresa mayfield's truck, body inside, gunshot wound in the

head. teresa younger sister broke the terrible news to their mother. >> when i went to the house, mom was sitting in her recliner. i know down on my knees, i grabbed her and said mom, she is gone. she is gone. do you have any idea how hard that was? >> teresa's daughter, kelsey, spent a sleepless night waiting in vain for her mother to come home. >> how did you find out? >> my dad came and told my brothers and i. it was awful, realizing that your worst nightmare had come true. for a brief moment, i thought she had committed suicide, just because i knew how stressed out she was. but then i also knew how much she loved her family. >> everybody who knew teresa knew that, even sheriff kenneth ellis, who drove out to the crime scene, if that is what it

was. corporal mark roy of alabama criminal investigation met him there. >> this case was kind of personal for you, sheriff? >> yes. my daughter and miss teresa and scott's daughter played softball together. >> you would see teresa at the ballpark? >> every day. what if you like part of my family was gone as well. >> they had a look around the truck, no sign of a struggle. dusting revealed no viable fingerprints. there were no footprints, not even a loose hair. puzzling. >> was there any thought once you saw the scene that this was a suicide? >> there were things missing that prevented the suicide theory. >> like what? >> if you are going to commit suicide with a gun, it is usually at the scene. >> it was clear that teresa had been murdered, shot with a gun which was now missing. and what was more, herself

phone, the one always attached to her hip was nowhere to be found. >> did it look like it could have been a robbery? >> while it was not taken, the purse was on the console, but the contents had been dumped out in her lap. >> a clumsy attempt at staging, you might say. >> but there was one important clue the killer left behind. >> we noticed that the only window down was the driver's window. so, we figured she had to have known the person, because she had let down her window. let's ask ourselves, who could take her to this location, why was she murdered? >> somebody in moundville had to know something. >> and the investigation went where? >> investigating in her circle, trying to find the motive. >> usually, so i am told in cases like this, the husband's got to be a person of interest? >> yes.

>> that's a family gathered to mourn the loss of their beloved teresa, scott could not be with them. he was down at the sheriff's office, answering questions. >> he came willingly, no issues. did he ask for an attorney or anything? >> no, he did not. >> the corporal sky that -- chatted with scott for three hours. general, time he was cooperative and helpful. >> the standard questions we would ask him, was anyone having an affair, did you have an affair? no. was she having an affair? no. >> good marriage? happy marriage? christian marriage? >> yes. i asked them, did they argue? he said no. >> scott answered all questions about what teresa was supposed to be doing that. he said he phoned teresa from his morning job on the farm, a wake up call. then about two hours later, she called him. but the call faded out. he could not hear a thing. >> it's gotta sound like she was on the road. >> he thought nothing of it than. but now, was it a distress call?

no way to know. there was one thing that call certainly cleared up for investigators. scott could not have killed teresa. he was something like, 30 miles away, up near tuscaloosa. had a breakfast receipt to prove it. >> he stopped at a hardee's and had a receipt showing he was there. >> so scott rejoin his family, caught up in the terrible business of grieving. >> kept wondering why was it happening to our family? >> it was awful, who could ever imagine this happening? >> they tried to work with friends to fill in the gaps of teresa's last hours. they talk to her friend, dawn lavender, who had plans to go shopping with teresa the morning of the murder. >> i am sure don was shocked and upset that what happened? >> she did cry during interview, she was at her house, waiting on teresa to come pick her up, she was going to ride with her. she finally got to talk to

teresa around seven. >> and after that call, nothing. dawn told the investigators that she found teresa over and over. and each time the phone went to a recording. just to be sure of all of this, they moved teresa's cell phone records and began plotting out a timeline of her whereabouts. the picture the records painted? it was not quite what they expected. that morning call to scott, the one he could not hear? teresa did not call from moundville. >> the cell tower shows it's pinging from up in tuscaloosa. >> wait a minute -- how could it paying from tuscaloosa, that's miles away? >> right. there is no way she could have made the call and made it back to that location where she was murdered. >> so courtesy of the cell towers, you were able to show that teresa could not have made that call? it had to be somebody else using her phone, and what do you know, her phone was missing from the crime scene? >> correct. >> so the person who very likely killed teresa mayfield

must have used teresa's cell phone to call her husband, scott. what could that mean? did the killer know scott? and did scott know something he was not sharing? >> coming up. >> we were dealing with a person leading a double life. >> secrets and lies. >> this was betrayal. >> that is a very good word. >> when dateline continues. n 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!

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craig melvin: (voiceover) p-- welcome to "dateline."es. even though teresa mayfield's husband scott had been very cooperative with investigators, they wondered if there was something he wasn't telling them. here again with "secrets in a small town" is keith morrison. mayfield has been had been cooperative with respective, but they wonder if there was more that they had not been telling them. >> it's a funny thing about secrets, the can stay hidden for so long. especially in a little place like moundsville. and it didn't take very long for sheriff ellis and corporal lloyd to stumble a secret scott had been keeping. >> we were out of the crime scene, and the young lady had come to pick up the boys. >> it was only later, when the fog had lifted, when teresa's relatives wondered to police who was that woman hanging around the day teresa died? that wasn't eloy tractor down, and what they discovered, well,

that changed everything. or seemed to. for some who they were talking to was scott's mistress. >> she was under the impression that scott was not married in that time. >> what did you make of that when you heard it? >> we knew that was not right. >> a love triangle, jealous home wrecker kills wife, claims husband? no, not even close. scott's goal from thought his marriage was over, his divorce finalized. >> what was her reaction to getting the real story, she must have been upset? >> she was upset, because i think she'd fallen in love with him. >> even lying on the sidewalk? >> that's right. >> you had no idea the woman was associated with him, did you? >> i had met her once or twice, but i just thought they were friends. i didn't think it was anything else. >> this was betrayal in all

capital letters. >> that is a very good word. >> you were betrayed. >> lied to, yeah, taken advantage of, in a way. >> chelsea made been surprised, but teresa's mom and sister, they knew better, because this wasn't scott's first dance with infidelity. no, there had been others. in fact, scott teresa had divorced during one of his affairs that was just after kelsey was born. and then, three years later, teresa took him back, remarried him. >> she want to have her family back together. that was her whole thing, family. >> what was it like for you when scott came into your house. because what happened when you heard him walk through the door? >> i tried to be sociable, mutual, with scott. but i always had that thought in the back of my mind. he hurt my sister, and i will not forget it. >> for a while, things restaurant always hoped, but

wishes don't always come true. sun scott was back to his old ways with that girl cops were talking to in tuscaloosa. and you know how gossip can be. scott one from sympathetic figure, bereaved widower, to cat. and maybe, worse. >> you must of been aware of the fact there were people suspicious of him? >> it bothered me, hearing the bad things that people had to say about him. and i knew that my dad was never capable of doing something like that. i was going to have his back regardless. >> but, to investigators, scott's affair and the fact that he lied about it to police certainly was suspicious. ellis and boyd asked the girlfriend to help them out by recording her conversations with scott. >> maybe he let something slip? >> hello? >> hi. >> are you okay? >> yes, i am okay, i just left.

i want to know, did you do it? >> of course not. they told me from the get-go, i would be number one prime suspect because of this. >> do you still love me? >> yes i do. >> if you did have anything to do with her dying was it because you loved me? >> i don't have nothing to do with it, no, no, no. i had nothing. my hands are clean as they can be. >> so infidelity? yes. murder, didn't sound like it. >> we can prove that he was an adulterer, but we were trying to prove the murder. >> i guess there's no cry against being align sack of you know what. >> it's not against the law to have a mistress. >> now the corporal in the sheriff reverted to standard procedure. they followed up every tip, track down every tenuous meeting, knocked down rumors. somebody called scott from

teresa self on this morning, whether he heard it or not. the investigation dragged on. >> weeks and months went by, and there was nothing. >> you have no idea how that anger will get the best of you, not knowing who had done this, and you want the person that done this to be punished for it. >> kelsey took on the most difficult job of her life. at 17, she stepped into her mother's shoes, defended her father, tried to maintain something of a normal life for her little brother's. >> me trying to fill my mother shoes, those are some big shoes to fill. i just felt like it was my responsibility to help my dad take care of my family. >> so you are able to continue to have a relationship of trust with your father he was there for you guys. >> right. he tried to be strong for us,

so we wouldn't have a breakdown. >> by the first anniversary of teresa's death, there was still no arrests and the story was old news. so teresa's mother plastered this poster on doors and windows and telephone poles all around moundsville, hoping it would help dislodge some clue. but then, the weirdest thing happened. >> we found out that just about as quick as we were putting posters up, there were being taken down. >> taken down by someone who didn't want teresa's killer found, she presumed. in a dark thought crystallized in rita's mind. was it scott? >> you know, he had never acted like a grieving husband. if he had, i wouldn't have had this thought. >> so your thoughts actually increased over the course of the time that you are there. >> but you know what they say about assumptions. it wasn't scott. >> me and my brothers took him down. at first, i was okay with it,

but once they put the posters up and everywhere i went, i saw my mother's face, it, just drove me crazy, it broke my heart seeing her face splattered all over these posters. >> and so, expectations faded again. a couple more months went by, and then a girl who knew kelsey heard a strange little story. overheard it actually. a guy say he saw someone with a gun on a dirt road. around the time teresa was killed. >> did she associated with this crime? >> she knew that miss teresa was killed that way. so she just reported it. >> was this the break they were looking for? well, we can tell you this. >> the tip led to real flesh and blood. in fact, to a quite literal sneak in the grass. >> a curious insane from teresa's past. could it shed light on the problem?

the >> coming up. >> i, said you need to stay away from that woman's. she is no friend of yours. when dateline continues. when dateline continues. 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. i don't feel my age. why should my skin? with olay niacinamide24 i'm in my best skin yet. olay niacinamide24 goes 10 layers deep into skin's surface. my skin is smooth and strong. and try olay retinol24 for radiant skin, overnight. watch how easy it is to put on new hands free skechers slip-ins. i just step in and go. sitting? doesn't matter. i don't even have to touch them. ooo, gangsta. in a hurry? there's not a faster, easier way to put on shoes. they know a 10 when they see it. ♪♪ allergies don't have to be scary. (screaming) defeat allergy headaches fast with new flonase headache and allergy relief!

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what's happening. president biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy in the negotiators have reached a tentative agreement to raise the debt ceiling, in a statement, biden said the deal reduces spending while protecting critical programs for working people and growing the economy for everyone. vice president kamala harris became the first woman to give the commencement address at west point. harris condemned russia's invasion of ukraine and warned the graduating cadets about the rising threat of china's military. now, back to dateline. dateline. dateline. >> welcome back to dateline, i'm craig melvin. years after teresa mayfield's murder, a casual conversation i'm craig melvin. years after teresa melvin's murder, a casual conversation

overheard in a bar gave authorities their first break. a break which would lead them to the chilling tale of teresa's murder and once again keith morrison. >> under a setting sun on the sweltering summer night, two years after her death, teresa mayfield's friends and family gathered to remember. >> and i'm out here almost every day missing those talks. >> they took turns talking about the loving daughter, the sweet woman gunned down on that lonely country road. the murder that was still a mystery. >> my family will not stop searching or doing whatever it takes to find out who took teresa's life. >> once scott got up to speak, you can bet people were paying special, close attention. >> yes, she was a loving wife, a loving mother, and a loving french the community, yes she would do anything for anybody

at anytime. >> having discovered he was not exactly husband of the year, some people still nursed a lingering suspicion, and yet, here he was, devoted in the care of his children. and full of praise for his dead wife. >> she did a wonderful job raising these kids. she was the one who got them to practice on time, got them to ball games on time. >> when sheriff ellis walked up to the podium, he looked at teresa's mother rita, and vowed he would get justice yet. >> miss rita, i won't quit until we find out what happened to miss teresa. >> and in fact, even as he spoke, the sheriff, along with the corporal were chasing down their first honest to god lead in over a year. it didn't seem like much really, not at. firsthand overheard story from a guy in a bar. something about how he and a friend had ran into someone with a gun. not so terribly uncommon around here, mind you. except it happened around the same time and not very far away

from where the murder occurred. >> so ellis and boyd tracked the kid down, and he repeated the story for them. >> they were on a dirt road, and they came up on a snake, a rattlesnake, and they were trying to kill it, find something the killer with. >> trouble was, they were plum out of rattlesnake killing tools, and that is when an suv just happened to pull up on the dirt road behind them. the driver was a woman in her 40s, or thereabouts, who said the young man offered them a surefire way to dispatch that rattlesnake. >> lady in the cardigan? >> right. >> it was a handgun, inside a ziploc to plastic bag. >> i think she handed him the plastic bag for him to take it out. >> that was a little weird, why would be in the bag? >> right. >> the peculiar story for sure. certain details were a little fuzzy, the kid could remember the exact day, for example, but he did recall with absolute clarity who the driver was.

because he knew her. new her name, and here was the most curious thing out of all. it wasn't a move heard before. dawn lavender. small town moundville got even smaller. dawn lavender, global, call was teresa's friend. the one who said she waited in vain for teresa to pick her up on the day of the murder. great buddies, according to don. but maybe not so much, said kelsey. >> if her in my mom sites other, they would speak, but they weren't best friends or anything. >> they do go out together a couple times? >> i think my mother did it just because she was bored and wanted to get out of the house. >> but when they did get together, at least on one occasion, said kelsey, it was certainly memorable, and not in the good way. they went out to a local casino. one night, she said her mother came home stumbling. >> i thought she was drunk, and i knew that that couldn't be right, because she didn't

drink. she didn't even know where she was at, she could hardly understand a word she was saying. she came in, and my dad and i got her and put her in the bed. >> how long did she sleep? >> she slept for two days, two straight days. >> what did you think about that? ? >> it was very strange. >> she didn't really remember what happened, she just knew that she had taken some pills, i believe. >> how did you get them? >> i believe don gave them to her. >> do you remember how teresa was stressed out those last weeks of her life? either the coach reese -- at the casino trip with don, she took xanax from don, to calm her down. and it certainly did that. out like a light, calm, for two whole days. >> i looked at her, and i said, teresa, you need to stay away from that woman. she is no friend of yours. >> now to respond to that? >> she said, i learned my lesson. >> or maybe she didn't. because the morning of the

murder, teresa had arranged to run errands with dawn, or at least that's what dawn said. and then it all clicked together. dawn on the dirt road, a gun in a plastic bag, teresa's car window down, as though she knew her killer. sheriff ellis and corporal boyd picked apart dawn's early interview with the suspicious guy. they pulled her phone records, and their, was plain as day. john's lies caught by cell phone technology. >> it painted a clearer picture that don was in the location of teresa the morning that she was murdered. >> why in heaven's name would a woman who claimed to be teresa's friend want to kill her? a question which perhaps would get answered once they accused dawn lavender of murder, which they did. she, however, had but one thing to say to police. >> she just kept saying that it was wrong that we made a

mistake. >> coming up. >> as far as physical evidence, we don't really have any. >> but they did have a plan. an undercover sting to get the evidence they need. >> how big was the gun? >> it holds a, i had it in the back of my pants. >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues hen dateline continues 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. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze driftin' on... ♪ [coughing] ♪ ...by, you know how i feel. ♪ if you're tired of staring down your copd,... ♪ it's a new dawn, ♪ ♪ it's a new day... ♪ ...stop settling. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good. ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy.

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craig melvin: (voiceover) --when welcome back.tinues after years of investigation, police had a suspect in the murder of teresa mayfield. it was her friend, dawn lavender. but what was dawn's motive for murder? once again, here's keith. >> prosecutor evidence pointed keith morrison: (voiceover) on june 11, 2010, almost three years to the day theresa mayfield was killed, sheriff ellis and corporal boyd drove to the wire factory where dawn lavender worked. she was halfway through her day shift. and they told her, she was under arrest for the murder of her friend, teresa mayfield. she first wanted to know why we was arresting her. then, when she got to the jail, she said, this was wrong, that we made a mistake. keith morrison: (voiceover) the corporal and the sheriff were only too happy to explain to assistant da tim evans how one clue to another and eventually an inescapable conclusion.

but prosecutor evans had questions, pointed ones. to one. >> it was going to be difficult it. it >> where was the murder, where was even one single -- [inaudible] we don't have anything -- >> as far as evidence, maybe she had no reason. so this again.

[inaudible] [inaudible] on [inaudible] an on [inaudible] >> but that could've been just gossip, mind you. from a jailhouse snitch who couldn't back it up. >> she was kind of in a jam herself, and she wanted us to help her, we put into the dea or put a word in somewhere else. >> that was enough to get some cooperation from her?

>> yes. >> the objective was simple, get dawn talking wrangle from her something that's not like a confession. they outfitted dawn cellmate with a digital recorder, and on a saturday afternoon, as an unsuspecting dawn sat in her cell reviewing her case file, her cellmate walked in. and waited for some incriminating tidbit. what she got instead was a whole sickening story. >> i had always said to kill a person before i killed minimal. >> here is what dawn told her cellmate about the morning teresa was killed. >> around seven a.m., don't call to reset with a lie to set the plan in motion. >> why so early? >> i wasn't taking any more vacation days. i told my car was dead. >> she claimed her car was dead nearby, and could she come picker up? >> of course, she said yes. she finished drying her hair, got to her car, made the short drive that dirt road, but, there standing alongside the

road, was don. >> how big was the gun? >> holds eight, i had in the back of my pants. she turned this way, and i shot her. and i see this blood coming out unlike, and her neck is still bleeding. anyway, i crawled up on to the other side of the truck, put it in drive, and started the engine. and i just jumped off the side of the truck and it went down. and i got the hell out of dodge. >> with calculated, cold, precision, dawn lavender lured teresa mayfield to that road, she then shot her in the back of the head, then steered her car into the brush, hoping it would stay hidden for a while. >> you're going to have to lie on the stand. >> i know, i have to look just like, poor, little, innocent dawney. not the cold blooded killer on. >> cold blooded killer. >> yeah, well if you think about, it that's exactly right. >> yeah. it's terrible to look at it that way though. >> but it's the truth. >> it was all there, our

prosecutor's dream confession. she even referred to herself as a cold blooded killer. but there was one question anyone with a beating heart wanted to ask. why? they're just had to be an answer. of, that they were sure. but would they ever get it out of her? >> why in the hell did you do it? >> coming up, >> at some point, she was calling herself a hit man. >> a hitman, but for whom? another painful revelation was in store for teresa's family. >> it hurts too much for me to say out loud. >> when dateline continues. >> when dateline continues. and smooths dry skin. with 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins, you can pay more but you can't get more. gold bond. champion your skin. wow. that's good. almond breeze? you like the almond breeze

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welcome back. dawn lavender told her cellmate she killed teresa mayfield dawn lavender told her cellmate that she killed teresa mayfield in a murder for hire scheme. but who did the hiring? here's keith morrison, with the conclusion to secrets in a small town. >> i have to look just like poor, lil, innocent, donny. not the cold blooded killer i am. >> dawn lavender cited for all the world that she was boasting, as she confessed to her cellmate that she murdered teresa mayfield in cold blood. in fact, a reported conversation between her and her soulmate had dawn not only

admitting to shooting teresa, but someone she tried once before. that strange night of the casino when teresa came home stumbling, that was her first attempt of murder. >> oh, man. i had so much acts he content in that system. i had everything you could think of mashed up. i gave it to her. >> and she wouldn't die? >> and she did not. woke up the next night. >> why, why would you want to kill her friend? because listen to this. the answer to the whole puzzle to be comes down to one little word. don uses it went telling her cellmate what she did. >> i mean, we tried overdosing her. >> we? don was not acting alone. she had a coconspirator. >> i don't know if she was trying to be a show of, because she was calling herself a hit man. >> how much was he supposed to give you? >> 20, 15 or 20. >> don was a hired gun for, you

guessed it. cote scott mayfield. >> she was a loving wife, loving mother. the man who he praised as his wife with his children by his side, leaving a trail of disturbing stories that investigators have been running down for months. >> that one girl that was watching her, he had offered $500. -- scott had approached another person about it. >> his response to scott was get a divorce, that is what divorces are for. >> and then a third man told them a story. >> he had told us that scott mayfield had hired him and giving them $15,000 to kill his wife. he did not have any intentions

on killing her, he just wanted the man's money. >> what is the old saying? too was a coincidence, threes a pattern? which is why even before don told her grisly tale on tape, the fact on the same day that don was arrested, a warrant was also issued for scott. kelsey was outside mowing the lawn when she saw a cup car breeze by, and then another, and another. she called her dad on his cell phone. >> i asked him where he was at, and then she said that the cops had me pulled over. >> your dad, for heaven's sake, was being arrested? it had to be a shock. i was very confused. so i asked the arresting officer, why are you arresting my dad? >> and he said it was solicitation and conspiracy -- >> to commit murder? >> yes. >> in other words he said that his your father was responsible for the death of your mother? >> yes. >> still, as he sat behind bars, waiting for his day in court, he assured his children that it was all a mistake.

he was innocent. >> what did you expect would happen? >> i thought he would be found not guilty and he could be able to come home. at that point, the case was almost entirely circumstantial, that was until don got talking about cellmate, the one with a little recording device. and sure enough, as the whole story spilled out, there was scott's name on tape. truth and prove at last. >> did scott give you the gun? >> he stole it from his daddy. >> did you want the gun back? >> he ain't getting the gun back. ain't no way in hell he can find it. >> i have thrown it away. >> yeah, that's where it's at. >> once the job was done, the car has hidden by the brush, don said, she drove to tuscaloosa and all the familiar number from theresa's cell phone, to let her boss know that his wife was dead. >> did you call scott and let him know that it was done? >> i called him teresa's number.

sat there in silence. and then, after about one or two minutes, hung up. >> the only thing left was to collect the $20,000 scott had promised her and go except -- >> it's got to give you any money? >> i told, and we can keep it even. you just keep your mouth shut, i'll keep mine shut. >> of course, shouldn't keep her mouth shut. >> from what i can tell, he was just coward. he wanted a divorce but he didn't want to live with the responsibilities that accompany a divorce. >> another words, he didn't want to pay her alimony? >> child support. evil is all you can use to describe that man. evil. >> on may 19th, 2011, almost four years after teresa mayfield was gunned down on that lonely dirt road, her mother, sister, and daughter sat in the courtroom and listened as dawn and scott

pleaded guilty to both murder and attempted murder, and were both served to two executive life sentences. >> he looked straight at me like he was looking at a tree or something. there was no emotion. and neither was anything from don. it was like they were empty inside. >> but for kelsey, it was simply overwhelming. at the moment of sentencing, for the very first time, she saw her dad not as the loving father who took her shopping for her senior prom dress, but as the man who orchestrated the death of her mother. >> have you ever brought the issue with him? have you said, i know that you did this? >> one day i will. i don't have it in me right now to confront him and tell him what i know. it hurts too much, for me to say it out loud, for me to tell my dad that i know what he did, and i hate what he did. but he is still my father, and

i will always love him. >> her mother loved him to. she loved him through infidelity and trouble, loved him always. even as she loved her children, her family, as she tried her best to make life good. while he plotted to kill her. a couple of years earlier, you had a grateful, family life. >> there are no words to describe what our family has been through. >> and you've got such a nice, sunny, disposition, how do you do that? >> i get my strength for my mother tim. >> that is all for this edition of dateline, i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching. thank you for watching. e to hollywood, >> welcome to hollywood, or as or as i like to call it, hollywouldn't.