>> the color had been waiting. the things that are coming out about this case are just mind-boggling, things that you would never believe and never do. dennis murphy (voiceover): the killer had been waiting. she walks into the house and she confronts a monster. >> she walks to the house and she confronts a monster. >> a young wife dead but it did not stop there. >> somebody came out from

behind the trees and he shot me. >> what in the world was going on? >> that's what i wanted to know. >> this wife was brutally beaten. did he hire somebody? we just don't know. >> her husband had an alibi and something else, hala, a lover. >> it was shocking. we would have never expected it. >> and as police got closer to the truth -- >> he says i think i know who did it. >> the truth got closer to home. >> he just told me, hold on, it's about to get a lot more crazy. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> you won't find it on the map, but if close neighbors, good schools, and plain old civility is what you are looking for in a place called home, you can do worse than settle in grovetown, georgia. she has lived here for 14

years. >> you see the children outside, playing, having a good time. just a nice quiet place that you want to move and take your family to. >> the way we think america used to be, and seems to be, harder and harder to find. >> the army's fort gordon is just down the road. and a number of the city's 12,000 residents are active military serviceman. it can be measured in stolen bicycles. >> a great place to raise a family -- >> here's a veteran investigator for the county. >> what's your crime quite? >> it's not that high. we don't have too much violent crime. >> dozens of homicides a year would you say? >> not at all. we might have one year. >> one year? >> yeah. >> and in march 2009, they did have one, a homicide, a bad one. it sent neighbors shopping for burglar alarms and fresh animal. >> we wondered what's going on, what's happened. >> so many terrible things happened so quickly, so many taboo's broken on any suburban street. >> we were confused.

we were crying for the families. >> the whole neighborhood was shot. >> it began here with two houses, two best friends on a street called hot springs drive in grovetown. kay parsons had moved into the neighborhood in 2005. she was a devoted wife to her husband, david, who worked down at fort gordon, and an active little league mom cheering on her 12 year old son, derek. tamara lived just down the street. >> kay was a sweetheart. you never saw her upset, never saw her mad, always smiling just a joy to be around. >> what kinds of things that you like to do? >> mostly anything doing with her son and her husband. she was very supportive always being with him. . >> next door to kay lived becky sears. becky had her hands full too. she and her husband tony had five kids, including two older sons from becky's first marriage. >> she is one of those people whose very outgoing, one of those -- hey, how you doing, type people.

>> tamara got to know both, but says kay and becky really hit it off. >> they were best friends. they were basically inseparable. they were together, 24/7, almost. >> the two neighbors became piece in a pot. they worked at the same physical therapy center called healing hands. >> they go on vacations with each other. >> this person was the boss -- >> what do they seem to be doing? >> they got along. you knew they were friends because they were always with each other. and then, we would also tell stories about their sons baseball, especially during the baseball seasons, because they were best friends, the suns. >> and kay becky even enjoyed weight watchers together. >> who is up a pound, who is down a pound? >> yes, every day. >> and one day in march 2009 begun like any other. kay, little league mom, gone up to take their to school. and becky, the mother of five, left her house a few minutes later to drop off her kids before her workday began.

all very routine, until 8:30 a.m., one contractor mitch cozart showed up to do some maintenance work on kay's backdoor. >> you come to the corner, you lift the large gate, tell me what you see? >> when i walked back to the back door -- i immediately knew it has been broken into. >> did you put your head inside the house and look around, call out a name? >> i just put my head just inside, just enough to holler up for her. and i got no response. >> he tried calling case phone, no answer there even. he came back out front and noticed a young man sitting on a rock across the street. his name was michael, the oldest of kay's friend becky five kids. michael overheard the contractor talking on the phone. >> what an opportunity. i said, did you say something about this house being broken into. and he is like, yeah. and i was like, mine has been too. >> so now, two broad daylight

break-ins across neighbors. was the thief still lurking? >> -- i actually went out and got one just in case. you know, somebody can run out or whatever. >> he called 9-1-1. >> yeah, the backdoor is broken and the next door neighbor's door is broken. i called the owner but she is not here. i don't think -- if she's gone, i mean, i hollered into the door. and i didn't get no response. >> i don't want you to go in. >> the contractor followed instructions. and within minutes, law enforcement responded to the scene, ready to investigate two potential burglaries right next door to each other. police taped off the area. now, tomorrow's neighbors were calling her at work, including kay's husband, david, he was traveling on business. >> he asked me have you spoken to kay? >> and i am like, no not today, i'm at work. and he says, okay, i'm just trying to get to to the bay, i mean california. >> first responders at the

scene alerted investigator jimmy edwards with the columbia investigations office. >> it is really where to have two houses side-by-side hit at one time that same way. >> you are thinking where is this guy going to go next? >> correct. definitely thinking where he is at. >> but as edmonds turned his attention to the break-ins at these two homes, he and his team discovered something ugly. >> she was in a pool of blood. >> this wasn't going to be a simple burglary. this was a violent attack, with a bloody trail between the homes of two best friends, and a female body lying in the garage. >> she was beaten so severely we didn't even recognize her. >> what had happened on hot springs a drive? and whose sanctuary was about to be violated next. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> coming up -- a badly injured victim in one house. was something worth waiting for police next door? >> upon entry, we've seen the backdoor also, there and we found bloody spots on the back door. >> -- when dateline continues.

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>> march 25th, 2009, just after nine a.m., sheriff's deputies have rushed to this white residential street in grovetown, georgia, to investigate not one, but two burglaries, worried about her friends and neighbors, kay's and becky, tamara headed home to what has become a crime scene. >> did you see lots of vehicles and uniforms. >> a lot of police cars. the entire corner was all taped with crime tape. now, you see two houses, and if i have to pass to get home, you wonder what's going on? >> and what that responders found inside these homes would put this neighborhood into full-on panic mode. investigator jim edmonds entered the home of kay, the little league mom, through that shattered glass door, the one

that the contractor first noticed. then, edmonds saw it. a trail of blood. >> immediately, i started seeing spots of blood on the floor. i could see an empty coffee cup spilled on the floor for mcdonald's. a mcdonald's food back on the floor and a purse. and i started seeing signs of blood on the sofa and the living room on the carpet. and then, you go to the foyer area, there's a lot of blood on the walls, door, floor. >> this is suggesting a moving struggle? >> definitely. it looks like the homeowner came home and surprised the burglar in her house. and a struggle ensued where she was beaten. >> the bloody path let edmonds further to the house, to a bloody handprint on the door out to the parsons garage. >> and you can tell there is more beating going on in the garage. there is blood spatter on the walls. so, she was arguably dead before she got to the garage. >> and that's where this apparent struggle had ended. that deputies found 41 year old kay parsons lying there on the floor. >> have you ever seen a scene

like that? >> nothing that drastic, no. she was beaten so severely in her head. it was about. >> but, amazingly, was kay alive. he empties hurried her to the hospital, with her life hanging by a thread. >> she still had a heartbeat. >> she was in very bad shape? >> very, very bad shape. >> investigator edmonds made the call to alert kay's husband. >> he was in los angeles for work. i was able to talk to him on the phone let him know he can come back here as quick as possible. >> how did he take that news? >> pretty devastated. i tried not to tell him on the phone. i try to tell him, you know, you need to come back. there is been an accident, you know? but he guessed it pretty much what was going on. >> kay's husband, dave, it booked a flight home, as investigators turned their attention to the house next door. that is where kay's friend, becky, the mother with five kids lived. could there be another victim there? >> the back door, it was also there, we found spots of blood in the back door.

>> inside, becky's place was ransacked, but as they looked around, there wasn't any new victims. the blood smears they have noted appeared to be from the crime scene next door. >> that means you have somebody that is brave enough or just cool enough to just beat this woman so severely, and then, go door next door and commit another crime. >> becky had been at work that morning with her 19 year old son christopher. the two of them raced home to the scene and met up with her older son michael. >> they were both there. your mother and christopher are there. >> yes, they pulled up together at the same time with the county officer. we all walk around back to kay's house, and my mom, she sounds very distraught. she is screaming kay's name. >> she shows up in her house while you are all in the backyard? >> right. they show up on the scene and they are wondering what's going on. and they are pretty, pretty shaken up. >> everyone else in becky's family was accounted for. her husband tony a long haul

trucker was away on the road. her three younger children or fine at school and take care. the investigators said becky's focus event turned to kay. >> understandably, she was upset. she did not know what happened to her neighbor. she just knew her neighbor had left in ambulance. >> and in fact, edmonds says becky was less concerned about that burger in her own home, and more anxious to get to see her neighbor. michelle emerson is a longtime friend of becky who also lived nearby. her sister drove becky to the hospital. >> she got to the hospital, you know, she was demanding to get to see her friend. >> she goes bedside for kay? >> yes, she wanted to get there. >> i said, what hospital they get to? >> news of the attack quickly spread to another close friend of kay's, suzanne frazier. >> i heard of the attack, and i was shaking. and so i, called my boss. and i said, i gotta go. i gotta go. and i left. >> broke some laws? >> iran red lights. i flew. i just flew. >> tamara rushed to the

hospital too. >> did you get to her bed site, be able to take a look at her? >> i did not. i just stayed in the waiting room. there was a whole lot of other people in the waiting room. >> but the prognosis was very bad, wasn't it? machines keeping her alive at that point even. >> yeah -- >> ♪ ♪ ♪ the friends all kept an edgy vigil for news about kay's condition, waiting for her husband to get to her bedside. lives all changed in an instant, a home invasion and burglary in broad daylight, eight woman fighting for her life. and now -- a perpetrator on the loose. >> what do you do when you have a guy on the loose, who could be ready to burst into another house in this area? >> exactly. we don't know if we had a mad man on the loose here. >> setting up security on these streets? >> on every one of these streets, every one of these houses, we are stopping everything that comes in and out of this neighborhood. asking everybody. >> in your neighborhood, somebody out there who was apparently a very violent person. you need to be terribly scared, no? >> i was. and i am thinking that there is

someone who is walking around the neighborhood, watching, and seeing what people are doing, when they are leaving, and basically attacking. >> on hot springs at, right now is to gaiters knew for sure that they had a serious crime on their hands. but as they learn more from that bloody scene, shockwaves only kept rolling. >> coming up -- >> they said, oh, god, no, no, kay. >> a husband returns home to tragedy and questions -- >> in the hospital, you meet him in person, you see him? >> right. his wife is on life support, you know? he is pretty distraught, but still, i just got a weird feeling that something wasn't right. >> -- when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> friends and family gathered at the hospital, keeping a vigil for kay parsons, suburban mom who had been brutally beaten that morning and a home invasion. and while her next door neighbor, becky's home had been burglarized too, becky didn't seem to care as much about that. good friend tamara says that for becky, it was all about getting to see kay. >> she continues to ask, well, can we go in and see her? can we go in and see her? they tell us no. >> eventually, one of the kay's closest friends, susan frazier, did get back to her bedside. >> did you recognize her? did you know it was her?

>> not really, not really. >> she was all puffed up? >> her face was very pull full, head wrapped, so i asked the nurse, will she make it? and she didn't answer me. >> kay was just clinging to life. some wrenching decisions had to be made. and doctors were waiting from guidance from her husband david, who arrived back from a business trip in california. >> what did he do when he saw her? >> he seemed very distraught. he seemed very upset. >> you could hear him screaming, with the double doors. and he said, oh, god, no, no, kay. >> investigator edmonds saw david too. and a law enforcement tends to see things a bit differently especially with husbands. >> and the hospital, you meet him in person, you see him? >> right. his wife is on life support. he is pretty distraught.

i just got a weird feeling that something wasn't right. i couldn't tell if it was overboard, or i just couldn't put my finger on it. but there was something that was bothering me. >> so, even though the husband had an alibi, that out of state business trip -- >> is on your radar, and you both know that? >> yes. i'm watching pretty closely. >> by that point, edmonds was trying to determine exactly what happened on hot springs drive. he had his team take pictures of kay, collecting any physical evidence from that confrontation in the house. and they came up with something -- a bit of human hair found under kay's fingernails. it just might be from her attacker. >> she had defense wounds to her arms, to her hands. she was, there was bruises everywhere all over her body. >> all indicating something else, kay had fought back. and whoever assaulted her had been on the prowl for something. deputy shot video of the upstairs bedroom, which has been looted, with jewelry and

other valuables missing, they found what seemed like a similar memo in becky's house next door. >> the master bedroom and that residence has been ransacked. >> both houses have been tossed? >> both houses. >> becky's most valuable necklace and rains gone. and as edmonds kept examining that grisly scenes in the parsons garage, he determined how the burglar assaulted kay with a hammer found underneath the car and a baseball bat. >> the way the weapons appear, just a horrendous attack? >> yes, it appears that this hammer was used, and blood slipped out of the attacker's hand. and the baseball bat which we were able to determine belonged at that house, and it was a weapon of opportunity after he lost the first weapon. >> it looked as though the little league mom was beaten with her own sons derek baseball back. >> it really touched my soul knowing how much derek loved baseball. and i'm like, how in the world can someone take a baseball bat, and you know, beat her?

>> an old-fashioned -- remained drawn around the subdivision. >> you've got a crazy guy out there? >> yes, yes. he beat that woman severely. and we need to find who he was, where he was, get him off the street. >> some residents mentioned a mysterious figure that they have seen recently. >> we heard about a guy, who was supposedly a homeless guy that was living in the woods around there somewhere. >> so, investigators sent some deputies to check out the area just a few hundred feet from kay's house. >> we checked the woods. we did not see any signs of anything living there, anything of that nature. and we really couldn't prove or disprove there was anybody that was living in the woods there. >> so, a potential lead dashed, but investigators had another, and unlikely as it may seem, tiny grovetown, georgia has a few usual suspects, including a young man who lives just around the corner from kay parsons home. >> we looked in the neighborhood, see who's living around there. we had a frequent flyer there

-- >> who? >> frequent flyer. that is somebody we deal with all the time that commit the same type of crimes. we knew this guy. we arrested him several times for burglaries and he lives close by in the area. >> so, if computer is missing, or piece of jewelry is gone astray -- he's a frequent flyer, and you ask him what he knows about it? >> we definitely talk about him. >> so, in this case, on that day, you do that, no? >> we were able to quickly rule him out. he had an alibi. there was no way he could be there. >> then from the hospital, the news everyone feared and expected -- doctors determine kay's injuries were too severe for her to make. family decided to take her off life support. ♪ ♪ ♪ kay parsons devoted wife to date, loving mother to derek, gone. >> and so, they let me know that she had passed away. >> you lost your friend kay? >> yes, yes -- >> beating death, a break in -- >> how horrible is this for you,

suzanne? >> one of the worst days of my life. ♪ ♪ ♪ i mean, i didn't expect it, 41 years old -- [crying] i mean, you can see somebody dying of cancer, a car wreck, or something like that. but being beaten, beyond anything -- >> do you go back? >> yeah. >> you said goodbye to kay? >> as much as i could. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> now, the stakes quickly became much higher for this investigation. kay parsons had been murdered. and edmonton started thinking this killer might just be someone who knew both women, kay and becky, someone who had been right there at the scene of the crime. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> coming up -- belize take a closer look at becky's son, michael. >> when i see the boy sitting, next door neighbor sitting down on a rock across the street. and that made me kind of suspicious. >> he discovers his mother's house broken into. he's on the scene. we get there. that raised a lot of red flags.

>> but why would michael murder his mother's best friend? -- when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ ♪ 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 a majority of my patience with sensitivity, i see irritated gums and weak enamel. sensodyne sensitivity gum & enamel relieves sensitivity, helps restore gum health, and rehardens enamel. i'm a big advocate of recommending things that i know work. some luxury creams just sit on top of skin. but olay goes 10 surface layers deep. our clinically proven hydration beats the $500 cream.

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at what is happening. four people are, dead and two children were injured after a gunman opened fire with a semi automatic rifle in a philadelphia neighborhood monday night. police, say two suspects have been taken into custody, a motive has yet to be determined. and, u.s. ambassador to russia -- in moscow on monday. -- for now, let's go back to dateline. t dateline grovetown, georgia >> investigators in georgia now had a murder case on their hands. -- had been assaulted and killed in a home invasion. the house of a good friend becky next door had been

ransacked as well. >> is it the door -- nobody has seen anybody, you know, out of the ordinary in the neighborhood. >> so they turn to the first person in the neighborhood to notice something less wrong. the contractor who had alerted 9-1-1. the first man on the scene. investigators had to wonder, why he was really there. >> at this point, everybody is a suspect. you know, you know, logically he is the first one. >> atmosphere i'm down to the substation, questioned, him and they went through the store he had told at the scene. >> i went, back i, hollered i said hey, is anybody in there? and anyway, i did not hear nothing. >> you have to ask that is what really happened. >> yes. >> he is the guy who discovers this violent -- and you wonder if he knows more than he is saying. >> definitely. >> they pressed him to find out more about what more he was to do their, and whether he had worked for kate before. >> you kept the door open to the house?

>> well, we, we were mostly outside. the earliest time that we were really on the inside is when she called me up and said, i need a little bit of -- on the inside. >> you had the bad luck of being the person to find it. >> yeah. >> so that put you on the list also? >> yes. sure. . exactly. i knew better than to walk into the house. i did not know anything, i did -- because, just watched enough tv. >> what did you see in terms of demeanor? >> he seemed pretty genuine to me. he seemed pretty shaken up. >> so investigators knock the contractor off their list. but in his interview, he helped point them to someone else. that -- >> i saw the boy sitting, the next door neighbor sitting down across the street, and that made me kind of suspicious because -- right here, and something is going on here. >> michael, becky's 22-year-old son from next door. remember, he was also on the

scene that morning when deputies arrived. a neighbor and familiar face, that got edmonds thinking. >> i thought, you know, if she came home and surprised this burglar, and knew who this burglar was, she could -- >> the motivation, what happened, exactly. so, we started looking at michael pretty hard. >> michael said he had gotten there around 8:30 that morning, only to find himself had been burglarized, and his -- but he had not called the police, which seemed a bit strange to investigators. once more -- >> there is no forced industry to that residents. there was none. >> that was not as, well and they were about to learn more about michael. he was matthew's oldest son, he and his brother chris or from the prior marriage. and, michael came with a history of trouble, mostly drugs. >> so that we can know which is a little bit? >> most definitely. he is on the scene when we get there. he had a lot of problems in the past with drugs.

so that raised a lot of red flags. >> opportunity to get quick cash? >> most definitely. >> jackrabbit, make it by -- >> they have to get money, the best way to do that is burglaries. get a quick cash. >> did you have trouble with drugs at the time? >> i don't want to say trouble, but -- >> you were a regular customer? >> i mean it was a social thing we did. being dumb and young. >> smoking weed, or how to stuff? >> smoking weed and a little bit of hard stuff, pills, things like that. yeah. >> with michael's presence on the, scene and drugs now in the, equation edmonds team brought him down to the sub station for questioning. >> point likely, if you knew anything -- when was the last time you took it? >> today. >> today? >> yeah. >> so michael hajdu's methadone on the morning of the murder. now, investigators want to know more about where exactly he was

when the assault happened. michael, said his mom becky had dropped him off at a -- to do some house. >> where did you -- this morning. >> here's the thing, he did not do any house painting that day. he initially lied to his mom, and investigators about work. >> and, the whole reason you lied is because you did not want your mom to find out you didn't have a job? >> yes sir. >> and, there is something else that really troubled investigators. if michael was the attacker, and cleaned himself up before deputies got there, he had no plot on this close or -- , but he did have something else. >> i asked to let me see the bottom of the, shoes and he said left the shoes, up i saw small pieces of glass stuck into the bottom of the -- that loss was the same loss from the backdoor. >> in the interrogation, roomy could not explain how the class

from the murder scene got there. >> as for a class that was found in your shoes, how can you explain that. >> lost in my shoes? i would guess i don't know. >> so what is he doing with that glass? >> that is what i want to know. that is what i want to know. >> investigators talk to michael's brother chris, the son who had arrived at the scene later with her mother becky. chris seemed to have his life together in a way that michael didn't. he had a job, even his own house, that morning he was helping his mom at the therapy center where she worked. >> did mom -- >> i get up at seven, brush my teeth, she would get up at 7:10. >> then you go work with her? >> yes. >> then asked about michael. chris said he knew his brother took drugs, but he said michael wouldn't kill anyone. >> do you think your brother

did this? >> absolutely not. i don't think my brother has a knee and his heart. >> i just want to make sure that this brother is not outweighing common sense, because i saw some stuff in your brother to stop him from 20, minutes and i'm sitting there going what. people got methadone, they don't have money, they don't work yet. how are they going to get money? >> i agree on that. i do agree on that. >> well if everybody that you brother hangs around with, who would be the most likely -- >> you might have to give me a bigger piece of paper. >> i'd go for 17 hours. >> so michael's brother confirmed the trouble john men ran with a shady crowd. investigators were all iris. >> does this association with the, houses back to, make him a person of interest? >> he's definitely a person of interest. >> the deputies kept michael at the station for nearly three

hours. but, they did not hold him that day. he gave them a number of force alibi witness, that friend he had gone to see that morning. would he vouch for michael? coming up -- another mystery -- >> it wasn't looking real good for him. it started piling up. >> we had some bling checks in one of our offices that disappeared. >> and, a new theory of the crime. >> we did not know if they were in this together, or what. >> when dateline continues. tinues 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. somedays, i cover up because of my moderate

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sheriff's deputies we're now zeroing in on michael bowers zeroing in on michael bauer, a president interest in the murder of -- his mother's best friend. >> him being the one showing about the, house of the, burglary and in past history. you know, jackson burglars go hand in hand. >> investigators believe -- beaten our home in a narrow window, between 17 and 7:20 that morning. but, michael, said he did not arrive at the scene until 8:30, and said he had an alibi for the time before that. he had been hanging out with a friend named anthony. >> what is the story tells you about that day? >> people anthony, and we interview him, he was a character. it's pretty lively, he is very talkative, and at times -- michael had not talked to him. >> so you have two stories. you not have a chance to

compare notes. >> 6:45 roughly. >> when you sleep? >> i was up. i was a. well, i was laying down, i was laying down on the couch. i didn't expect him in the early. but you are expecting him? -- how long we see there? >> until from when he got there was roughly 6:45, to a 27 on the dot. >> they were pretty consistent. anthony was, his time was pretty consistent with michael's. but we still did not know if they were in this together, or what. >> that is what i watch in the morning. >> we watched the episode wednesday morning. >> no, actually, i talked to michael, pretty much the entire hour, but -- >> as he sat in the interview, room investigators did not know what to make of his character. so they hooked antennae up to a polygraph machine, and asked him again where he and michael without morning. >> --

i'm sorry, but i'm not lying about it. i told them i would take another one. if i was like why would i have said i would take it. but a more important part is -- i am sure, i'm telling the truth. so it is what it is. i don't know what to tell you, sir, i will give you whatever you want, you have my, bloody already took my mouth. i did not do any of this. >> anthony repeated over and over that he had nothing to do with her murder, did not even know her. >> i will be straight up with you guys as possible. >> that is what i want. >> i will not lie about it, i just want you to look at me like -- because i don't think it is you know, if you or me or some guy that got her, that is one thing. but not a lady. of somebody's mom. >> and he started to put the figure out more on michael. >> he knows something? >> well i don't know. i don't know. >> what does he know?

>> he knows something, he saw something, he did something, one of the above. i would assume that michael or any of these people, it's for the, they will have enough sense to -- be able to beat, what an entire team of investigators? i doubt it. i doubt it. i figure by the time everybody's dna comes, back i know -- somebody will get caught up. >> so you're completely confident in your dna? >> i know it is not. i know it is not. >> he keeps saying, i did not do anything, i've nothing to worry about. >> but was he in fact on your list? >> he was. he was. he put himself with michael. >> sir, i don't i have given you process, man. that is all i have got. i've told you everything you have. i know that he came over and exactly when he left, i know i was at my house. that is what i know. >> for all his questions, investigator --

also had nothing on -- a failed polygraph is not evidence, and nothing connected him to the crime. but, they were still looking at michael, and there was the inevitable question of motive. sure michael was open about his job, use but that did not entirely explain why he would savagely beat his mom's best friend. >> my bookkeeper came to me and said, we have some issues here. >> -- has a story to tell about michael. becky and kate both worked for him healing sense physical therapy center. sometimes michael would do a jobs at the office as well. >> michael would come in and do flooring that to become, and carpet, and assist. >> but after well, people in the office started to notice something. >> we had some blank checks in one of our offices disappear. >> becky and case blasted the checks when disappearing well michael had been doing some cleaning in the office. >> so i pulled back ian, she says she set up with michael and talked about it, of course michael said --

>> how much money was stolen? >> about $100. it was three or four checks. >> and it was all michael? and he festive to? it >> yes. >> so becky must have been embarrassed? >> you can tell she was -- the healing hands boss agreed with becky that he wouldn't report the incident to police. as long as michael never came back there. but, make his friend and coworker k found out about the slum money, or that have led to a conflict between michael and k? well here's the thing, the authorities only learn about the healing hands theft -- even without that story about the theft, michael was shaping up to be a prime suspect in the murder. >> it was not looking real good for him, it started piling up. >> then something have been that would stand the investigation on its head. more violence, more -- with another sudden attack. >> coming up -- who was the victim this time?

was someone stalking women in the small town? >> as i came out, and -- >> do you know where he stood at? >> my legs. >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues new emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? [sfx: video game sound] new emergen-c crystals. throw it back. martial arts is my passion. i work out whenever i can. but with my moderate- to-severe eczema, it can be tough. my skin was so uncomfortable. the itching was so bad. now, i'm staying ahead of my eczema. there's a power inside all of us

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two neighbors, two break-ins, a gruesome murder, [ helicopter and wind noises ] plus a murder and -- white hot spotlight of suspicion. but there was at least one person who stood squarely behind michael. mike's good friend -- knew all about michael struggle with drugs. still, she would not accept that he had anything to do with kay's murder. >> did you wonder what is going on? is there something about that's why i don't know? >> no i didn't really, because knowing, michael i knew he would never doing anything like that. >> then, just 36 hours into the

murder investigation, another attack. this, time a shooting. just ten miles from the crime scene on a hot springs drive. >> 9-1-1, this is -- and he shot me. >> star gets evista flushed -- partner now received a phone call from the road patrol division and reference to a woman who hadn't been a victim of an armed robbery. she was leaving work that evening, and had apparently been shot in the process. >> in my likes. >> the location of the shooting started familiar. >> what if the -- >> so did the name of the victim. >> what was the name? >> becky. >> becky serious, the best friend and a coworker of her victim kate parsons. >> this is a holy cow moment. this is the same woman next door to this house within a vicious beating? >> yes it seemed an odd sense of coincidences.

>> this is the back door of healing hands? >> this is the back of a business we got called to. >> as the sergeant pulled up to the team unite becky had been working late on the company payroll. she was heading to her car when she was jumped. >> apparently when she had turned around an unknown male subject wearing dark clothes and a white baseball cap rushed out of the bushes and it hurt with a firearm, demanding money or next time is going to be her face. >> that is where the assailant shot becky in the likes -- the subject apparently did not rob her or take anything from her but turned around and ran back into the wishes the way he came. >> she is not known for doing the night deposits there is no cash. >> exactly, not at this time of night. >> why is the target? what are you going to? get it has to be personal. >> one would think so. >> emts transported becky to the hospital. it did not take long for the troubling news to reach back his friend michelle. >> when you talk to becky on the phone after she had been shot i just asked her if she had been again she said i am

she said you know just trying to get through this. >> she's your friend your worried. >> yes i'm worried about her. >> so it was -- first k knelt becky. i just did not make sense to me. >> what in the world was going on? >> that is what i wanted it. no >> sheriff deputies immediately canvassed neighborhood, looking for anyone watching beck's description of the shooter. >> so you have a government on the, ground on the loose, what are you doing on that? >> we had started sending units out to see if anybody had seen anything or heard any gunshots, see if they saw anybody matching the description of the suspect and we were not able to find anything. >> the only forensic evidence you could find in the parking lot was the 25 caliber slug that graced becky's -- >> her shoes were still laying there, we found a spent shell casing, we also found the actual projectile itself on the edge of the sidewalk. >> you did not find a tossed up in the vicinity? >> no, no weapons.

>> the shooter vanished without a trace. >> but you had more questions? >> we did indeed. >> but those questions would be left for -- whose investigation into k parson's murder had suddenly become a lot more complex. >> here i have to neighbors, you know one has been beaten to death, and the other one has just gotten shot and they both work at healing hands. >> do you believe the gunman who wounded back is also the person who broken in and fatally beaten mrs. parsons? >> of course it comes to mind. of course. does it is too much of a coincidence. >> and nothing about the shooting took the heat off because some michael. what is the working theory? >> the working theory smikle still pretty high on the list. someone is looking for money, somebody owes money. >> edmund sense some tough personal questions for becky about her son michael thankfully that wants to break his legs were superficial so edmonds grabbed his no path and tape recorder and headed to the hospital. >> she's a hospital bed, not

too badly injured? >> not too badly injured but when i'm talking to her, she is really hurting. >> the investigator stan asked bookie for details about the shooting. >> i do. >> the guy that shot you. >> next time it would be -- i have no idea. >> and -- >> i don't think michael knows. unless he owes money from the past, i don't think he owes any money now. >> to the admins, becky sound like a mom unwilling or unable to wrap your head around the possibility of a sense development in a murder. >> i think he's showing to stay away from all of that to get out, to better himself. >> i didn't swung through the possibilities. was beckett denial? what should covering up for sun?

war, was he heading then there are hasse with michael altogether. he decided to cast a wider net. [interpreter] -- that is when becky revealed an intimate details from her recent past. she and her husband had gone through a rough patch in their marriage. >> you know my husband and i have been having some problems. >> do you have any relationships on the side? >> i did. how long has that been? >> how long has that been ever? >> three months. >> suddenly added to the mix of a brutal murder, and bizarre shooting, was this admission of extramarital romance. >> it wasn't like it was a long lasting thing. it was just a couple of months long. >> administers not press becky any further about the affair, a hospital room immediately

followed the shoe or it's neither the time nor the place. but the investigator was achieved. he left becky wondering who the other man was. >> and if there was something there, i just gonna figaro. >> it turns out there. was there was. there were some secrets. >> coming up. >> a love triangle, someone always ends up hurt or worse -- >> he hugs me. you can we really really tight. he is crying and is in a car sorry, i never meant for this to happen. >> when dateline continues. teline continues shingles doesn't care. i go to spin classes with my coworkers. good for you, shingles doesn't care. because no matter how healthy you feel, your risk of shingles sharply increases after age 50. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older.

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two months after we arrived, my three-year-old came to visit, and claire lit up. she was quiet before. and i thought it was just because cancer's hard, but she was really missing her siblings, and i didn't realize how much. all right, young lady. we're going to see how much you weigh, and how tall you are real quick. ♪♪ mama. hey, claire. [ laughter ] ♪♪ [ male announcer ] families never receive a bill from st. jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. when you call or go online with your credit or debit card right now, we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt you can wear to show your support to help st. jude save the lives of these children. i experienced life at st. jude.

every dollar that goes to st. jude goes to a good place. it's keeping families together during the hardest thing they'll ever face. ♪♪ the first thing i'm going to do when i get home is pet my dog. ♪♪ [ woman ] st. jude saved my daughter's life. [ claire ] i love st. jude. [ male announcer ] please call or go online right now and become a st. jude partner in hope today. >> the story of kate parsons dennis murphy: the story ofall kay parsons and becky sears and becky's heroes had now become a strange and complicated case for investigators. two best friends, victims, one killed, and the other shot outside the office where they both work. it was juicy enough to keep

this usually sleepy town wide awake for the late news. >> it was definitely the lead story. >> ashley was a local tv reporter with an nbc affiliate -- at the time. after becky, shooting -- was really working her contacts. >> i posted call to the columbia county investigators, and just to find, out you, know what is going on? like what is the connection here? and he just told me hold on, i can tell you anything quite, yet but it is about to get a lot more crazy. >> the source was not kidding. at the hospital, after she admin shot, becky revealed she had been having an affair but did not say the other man's name. then, the very next morning, and what can only be considered a lucky break, deputies got a tip from someone close to the family, and learned just to thought their man was. how about david parsons, case husband? >> that was a shock. >> mike's friend michelle could not believe. it >> david and she had an

ongoing fling? >> david the investigators, learn had cared on the affair with his wife's close friend and next door neighbor for about six months prior to his wife's death. the revelation of a love triangle would send the investigation into the realm of soap opera, and race all kinds of new questions. >> you have these next door neighbors, their best friends, they are going on ships together, and then behind the scenes you have love letters being written -- and david parsons. >> knows like, these uncovered later by -- pretty steamy on hot springs -- -in-one, david rohde, rebecca, i hope you -- given before, p.a.r. love you i miss you so much when we aren't together. and, in another, rebecca, i just wanted to let you know maybe when i'm not thinking, about who i am. can't wait to see you.

back you were to, david being a part for me is very difficult, but being in love with you knowing that you love me makes all of the time we are apart bearable. it was a secret love that you had kept hidden in the small town. cost of pence to travel more speed. >> it was shot more than anything. we never expected it. >> did you know anything about david messing around? >> not tell i heard it. a friend of mine called me on my cell phone, and ask, me did you hear about david having an affair with becky? i said there is no way. there is no way. >> the news about the affair did not surface until after kay had been married. david was still seen them as the grieving husband. >> if i would have known about that affair, i don't think there would have been as much support for david at the funeral, we're at the hospital. >> why would you cheat on someone who loves you so much, and was always there for you

just to have sex basically? why? it wasn't worth it. >> -- the back to davis behavior in the days after kate's death, including an odd exchange between them at the memorial service. >> he went up to me, and again, being very close to earth day, he hugs me. he hugs me really tight. and, he is crying, and he tells me, i'm sorry i never meant for this to happen. and i did not -- >> that is a funny thing to say. what do you think he meant? i didn't mean for the south. when >> i did not know what he meant, i was just thinking, he did not mean to leave hawaii, or california, or i didn't mean to have an affair. it could've meant to lot of things. >> might also recall the early morning phone call she received from david on the cake k was found beaten. >> he was asking if i talk to k, and the thing about, is he has never called me during the day. it was just very unusual for him to call me, asking if i had

spoken to k. >> it seems strange hitter tomorrow than, perhaps even stranger now in light of the new questions about david. people in town whispered, and wondered, did david somehow ever had in case murder. a way perhaps to avoid an ugly and expensive divorce. >> she said, well, if i ever found out davido's have-ing an affair on me, i would be gone. she said, i would take derek, i would get half of what his retirement from the military, and i would get what i could get -- >> did the community really turn on him? >> they did after they found out about the affair. i think there's more to the story. >> so now you have a very -- things start coming together. >> now you will wonder what is going on with you but the husband? >> i definitely, do is he involved, in this does he want his wife gone? you know, we look at all those

angles. >> all predictable questions. but, an investigation that was never left and started, more twists we get around the bend. coming up -- a tale from jail. >> looks at me, he says, i think i know who did. >> i said, really tell me. >> this guy wasn't just your ordinary jailhouse snitch. when dateline continues. ateline continues.

>> by now, jimmy edmonds had no by now, jimmy edmunds had no shortage shortage of leads to work in the crimes he was trying to solve. the murder of kate, parsons and the shooting of her neighbor becky. and then, another new lead. a big one. >> i get a phone call from our jail, they have an inmate that has requested to speak to me. so mr., jacobs to, jacobs out of his cell and take him to an interview room.

>> cherry, right, is that where you go by? >> jerry jacobson serving time for misdemeanor parole violation. >> why is this story? >> he was pretty upset, sherry tells me that as he was in the chill, he saw the noose, and he's so apt and k, and at the time, he looks at me, he says i think i know who did it. >> i said really? tell me. >> he says, i believe my sister had something to do with it. >> and who was jerry jacob sister, well, becky serious. case best friend and neighbor. >> i think much our job right then. i was not expecting that. he dropped a bombshell. >> like his brother said he knew all about the affair between his sister and david, he told investigator, becky had once confided in him that david was trying to end it. >> she came to me one day, in the parking, not crying, and i said what is wrong, and that is when she told me she was --

>> he then goes on to say, becky was been pretty upset, crying, because he won't leave, kate he won't leave his voice to be with her. >> jacobson revealed, his sister had no intention of giving up on david, or letting him stay married to k. >> and she had asked me if i knew of anyone, or if i knew any way that we could do this to kill k? make it look like an accident, like her recline on her car. mike it looked like an accident, or do something in that way. >> jacob set out first, he thought vicky was joking. >> i said that is okay, sometimes all feel that way about people. >> she said no, i really want him dead. she said, can we do this? >> so she was serious? somebody to kill her? >> yes, she wanted me to. i told her i wouldn't. >> so she was shopping around for somebody that could and k,

her romantic rival? >> it was a stunning revelation, a real doozy, a love sick woman plotting to kill her best friend and next door neighbor so she could have her friends husband paul to herself. you have a wants, dory any wall theory in your hands. >> most definitely. this case has taken so many twists and turns, it is unbelievable. >> forget about the smashing goal robbery that is out the window. >> yeah, we are looking at some premeditation, and some planning here. >> by admin side to consider the source of the story. >> joe stories are always troublesome, because they are trying to do themselves some good. >> definitely. >> one thing the brother said was easy -- he was in jail at the time of the murder, so, if becky was behind all, who helped her? jacob said, there was another member of the family investigator should look at, becky's son chris. the young man with his own house, he had been staying there before he was behind bars, and said chris also knew about

becky's affair, and how desperate she was. >> she would call christopher, almost every night, and cry, and tell him stuff. he would get off the phone, and -- what is wrong with her? you know what is wrong. >> yeah, they've, it can, yeah. she just needs k out of her life. and, stuff like that. >> now that was a shocker. investigators have had their eye on because of the sudden michael from the get-go. >> so i was surprised to hear that way. i was expecting to hear it was michael really. because you know, so many things about michael in his past and all of that. >> -- michael and christopher -- >> not like christopher. no. no. his interest are big closer to

me and michael. >> do you know if she ever talked to michael about? it >> now, i don't. >> still, edmund cited it was time to bring in michael for a second round of questioning, and this time the investigator turned up the heat. >> it is over. okay, i'm not playing games anymore. >> at first, michael said he did not even know that back in david of an affair. >> i know about the affair with the moment david, and do not play stupid, with me to not play stupid. i'm telling you right now. okay, this is your one and only chance, to get yourself out of a whole lot of trouble. >> it gets pretty hot and heavy in the interview room. >> listen, i know what is going on, i know your mom wanted k dead. did you want to go to present for the rest of your life? >> no. >> you need to start talking

here and now. >> i swear to you. >> then, edmonds moved on to the million dollar question. did becky ever ask michael to kill k? >> no she has not. >> i notice you, mother and i want to protect your mother, all right, you are 22 years old. you might want to look out for -- >> she is never come to me and said would you kill k. she has never said will you kill someone. >> even after a three hour grilling -- >> i'm telling you. >> michael never cracked. adam incentivize the fact that michael was in all likelihood telling the truth. by then they had come to believe his alibi was solid. and they figured out the glass from the crime scene that had some suspiciously turned up michael shoes could easily be explained. michael had gone to look at this mushed backdoor with a contractor just before police arrived. >> did you have anything to do

with destiny? >> if i did i wouldn't be sitting here. >> did your mother ask you? >> absolutely not. absolutely not. the only thing she had ever done is like anybody else. you know, -- drive off the face of that cliff or, that is the only thing i ever heard her say about harming anybody. >> did you think her mother could possibly have done the thing they were accusing her of? >> i don't think she could do it. >> jimmy edmonds wasn't so sure, and he still had to wrestle with the problem of becky shooting, who was behind, that and why? it was time to go talk to the object of peggy's affection. david, and find out what he knew. >> coming up. a guilty man, or just a -- >> we briefly walk out of the interview, a star stocking to himself. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues

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look at what is happening, uk officials say it's -- difficult week for the country 's counter offensive against russian forces. this comes just a week after russia was shaken by an attempted -- and, protests in france over the police killing of a teenager are appearing to slow. authorities say 157 people were arrested after thousands were taken into custody during the last week of those demonstrations. and now, back to dateline. >> >> for investigators in georgia, it had been one wild story after another. now, they were hearing becky orchestrating case murder all for the love of the husband -- the next question was the logical one, what did the husband know. >> you obviously have to look at the husband, you know, she's having an affair with a, husband the wife is dead. you know, you have to look at

the husband does well. >> reporter ashley campbell said the community was thinking the same thing. david being away in california at the time of case murder did not seem to absolve him. >> oh, how convenient, he is in california, it is his wife has brutally beaten. did he hire somebody? he just don't know. >> of course, david had been on the radar from the moment investigators -- i knew there was something, there i just could not figure out -- >> but, after finding out about his affair with, becky and hearing that becky could be behind the murder, admins called for the first home interview, and -- >> david came clean, he admitted to being an unfaithful husband, and the --

rest of us against -- said you know why i suck so bad attendance, because -- not going on. >> a florida game of mixed doubles that turn into a hot and heavy affair between next door neighbor us. >> you -- >> twice. >> what would the other location. >> most of the time, the two vehicles. and, her mom's house. >> but david insisted, he decided to end the affair. he told becky, it was over. >> i don't want the to find out, i'm done with it. i'm done with it. we are dancing each other. >> at least that is until his in some derek went off to college. >> i saw her multiple times, and don't want the situation to

change because -- >> right after david called it quits, one month before the murder, mackie decided to confess to her husband, sending aftershocks across the lawn to kate's house. -- >> yes. >> the secret was out. >> i know why her so bad, and i apologize to her so much. she said she'd forgive me and we work through together. we were just going to move away from that and put it behind us and move on. >> he said they will try to make it work, they will slow the house, they will put a for sale sign in front of the house and move, we away from becky. >> david told edmonds an icy chill fell on hot springs drive. kate quit the job healing hands, and quit talking to becky. that did not stop david and becky from continuing to communicate. >> they would still talk, there was still meet for five minutes here and there. >> david insisted it was all

about -- nothing physical. >> we talked on the phone, but you know, just checking to see how she was doing. and you know, et cetera. >> but as edmondson learned, that was not entirely true. as the interview continued, david revealed he called becky from california the night before kate was killed. and, it was not just to ask a she was doing. >> tuesday night we had a long conversation -- >> about? >> nothing in particular. we just talked very well about what was going on. and then we got involved in, you know, phone sex over the phone. >> this is the night before case killed. the night before they are having phone sex for an hour. >> then the next morning, right around the time of case murder, david called back again, this time because he said he was worried about k. >> is it where the husband should be calling the mistress? >> definitely.

>> asking to look on the, wife what is wrong with that? >> is he calling to say hey, is it done? >> you have to, wonder are these two in cahoots? >> cahoots, definitely. >> it is the last thing, so far the last thing i wanted. away from her family, friends -- >> throughout the interview, david repeatedly denied having any involvement in case murder, or being a part of some plot to have her killed. >> any kind of insinuation, not only, insinuating but -- >> as for those who repeated calls from california, the morning of the murder, david insisted he was genuinely concerned about k. >> and it is normal, for you to call in the early morning and -- >> always. always a call because i talk to -- and studied -- something -- >> hedman started thinking

davids telling the truth. so he changed course, and asked david whether he thought becky had a mastermind to case murder. >> deep down inside, do you think she could do this? >> i never thought that she would -- or set something up like this. probably not think. that >> desperate people do desperate things. >> desperate for what? >> you. you. >> to kill my wife? >> edmonds kept pushing, eventually dave it revealed that more than, once he wondered just how desperate housewife becky had become. he told edmonds amount before case murder, someone sent bizarre text to her that hinted of the affair. those came from becky. >> at the time, we hear text message, your timetable, it indicates --

are the same. >> it crossed my mind. she was trying to let keno she found out kay >> -- >> davis interview went on into the night. >> we could to walk out of the interview, get in there, still be, reported then -- what have i done. but, dave it's interview was -- including a clue that would bring edmonton's team of investigators on step closer to the truth. investigators learn more about -- >> it was a real real strange mother son relationship. and -- when dateline continues. dateline continues. 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.

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his wife's murder, david parsons sat alone. and wept. >> i'm so sorry. >> it wasn't the first time edmonds heard tears coming from his interview. but to this veteran cop, his emotions seemed real. and, in the, and edmonds had no reason to believe that david played any role in a plot to kill katie. >> we have no evidence whatsoever to prove he knew what was involved in any of this. >> i don't want to come back to you with something else that comes out, that you haven't told me. >> you can ask me anything, i don't know what else you want to hear. >> before edmonds turned off his report, david did share one tidbit. something that linked up with what bank his brother had told him earlier. it was the name of the other person becky had confided in about the affair with david.

mickey's son, chris. >> if you, know if anybody else, new and -- i don't know if that means anything or not. >> shasta beauties spent and becky's life. first, her son, michael than david, but it was becky's relationship towards the other son chris that would prove to be the most intriguing. >> it was a real strange mother son relationship. when his mother call, he would everything a go mom. whenever she wanted he was there. >> becky, investigators discovered, doted on, chris and showered him with extravagant gifts, money, a motorcycle, a car, nothing was too expensive for, chris not even the house he lived in. >> the house was purchased by his mother. >> 18-year-old kid with his own house? >> correct. >> that is kind of strange. >> we'll see him almost boy? >> when i guess he was a mama's boy. you know, anything he needed,

-- >> but according to michael, e always seemed to come with strings touched. >> it was that -- here is a key to new car. handed something from, you here's your house. hey i will use, here's an envelope full of money. >> and whatever becky asked for, you would deliver. >> he said it made it very hard for you to understand, but i would do anything in this world for our mother. >> could anything i have included killing his mother's romantic rival? michelle -- who knew the family well says, over the last several years, chris had grown distant. she worried he was dating down a dark path. >> he had changed a lot, so we were not around him a lot. >> when you said he changed a, lot michelle, what are you thinking about? >> i had to say, but he just appeared to be in a different type of crowd that we were hanging out with. so you know, he might have had some issues going on. >> remember, investigators did

interview chris right after the attack. they were looking for dirt on his brother michael. >> do you think your brother did, this or -- >> absolutely not. >> but something about chris struck them assad. >> right from the get-go, that was down, christopher, he is trembling. >> he said you are shaking like a dog, okay, understand it is traumatic, but you are extremely over nervous. >> immediately asked, him what is wrong? why are you shaking that bad? >> honest to god, i always shake like this. >> parkinson's disease. >> christopher, you're 19 years old, it makes no sense. >> it was a bizarre little detail they took to wait while they focused on their suspects. when they went back over that interview, something jumped out. the only alibi crist had for the time of the murder, was becky. >> you and your mom or her work, which is -- >> christopher says that he did not go to work as a regular job that morning was supposed to go

to his mother's work. she picked him up. >> so a conspiracy that morning between becky and chris seemed plausible. even if it didn't explain the leader shooting at healing hands. now, edmonds looked for a way to link chris to the murders. and, he got another helpful call from becky's brother jerry jacobs -- they had shown jury photos of the murder weapon before. >> no. right, it is brand new. >> that in a follow-up interview, jacobs came back and told investigators he recognized the hammer. he said it came from becky's garage, a place chris often went to borrow tools. >> i have seen the hammer in the tool box, in the garage, and -- my sister's garage. >> chef's deputies found -- in front of the home becky had bought for him, backing and struck for a weekend get away. >> he asked what is going on.

>> no he didn't say anything. but in the car we took him to the office, put him in the interview room. >> i want you to really -- i'm telling you, right now, basically. >> she called me a lie. >> chris no longer shaking, the finally asked for a lawyer. >> i want to speak to low right now. >> as soon as i read him's rights, he climbed up. >> so his lawyers have. >> he's lloyds up. >> for investigator admins, the puzzle pieces not finally fallen into place. becky had the motive to kill k, and chris with his devotion to his mother and access to the murder weapon, was her means. >> stand up, hands behind your back. you are under arrest for murder. >> chris will do anything for his, mom and she, knew it -- >> including killing the lady next? door >> and he did. >> >> and the woman behind all, they arrested her and charged her with murder as well.

>> where did you take down becky? >> she was staying downtown at a holiday inn. we took her down in the hotel room. >> you could not begin to comprehend the news of their arrest. >> mckay with a murder spot, and the bucket you knew from sports games, and on your cruise, and backyard, always kept, together how do you keep this happy together? >> you can't put it together, it is like a square and circle trying to fit together. i did not see the square. all i saw was the circle. >> it did not make sense to tamara, and it did not make sense to becky and chris's defense attorneys either, as they saw the states case riddled with reasonable doubt. >> what was the weakest part about it? >> the weakest part about it was the lack of physical, evidence connecting them to the crime. >> putting them in the house? >> right. >> they were just itching to get into the courtroom to try and tear apart of the state case. coming up, if prosecutors

allege, mickey plotted to kill -- then who shot becky? >> he was the guy in the bushes? >> he was the governor bush's. >> when dateline continues. line continues new emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? [sfx: video game sound] new emergen-c crystals. throw it back. martial arts is my passion. i work out whenever i can. but with my moderate- to-severe eczema, it can be tough. my skin was so uncomfortable. the itching was so bad. now, i'm staying ahead of my eczema. there's a power inside all of us to live our passion. and dupixent works on the inside to help heal your skin from within.

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becky sears and her son, chris, had ask your eczema specialist been charged with the murder of becky's neighbor chris have been charged with the murder of becky's neighbor interim antics rifle kate parsons. and, they hide a pair of veteran attorneys to prepare a vigorous defense. >> it is a tough situation. >> -- prosecution case full of titillating soap opera jama. but when they started looking at the actual evidence, they were unimpressed. no forensics linked their clients to the murder. >> if you think about it, they did all kinds of csi type of testing within the house, nothing connected either becky,

sears or chris, to the offense. >> no dna, no fingerprints, no eyewitnesses, and that one of her recovered from under kitties fingernails did not match either one. the crime they, said look like a botched burglary, not a premeditated plot. >> if you think about, if you will commit murder, what are you going to? pick a gun? a knife? some sort of weapon that you can dispense once in awhile fairly quickly? what are we going to do this murder with? let's get him in the back, that seems crazy. >> how did you feel about -- >> i felt this was a very winnable case. >> they did what lawyers, do they went through the case, file bested the state to turn over evidence, then they saw it. >> and it was devastating. >> it made it much more difficult, yes, -- >> the piece of evidence in the case file was a recorded interview with, becky we surprised the defense. >> i was floored, because i was under the impression that she

had made it -- not only was it is, statement it was a five hour statement. and with every kind of detail that -- >> i after her arrest, mickey had spoken and what a story she had to tell. she began by insisting relationship with cases husband was over. >> david was going to make this marriage, work i was going to take -- i don't love him anymore. i love my husband, and my husband and i are trying to make our marriage work out. >> she did admit she talked with david on the night before case murder. >> what did you talk about? >> we talked about ball games, the kids, and sex over the phone. something that -- we have never done before, and i don't even know how i ended up that way. >> but you basically had phone sex? >> i guess. that is what you call it. >> did you ask her bluntly, did you kill k, or did you cause or

death? >> she denied it. >> but other details came spilling out when investigators challenged her. >> you have asked people, more than one person, on more than one occasion, to kill her. >> i have never asked anybody to kill her, the only thing i have ever done is say well i picked up, back i did say to my brother one-time i wish that she was just gone. >> so shipments are wanting to have k gone. >> yes, she doesn't say she is the -- she's the person who does it -- >> and a shake up talking, she admitted she was not quite so vague about her wishing ivanka. her story started changing slightly, and we should talk to her brother about hiring a hitmen. >> i was upset one day, and my brother came over to my office, and -- i did not even take, i just said, you don't know anybody would take anybody out do you? >> i was.

>> then, came another revelation. this one, about her son. >> should start telling us that she knew that whatever she was saying, that she wanted k gone, and that would make her happy. that christopher was listening, and that she knew what he wanted to do was make her happy. >> mackie began painting all on chris. >> turning on her own son. >> she admitted that on the morning of the murder, she picked up kris and drove him to her house on hot springs drive. she just -- on the reason. >> the implied reason was, he was going to go next door. >> two case, house to do what? >> we did not talk about it. it wasn't implied, reason he was going to case house, because he was going in his, mind to do whatever it took to make me happy. and that would be to get rid of k. >> so she's the puppeteer putting all these things in place for him to be tempted and act on it? >> she's pulling all the

strings. >> i'm not saying you, this what you and i both know what you are supposed to do here. >> in our interview, becky continued to insist she did not know what happened in case house, that, is not until chris culturally do that, morning and asked for another ride. >> when you got in the vehicle, could you see blood on his clothes? >> i did not see any on his clothes, i think he had blood on his face, and i asked him what did you do? i said oh my god what did you do? and, that is when he said he beat the -- out of her. please tell me that she is okay. please tell me that he did not do this. >> and what did he say? >> he said i beat the -- out of her. >> she's giving a person as a killer here. she's throwing him under the bus. this is extraordinary. >> it is. >> do you realize how extraordinary it is as you take the story down? >> yes. >> so she has grown killer. >> most definitely.

>> i messed up because i made christopher think that i want him to do something when i did not want him to hurt anybody. and i made him think that i did. he was convinced that he was helping me. >> becky told investigators, chris got rid of his bloody clothes, stuff them in his back, back and she told him back to her office. then, they later showed up together at the crime scene, pretending to know nothing, but alarmed that kate was still clinging to life. >> the next conversation that christopher and i had was at the hospital. when i talk to him, and i was crying, and he said nothing to worry, about it everything is gonna be okay. >> i thought him -- >> he said i don't need to do, anything he was going to take everything and i told him i was scared. >> after that, becky says she and -- work together to throw investigators off the trail, which meant shooting a healing

hands was a total set up. >> he was the guy in the bushes? >> he was. >> chris had shot his own mother, a ruse to throw off the cops, and a -- becky said their plan was for chris to shoot and miss. >> he didn't mean to shoot, me he was just going to shoot at me, to scare me, for me to say that somebody chased after me wanting money. >> your own son shot you? >> he did not mean to. >> becky ceos had told investigators quite a story. in a version that showed her slightly less culpable than chris. the legal fight had now shifted to mother against son. becky had one more code left to play. coming up. it is the question everyone was asking, who is this woman? >> evil. >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues

-- becky sears and her son, chris, were both facing the death penalty for conspiring to murder kay parsons.

conspiring to murder k parsons. but, the -- colossal problem on their hands. >> i did not want to hurt anybody. and, on tape. and, represented -- facing this tough new set of facts, and the brothers decided to separate their cases. -- mother would not be pitted against an into separate charles. >> i did not have any question in my mind that his mom would testify against him if it benefited his mom. >> and chris is going to go to trial first here? >> yes. >> does it make a difference in the scheme of things? >> i think it puts pressure. because that gives him some reason to if he is hit with a significant sentence, death, penalty whatever, and a impetus to come and testify against his mom. >> the state still do not have any physical of it is against,

chris but that was going to change. >> i get the message that a box of -- monte clothes and shoes had been -- >> murky had an 11th hour reveal, she told authorities where to find the close chris wore during the murder. she had stashed them in her mother's house. turning them over it was a play to get herself a better deal. >> so she could do herself some goods, get the death penalty off the table? >> i think that is the obvious. >> what did you see when you opened? >> i saw the backpack. just like she described. with jewelry taken from the home. we found the jewelry taken from the home. it was all there. >> signed, sealed, and delivered, notice it. >> nothing else to do. >> not at all. >> there would be no trial, instead, a plea agreement in may 2012. make, years of her son -- pleaded guilty to murdering a parsons. they were spared the death penalty. in the end, becky did not get a

better deal than chris. you judge sentenced them both to life in prison without parole. becky appeared in court that, day looking hardly likely will put together suburban mom from days past. >> do you remember seeing becky underneath when she came to court? >> i did. >> what did you think? >> i was like, wow i understand why she was going to weight watchers. she had gained so much weight and you know really no remorse either. >> even her defense attorney who withdrew from the case before that play deal said he could not fathom the taboo spoken in this case. the families ripped apart -- >> she has turned the mother son relationship upside down, no mother would do what she has done. no real mother, and to have turned on her own son, that says more than anything else about make you serious. >> and even as she headed off

to prison, the saga was not over yet. her old boss and healing hand says, while she was working for him, becky had her hands in the -- >> home which many -- >> was stolen by the -- so, nice friendly gregarious speculative and has been selling from you with both hands. i'm guessing she was a best employee and you had no idea? >> and you would guess right. >> that is before you get to the other thing, the business with k. so who is this woman? >> evil. >> becky was never charged with the theft. the dea says, they had the evidence, but with a guilty plea on life sentence, it all became a -- eye, and remember how michael was blamed for stealing checks from -- he told us what really happened. >> it wasn't me, -- >> she blamed me and you took the heat? >> she basically said hey, if i did not do that for you know, maybe she was, maybe she

couldn't make it -- >> but you had nothing to do with? it >> no. i shouldn't. >> he has been years since he spent all the time in the interrogation room, taking the heat for his mother and brothers crime. when he sat down with, us michael said he still had nightmares about it all. >> i'm torn up inside. >> you are still part of the wreckage of this whole deal. have you talked to a senior mother since? >> no, i sure haven't. i sure haven't. >> do you want to? >> do you have questions for her? >> i do. i sure do. >> she sitting, here what do you ask are? >> what do i ask? or i would like to ask or what have been. what i have been to the mother i had? >> until then, michael is trying to focus on the future, and his family friend michelle says she is there to help. >> you are still a second mom for michael? >> yes. >> how is he doing, in your opinion? >> michael is doing better.

we have had a lot of heartache over his loss. and you know, what he has been through, and he is a trooper, and yes a lot of people standing behind him. >> becky ceos and her husband tony, they divorced, and case husband david, he remarried staying in the house where it all happened. -- just 12 years old at the time of his mother's death went into the marine corps, and for case friends, their memories of her remain. >> what were your last words to her, and you know they will never be the last words but they were. ? >> i said i am sorry. . i said you know i love you girl. and she said i know. i know. i said i will talk to you later. and that was it. >> grovetown, quietly bustles,

along with few traces of the tragedy that happened on hot springs drive, but to mayor -- says that for her case spirit is still there, right down the street. >> did you offer up a little pay to kate when you try fireplace? >> of course. and also, to derrick. it has to be hard on him. and so, i always pray to make sure that he knows that even though his mother is not there, she loved him more than anything. raig melvin. and i'm natalie morales. and this is "dateline." i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline". she was crying and crying. i said, "what's wrong?" and she says, "debbie's dead." we all wanted to believe that it was an accident. there's no possible