and angry. he has already taken enough from me and if i am bitter and angry he is taking my mind, my soul, and my heart. and i'm not giving him that. and this is "dateline." >> hello, i'm craig melvin. and this is dateline. >> never tell you you're like passes you by? everything you have a light, am i ready to die? >> he was a hollywood stunt man. this was no hollywood stunt. shot four times. but dying on the floor. >> someone definitely wanted him dead. but who? and why? you will meet lots of possible suspects. >> my gosh.

>> including his ex wife and actress, once married to the movie monster joe pesci. but she had a strong alibi. >> i don't know. >> and that is only the start of the twist in this hollywood mystery. >> this is one of the stranger than fiction kind of things. certainly, no one would write a script like this. >> the most stunning twist of all was what didn't happen. >> my mom said, don't you [bleep] die on me. that hit me harder than bullets. my mom never swore. >> hello, and welcome to dateline. garrett ward was a hollywood stunt man, who made his living pulling off death defying acts. then one night, he opened the door for a stranger and found himself in the middle of a terrifying scene that was all too real. garrett was looking down the barrel of a gun, moments later, four shots rang out.

and soon investigators would be embroiled in a who done it with more twists than a feature film. here's josh mankiewicz with the plot thickens. >> ready and action! >> action. it ranks second only to money. i as the single most important word in hollywood. and here in l. a., where life and art are often the same form, there is a real life drama that rivals in the action movie with a plot that includes all the element of a classic film noir. >> a mystery, featuring an assassin, a femme fatale, a hollywood star, and a stunt man

who takes the fall. and as for the money, we will get to that. let's start with the biggest name on the marquee, joe pesci. famous for his roles as a cold blooded killer. this drauma would costar pesci ex-wife, who appeared with pesci in the film casino. it includes claudia's brother, now the nectar, but an actual tough guy who did time in prison. and someone who harbored a terrible secret in his past. and finally, claudia second husband, garrett warner, a hollywood stuntman in martial arts expert, a man very familiar with danger. faith in. early evening in the quiet lake of west lake village, california, outside of l. a.. stunned then gary warner heard

a knock on his door, and a voice on the other side asking about his new silver volvo, parked in the driveway. gareth answered. then comes our first plot twist. three shots into his body, one more into gareth's right eye. the daredevils luck had run out. >> i called, and his mother answered the phone. screaming, crying, just distraught, wiley, wiley, you are not going to believe what happened. what? gareth's been shot. while he was a fellow stuntman and garrett's good friend. >> garrett was one of those men that you could count on, you here in life that you are very lucky if you have five friends, or you can count a friend on

one hand, garrett was that friend. to me. >> while he has been in the business for more than 30 years. >> garrett warren was probably the finest fight man you could ask for. i had hired him on several shows, got to know him, watched his expertise, phenomenal athlete, stunt man. >> you've probably seen garrett warren's work, you just didn't know it, he stunk work was featured in charlize angels, and he double teamed with jean-claude van damme. >> gary was a very focused individual. think of stuntman as a daredevil? that's the last person i want. i want the very best. >> while he said that his focus shifted the moon minute warner met claudia. >> beautiful, beautiful woman. we just wanted garrett to be happy, and if it seemed like he met someone he genuinely loved and wanted to start a life with.

>> there's something special. you think people who got to know her, she just has a beautiful soul. and i think he was attracted to that as much as her beauty. >> claudia's friend julie remembers when claudia and garrett first got together. >> so he met this guy. >> yes, that he was very excited. , he was sweet he was funny and she seemed so happy with him. and i should say actually, joe and i both were very supportive. >> by joe, she is referring to cloudy's ex husband, a character actor who became a star by playing mafia tough guys, joe pesci. >> it sounds like her marriage didn't end that badly. >> not at all, not at all, they're like family, very close. >> claudia stayed close to joe after even after she started dating then--but when he met claudia he was ready to settle down. >> we felt that this would be the gal that garrett would end up with.

no more dating, no more running around, i'm going to end up with claudia. >> gareth and claudia were married less than the year after they met. >> in the beginning was a very good relationship. >> oh my gosh. >> they soon had a beautiful daughter, kayla. >> the couple enjoyed being parents. >> love you guys. >> do but happy scenes like this one did not last. claudia and garrett couldn't make it work. >> it was a series of events, it just wasn't the right marriage. >> once the relationship started going south, it went fast, less than two years after their wedding. claudine gareth split up for good. >> divorce is never easy, but in the long run it was two parents, trying to figure out a way to live and both see their children. >> garrett went back to his old

life as a stunt man, after the set and the world of make believe. >> so then how did his life go from playing dead to bleeding out on the floor of his room? shot four times at close range. >> somebody definitely wanted him hurt or dead at that time. >> but who. >> detective mark game in of the l. a. county sheriff's department, investigators looked at every angle. >> remembering how the gunman asked at first garrett about his new volvo. they wondered if this could be road rage. someone gareth had tangled with on the l. a. freeways. >> mr. warren is a stuntman? >> yes. >> i'm guessing maybe he doesn't always drive the speed limit or use his blinker when it's time to change lanes. >> that could be possible. >> or he could be personal. >> it could have been an ex business partner, or if it was someone he was dating that was jealous.

maybe an ex husband. or an ex-boyfriend. there was an array of possible 's on who could've done this. >> possibilities that lead from the crime scene to the bright lights of the movie business, all the way to the parts of l. a. that the tourists never see. >> so who did walk want garrett warren dead? there seems to be an entire cast suspects. coming up, getting ready to say goodbye to a friend. >> i'm going to lose my friend, he's not going to make it. >> when dateline continues. my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala is a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma that can mean less oral steroids. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist

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josh mankiewicz (voiceover): fade in, northridge hospital, daytime. northridge hospital, daytime. while the crowd are rushed to the bedside of his friend garrett warren, a stuntman who was shot with real life bullets. >> i ran into garrett's mom and realized i am going to lose my friend. he is not going to make it. >> garrett was in critical condition. >> all of these things run through your head, the time you spent together, the things that maybe you should've said that you didn't. it was rough. >> shot three times in the body, and ones through the eye. all at close range. hard to imagine anyone surviving it. >> ready for our second twist?

it's one that needed neither garrett's family nor the gunman saw coming. this is garrett warren today. >> thank god i'm still here. i was really fortunate. i was very blessed. >> to the surprise of a doctor treating him, garrett pulled through. and he lived to tell the story of the night he was almost murdered. >> a flashback as vivid now as it was then. well here's bullet one. >> to be honest with you, one a bullet hits you you don't really know that it hits you. it's not like you see in the movies. and i slip to the side and it sent it, went right in front of my chest, passed by my heart, and isn't right now stuck in my ribcage, it's still there. >> then bullet two. >> so i looked down i look back up and here come another one, and i slip my head to the side

and when that happened the bullet went into my neck instead of my back. >> followed number three. >> then i realized that this is for real, and i went to close the door and he shot center mass at me, and when he did i turn sideways and hit me in the hip and went through my back, that one hurt, it hit my bone. >> if that sounds gruesome? then hang out on for what's next. >> i fell back behind my door and to the ground and he walked and put the gun to my head and when the gun was put my head, when i saw him do i saw his finger squeeze the, trickle i flinch like this like a fighter wood, and then it went straight through my eye, came out my ear, and got stuck in the wall behind my head. >> those are some pretty good reflexes. >> i mean if it was a matrix, it was in good. that's like keanu going back in the bullet actually heating

him. so as much as i move, i still got hit. >> suddenly the bullet that went through his--'s brain. >> well you know when it's they say that your life passes in front of your eyes, it doesn't pass in front of your eyes. you run through it. you think of what you want to renew. life did i do anything that i should've make up for it? >> at the time that he was shot, garrett's mother was at carrots home helping out with baby kyla. the gunmen took two shots at her but missed. and out of bullets, he fled. >> i looked at her and i said, i love you, mom. i'll see you on the other side. my mom said don't you (bleep) die. i was shocked. that hit me harder than the bullets. she never swore. and she said don't you (bleep) die. you fought all your life, fought for me. and i looked at her and said, all right. you got it. i'm not going to go. i'll stay. >> as garrett run through his life, he looked back on his failed marriage to claudio haro. >> it was true love, it is the

things that poetry was written about. the thing that movies are made of. >> hi daddy, what's up? >> that brief marriage produce their daughter kyla and although the marriage didn't last, the bond that both parents felt with kyla truly did. >> my daughter being born was amazing. it was the most amazing part of my life and one of the greatest things that i could leave us my legacy, i guess. >> but when the marriage broke up, there was a nasty fight over who would get custody of kyla. in the midst of it, claudio made perhaps the worst accusation that you can make. she claimed that garrett sexually molested their daughter. after a thorough investigation, a family court judge ruled that there was no evidence of abuse. but it was shortly after that that the gunmen showed up at garrett's home. so naturally, detectives brought in claudia for questioning. >> it was just another road we went down during the investigation.

it's like, hey could be an ex. >> claudia was two operative, she didn't appear to have any ties to the shooting and she had a strong alibi for that evening. she even expressed concern for garret. investigators were satisfied she was not involved. so they kept talking to garrett who got a glimpse at the man who shot him. >> it was very difficult to decipher what his ethnicity was because i was looking through a little people in my door. >> not someone you knew? >> no never knew him before. >> as garrett recovered from his wounds, the sheriff's department tried to piece together some theories. >> i'm guessing department as garrett if he was carrying with someone else's girlfriend. >> everything was being looked at in his life, his lifestyle, his business. >> and exciting high energy life style from the gym he owned to the film sickle circles he. ran in. garrett was not short of adventures.

but investigators will also so that he had enemies. >> he received a letter advising that there was some people involved at the gym that garrett was having some kind of relationship with. people who might be of interest to detectives who might want to question these people. >> detectives checked every name that came up. they followed up on every lead, but they hit a dead end at every turn. >> depressing? >> very depressing. sometimes you just need that one break. you need a phone call to have somebody who wants to really give up some information, give us another road to go down, give us another adventure to try. >> it took almost two years before that break arrived. that's one police in another county, searching a car for drugs, instead found a note and a photo that would make clear just what kind of danger garrett warren was facing. >> coming up, was garrett warns would be killer about to try

for take two? >> i'm scared to death, that he's gonna come back and finish it. >> when dateline continues. my tip is, if you're having people over for thanksgiving, start cooking in october. (announcer) you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit now. ever notice how stiff clothes can feel rough on your skin? for softer clothes that are gentle on your skin, try downy free & gentle. downy will soften your clothes without dyes or perfumes. the towel washed with downy is softer, and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle.

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only on verizon. >> close-up, garrett moore, the [piano music] josh mankiewicz: close up-- garrett warren, the stuntman who was stuntman was gunned down in his own home, but live to tell the tale. he knew his would be killer

would still be on the loose. and garrett was looking over his shoulder. >> i have a bulletproof vest on. i've invested whatever money i possibly can into all sorts of security around my house. i'm scared to death someone's gonna coming finish it. >> did you ever think it was gonna be unrest? >> no, i actually gave up on it and thought, chalk it up to experience and move on with your life, that's it. >> and you did move on with your life? >> i did. >> a year after his shooting, garrett still faced multiple surgeries and painful rehab. he was back at work as a personal trailer at the gym he owned. and that's where he met isa. >> so at our first training she said, i really like you, i would like to date you, and i said i don't really date clients. >> so issa quit the gym and -- she said i'm not at your gym

anymore, i'm not your client, so let's date. >> they married in december 2002. maybe the happiness brought along by his second wife made it easier to get along with his first, claudia. the anger that had marked their divorce had faded. >> we're back to our visitations schedule again, back to shared custody, and we are on speaking terms and we're friendly. >> it was about 18 months after garrett was shot when detectives got that lucky break. in an unrelated case, san bernardino police served a search warrant in the car belonging to a man named miguel quiroz. they were looking for drugs but they found something else under the spare tire in miguel quiroz's truck. it was a photo of garrett warren with a circle drawn on it, and his home address with very few people knew. so detectives showed guard a six pack of a photo lineup which included a photo of miguel quiroz. >> i'm looking at the pictures and i said by all means that the guy recognize. >> that's the guy who shot you?

>> yes. >> no doubt in your mind? >> no doubt in my mind. >> in 2003, detectives arrested miguel quiroz for attempted murder. he was neither a gang member nor hired gun. instead, he owned a pizza parlor. sheriff's detective mark again. >> he was this middle class, guy that everyone loved. >> and yet he was the shooter. >> yes. >> other than garrett's idea of miguel quiroz, there was nothing to suggest that the ever met. >> they've never done a business deal before? >> no. >> quiroz ever connected to the gym? >> no. >> any chance that he was driving a car near gary that night? >> no, none whatsoever. >> so what their connection was, or why mr. quiroz would kill them, not clear? >> there was no direct connection whatsoever. >> and as detective soon learned, proving an attempted

murder charges against miguel quiroz wouldn't be easy. multiple witnesses said they saw and spoke to quiroz at his pizza parlor on the night of the shooting. >> these witnesses were not really beholden that mr. quiroz? they were not members of his family, there are just customers. >> yes they were, they were frequent customers of that establishment. plus he had receipts. so it was a pretty good alibi. >> and so, at quiroz's preliminary hearing, evidence pointed both ways. witnesses put quiroz nearly 80 miles away from the scene of the crime the night it happened. but then why did quiroz have gareth's picture hidden in his car?

how and why would garrett finger him as the shooter? hoon chung knew he had more work to do. >> you have a guy stop for a drug charges, he has a map hidden in his car of somebody who was nearly a murder victim and a photograph of that guy. >> right. >> and the guy picks him out. >> right. and you think what's the question, right? >> are there people in death row for less than that? >> sometimes there is more to a story that meets the eye. which is the case here. >> investigators discovered another picture of garrett warren, this one of him and the man he accused of shooting him. >> coming up, this is one of those stranger than fiction kind of things. certainly nobody would write a script like this. >> when dateline continues. (tonya) smoking damaged my heart. now i have a battery-operated heart pump. my tip is stop thinking this can only happen when you get old. my heart failure happened at 38. (announcer) you can quit. for free help, call 1-800-quit-now. with amazon's back to school deals, you can save money by spending less of it. makes sense! oh, i see what you did there! - what? - what?

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here's what is happening. after 19 defendant surrendered at the fulton county jail in georgia, attention is shifting to a courtroom in washington, d.c.. judge tanya chutkan is holding a hearing on monday in the federal election crime case against former president trump. in may, announcing a trial

date. russian authorities saying they recovered the bodies of ten people at the site of a plane crash believing to be carrying mercenary leader yevgeny prigozhin. two u.s. officials tell msnbc news that intelligence points to sabotage. the kremlin denies any involvement. now, back to dateline. to dateline. >> welcome back to dateline. i'm craig melvin. police had just arrested suspected drug dealer miguel quiroz for the attempted murder of garrett warren. they'd been serving a search warrant on quiroz's car when they found garrett warren's photo in the trunk. he identified quiroz as a shooter. but the case against quiroz wasn't adding up. a closer look at the evidence led to a stunning discovery. garrett warren wasn't out of danger yet. here is josh mankiewicz with

"the plot thickens". >> faith in, los angeles county, california. was garrett warren was gunned down, shot four times in his own home, but somehow survived. if it is character, really. a hollywood stuntman, martial artist, and former fighter. not only did he survive, he was able to identify a shooter. a man who had been caught with what looked like a hit note in his car. and they tell you his name is miguel quiroz? >> yes. >> did that name mean anything to you? >> not at the time at all. >> it's needed at first like a strong case. but the more law enforcement and prosecutor chun investigated, the less clear became. >> you did a lot of work and was somewhat you did was help prove your defendants alibi? >> sure, so far. >> remember, multiple witnesses put miguel quiroz about 80 miles away from garret's home

the night of the shooting. then, in a scene from "columbo", came the latest twist, something the prosecutor saw during a court hearing. >> i'm noticing some things. first of all, miguel quiroz is left handed. the shooter is described by the witnesses and his mother as right-handed. that's a little odd. >> odd because would left-handed person would try to commit murder with a gun in his right hand? >> that's like out of a movie? >> right, the script writer might do something like that. but in real life it doesn't make any sense. >> and then, prosecutor chun saw this photo, taken at a party, a barbecue. >> in this photo you have garrett warren and he is facing miguel quiroz and they are kneeling down. their children are in front of them. we can tell from this car on

garrett warren phase's that this is post shooting. we can tell from the ages of those children, as well as the lakers championship t-shirt that quiroz's wearing is that it's very recently after the shooting. >> both men were guests at the same party after the shooting. but before garrett made his eyewitness id of quiroz. >> that's why you are done you think he identified him as the shooter? because it isn't right at this party? >> yes, classic. >> to both the prosecutor, and to garrett, the photo explained the i. d.. and all of a sudden when i looked at the photo lineup, it clicked, and then i thought it was him. >> so garrett was wrong in his assumption. so it left prosecutors with the question, who shot him? the cook heroes somehow be

involved? prosecutor hoon chun can to rethink the case. >> the defense attorneys agree that we can talk to mr. quiroz and they let us talk to him. and the detectives and i keep coming back to this hit note, to where it's found. he does not know who garrett warren was. their interaction was very brief at the barbecue. >> detectives kept questioning quiroz. because they knew that whoever wanted garrett dead -- is from after the shooting. meaning that it's not so much a hit to note as a note explaining to someone how to go back and finish the job. >> it is a re-hit if you want to call it that. >> that finish the job note, says chun, started to unravel the mystery. >> that was kind of what's broke the case open. and that was quite frankly the lifeline we had on this case. >> the one unavoidable piece of evidence that finally cracked miguel quiroz.

>> we go back round and round about this and finally he admits that he was one of the middlemen. >> miguel quiroz admitted that while he wasn't the shooter, he was in on the plot. and that he was caught by his own carelessness. >> he explained that that hid note had been sent directly to him, that he had put it under the spare tire, in the trunk of his car, and literally, he said, he had forgotten about it. >> so the reason you ended up fighting that hid note under the spare tire in the trunk of mr. quiroz's carr was because he put it there for safekeeping and forgot it? >> this is one of those stranger than fiction, kind of things. certainly no one would write a script like this because it would kind of look like any self respecting director or producer and saying, come on, that is ridiculous. but people forget things. >> disorganized crime? >> yeah. >> luckily for prosecutors, miguel quiroz had not sworn a

blood or oath to never rat on his friends. quite the opposite. he rolled over like lassie and cut a deal. he agreed to wear a wire and help collect evidence on his coconspirators. them and so, as we say around here, the plot thickened. >> coming up, the world's worst hit man. >> i apologize do. i'm not a good shot. just get the guns, or whatever, and i'll get, will finish it off -- >> when dateline continues. remove all the grease, even with scrubbing? whaaat? i just cleaned those. try dawn platinum. it removes 99% of grease and food residue. that's why dawn is trusted to save wildlife affected by oil. dawn platinum cleans to the squeak. >> fade in, los angeles county,

that's josh mankiewiczsted to save(voiceover): fade in, oil.

los angeles county, nighttime. nighttime. a police informant wears a wire as he talks to a partner in crime. >> i don't go to worry about you. >> yeah you know, i'm not like that. >> the informant, miguel quiroz, he's the pizza parlor owner turned small time drug dealer. and the middleman with a hit note in his car targeting garrett warren. now, he was cooperating with investigators. detectives already knew quiroz wasn't the shooter. quiroz told them the man was the man who pulled the trigger was a old friend of his name was jorge hernandez. >> as a deal with prosecutors, quiroz wore a body wire and approached jorge hernandez at a

party. he said he hired fernandez one hernandez said that he didn't waste any of that on transportation. >> hernandez can be heard saying sorry that he didn't manage to kill garrett warren. >> and hernandez said that he was ready to try again. >> speaking to prosecutor hoon chun, quiroz explained his own involvement, that he had been hired as a hit man. and he explained where the trail lead. >> mr. quiroz told you that he didn't do it but that he was on in the plan? >> right. >> and that he did it at the behest of his friend, manny haro. >> what haro was a long term friend of quiroz's. they worked in the pizza business and the drug business. and if the name haro sounds familiar, but it is also

garrett warren's ex-wife. chun said that it explains haro's involvement. >> so on a scale from 1 to 10, this wasn't an 11. >> this was over the custody of the daughter? >> that was about the custody of the daughter. and she had a lot of antipathy that was expressed toward garrett warren. >> she said that you are going to bleed, right? >> yup. >> generally when one spouse says to the other that you are going to bleed, it's a sign that they're bad times to come. >> prosecutors believe that their understanding the outlines of the plot to kill garrett warren. infuriated by a bitter custody battle. they believe that claudia haro had said everything in motion. but proving that would not be easy. investigators started to look at how claudia might have persuaded her brother to get involved in a murder.

detectives arrested one jorge hernandez and manny haro. when they questioned haro, they learned about a secret of his that would explain why he would want garrett warren dead. >> i really didn't talk about me getting blasted until i was 22, probably. >> we're manny told investigators that he was molested as a child. and remember, claudia said that guarantied molested their daughter. those allegations were thoroughly investigated, a judge that they were unfounded. but now investigators had to consider another plot twist. because of something else manny said. that not only had he been molested, but that the only other person in the world who knew about that secret was his sister, claudia. >> being that i've been through certain things in my childhood as far as, like, molestation.

and my sister was the only one that i confided in. and i told her about my molestations thing that happened to me when i was younger. >> had claudia manipulated manny by telling him only part of the story? >> did she ever let you know that the judge, you know, someone independent in her child custody case had found that the allegations that she was making against garret were false, did you ever tell you that? >> i never asked and she never told me. so i think she knew how to hit the nerve that he was molesting her. so i think she knew who was hitting the nerve that way because i never really talked about it. >> manny said his sisters exact language was that she wanted garrett warren taken out. >> i don't -- i'm almost positive she didn't use the word murder or kill. but it's like me telling you, i want you to take him out. you know what that means in

that slaing. it means, take him out, it means kill. >> manny a small time criminal, was pointing the finger of guilt at his sister, an actress and mother who was in hollywood star dumb and who had never had problem with the law. this was hard to believe, except for the intended victim of the murder plot, who believe that claudia was behind it from the get-go. >> there is only one person who wanted this done to me. >> he felt this way even as investigations pointed in every direction, until finally, five years after the shooting, detectives arrested claudia haro. >> i do think to myself, thank god. finally i don't feel crazy anymore. >> but he was in for another shock. prosecutors did not feel the case was strong enough. because manny haro had not agreed to testify against claudia. at the da's office declined to file charges. >> yeah but that's not the worst of it.

i was proud to call garrett and say, guess what, i have arrested claudia for hiring a hit man to kill you. >> and then you have to call them back and say. >> i can't put it back to jail. >> 48 hours after they had arrested claudia, she was back on the street, back and free once again. >> i will not stop. >> what will it take to write a new ending to the story? with a new role for the beauty that, investigators believe, were there femme fatale. or would claudia escape their prosecution, simply denying that she was involved? >> the lying is not about saying the words, the words need to make sense, and when they don't make sense, you can have a problem. >> it's a lot tougher than people think it is? >> it's a lot tougher them but

people think it is. >> coming up, claudia haro tells her story. >> it's your day in the limelight. do you know who shot garrett ward? >> i don't. >> do you know why he was shot. >> i don't. no >> when dateline continues. bounce. it's the sheet. 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. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy makes breathing easier for a full 24 hours, improves lung function, and helps prevent future flare-ups.

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through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. i may be known for my legendary football career, but truth is, i love a bunch of sports. learn more today. the only trouble is knowing where to find them. that's why i got xfinity. so, i can easily find and watch whatever sport i'm into all in one place without missing a thing. even if it's football, australian football, or football football. in a word—it's fitz-credible. i got to trademark that one. this season, eligible xfinity rewards members can get up to $100 off nfl sunday ticket from youtube. sign up for xfinity rewards now. ng] >> close-up, claudia haro, she josh mankiewicz: close up: claudia haro. once played a showgirl in a gangster movie. once was married to a legendary

movie gangster. now, she was accused of hiring a hit man in realize. sheriff's detectives arrested her, but prosecutor hoon chun did not file charges, and claudio was turned loose. chun felt that he needed stronger evidence. >> i didn't feel like we had a solid case at that point. >> but claudia's brother manny change that. he took a plea deal from prosecutors, and finally agreed to testify against his sister. >> at some point, does somebody approach you about doing something? killing somebody? >> yes. >> okay. >> my sister claudia approached me. claudio haro approached me. >> that made the difference. detectives rear rested claudia haro. this time, the prosecutor charged her with two counts of attempted murder and one of conspiracy to commit murder.

claudia denied everything. >> do you know who shots garrett warren? >> i don't know. >> do you know why he was shot? >> no, i don't know. >> but while there was evidence enough to charge claudia, was there enough to convict her? >> you have mr. cures is the mission, and then you have mr. hernandez on tape. but nothing to prove that claudia said this in motion? >> we have the motive, the contentious divorce proceeding. we had the time of this. what happens is that the judge finds the child abuse allegations to be falls on april 12th, i believe, of 2000. the hit occurs about a month or a week after that. >> all of that is circumstantial? >> i agree. >> but soon, there was more. prosecutors said the handwriting on the hit note matched claudia haro's. and when prosecutors compared samples to cloudiness land letters to garrett, they would know it is just a typo --

a misspelling of the word a gura. the word is -- the word is misspelled in the exact same way. claudia insisted that she had never given any notes or -- maps to miguel quiroz. >> know that i can think of, and no. >> so if we had, someone's address written in your handwriting? >> i don't know. not for me. i don't know. >> she claimed to know very little about what her brother manny haro might have been up to. >> why would your brother, who had never even met garrett, want to kill him? >> i don't know. that's not -- >> why would he tell us that you're the one that asked him if he'd kill and help arrange it? >> i don't know. >> did you ever give your brother a large amount of money?

>> no. >> any amount whatsoever? >> i don't think i've ever had a large amount of money. >> as we said, every hollywood story eventually comes back to money. if claudia haro paid somebody ten grand to ice garrett, where did she get the cash? detectives took a good look at her other ex husband, tough guy actor joe pesci. remember that party snapshot of garrett and middleman miguel quiroz and their kids? that was taken at the hollywood hills home of joe pesci. >> we actually interviewed joe pesci and we just wanted to ask if he gave her a large sum of money at that time, he denied that he ever gave her a large amount. there was no evidence to indicate that he had any involvement. >> claudia haro said she wanted to do an interview with us, but we were not able to speak with her in jail. we spoke with her defense attorney, tom mesereau.

he defended michael jackson. the picture of her is that she's eventual woman who would stop at nothing to keep her daughter way from ex-husband. >> never give you that information does not know claudia haro. >> mesereau says that if she's guilty of anything, we it is because she has a criminal for a brother. >> if -- and then when you got caught, he try to blame it on his sister to try and gain freedom for himself. >> not only that, he said, but those hit notes allegedly written by claudia? >> i am convinced these are forgeries. claudia never wrote any hit note to anybody.

nobody ever talk to her about whacking someone, or murdering someone, or shooting someone. >> mesereau was ready with those arguments and more. and who knows where the jury might have done. >> remember the movie "my cousin vinny" where joe pesci plays a lawyer who gets his client an acquittal of charges? well, this movie didn't end that way. on the eve of trial, claudia decided not to fight the charges. she pleaded no contest to two counts of attempted murder. she received a sentence of 12 years and four months. >> claudia's friend julie. >> on the deal that she is offered, she will be out in a few years and see her daughter grow up. >> that's why she took it. >> and after her sentencing, joe pesci supported his ex-wife and showed up. as for what miguel quiroz and jorge hernandez, they got plea deals. haro was sentenced to life in prison, with possibility of parole. he was released in july 2017.

the hired gunman jorge hernandez was tried and convicted on -- he's serving a sentence of 77 years to life. claudia serve just more than nine years before being granted parole in august of 2019. if claudia did mastermind this attempted murder, she ended up getting a very good deal. claudia's brother, manny who set it up, and the actual shooter, both pretty much get maxed out on their sentences. >> the amount of time you spend behind bars is nothing to what i believe will be eternity afterwards. and i believe that we all pay, one day, no matter what. >> you seem remarkably free of anger. >> i am. and everyone should be in this world. she made a mistake. i've made mistakes. no one's perfect. >> surprised? you should not be. that trifecta of love, money, and murder is not new to hollywood. neither are stories about

beautiful women who turned out to be as tough as a five dollar steak. and the man who somehow finds it in themselves to forgive them. >> that's all for this edition of dateline, i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> happy saturday. and welcome to morning joe: weekend. let's dive right into the week's top stories. >> i have had enough already tonight of a guy who signs like chatgpt standing up here. and the last person who wanted these debates. who stayed in the middle of the stage and said, what is a skinny guy with an odd last name doing up here. was barack obama, and i'm afraid we're dealing with the same type of amateur.