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keith morrison: it had been five months since 22-year-old 22-year-old chelsea bruck disappeared from big mike's annual halloween party. her costume had been found. it was found ripped underneath an abandoned building. this was interesting. it happened to be a hundred yards from the trailer park where harlan byrd had lived. >> what did you think when you saw that? >> the hair on the back of your head kind of stands up. >> coincidence? the detectives didn't think so. >> the first thing we did, we called harlan byrd in for another interview. >> you thought we've found our guy here. >> yes. >> because you had been kind of wonky about him before, right?

>> yes. things looked like they had been adding up. >> harlan came back to the station, this time with an attorney. >> how do you explain the items being found so close to your grand grandma's house? i can't explain it. >> do you have any thoughts to why some of her clothing would be found? >> none. >> a half mile from your grandma's place? >> no. >> harlan was adamant he never saw chelsea at the party. he made up the story. he had nothing to do with her disappearance. >> he did appear to be nervous like this is getting serious now. i really made everything up, i had no involvement, i'll do whatever you want.

>> would you be willing to take a polygraph? >> a lie detector test? >> yes. >> yes. >> he took the test and passed. >> we also obtained a dna sample from larn byrd because we recovered the leotard. he did give us a dna sample. >> they sent it off to the lab and waited. penny heard the news and still distressed by a sense of failed responsibility felt some force pulling her to the place the poison ivy costume was found. >> very eerie place. there was a train track on the other side of it. i don't know. i just envisioned being tortured in there and the trains going by and the clinking and the echoes. i just had to see for myself, i suppose. maybe i'd find something that someone else missed. i don't know. >> or maybe someone else would.

it was spring remember, time to get outside, clear the land, find things. >> i'm breaman live in carlton where we have breaking developments in the search for chess s chelsea bruck. >> april 24th, 2015, about seven miles from big mike's place, a dump truck pulled up to a construction site. a man was building his dream house, needed fill for a low spot on his property, but as the driver backed up across the spring wet soil -- >> this truck got stuck in the mud. he goes behind the truck, walks behind to assess the situation, see if he can get it moving again. >> that's when he saw it. a few minutes later he called 911, very upset. >> can you tell if it's a male, female? >> female. i think it's the one posted all over time. >> he was guessing because it was unrecognizable, but was it

chelsea? had the truck not gotten stuck, they wouldn't have found out. the body would have been buried forever. instead -- >> we all responded out there. we had the crime lab from the michigan state police come out to help us. we took a close look at the body. >> had it been covered up or anything like that? >> the body had some small logs, branches over parts of the body. >> as if somebody tried to hide it. >> yes. >> not far from the body, they found one artificial leaf just like the rest of the leaves on chelsea's poison ivy costume. >> kind of tells you something, doub doesn't it? >> yes. >> that's a hard call. you don't have absolute confirmation it's her, but you know it's her. >> we had a pretty good idea. >> did you call her family or wait.

>> we went out and told the family. we wanted them to know before they heard it because the media was showing up and we knew the news was all over it. we didn't want the bruck family to hear it that way. we went out and personally visited them and said we found the body. we don't know for sure if it's chelsea, but it's a female. we think it might be. you know, for it to come down to that, that was extra tough go out there and be the bearer of such bad news. >> becky wasn't family, of course, but it hit her hard pretty much the same. >> one of the ladies at work said they found a body. i went home, turned on the news, and sure enough they were by the railroad tracks and they had the helicopters. >> what was happening in your tummy? >> sick. sick. my heart was pounding. butterflies. and--

by this point, we just wanted to know the truth. and still, we had to wait for them to verify that it was her. >> they did that the next day. dental records. >> it was a relief to know the truth, but then opened a whole new door of questions of what happened, why, who did this. so it was like a whole new stressor. >> we almost felt more pressure on us all of a sudden, too, because it's not a missing person case anymore. it's a homicide. we know there's a killer out there. is the killer going to be strike again? you know -- we - we need to find that person as fast as we can. coming up, the investigation heats up with a promising new clue. >> the crime lab assured us it was a pretty good unknown sample of male dna and they

said it's just a matter of time. >> and the detectives set their sights on a familiar face. >> we're going back. >> like, for example, big mike. >> big mike. that's the dna that we wanted. >> when "dateline" continues. kn ow how i feel.♪ ♪breeze driftin' on by...♪ ♪...you know how i feel.♪ you don't have to take... [coughing] ...copd sitting down. ♪it's a new dawn,...♪ ♪...it's a new day,♪ it's time to make a stand. ♪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. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler... ...for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating,...

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for her killer, and that's about when the state lab called with dna results from chelsea's costume. they found her dna, of course. in fact, her own blood was inside the front of the leotard. but someone else's dna was there too. a man. a mystery man. >> we entered it into our codis system, and there was no hit. >> it's a database of dna. >> correct. >> the crime lab assured us that it was-- it was a pretty good sample, the unknown male dna. and they said, it's just a matter of time. and sooner or later, we think we'll-- we'll get a match on it. >> they checked, of course, the dna of erik kassab, who found the costume and harlan byrd. and both men were cleared. >> when we got that information from the dna. it was almost like our investigation kind of shifted gears. we were in the recovered dna mode. we were trying to collect dna from anybody and everybody we could. >> did you go back to the people at the party?

>> we did. we did. >> we did. the people we talked to on the first day of the investigation. we now were going back and asking for their dna because, before, we didn't know there was going to be dna. we didn't-- we didn't even know it was a homicide at that point. so, we're going back, making a list of people's dna we want to get. >> like, for example, big mike. >> big mike. that's-- that's the dna that we wanted. >> and? >> he wouldn't give it to us. >> what was it with big mike? was he cooperating or what? >> they asked for my dna. and i talked to my attorney. he said, you don't have to if you don't want to. and i just felt like i didn't want my dna in some database. you know, i'm not-- i'm not a criminal. i'm not a felon. also i felt like they were almost pointing, pointing the finger at me again. i was over it. and i was trying to move on with my life. >> and so mike williams stayed on the'persons of interest'list.

about a month later, the medical examiner's office told the detectives they now knew what killed chelsea. >> they ruled the-- the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the face. we had initially noticed that there was a break in the jaw, and they just kind of confirmed that there were severe facial injuries, which they believed was the cause of death. >> several facial bones were fractured, especially around her eyes. the detectives decided to keep all that secret. and chelsea's parents held a private funeral for their sweet youngest child, the baby of the family. hearts are breaking in this small town today. >> and then in early september, about ten months after chelsea disappeared, the man who'd found her remains called the sheriff's office. >> he's doing some more excavating on his property there, moving dirt around, working on the property. and he notices a red shoe. and we have several detectives that go out to the scene, and it happens to be the left shoe.

it's the same size, same brand, same style as-- the one that had been found on war road. obviously it's chelsea's other shoe. >> yeah. >> the detectives began to look around a little bit more. they moved things around in the area and they happened to find the green tights of chelsea's. so at that point we have everything accounted for. we have chelsea's shoes, her tights, her costume, her wig, and her body. >> everything, na is, but her killer. coming up -- >> yeah. i mean things were adding up. >> or that's what investigators thought until -- >> she put her foot down and she said you don't want to see this right now. so we stopped and she handed me the lab sheet. >> peace and love. that's my motto. >> a peace-loving suspect confesses but not to murder. >> i just like smoking weed and having sex. >> when "dateline" continues. when "dateline" continues when "dateline" continues and i lost 40 pounds with golo in just eight months. golo has really taught me

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big mike williams did not throw a backyard halloween bash in 2015. a backyard halloween bash in 2015. it didn't seem right, one year after whatever happened to chelsea. >> i wasn't going to do it. i -- i felt like i was just going to be be done with it. and then i kind of had some people kind of contact me -- >> oh, no. you've got to have one, mike. >> yeah. >> you've got to keep doing it. you've got to keep doing it, got to do something. i'm like, you know what? i'll do it. >> mike took his party to a club in detroit. the investigation, however, was stalled. and so it was out of desperation, really, that in june 2016 they gave the media photos of this guy, captured from video shot at the party.

>> what was that all about? >> so we had received a tip very early on in the investigation about a white male with a moustache that had showed up around 3:00 in the morning at a residence on war road. this is about a quarter of a mile or so, not even, from where chelsea's shoe was found. this guy shows up at three in the morning, pounding on this guy's door. says he's coming from the party, he's looking for a place to stay. you know, the -- the gentleman says, you know, you can't stay here. you have -- you have to get going. >> the party-goer took a snooze on the man's front porch, but he then left. and the homeowner found the guy's vest the next morning and called the tip line. >> the vest had a pocketknife and some rope inside of it. so this guy shows back up, wants his vest back. he gets his vest and he leaves. >> weird. back at the time, it didn't seem like much of a lead. but who knew? so they combed through the party video. >> and we actually could see several frames where this guy is actually dancing around wearing a black leather vest.

so we're thinking maybe this is the same guy that was at the house on war road, knocking on the door. >> but when those pictures went out on local media -- youind him? >> he actually came forward. >> what did he have to say? >> he came in and, you know, another key factor in the identification was he -- he resembled the sketch. he was -- >> ah, the original sketch. >> yep, yeah. so -- >> that's a boom, boom, boom, boom. >> yeah. i mean, things were adding up. and he's in the area where her shoe is found, late, you know, a knife in his pocket, rope. >> the young man said he was very drunk at the party and didn't remember much. they took his dna and scheduled a polygraph. but on the very day that was supposed to happen, the sheriff's evidence tech received an email. >> she says, hey, you guys, i -- i have something here you're going to be want to see. and we were pretty much focused on what we were doing at that time. and we kind of, you know, said,

hey, just hold off. you know, wait a minute. let us finish doing what we're doing. and she put her foot down and she said, you're going to want to see this right now. so we stopped, and she handed me the lab sheet, and it was a confirmation of dna. >> it was a match to the unknown male dna on chelsea's costume. but it was not the guy in the party video. it wasn't any of the men they'd been looking at. they could clear them all, including big mike. no, this was someone else. someone new! >> daniel clay. >> had you ever heard of daniel clay before? >> never. never heard -- >> and he'd never come up at all. >> not in this case. >> who was daniel clay? >> daniel clay is a guy that lives in -- in monroe county and doesn't really have a permanent address. he just kind of flops around from house to house, girlfriend to girlfriend. he has a few -- a few kids. but he just kind of does his own thing. >> someone that's not doing very well in life? >> unemployed. >> oh, boy.

>> and we had found out that he had actually been arrested a month or two prior -- i believe it was in may of 2016 -- by the monroe city police for a larceny from a person where he stole a backpack with some tattoo equipment off of somebody. >> a petty crime, essentially. >> but it's a felony. >> and unfortunately for daniel clay, the law in michigan had recently changed. under the old law, only dna from convicted felons was entered into the national database, codis. the new law included the dna of anyone arrested for a felony. >> so upon his arrest with the new law in michigan, they took a dna sample from him and sent it to the crime laboratory to get entered in the codis. >> so where was this guy? >> well, that was one of our big things, was locating him. >> yeah. >> he was homeless and was just bouncing around from home, trailer to trailer. >> and imagine this. there were two warrants out for him for unpaid child support.

so when they found out where he was, they set up surveillance and made a plan to arrest him on those outstanding warrants without telling him he was a murder suspect. that is, if they could catch him. >> on at least one occasion, we see a male subject come out of the front door onto the front porch and smoke a cigarette. and we confirmed that that was daniel clay. the deputies go up, they knock on the door. i mean, they're pounding on this -- this mobile home for quite a while. >> oh, boy. okay. >> so it doesn't look like he's going to come out. they keep knocking. suddenly, the back door flies open and out comes daniel clay. and he takes off. fortunately, we had several officers at the back door who were able to take him into custody immediately. they take him to jail, book him in just like a -- he's being arrested just for his child support. >> can you let me call my girlfriend and tell her i'm going to jail for child support. >> okay. >> so when they put him in an interview room, daniel clay did not know he was a murder suspect. and questions about the halloween party may have come as a surprise.

>> so what time did you go to the party? >> about 8:00, 9:00. i was out of there about 10:00 or 11:00. >> did he say he knew chelsea? >> he denied ever knowing chelsea. didn't see chelsea, never heard of her, didn't know her, until later on he's -- he watched stuff on the news and that about this girl that went missing. but denied ever knowing her. >> still, said mr. clay, he did know a lot of women. he was a lover of women, he told the detectives. a real ladies'man. he already had two children with two women, another on the way. a nice simple life, said daniel clay. >> i live like it should be like the'70s, free love. peace and love. that's my motto. like i don't like fighting, i don't like violence, i don't -- i just like smoking weed and having sex. >> sex and pot? oh, he probably liked those things a lot, didn't he. but

peace? non-violence? hmmm. time to figure out mr. clay. and this was when detective preadmore went to work. >> you told me you never had sex with chelsea bruck. >> never had sex, never nothing with her. >> would there be any reason that your dna would be with chelsea bruck? >> no. >> or on her clothes or in her hair? >> not to my knowledge. >> a good interrogation is like peeling an onion to get to the truth at the core. coming up -- daniel clay's story starts to change. when i ask you about chelsea bruck and having sex, there's a possibility? >> there is a possibility. >> so that means. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues. and who doesn't love a good throwback? [sfx: video game] emergen-c crystals.

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europe. storms prime minister benjamin netanyahu's announced an expansion of the ground invasion in gaza. this comes after remarks from

the idf chief of the general staff who said that they are moving to the next stage of war. gazans are currently under a massive communication blackout. mexico, days after hurricane otis, the death toll now rising to 39. ten people are still missing the storm made landfalls and category five hurricane on wednesday. for now, that dateline. july 2016, 21 months and 1,037 tips after the untimely death of chelsea bruck. detective mike preadmore confronted daniel clay, the ladies'man whose dna was on chelsea bruck's halloween costume. >> you never had sex with chelsea at the party? >> no. >> before the party, after the party? >> nothing. i didn't even know her. >> like a patient fisherman, the detective flicked lures around his suspect. >> you're a lucky man. i wish girls just -- >> be confident.

just talk to them. >> i think i'm a pretty confident kind of guy. >> do you have a wife? >> i do have a wife. that's probably the problem. >> so it went. until, calmly and quietly, the detective broke the bad news. for all of daniel's denials, dna doesn't lie. and his dna was on chelsea's costume. and so the question -- how could that be? >> i did not do anything to that girl. i did not. i'm telling you. >> he was adamant. they kept talking. and then daniel admitted he did have sex with a woman at the party. could it have been chelsea? well, maybe. >> when i ask you about chelsea bruck and having sex, there's a possibility? >> there is a possibility. >> so that means -- >> i had sex with someone that night. like i was out in the car and -- somebody and then not long after i talked to my baby mama, got in the car, and left. >> okay. >> so, time to reel in the fish.

>> this is the thing. hear me out, i have been nice. i think i have been a pretty -- a gentleman to you. >> yeah. >> really, and you have to me. all right. there are some things you haven't told me. all right, but we're getting there. i do not think you're a murderer. i'm being up front. i'm being honest with you. i have been honest with you 100 percent. i think something happened. you did not have any intent to hurt her. >> i didn't do anything to her. she was fine and breathing when i left her. she got out of the car and walked away. >> daniel, figured detective preadmore, must have assumed they found semen dna, so he told that consensual sex story. but then det. preadmore revealed a little more -- that dna, he told daniel, wasn't semen. it was skin cells, recovered where chelsea's costume had been violently ripped at the straps and the crotch. >> i have your dna where her stuff was torn. nobody other's, nobody else's. no one.

>> okay. >> either something happened where it was intentional, unintentional, accidental, so listen to me. now is the time for you to tell us what happened because are you that monster murderer? >> no. >> did you have intention, but it just -- it just got -- it just slipped, it got out of control? >> no, i didn't do that to her. >> or was it an accident? >> i had sex with a girl. that's it. >> it was like -- it -- for a split second, time stopped for daniel clay because now he's thinking in his head about all them lies that he just told me prior to, that he don't know her. never had contact with her, nothing, nothing. no contact with chelsea, nothing.

now i'm telling him that dna was recovered on her costume, his dna. so daniel clay now has to rewind and see how he's going to cover up with lies, the lies that he's already told me. >> and then det. preadmore told daniel a lie. >> and i'm going to tell you one thing that nobody knows about chelsea bruck except us and her mother, is that she had brittle bone disease. brittle bone disease is a simple -- >> [inaudible] >> -- a touch, a tap where [bleep] breaks. >> like my bones, i break my fingers a lot because of it. >> so that's what happened. it was an accident. >> i had to do something to relax daniel clay and open him up to talk to me and tell me what happened. so this is where the brittle bone disease came in. and at that time, i think, in the interview, is where the turning point, daniel clay kind of leaned back and was like, oh,

yeah. yeah, that -- brittle bone -- i've heard of that. that's -- i had my hand broke one time real -- and he goes on. >> the detective could almost see the wheels turning in daniel's head. if her bones broke easily, could he say her death wasn't his fault? daniel, not so calm anymore, asked for a cigarette and told a new story that he saw chelsea walking down the road after the party and offered her a ride. and then, he said, they had sex in his car again, and this time things got freaky. >> she told me to choke her. i choked her. then we switched because she got underneath me. like i don't know. we were [bleep] for a minute, and then she kind of stopped and she went limp. so i stopped. i'm like, you know, i started tapping her face. >> okay. >> i guess i choked her too hard or something like that. >> okay. >> i wasn't even choking her that hard. i didn't think -- i got girlfriends that like to be choked and stuff. i know how to do it. like i didn't realize her bones were brittle or whatever. >> so, he says, i attempted

cpr. i kind of hit on her chest a little bit. and after that, he just freaks out. he says that he drug her -- put her in the back of the car and was freaking out, didn't know what to do. didn't think of going to the hospital or anything like that. and he found himself driving. >> driving, he said, until he stopped by these railroad tracks and carried her body to this wooded property and tried to hide her with leaves and branches. he claimed he simply had no idea how her costume ended up in that abandoned building five and a half miles away. >> i don't believe we ever got the full true story of what daniel clay did to chelsea. >> something made him snap. we don't know. did chelsea simply ask for a ride home and realize that he was going the wrong direction and then confront him on that? try to get out of the vehicle? did she turn down his advances for sex? we don't know.

something -- something set him off, though, and just made him snap. >> they arrested him then -- for murder. but before the news went public, becky heard about it, and this was an added shock. the friend who told her about daniel's arrest, a woman named jessica, also worked at olga's kitchen, and has a son with, of all people, daniel clay. daniel had called jessica before he was taken to his cell. >> jessica, it's dan. i'm going to jail for a while. a long while. >> and she's crying hysterical. she took a big breath, and she said her son's dad had killed chelsea, and she's like, i'm so sorry. and then i started crying because i felt bad for her. it was crazy that it was literally one person away, like, in our circle. >> but daniel clay had only confessed to an accidental killing, not murder, so he pleaded not guilty.

after all, no eyewitnesses, no hard proof he meant to kill chelsea. the ladies'man was going to trial. coming up -- the prosecution says it was murder. >> he obviously used massive force against her and ultimately killed her. >> daniel clay takes the stand to say, it wasn't. >> did you murder chelsea bruck? >> no. >> why do you say that? why do you say no? >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues. should we sell it? we hold... our low mileage is paying off. you think we should... hold... hoooold!!! hooold! now!!!! i'm on it. i'm, on it. already sold to carvana. go to carvana and track your car's value today. (vo) it's another ultimate endless shrimp flavor drop with new tequila lime shrimp one of seven endless choices right now, only at red lobster

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daniel clay went on trial for murder in may 2017. murder in may of 2017, and as chelsea's family and friends sat here at the monroe county courthouse, the prosecutors prepared to deal with a tricky problem. daniel clay had confessed to an accidental killing. leah hubbard and michael roehrig needed to prove it was really murder. >> of course, there's only one person alive who knows what really happened that night, and that's daniel clay. and he's certainly no friend to the truth. >> although lead prosecutor roehrig admitted some of daniel's story was plausible. >> i think that the fact that she was alone at the party without a phone, without a ride home, it was cold, and she was dressed only in that costume, i think, does play a role here because i think it makes it somewhat more likely that she might have accepted a ride from

the defendant whom she would probably have been acquainted. >> but what happened after that, the state argued, chelsea did not agree to. >> it seems fairly likely that daniel clay demanded of chelsea that -- something that she didn't want to provide to him, and he obviously used massive force against her to get what he wanted and ultimately killed her in the process. >> daniel clay's claim that chelsea asked him to choke her and after 20 or 30 seconds she expired? on the stand, here's what the medical examiner said about that. >> there was nothing left for me to evaluate whether or not chelsea had been asphyxiated. >> nothing to evaluate because of the severe decomposition of her body. but could choking have killed her so quickly? >> it is not a ten-or 20-or even a 30-second process.

>> no, said the medical examiner. and certainly not by accident. >> and with constant pressure placed on their neck, a person will loose consciousness within 20 to 30 seconds. after that point, the constant pressure has to be maintained on the neck of an unconscious person for an additional two to two and a half minutes before that victim is dead. >> if the jury couldn't believe daniel's choking story, what would they think about this? >> in this case, chelsea's costume spoke for her. in fact, it really shouted for her. >> the poison ivy costume. daniel had told detectives she removed it by herself, willingly. not possible, said leah hubbard. >> in reality, it would have taken quite a bit more force than chelsea would have been able to exert to remove the garment. >> prosecutors called a state

crime lab fabric expert. >> my opinion is the leotard was torn or cut and torn with a blunt object. >> and prosecutor hubbard argued chelsea would never have ripped her costume for any reason. >> chelsea spent months making this costume. she was so proud of it. we never believed that she would tear that. >> and look inside the leotard, said the prosecutors to the jury. >> the jury had an opportunity to see the blood stains on the costume. and they were significant. the costume was turned inside out and shown to the jury. and it was very clear that she sustained a trauma that caused a significant amount of blood loss. >> she was, therefore, obviously wearing the costume when she was beaten and bloodied. the defendant, by his own account, indicated that chelsea was naked during what he claims was a consensual sexual encounter. but clearly what happened was she was beaten and bloodied first, and then that costume was forcibly removed from her. >> and all those strands of evidence, said the prosecutor, from daniel clay's lies to the dna, the broken facial bones,

the blood inside the torn costume added up to first-degree murder. but daniel's defense attorney russell smith countered, huh-uh, his client killed chelsea, yes, but this was no murder. >> it's a tragedy that this young lady is no longer with us, but the fact that these two people got together and one of these people passed away is not proof of murder. >> he argued it was just a horrible accident caused by choking during consensual sex. and he put on his own forensic pathologist to argue that as well. >> some type of neck compression, strangulation.

>> though the expert conceded there was no physical proof of that. but he disagreed with the state's conclusion that chelsea was beaten to death. >> the facial bones by themselves would be an unusual cause of death. there's a variety of things that could have occurred after death that potentially could have resulted in these type of fractures. >> then the defense called his only other witness, daniel clay himself. the one person who knew what really happened that night. and daniel swore his story about the accidental choking death was god's truth. and, when she died, he said, he panicked. >> i was extremely emotional. i never dealt with anything like that before. and never been in serious trouble in my life. >> as for the broken bones in chelsea's face, he wasn't sure how that happened, he said. but he had some possible explanations. maybe he accidentally hit her head with the car door. or maybe he dropped her on the way to the woods. >> so how many times did you drop her if you recall? >> probably five or six. >> or maybe, he said, one of those logs damaged her face.

>> i remember tipping a bigger one on her and a couple smaller ones. i just grabbed the one end of the log and proceeded to tip it up on top of her. >> it was all an accident, said daniel, and he felt just terrible. >> every day i think about this and i regret what happened. it's something i have to live with. it's something that her family has to live with. i never wanted to put someone through something like this. >> did you intend to cause her death? >> no, i did not. >> did you murder chelsea bruck? >> no. >> why do you say that? why do you say no? >> because i didn't mean for her to die. i didn't mean for this to end like this, and this was not my intent. it was to have a good time. >> the prosecutor did his best to break daniel's story. said, of course, daniel didn't seek help because people would have seen immediately that chelsea had been brutally beaten to death. >> and they would have seen her smashed in face, wouldn't they? >> no. >> and they would have seen her torn and bloodied costume, wouldn't they? >> no.

there was -- >> they wouldn't? >> i mean, probably if they would have looked, yes. >> if they would have looked, they would have seen it? >> yes. >> but daniel said he was drunk and high that night and thought maybe it was all a bad dream. but then he said, he saw on facebook that chelsea was missing. >> and that must have confirmed it in your mind that, yes, in fact, you did kill her. >> it started making things seem like they happened. >> i see. and that's when you contacted the police? >> no. >> in fact, you never reported miss bruck missing or murdered, did you? >> no, i did not. >> you never reported where her body was? >> i didn't remember where her body was. >> you never reported killing her, did you? >> no, did not. >> all right. >> daniel clay did not raise his voice. he even came off as kind of sincere.

>> i've never hit a woman. i've never done anything like this in my life. it's not something i chose to do. >> but, this was no accident, prosecutor roehrig insisted, and he implored the jury, just look at the evidence. >> the defendant murdered chelsea bruck. and then he discarded her lifeless naked body in those woods in an attempt to hide the evidence of his wrongdoing and escape any measure of justice for what he had just done. >> not enough, argued defense attorney smith. oh, they should find daniel guilty, he said. but of manslaughter. not murder. for daniel clay had no reason to kill chelsea and no motive to do so. >> he caused her death. it's not a secret. is it a murder? what was his intent? was his intent to kill her? did he premeditate the intent to kill her? that's the reasonable doubt, folks. >> what was the jury to do?

coming up -- the verdict. >> my heart was racing. >> you just heard gasps in the courtroom. >> and regrets. >> i know i didn't do anything wrong, but it's something i'm not going to forget. >> when "dateline" continues. 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... ♪

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chelsea bruck's family and friends and order yours friends waited at the courthouse for the jury.

a strange, nervous limbo. >> i feel like the prosecutors had a lot of evidence, a lot of people to back up the picture they made of what happened that night. >> but. >> i'm past the point in my career where i feel confident about cases until the jury returns with their verdict. >> that afternoon of deliberation crawled by. >> it was about 4:00 or 4:15 at this point. the judge indicated to us in chambers at that point that he was going to break for the day. >> some of chelsea's family and the media were just about to leave the courthouse. >> and when the judge came back on the bench, he let us know at that time the jury had reached

a verdict. >> that was shocking. i thought for sure it was going to take at least a day or two. >> the jury entered the courtroom, anxiety in the air. >> my heart was racing. >> we, the jury, find as follows. count 1, first-degree murder, not guilty. >> wait. not guilty? oh they weren't finished. there was a second first-degree murder charge. for killing chelsea while sexually assaulting her. >> felony murder, guilty. count 2, concealing the death of an individual, guilty. >> i was, like, i knew it. i knew it. >> you just heard gasps in the courtroom-- people crying. it was just unreal. >> what's that feel like to get that result? >> that's the closure you're looking for. you know, you put so much time, effort -- this was a part of our life for several years, and it comes down to that, and to get the conviction like that, it just -- it feels satisfying, an you feel very, very happy for the family. >> two months later, everyone gathered again for sentencing, many wearing purple, chelsea's favorite color. her mom, leannda, spoke directly to daniel. and what she said surprised many here. >> today with the strength from

jesus christ, i forgive daniel clay because if i don't, all that has happened the last 2-3/4 years will destroy the rest of my life. but forgiving is not forgetting, because forgetting would mean that chelsea didn't matter, that chelsea was not important, that chelsea didn't exist. mr. clay, i am leaving you with a bible. jesus came to heal our mess of a life, and i hope you will let him in. heal your mess. >> was daniel's response sincere? only he knows, of course, this ladies man no more. >> i thank you for that bible, and i will keep that as long as i'm able to. there's nothing more i can say except for i am sorry for what i have put you through and i will live with this for every day for the remainder of my life. >> i know her mother forgives daniel.

>> which is pretty remarkable that she would do that in court. >> it is. >> could you do such a thing? >> one day i'll forgive him. i'm not ready yet. >> and then the judge turned to daniel. did not mince words. >> what's very clear to me mr. clay, you're a liar, a rapist, and a killer. it is the sentence of this court that you be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. >> and a postscript. chelsea was not daniel's only victim. shortly before his arrest, daniel sexually assaulted another young woman. in june of 2017, he was tried and convicted in that case too. >> we have no doubt that if he wasn't in custody right now, if we wouldn't be able to identify that he's the one that did this to chelsea, that there would be other victims, whether it be sexual assaults, more murders. we're just glad that he's off the streets and can't do this to anybody else.

>> and big mike still throws his annual halloween party at a music venue in detroit. but he's not sure if his life will ever be back to normal. >> even still to this day. even though the guy is caught and convicted, still, little things -- i hear little things here and there, and i'm like really, really? they're like, oh, he's the guy that threw the party. don't hang out with him. like what? you know, like, i absolutely had nothing to do with that. you know what i mean? >> becky and penny no longer attend big mike's parties. difficult memories haunt them still if only they imagine if only. >> i know i didn't do anything wrong. i didn't mean for anything wrong to happen. but my actions could've prevented something wrong from happening, and that goes through my head a lot, and it's something i'm not going to forget. >> how often do you think about chelsea? >> every day. i think about her every day.

i have a wedding coming up, and she'd probably be in it. >> what would you say to her if you could talk to her right now? >> i talk to her all the time. that i miss her. you know, tell her i was sorry. sorry that i let her down. and that i loved her. but i think she knew that. because i told her every day when she was here. >> well i'm craig melvin. this is dateline. >> have you ever contemplated committing the perfect murder, and he said yes. the key element to that