>> governor schwarzenegger, i think you for your support and commitment. you have helped us fulfill our dream of doing everything in our power to prevent this tragedy from ever happening to another family again. >> chelsea could've been a college graduate now, and amber, a college future farmer. instead, all their parents could do was watch authorities leave the killer away to a life in prison. and try, as they could, to help stop the next one out there somewhere. >> hello. i am craig melvin, and this is dateline. >> i could not believe it.

i couldn't imagine anyone that would ever want to hurt her. i have no idea what could have happened. >> married to her high school sweetheart, family meant everything to her. >> there was always a lot of talk about children. she wanted grandchildren fast. >> it all went up in smoke the night she died in a mysterious and monstrous inferno. >> we found the remains of julie. >> shocking as the blaze was, it was nothing compared to what investigators found in the embers. >> is a bullet. this woman had been shot to death. >> the obvious suspects, neighborhood thieves. >> there were half a dozen house burglaries unsolved. >> investigators also dug into another theory -- her husband did it. >> i was angry.

i felt the detectives ronnie manhunt and they were after my dad. >> then, up pops a text that could have been a clue. the truth, beyond twisted, leaving behind smoking ashes and burning questions. >> i physically started shaking and i started crying. i wanted to know why. why. her home, and she was gone. >> welcome to dateline. julie griffith was a doting wife and loving mother. then he blaze ripped through her home, and she was gone. was this an accident? a bumbled burglary? or was it something else entirely? here's dennis murphy with consumed. >> the canterbury hills subdivision in paducah, kentucky, is a good place to raise kids. tidy homes kept up by neighbors

living ordered lives. so is a front porch lights went out on just another day, what happened on a cold january night in the wee hours was especially alarming. a roaring, all-consuming fire was developed in one of the nice homes. >> it was awful. half of the house was gone. >> what would rise from those ashes was far more than the fire marshals invest patient. there would be a probe into the deepest roots of a treachery behind most people's comprehension. >> is not true. >> what have they all missed? >> a monster, a liar, a cheater. >> he's destroyed my entire family. e family. ith and julie griffith. churchgoing, golf-playing, high school sweethearts. >> before it became charbroiled, the house was home to a longtime paducah couple, keith and julie griffith.

high school sweethearts, 36 years into a marriage that had produced two sons. aaron, the older. >> they were loving. they love my kids. >> aaron took after his dad. athletic, easy-going, levelheaded. younger brother zach was more of a firecracker, like his mom. there is a time in the sixth grade zach grabbed a shovel and started digging a hole for a quite pond in the backyard. >> my parents come home and they're like, what are you doing? i'm like, were going to have a pond. >> really okay with it? >> yeah, they were fine. >> when aaron and zach leave the nest, the griffins lives only seemed to get busier. they joined a motorcycle class and frequently they were at the golf course with their friends. >> everyone that you keith loved him. great guy. >> did he become your best friend?

>> definitely. >> temple felt that way about julie, too. >> she had a heart of gold, but she also wasn't afraid to tell you exactly how it was. >> to get people's feathers ruffled? >> oh, yeah. but everybody loved her. >> he found a second career as a traveling lawnmower salesman, which left julie to spend a lot of nights alone in the house. but keith never worried for her well-being in a safe neighborhood. their own door watched over by the relevant great dane, cleo. aaron's wife allie -- >> they would leave and go to dinner or go to town and leave the door unlocked, because cleo was the guard dog. >> fulfilled as a griffis lives be, keith and julie were transformed when aaron and allie brought into the world their first daughter. >> when i had the first child, it was the greatest day of our life, i think. >> julie lived for my little girl. she wanted to be a part of everything she did.

>> julie was there for allie when she went into labor with their second daughter, and elise. a white knuckle dash to the hospital earned julie the affectionate nickname, nascar nan. >> what is she saying to you? >> she says, don't have a baby in my car. keep your legs crossed. don't have a baby in the car. >> everything seemed to be going great for the griffith in 2013. keith had weight loss surgery and drop more than 100 pounds. julie was over the moon with two granddaughters, but also that year came the rift. zach disclosed is very religious conservative parents that he -- >> my mom was my best friend, and going from talking to her multiple times a day to just being completely -- just completely shut off. >> julie visited zach that fall. they tiptoed around the elephant in the room, but the time together gave zach hope.

>> is that how you are looking to patch things backup? >> there is definitely a way forward. we just needed more time. >> but then came back cold night in january. >> is a house on fire and canterbury and there's not a fire truck here. >> the deputy drove toward the home, ms. dash cam catching a quick limps of the blaze. and the firefighters arrived. nat carter received a call in the middle of the night. >> is a bad fire. very hot. the whole left end of the house was completely consumed with fire. >> it took about an hour for firefighters to knock down the flames. hours more for them to make their way through the black and wreckage of the house to what seemed to be the heart of the fire. the master bedroom. ghastly, what they would discover. >> investigators make a pair of discoveries and realize they

are dealing with both a tragedy and a mystery. >> coming up. >> they have recovered a projectile bullet. >> went dateline continues. ne but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. 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, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ [laughing] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd

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from anywhere in the world. dennis murphy (voiceover): daybreak we give veterans access to support revealed the grim aftermath of the blaze at 307 tudor boulevard. wisps of smoke rose from the black water-soaked wreckage that was once the griffith home. >> daybreak revealed the tegrim aftermath of the blaze at 307 tudor boulevard. wisps of smoke rose from the black water soaked wreckage

that was once the griffith home. detective matt carter. >> this entire structured crumbled. it was a pile of ashes that was on the ground. we didn't even know if anyone was home or not. we knew that they were in and out of town a lot. >> is firefighters carefully walked through what appeared to be the master bedroom, their worst fears were confirmed. julie had in fact been home that night. >> it was to the right of the box mattress that we found the remains of julie. they were unsure initially that it was human remains. >> even with all their experience? >> yes. everything was just consumed by fire to the point that things were unrecognizable. >> as for keith, he was away calling on customers in indiana. word of julie's death spread to most as fast as the fire had raced through the house. >> i'm getting ready for work, had the tv on in the background. >> we are live in the

canterbury hill subdivision. >> then, temple bradleys phone rang. >> she said there was a fire. >> i saw it on the news. she said, it's keith and julie's house. i just sat there. >> did you know and that point that julie was gone? >> she knew. she told me. >> temple's husband immediately tracked down keith as he was making the three hour drive home from indiana. >> he said, i'm on my way. i probably two hours away. i said, are you all right? he said, yeah. i could tell he was in shock. >> the news hit zach griffith particularly hard. since coming out with his mother, his relationship with her had been strained, and now this. >> i guess you just beating yourself up something terrible. >> i know if we were just given more time, that he would have been close again. that we would have been that mom and son duo that we were.

we just -- we didn't have that time. it was ripped away from us. and we will never get it back. >> aaron, the elder son, had more of a take charge reaction. >> i got to take care of my brother and my dad. >> yeah. >> for me, it's the way my brain is wired. >> within hours, the griffith with head from all directions to what used to be an anchor in their lives -- the family home. >> we were both crying. i can't believe this. >> keith's good friend was there to lend support. >> we could just tell he was shaken. >> as if the news couldn't get any worse, the griffith's great dane cleo along with a second pat, daisy, had also perished in the flames. greg and keith walked the property, surveying the damages. >> we get to the koi pond, and it's like, we got to get those

fish out of there. julie would kill me if something happened to those fish. you know, let's not worry about that right now. >> overwhelmed by loss, the griffis were faced with the question, how could this have happened? >> the first thought was that it was the new heating and air unit that i just gone in. >> had been installed just days before the fire adjacent to the master bedroom. >> that was my very first thought, that somehow, the unit was not put in properly. >> as for the cause of julie's death, that was left in the county coroner's office. deputy coroner ben bradford. >> a very charred body. i could not very well identify it being a person. >> the cause of death seemed obvious, but just to be sure, julie's remains were sent onto the medical examiner for an our top. what he discovered was is deeply troubling as it was unexpected. >> he had recovered a projectile in the remains.

>> a bullet? >> yes. >> what was thought to be death by inhalation was now a homicide. closer examination found three bullet holes in her torso. the deputy coroner immediately called the sheriff's office. >> we need to get some people back to the house. it's going to be a homicide. >> a lady in a nice neighborhood, good house. now she's got three bullet wounds. >> back at 307 tudor boulevard, fire equipment pulled out as sheriff's cruisers pulled in. with the charred wreckage of the home, once filled with joy and laughter, now held clues pointing to a killer. >> coming up. this detective spies what could be a critical clue on someone's phone. >> up comes a text message. >> when dateline continues. ne

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dennis murphy (voiceover): the theory that julie died by accidental fire had collapsed as suddenly as the griffith house itself. for detective matt carter, a .45 caliber slug >> the theory that julie died by accidental fire had collapsed as suddenly as the griffith house it self. for detective matt carter, a 45 caliber slug recovered from julie griffiths torso turned the charred rubble into the scene of a homage type. >> i'm guessing your day has changed a whole lot here. >> despite more than a decade

on the job, the detective had his work cut out for him. >> no hair fiber, bloody footprints, any of that stuff. you got an arson that is destroyed any chance of obtaining that. >> for detective carter, the most obvious theory, this homicide was a work of a home intruder. >> someone just looking for the laptop, jewelry -- the thing goes down. >> we had had some burglaries within a few miles of this area. >> within weeks or months? >> within weeks. >> as police canvassed the neighborhood for leads and witnesses, the investigator also had to consider the perpetrator may have been someone julie new. >> you are simply going through the motions. you are speaking to immediate family first, and working your way out. >> the sheriff's department did not tell the griffiths julie had been murdered. >> we were not told anything by the police at that point.

>> but anyone at the scene might have guessed foul play was somehow involved. >> there is cops all over the property. >> naturally, the first person detective carter interviewed was julie's husband, keith. at first, keith talked about what everyone perceived was the cause of the inferno. an accidental fire set up by a newly installed heating units. >> it was a whole new system. >> keith explained the contractor was a friend of his who had done the work just the two days earlier. >> that's kind of what friends do for each other. and i hope to god that this problem is not his. >> but eventually without giving details, the detective revealed julie's death was no accident. >> an investigation is shown that foul play is involved. i do not believe at this point

in time that this was any kind of an accident. i want to ask for your cooperation on several things, okay? >> one of the first things detective carter asked about was how keith and julie were getting along. >> to have anything like that whatsoever? >> no, she was my best friend. i mean, that woman loved everybody. >> the investigator also asked keith for details about his business trip to indiana. >> did you leave the hotel? >> i did leave the hotel. about -- about 11:00, i went to go get something to drink. i left again about 4:00, and just went and got a diet coke. >> and what about weapons? did keith own a gun? >> i have a .45 acp in my work truck that i just got that's never had any -- i mean, it's never been loaded. >> as part of standard protocol, they asked for

teeth's clothes. they will be tested for gunshot residue. >> what you're wearing now, is at first close from this morning ? >> before wrapping up the interview, the detective took a look at keith's cell phone. >> while i'm reviewing this phone, i see that he obtains a text message, an incoming text message from a lady by the name of deanna james. >> the message read, did you make it home okay? keith was quick to point out his relationship with deanna was completely platonic. >> she's more like a guy friend. >> nothing sexual? >> that's right. >> after that, keith was released to agree with his family. detective carter set out to verify story. >> that puts in three hours away from this house fire. >> assured his check-in time and checkout time. >> a quick check of keith.god

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dennis murphy (voiceover): julie griffith's family had hardly had time to absorb the horrific news of her death in a house fire, when disturbing rumors started >> julie griffiths family have hardly had time to zorba horrific news of her death in a house fire when disturbing rumors started reaching them that investigators thought her death was foul play. the sheriff's department kept details of the murder quiet for days. >> i could not believe it. i couldn't imagine anyone would ever want to hurt her, much less set the house on fire. the dogs perished. i had no idea what could have happened. >> it made no sense. he would want to kill her? >> after keith was released, he had his way to his friends, the bradleys. they were floored to hear the line of questioning that he recounted. what was up with his marriage? his alibi, the gun he owned?

>> you have been question to the point where he almost felt like they thought he had done this. >>'s son aaron also got called down to the station that same evening and he, too, was questioned about his parents marriage. >> have you noticed anything lately in their marriage, as far as any problems you are aware of? >> no, nothing. >> was earning money troubles? any relationship things that we knew of? >> to a person in the griffiths circle, the very idea that keith might know something about julie's death was just flat out crazy. >> i know he didn't do it. >> there wasn't any way that keith was involved in this. >> i remember looking at keith for a while and finally, i just said, you can't even grieve, can you? and he said, no, they are taking it all away. >> the working theory was a botched break-in. they've heard about the neighborhood's recent rash of burglaries. maybe that's what happened to

julie. >> they came in and they started cleo. because julie to wake up, and she got garrett and they shot her. >> him a perfect sense. >> but the burglary theory of the crime wasn't handing out. even as a sorted through the rubble, detectives at the scene found untouched valuables. two safes, a cache of guns, and julie's person sitting in plain sight. >> you think an intruder would've grabbed it. the mac you think so. >> carter set out to follow this most promising lead he had. who was this woman, diana, who had wondered if kath had made it home okay? >> there is just something about that text message that seemed to stick out, and it seemed to create that question of, what is missing here? >> carter had called ahead to the authorities in the indiana town where deanna lived. they had arranged to bring the woman down to an interview room.

she was waiting. deanna was about to tell the detective a story that would dramatically reshape his investigation. >> was she a guy friend? >> no, it was more than that. >> you wanted me to love him. >> deanna says she and keith first met years earlier at a vendor fair. she was the cfo of an i.t. company. keith, the road warrior salesman. >> i guess i caught his attention right away. i noticed he was staring at me, and so i kind of just mild. >> she says he asked her to dinner. they quickly discovered how much they had in common. >> he talked about both his sons and being a grandpa. so i just really connected, because i had grown kids, to. >> after several dates, keith expressed interest in a relationship, that she wanted to keep it just friends. they stayed in touch but didn't see each other for a while.

then just a few months back, he sent her a flirty text message. >> the text just said, did you cast a spell on me? i looked out my phone and i was like, what? >> i was at a party last night and a woman was chatting yet, and i could think about was you. >> deanna was in the throes of a traumatic romantic rank up and agreed to start seeing him again for dinners. she says he seemed excited to show off the new post surgery keith. >> he goes, you're not going to recognize me. i lost over 100 pounds. >> did he look okay? >> he looked fine. i think he was more confidence, as well. >> deanna says keith now began aggressively courting her, showering her with gifts, flowers, notes of affection. it was all, she said, a bit much. >> he kept pushing for more and i kept telling him, you need to back off, because i'm just not

there. >> deanna says she couldn't put her finger on it, but there is something about keith that was holding her back. maybe it was the fact that he still seemed unusually bound to a woman he called his ex-wife. from the very beginning, keith told her that he was divorced. >> very first conversation. >> by the time she was sitting across from detective carter in that interview room, she says she and keith had never been intimate, and keith was talking long term. househunting for them. >> he says i don't want to scare you, but i want you to know that i'm looking for properties here to buy. so for us to be together. >> for the detective, deanna story put a whole new spin on the investigation. keith griffith now seemed like a man with a very big secret. or, thinking like a homicide detective, was she the one with the secret? >> maybe she is driving events here. she wants to get rid of the

wife. >> that is correct. we are open to that being an idea or a possibility. >> the detective had let her tell her story without ever explaining the reason for his visit. now he laid out his cards. >> he says, first of all, keith is not divorced. according to him, he's been married to his high school sweetheart for 36 years. and i just broke down, because i -- i couldn't believe it. >> of course, there was more. >> this investigation involves what we believe could be a homicide. >> i was in shock. i felt like, i couldn't believe what he just said. i had no idea. >> you believed she had been played by the sky? the mac i believed that she

had. >> detective carter wondered, if keith had manipulated and lied to this woman, had keith lied to him, too? maybe it was more about what keith hadn't said. rewind that moment when the detective dropped what should've been devastating news on keith. >> the investigation has shown that foul play is involved. >> to the ask you questions? >> no. >> you expect that, right? >> there is no questions to that. >> if keith griffith was somehow involved in his wife's murder, how on earth had he pulled it off? after all, he was hundreds of miles away at that hotel the night of the crime. unless, of course, he wasn't. >> coming up. a security video surprised. >> scrolling through. >> and then a twist rocks the entire griffith family.

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dennis murphy (voiceover): six days people-friendly. after the cold-blooded murder of julie griffith, family and friends gathered at her church to say goodbye. between the visitation and the memorial service, >> six days after the cold-lm blooded murder of julie griffith, family and friends gathered at her church to say goodbye. between the visitation and the memorials service, her son, zach, was overwhelmed. >> it just showed what an amazing woman was, to have that many will come out just to say that, you know, they just

wanted to give their condolences. >> two close friends, craig and temple bradley, julie's husband keith was more emotional that day than they had ever seen him. >> tears. sadness. i've never seen him cry in my life. >> but even as the griffith family mourned, zach and his brother were feeling uneasy about the inverse negation, which seemed to be focused exclusively on their father. >> i was angry. i felt that the detectives, the sheriff's department were on a manhunt and they were after my dad. >> because the husband always do it? >> yeah. it just seemed like they zeroed in on him and were going at 110 miles an hour. and were not respectful to my brother and i about any developments or anything going on. >> but detector matt carter had an ongoing investigation, and he felt there was ample reason to pursue their dad. after his interview with deanna, he drove to the hotel it was keith alibi.

there, he uncovered a bombshell. remember keith saying to the detective that had been at the hotel the entire night, ducking out just twice to get a drink and a snack ? when the detective hit play on the security hotel video, it told a vast a different story. keith is seen leaving as he claimed around 11:00 p.m. >> i think within 15 to 30 minutes, he's going to be returning. that never happened. scrolling through the tape, going through. >> where did it come up? >> he finally arrived back at the hotel six hours and 34 minutes after he had left initially. >> on for more than 6 1/2 hours. was that enough time for keith to drive all the way back to his house in kentucky, commit the crime, and return? >> what did you find? >> driving the speed limit to and from, it would have allowed approximately 20 minutes at least to have committed the

crime. >> is not enough time for him to do this? a 15, 20 minute window? >> yes. >> keith griffis was charged with murder. he could face the death penalty. he pleaded not guilty. >> we were all frantic. we had no idea how is happening and how it could've happened. at that point, we knew that there was no way that he had anything to do with this. >> this is nightmare country? >> yes. we thought it would all be asked laned. they would do their job, they would take him, and the truth will come out. >> i was 100% convinced that he was innocent and that they were taking the wrong person in. meanwhile, the person who actually did it was getting away. >> family and friends were this dressed for sure to find out keith had another woman on the road, but the revelation wasn't enough to shake the support of them. >> it was a shock, but it was

something that we accepted as amos take. but that did not mean that he killed julie. >> there's no way he did it. not to julie, his wife. there's no way keith did it. >> but when keith griffith went to trial in february 2015, prosecutor raymond mckinney laid out a formidable circumstantial case. >> on january 17, 2014, keith griffith decided that he could kill his wife. >> a cornerstone of the cases that hotel security video. not only did it show keith gone for enough time to commit the crime, the prosecutors day, it also caught him in a lie. remember, in his interview, keith told police he had and swapped close that night. but a look at the security footage showed he had. >> he left wearing one set of clothes. it was one of his work shirts. he came back dressed in all black. >> the prosecutor also showed

security video captured at a residence near the griffith home. they caught a glimpse of an suv pulling into the subdivision shortly before the fire. >> it was blurry, if you seconds long, but it sure look like keith griffith's car. >> dwells for keith, the prosecutor said, could've gone by the the aggressive great dane cleo? >> the dog and keith were very close, a burglar could not have come in. a family member could have. >> as for the why question, how could keith actually do it? the prosecutor turned to two age-old motives. >> almost every case involving husband and a wife, it is lust and greed. one or the other. this one had both. >> the last part of the equation was deanna. she took the stand and told the jury that not only was keith househunting for them, he was also making plans to bring her down to duca for a concert and

introduce her to his family. >> i left for you to come for the weekend, stay for the weekend. i would really like for you to meet my dad. >> that was life insurance money. two policies were $250,000. one of them, prosecutors said, had taken effect just eight days before julie died. >> keith got to the point he just wanted to start something new, and he didn't want to give julie griffith what she would've needed in a divorce and would have been entitled to. >> allie griffith listened to the entirety of the prosecution's case. all she heard were theories. >> she told a story of how they wanted it to go. they have facts that supported their story but did not prove it. >> that's what mark bryant hired home for the jury. >> they didn't have dna, they didn't have any kind of

forensics or a confession. they had nothing. they had circumstantial evidence. >> in their haste to arrest keith, the defense argued keith and donna wildly wrong. he conceded keith wasn't the husband of the year, but he said deanna's story that keith was pursuing her for a long- term commitment was nonsense. >> rather, what he wanted was a port in every storm. >> as for the life insurance, $250,000 was part of a financial windfall, he said. the reason they bought that new policy was because of a friend's recent tragedy. >> she have been nagging him about getting -- making sure they have plenty of life insurance. >> you are good the footage of the suv pulling into the subdivision was far too blurry to idea as keith ford expedition. >> if a guy is going to go to this much trouble to kill his wife, why would he drive an expedition that everybody knows he has? >> but the big question still

remains. if keith hadn't driven back to paduca to kill julie, were hitting on the night of the murder? the only person that could answer that was keith himself. what would he say, and with the jury believe him? it was roll the dice time. >> coming up. the eyebrow raising alibi. >> i was embarrassed and ashamed of what i was doing. >> and then what keith revealed to us. >> that's what i told everybody. when they hear the story, they're not going to believe it. >> by even a jury could not and this case. when dateline continues. ine co. ? why would that concern me? because you're...the... aren't you the..? huh...we never actually discussed hierarchy. ok, why don't we just stick to letting dave know how much he can save when he bundles his home or auto with his boat or rv.

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ask your doctor about once-da welcome back.r copd the prosecutor laid out his case against keith griffith. now, the accused murderer was insisting on taking >> welcome back. the prosecutor laid out his case against keith griffith. now, the accused murderer was a taking the stand in his own defense and had a bombshell to reveal. here's dennis murphy with the conclusion of consumed. >> keith griffith was about to take the stand and explain the most damning piece of evidence against him. hotel security footage that put him off the grid for more than 6 1/2 hours the night his wife julie was murdered. but if he wasn't perpetrating the crime during that time, then where was he? >> tell us your name please, sir. >> keith's explanation came

with an embarrassing secret. his lawyer argued that ever since becoming a traveling salesman, keith had struggled with an addiction to sex. >> did you have this kind of sexual conviction? >> no, sir. >> he said he spent those hours out prowling for women. he changed out of work clothes into his man out looking duds. >> i was able to -- carousing. >> he says he went to a bar, but try as he might, he never found a hookup. >> i was trying to pick somebody up, and there wasn't anybody interested, or whoever you want to put it. >> he says he went down to the river to watch the boats before returning to the hotel to catch some shut eye. as to why he lied to the police

-- >> i was embarrassed and ashamed of what i was doing the night my wife died. >> did you kill your wife? tmac no, sir. >> did you kill those dogs? >> no, i love those dogs. >> keith's friend craig bradley wasn't knowing which way the jury would fall. >> i didn't think you would be acquitted, but i didn't know if you would be convicted. >> turns out he was right. after six hours of deliberation, the jury was deadlocked. keith would sit in jail for another year as he awaited a second trial. a long time for his family to process the story he told on the stand. >> he left to go to a bar to go cruising or something, and then he goes and sits on the riverfront? he has never done that before his entire life. >> when he stepped down, you thought, my father did this? >> i definitely wasn't saying it out loud and i wasn't ready

to septage, but i definitely was moving in the direction of -- the only thing that makes sense and by this point is that he committed the crime. >> after months of wrestling, zach decided it was time to send his dad a letter. >> i put in the letter, my opinion was that you did it. you took away the last chance that i had it rebuilding a relationship with my mom. you are no longer allowed to contact me, and i don't want you to ask about me to anyone. >> dear dad, you are dead to me. >> exactly. >> his brother had started to feel this way about him too. >> it seemed like he was fabricating everything that came out of his mouth. >> the spout doubts of his own, the one closest to his father, was still a supporter. >> whatever issues my mom and dad would've had, i just could not believe that my dad would take my kids away from their nana. >> than a few months before keith's retrial, detective carter's phone rang.

there was news from the jail. an inmate had some information about keith, and it was as eerie as it was chilling. the detective in the bull's- eye. >> keith have come forward to have me killed. >> orchestrating your death? >> yes. he suggested the caliber weapon to use to kill me. the informant specifically asked him, what if his family is home? he said, tragedy. >> that wouldn't look good to a jury. the development brought aaron to a tipping point. >> were you no longer wavering at this point? i do come down on the side of oh, my god, my father killed my mother? >> yeah. >> if he was guilty -- >> it's time. it's time to man up and do what you should have done two years

ago. >> keith's defense attorneys went to the prosecutor to hammer out a plea deal. they agreed on 30 years in prison for murder and soliciting the hit. moments later, keith was standing in a paduca courtrooms aching the words his family and friends never in 1 million years thought they would hear him say. yes, the murdered julie. >> is no excuse for what i did. she was my best friend, and i don't know what happened to me. but i did it. there's nothing i can do about it. >> temple bradley, who works near the courthouse, was there. >> my heart was breaking that the person that i wholeheartedly put my trust in for 2 years has lied to my face. >> i just can't believe we've been deceived in that way. because we were there for them the whole time. >> for keith's family and friends, there are so many questions, no one seems to

tower above all the others. >> i want to know why, and i want to know why you go from a loving husband and father and grandfather to driving all that way, killing your wife, and then covering it up and then lying to your family for so long, knowing that we had everybody doubting us. that we still defended him. it's disgusting. he's a monster. >> all i can tell you is that i had a lot of bad thoughts, wrong thoughts, mistakes. >> we sat down with keith hoping for answers. but as many times as we asked him why this all happened -- >> why did you do it? >> i really can't tell you. i really don't know. just a bad decision. >> we never did get a satisfying response. >> this is in some kind of delayed midlife crisis we are trying to be with deanna or someone like her to have a

final happy chapter in your life? >> no. julie and i were happy. >> you see how complexing it was. >> that's what i told everybody. when they hear the story, they're not going to believe it. >> one thing he didn't do -- >> how about a divorce? >> never crossed my mind. >> keith says the remorse began when he pulled out of his driveway. >> trying to get out of the subdivision, crying before i ever get out. regretting what i done. i probably drove 100 miles an hour all the way back hoping to get caught. >> as for the future, keith says he is prepared to die in prison. >> i don't have anything to live for, except maybe forgiveness. >> from who? >> from my boys. >> and that's -- >> yes. >> that's between you and them. my take on it is that you're

some distance to make up. >> i got a lot to make up. >> of the countless things keith stole from his family, resilience is not among them. aaron and zach are closer than they been in years, and now that they know what happened to their mother, they say they can finally mourn her passing and focus on keeping her spirit alive for those two little granddaughters were the center of her universe. >> my oldest daughter, she talks about her almost every day. we have pictures of her up in her room. as my youngest gets older, we will tell her the nascar nana story about how she was born and always make her remember that. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. ank yo watching. hello and welcome to morning joe weekend. it is 6:00 this saturday morning and we have a lot to