heart. the second thing is a mother holding a baby. lisa and i had this thing we would say to each other. we would text each other, from the notebook, we always said if you are a bird, i am a bird. meaning whatever you are, i am. i made two birds in there. by the time i got done, we loved it. it bonded like, this is part of lisa now. i am craig melvin. >> this is dateline. >> i learned that he was arrested. i was shocked.

i was so confused. i didn't think it was real. >> in the rarefied world of the ivy league, he was the total package. star student. gifted athlete. wildly popular. >> he's one of the nicest guys ever. >> know it could understand how a weekend visit to his parents house. ended in gunfire. >> who was already dead? >> my husband. >> charlie said he was going to kill my mom. i had to do it. >> a brave son protecting his mom. was a true? >> he is seated behind a desk. it seems to be execution. >> was as campus hero a coldhearted killer? >> the defendant sent an email to his fraternity brother saying it showtime. >> was the truth different?

>> one of the things that was a question as was charlie covering for someone else? >> a trial where nothing went by the book. >> three of the jurors were crying really hard. >> we are turning around and getting emotional. he was becoming unhinged. welcome to dateline. charlie tan was an ivy leaguer with a bright future, but then, charlie's dad was killed in the home and everything changed. police were being told one story but the evidence was telling them another. there were also three 911 calls. did one of them pulled a clue that would unlock what really happened on that wintry night? here is dennis murphy with house of secrets.

>> cayuga, that's cayuga lake in ithaca, new york, and it's where you'll find one of the most prestigious universities in the nation. cornell. the ivy league big red. >> ♪ >> more than 13,000 undergrads working towards degrees, filled with good fortune taken a place in medicine, the law, the arts. there's no doubt a cornell education can be a goldplated entrance to adult life. only the best need apply. students like charlie tan. he was so kind his high school classmates featured him in a video, random acts of kindness. giving gives to complete strangers. >> the greatest of great kids. >> charlie was a son of chinese immigrants who became mr. everything. scholar, athlete, class president. the guy with the cool friends

and in ballantyne opened up her parents summer-like house to charlie enter other teenaged pals. >> he was such a nice guy. happy and energetic. >> the kind of guy who tells jokes? >> everybody knows him. the room lights up and the starts telling a funny story. >> you would think charlie tan was another ivy league overachiever poised for takeoff and great things to come. that's not this story. it's about the charlie tan, keeper of secrets and quite possibly something much worse. before all that, charlie was as deserving a kid is ever got in ivy league acceptance letter. >> he was excited when he got admitted. he was so excited. he was super happy. >> in the fall of 2013, charlie tan left his parents home near rochester, new york, drove the hours to cornell. is no chapter in a life filled

with early achievements. he pledged a fraternity. he was a big enough for the football team so at 165 pounds, he was to directorate toward what they called a sprint football team. >> i met charlie first day freshman year. i had got my locker and he was one of the first people i met. >> the quarterback rob. >> one of the most encouraging team players we have. leader by example and through his words. >> robin charlie became not just teammates but great friends. >> he's one of the most generous and selfless people i've ever met. >> he impressed his teammates and his coach. >> good football player. quiet. always has a smile and never late. always a hard worker. >> go back to the house in the rochester suburbs charlie grew up in his teenaged years. a place called pittsford, new york. newspaper reporter knows it well. >> it's a nice community.

>> big long and nice cars? >> big houses. a lot of executives from kodak and xerox and lawyers. >> charlie was the younger two boys. his parents jim and jean born in china lived in canada before moving charlie and his brother to upstate new york. his dad ran a tech business that thrived. the home radiated upper-middle- class comfort. his friend had been there on occasion. >> i went over. i didn't know esperance well. i talked to his mom a couple of times but didn't have much conversation. >> little was known about his parents and charlie didn't offer details if someone asked. if he had secrets, sorrows, they weren't for the outside world to know about. >> he is very good at keeping his emotions and ski >> i have no situation of what the homelike was life. >> other than 911 dispatchers and a few town officers, the wider community, friends of

charlie tan knew nothing about the whispers of domestic violence on coach side lane. >> he is a stoic individual. >> the record is sealed but it is safe to say that tan house was known to authorities. go back to cornell. the winter of 2015 and charlie is a sophomore. on a chilly thursday morning, he stopped in to visit his football coach. there is a softer side to the coach that drills and his kids know he will always be there for them. >> hour rule, if you need somebody to talk to, we are here. >> it was charlie who needed a shoulder. >> i said how are you doing? he said good but i can't make weightlifting on friday. i said what's the problem? he said he needed to go home. >> charlie seemed emotional. >> i asked if he wanted to talk? he declined. he said he had to get home. >> it was not spring break.

classes were in session for charlie started the drive to pittsford 100 miles away. the coach didn't know the charlie tan's life as a student at cornell would soon be over. >> we didn't worry about charlie. he has his act together and knows what he's doing. >> only charlie tan was not okay. it snowed that night. a blanket covering the home were something awful was about to happen. >> why did charlie need to rush him? the first sign of trouble came from a friend's mom who called 911. >> coming up. >> he didn't give us a lot of details. can distort things. and something serious may be behind those itchy eyes. up to 50% of people with graves' could develop a different condition called thyroid eye disease, which should be treated by a different doctor.

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and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. when charlie tan when charlie tan left cornell and made the 100 mile trip home on a thursday morning, as football coach knew he had been upset. >> i asked him to call me when he got home so i know he was okay. >> that evening, charlie spent time at an old friend's house where he seemed deeply despond, sad, possibly depressed. not the charlie he had known since childhood. after charlie left, the friend and his mother was so concerned , they called 911. was charlie suicidal? >> he didn't give us a lot of details. i'm worried he might

do something at his house. i don't know if anything is gonna happen but i cannot take a chance. >> we will have summit go to the house. >> a deputy did that. spot charlie told the deputy he was upset over some things. he had come home to talk to people and he was working out some things and he would be okay. >> it was late thursday night. almost the weekend. charlie did not go back to school friday morning and come monday, he was not a practice. >> there wasn't much i could do anyway other than text him and he did not respond. >> then, it was monday night. something awful. >> what is the address of the emergency? >> the caller confused the dispatcher. >> my name is jean tan. i heard an argument in my -- >> i can't understand anything

you are saying? >> it was charlie's mother. >> to somebody in the house of a gun? >> the garbled story was coming into focus. shots fired. the man of the house was dead. >> who was already dead? >> my husband. >> are you in a safe spot? >> yes, i am. >> we need you to wait outside the house for the officer's safety. >> the detective was soon on route to coach side lane. only a garbled account from the 911 call. who had shot home? >> he's trying to protect me. >> your son was trying to protect you? >> it looked like domestic murder. something that just occurred. >> on arrival, the first deputies cy young man who would turn out to be 19-year-old

charlie tan standing in the driveway with his mother. they are outside the house. >> it's a safety thing for the deputies. the people come out. they asked who else is in the house? >> the deputies for the sum tell a story that sounded like self-defense. he had to shoot, he said, to save his mother. he used a shotgun. >> charlie said my dad is in there. he is dead. i had to do it. he was going to hurt my mom. >> he feels his mother is in jeopardy? >> yes. >> the deputies but the son and mother and a patrol car. >> they asked where the shotgun was. there was mention it was in the garage. >> after securing the weapon, they made their way into the home. in the second floor, they found the victim. the father is behind the desk? >> he is behind the desk in the shotgun shells are all there. >> the detective would learn more about jim tan, father,

husband and businessman. >> he owned his own company. they lived in canada and then moved to the united states some years earlier. >> successful executive? >> it seems. >> was he also an abusive husband? the detective looked around as crime scene techs processed the shotgun killing upstairs. he came upon, to appear at domestic violence court. justifiable homicide made some sense. the detective was no rookie. his investigation into charlie tan and what happened inside the home was just getting started. >> one of the investigators found what appeared to be newly taken passport photos. along with a list of prominent local defense attorneys. >> that is interesting. the story is i had to do it but you are not taking it at face value. >> correct. >> a discovery in jim tan's

computer trigger suspicions. s.

deputies canvassed the neighborhood but no one had heard the gunshot blast that killed jim tan. this homicide wasn't a whodunit. the son admitted moments after

deputies arrived that he had been the shooter. he had to do it, he said, to protect his mom. >> self-defense is something we will listen to. we wanted to speak to him to determine that. >> the same night charlie and his mother were taken to the station to tell their stories. were you able to get a statement from the sun? >> his lawyer would not allow us to speak with him. >> his lawyer was already on scene? >> without the cooperation of the participants, the detectives were on their own. it turns out a large piece of evidence was waiting to be found in their very office. ever purport from the house on coach side lane. two weeks before the shooting, police records show the wife placed another 911 call. >> yes, hi. my name is jean tan and my husband beats me up. i need your protection. >> he choked me.

i am so scared. please help. he's coming. no. no. please come. >> the dispatcher heard what sounded like an ongoing fight between husband and wife. >> hello? sorry. >> no. no. >> sorry. my wife was probably upset at me. >> she's upset at you? >> he is choking me. >> a deputy was sent to the house and noticed jean tan was clearly rattled. reporter of the democratic and chronicle newspaper. >> they found jean was upset. she had red marks on her neck. there wasn't enough there to charge jim tan with a crying. >> incident over. >> that night. >> he tried to kill me but

nothing even makes it into the paperwork? >> history of abuse it appeared. if that were the case, charlie told no one at cornell university. on campus, the coach hadn't heard from charlie in days and now his phone rings. >> campus police called me and asked me to come to his fraternity house, which i did. they wanted me to know that charlie's father had been killed. it was rugged. we got a bunch of players in the fraternity, and everybody was upset. >> charlie tan admitting he shot his father to death. >> i think it was disbelief and shock that this occurs. >> we had a team meeting about it but immediately after, there was so much support for him, and everyone was amazed by the support. >> there was no debate. the entire frat and team had charlie's back. >> were not just a spring football team but everybody on

campus he knew well was showing support for him. everyone was trying to help him and asked if there was anything we could do for him. >> to his friends at home there was shock too. and yet, the heartbreaking story of charlie tan protecting his mom by any means necessary made some weird sense. was, after all, the kid i was trying hard to help. people talk about him being selfless. he lives to help other people. >> yeah. >> anna had a hard time wrapping her head around charlie doing anything violent. he did things no ordinary teenager did. >> my mom went through cancer and he was always there. he brought her gifts and he was always there supporting anybody. >> anna would be there supporting charlie during this difficult time. neither she nor anyone else could've guessed where the investigation was heading next. the detective who examined the scene that night was wondering

if there was more to the story. it was obvious right away that something was off with a working theory of the crime. a heat of passion, self-defense homicide. >> we were there for hours searching every bit. one of the things noticed by one of the investigators is the dried blood all over. >> dried blood? the time line and the story demanded a closer look. >> it's getting your attention that, hang on, there might be more. let's make sure we are on the right path. >> there were other observations that set the time line back. in jim tan's desk computer where he had been working when he was killed, there were unopened emails going back before the weekend. >> jim is trading employees emails and at some point after that, he clearly stops using his computer. he's no longer sending or opening. >> as detectives poked around the office, how many days prior

was the last email check? >> four. that was big for me. he ran his own company with employees and activity. >> going back four days which put the shooting to thursday night that charlie came home from cornell and he four day- old crime scene would explain what had been obvious to the seasoned detectives. >> the odor of decomposition was very strong. >> the detective believed the emotional 911 call was bogus. a charade. >> did you say you heard a shot? >> his mother was in pearland he had to hued the husband and now you're saying it's days earlier. what's going on? >> the first inference from the 911: what charlie said in the driveway seemed to be in confrontation with what we were starting to see inside. >> at the sheriff's office, the mother was released from custody.

but not charlie. the 19-year-old ivy leaguer was charged with second-degree murder. what did you think? >> i was shocked. i was so confused. i didn't think it was real or possible. >> charlie tan, the nice boy, the great kid if convicted was facing 25 years to life in prison. >> coming up. store video shows a gun that killed charlie's father being purchased. d. protect against rsv with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. arexvy is number one in rsv vaccine shots.

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by hamas. former president trump told fox news sunday that he, quote, had every right to interfere in the 2020 election. vice president kamala harris's campaign charged it is that trump believes he's above the law. i am i am craig melvin. charlie tan told police he shot his father to save his mother. investigators finding flaws in that story. the ivy league student had been arrested and facing second- degree murder charges. was this an intentional killing or justifiable homicide? here again is dennis murphy with house of secrets. >> anna was in a state of disbelief when she learned her close friend charlie tan had been arrested. did you have a chance to talk to charlie? >> he called me on the phone from jail so i talked to him a

couple times. >> anna was going to do what she could to defend her friend because she knew there was no way charlie did anything wrong. you did something remarkable and you pulled together a whole community behind charlie. she started a defense fund support page for charlie. >> it spread crazy. i had no clue what would happen. >> you just threw it out there on the net? >> i put of the page and told my friends. people i never heard of for supporting him. everyone was doing it. we raised $50,000. >> why did people come out of the woodwork to support charlie? >> he is one of the nicest guys ever and everybody knew that. they wanted to do anything they could to get back to him. charlie would give everything to other people. if someone needed everything, he would give it to them. >> the reporter was working on step one of them talked about stories a county it seen in years. it's an investigation for your news story. great ivy league kids blows away's father in this nice

neighborhood. what's going on and response? >> we were astonished. it's not often you have a murder suspect a bunch of people from pittsford are rallying around. >> the case captured the hearts and minds of a community that couldn't imagine this exceptional young man in prison. these are lawyers and surgeons. these are powerful people in new york state who are behind this kid. we wish that didn't happen but the kid deserves a break. is there some of that feeling? >> oh, yeah. the community felt that strongly. >> when the trial began less than a year after the shooting, the sworn representative of the people with the murder case to prove found herself in and out spot. >> the problem was a defender because he did appear to be upstanding, giannis young man. >> when the district attorney. >> from the beginning, people were disappointed that an indictment was filed against

charlie tan and we are taking this to court. you know what? we have to prosecute people who violate the laws of the state. >> the assistant da prosecuted the case in court and told the jury that charlie tan was a high achiever, a bright young man who went the extra mile for his friends. >> perhaps he wanted to succeed as charlie tan and solve all the problems that were occurring in coach side lane. >> helping his mother by killing his father? that was the solution? >> that was our theory. the gun is found at the murder scene. this fingerprint on the ammo. his mother saying, my son did it. charlie saying he had to do it. >> did he have to do it was a key question. the prosecution said no. it was no justifiable homicide. it was an execution. the weapon had been purchased just before the killing said the prosecutor.

deputies found it leaning against a garbage can in the garage and when they traced it, they discovered it had just been bought from a walmart near cornell. >> we sent investigators down there. as they began to look into that, they found the gun had been purchased by a young man. >> newly purchased with a new name altogether. >> correct. >> the purchased had taken place in the same day charlie left cornell. the sales man remembered the purchase and even better, the store had surveillance video of charlie's friend and fellow fraternity brother buying the shotgun. video which was shown to the jury. the frat brother was never accused of having anything to do with the killing. charlie apparently convinced him to help by a gun. >> friends say that whitney was told by charlie that he was going on a hunting trip so we asked him to help him. >> the prosecution says there was no hunting trip.

charlie was planning a murder. before he got the friend to buy the weapon, surveillance video showed how intent he wasn't getting one. hours earlier, there was charlie. >> charlie tan on video going in the walmart attempted to purchase a shechem. he was unable to. >> why can't he buy one? >> he is a canadian citizen. >> time the prosecutor said charlie tan did i have. he gets a friend to make the purchase? >> that was our theory. >> it's hard to put together heat of passion scenario. mom is in jeopardy if you purchase a weapon in advance? >> correct. >> the prosecutor told the jury there was no evidence of a fight that evening. >> if you look at the exact moment of the killing, jim tan was sitting at his desk. >> answering email. >> answering emails. working to provide a living and a pretty good living for his family. >> the medical examiner

testified that as jim tan sat behind his desk in his home office, he was shot three times about the chest and face. the last shot the coup de grace. >> medical examiners believed he was alive when it was inflicted to his face. >> the prosecutor believe that was thursday night. the same not one of charlie's friend sent a deputy to check on charlie's welfare. it is possible when the boy answered the phone and said he was fine, his dad was already dead inside. no one from the 10 home called 911 that night. the prosecutor said charlie and his mom grabbed their passports and fled the country. >> jean 10 and charlie tan left the country, went to canada, came back on that monday before the 911 call was placed. >> why come back and tell a lie? the prosecution did not know. perhaps someone had to run jim tan's business in this last tidbit. before that 911 call was placed, charlie took the

time to send a warning email to his college buddies. they would soon hear things in the news. >> the defendant sent an email to his fraternity brothers called showtime. >> you'll be hearing from law enforcement? >> yes. you will be surprised. showtime. >> jurors don't buy self- defense to the prosecutor in summation. it was no crime of passion but a planned murder. this is an assassination? >> yes. >> he walks in and blows dad away? the prosecution rested. the defense he was up next on they were about to lay out a theory of the crime from seemingly another universe. no one saw it coming. >> coming up. the defense drops a bombshell. >> one of the things that was a question was charlie covering up for someone else? with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds.

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in in was an upside down world in this courthouse where you routinely expect lots of supporters for the victim. there were none. >> no one was mourning the victim. i sat with her the whole trial because she had nothing to do. >> people think this vicious father deserved, got what was coming to him? >> people that wouldn't normally advocate homicide, if he did it, is he did it.

his father deserved it. >> his girlfriend and friends crowded outside the courtroom, surrounding him protectively as he walked into court. he had all the cheering section with pom-poms. >> i think having the support made him feel better. stronger. i think he knew we were there for him no matter what. >> his friend anna was on the witness list so she wouldn't allow to sit in the courtroom until the end. >> i went as much as i could for the rest of it. >> how did he seem to you? >> some days were harder than others. >> charlie whitsett in court while his defense would build a case with evidence that seem to support domestic violence. played the tape of jean tan calling the cops two weeks before the shooting. >> my name is jean tan. my husband just beats me up and i need protection. >> are you injured? >> yes. he choked me. >> the defense attorney james nobles thought that spoke

volumes about the household. >> it was almost as if we were put in the hell that charlie lived in and the hell that jean lived in. >> they kept piling on. jim tan continue the defense was not just a bully at home but his employees testified about the abuse they too encountered in the workplace. >> every other person to work with jim tan said he was miserable and behaved like a child and he would bully people. said he was nasty at work. >> a son defending his abused mother was a defense no-brainer strategy that seem to require little assembly. the other defense lawyer. >> i think was people who looked at this case said the only defense is self-defense or some highbred of a battered child syndrome. >> as the trial progressed, that wasn't an attack the

defense team planned. >> our strategy was to keep our strategic defense in our back pocket hidden as long as we possibly could. >> what was the secret offense? they were going to agree with the prosecution of one point. when jean called 911 to report her husband ed, the murder was days old. >> that call is fake. there's no question. >> not only was the mom lying to 911 when the murder occurred, the defense argued she was lying about something bigger. who the true killer was. the defense attorney saved his surprise for closing arguments. >> it was an unusual moment because i knew there were many friends and supporters of jean tan in the courtroom, and i was going to basically suggest to the jurors that she pulled the trigger. >> jean tan, the mom, the wife, the true killer. the defense said the shotgun was in her hand.

she pulled the trigger insult her own problem and not her son. that was the story the defense say for the 11th hour. >> not an easy thing to do. >> according to the defense, jean tan had the motive to get rid of her bully husband, get the house, the business, the money. >> input motive in jean tan's category more so than charlie. >> whatever forensic evidence -- >> the real truth will >> the real truth will come out one day. one of the things that was a question and always a concern was charlie covering up for someone else.

>> in court the assistant prosecutor appeared caught off guard when he roast to make his closing argument. >> he addressed charlie directly and said, charlie, your lawyer is calling your mother a killer. he moved quickly across the room and he approached the jury closely with the shotgun. is trying to make a point. >> brandishing the murder weapon as a prop didn't sit well with the judge who told the prosecutor to calm down. >> we knew at that point we had done what we wanted to do. >> after a week of testimony, the case went to the jury. in the hallway, tv cameras dogged charlie's every move. he had been out on bond but his freedom could be coming to an abrupt end. >> he knows his life is hanging in the balance. that's a tough thing for anybody to go through. >> he had the unwavering support of team charlie and

they waited with charlie as the deliberations began then spilled into a second day. then another. >> every day we would show up to court. is a going to happen today? everyone was super nervous and on the edge of their seats the whole time. charlie was and i was. >> if it goes in an adverse way, he would be led off and you wouldn't see him for a long time. >> it was hard to imagine that. >> she walked us through the arguments as they deliberated. >> i'm not sure anybody felt bad for jim tan. he made a lot of enemies but everybody did recognize the way he died was still a crime. >> the prosecution and defense agreed that charlie's fingerprints were on the ammo. >> did he actually pull the trigger did he give it to his mom and say, here you go? that was the point of contention. >> she was ready to vote guilty. it was far than unanimous. >> a people guilty of four not guilty. >> a stalemate. impasse seem to be at hand but

still they talk. >> three of the jurors were crying really hard. because they didn't want to think he was guilty, but they couldn't ignore it at that point. >> the local media as the prosecutor for updates. >> -- >> hyundai a after 50 hours of deliberations, the jurors told the judge they were hopelessly deadlocked. the judge declared a mistrial. that didn't mean it was over by any stretch. >> adjustment there was a long road ahead. >> a long road with another trial. another set of court dates in another jury to go through the same set of facts, unless that wasn't what was going to happen at all. >> coming up. as charlie tan awaits his feet, the proceedings threatened to spin out of control. as 2 weeks. so this is better. even this.

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the judge in the the judge in the tan murder case declares a mistrial. >> even though the case was over for now, the charlie tan mistrial was big news in rochester. >> they could not come to a consensus. >> everyone was talking to the media including the judge who was running for state supreme court. >> would you be presiding as judge again? >> i believe i would.

>> the lawyers on both sides share thoughts of doing it all over again. >> it's a murder charge. we recognize the das office isn't going to walk away from a homicide. >> how will it look differently? >> better, for me. >> unfortunately for charlie's attorneys they had already played their surprise defense. mom really did it. >> we've got to face this like it's a new case starting today. >> november 2015, weeks after the trial ended, both sides were back in the same court before the same judge. he had just two days earlier won the state supreme court seat. it was a routine hearing. you are expecting to set the calendar date. >> we were figuring a january trial date. >> the reporter who had been there the entire trial was in

attendance too. >> there was a number charlie's friends there. myself and roughly 4 or five other reporters who covered the trial. the judge said we have to address the motion for dismissal by the defense. >> that's a common motion made by most defense attorneys when they ask a judge to throw out a case, especially due to a lack of evidence. >> you always do it. it's malpractice not to. >> everyone thought it would be quickly dispatched and the judge and move on to setting a new trial date. >> then he starts talking about a lack of evidence regarding the position of the gun and charlie having the gun. lack of evidence that the fingerprints were found on the shells upstairs but that didn't indicate the he had ever shot it. the reporter, i said, what's going on here? >> charlie's lawyers had a glimmer of where this was going. >> i leaned into charlie and said something good is about to happen. >> the assembled press couldn't believe where the judge was

heading. >> you're holding his breath and he is about to dismiss this case. the biggest case in years. the jury deliberated for 50 hours, second-degree murder case. >> the assistant prosecutor said the train wreck ahead and wasn't pleased. he grabbed the microphone. >> could i speak? and the judge said you may not. he continued to speak. the judge said i will put you in handcuffs. never seen that before. put you in handcuffs. a court deputy walks up behind him. the prosecutor not the defendant. >> he was becoming unhinged. >> after the dramatics with the prosecutor, the judge finished his thought. he threw out the case against charlie tan. a judicial ruling meant the case could not be re-prosecuted or retried. >> it was the big win for charlie tan. he was ecstatic. >> outside the courtroom come the media was waiting for

charlie, the former defendant who hadn't spoken to reporters. >> now you will talk to us. >> before we got a chance, his defense lawyer assured him down the hallway. >> what did you think? >> i'm not sure to get in at first. >> this is over. >> everyone was so happy. >> not quite everyone. the assistant da was fuming. >> were you willing to get arrested? >> absolutely. i was willing to have handcuffs placed on me to argue my point. >> what recourse do you have? >> there is no appeal i know of. >> charlie tan this free. >> that's it. there's no appeal, dismissal, because there had not been a verdicts by the jury. >> the event didn't happen. >> correct. >> in people versus charlie tan, you have to wonder whether the vocal supporters carried

the day from outside the courtroom. you're talking division in the community. some think the golden ivy league boy was able to kill his father and get away with it. >> the question is what does affluence by you in the courtroom? >> charlie's mother will not be prosecuted because there is never been evidence to show she is responsible for the murder. good it have been the mother? >> i look at a 12gauge shotgun and she was a small woman. i'm not sure she was capable tip discharged that kind of weapon. >> the only two people who know what happened in that house has stayed mom all this time. neither was ever interviewed by police. >> people said decatur killed his father and got off and people will say, no, it is in. they couldn't prove it. to two groups of people who said, i don't care what happened, i'm never sending this 19-year-old cornell student to prison. >> the mom and brother are

running the company jim tan started. as for charlie? >> he seems okay. >> he is a great kid, smart student, and a popular kid who has done well. it's time to move on. we welcome him back with open arms. >> that didn't happen and authorities were not done with charlie. he had been living back in canada but when he tried to cross into the united states to attend a friend's wedding, charlie was arrested. he was indicted in federal court, charged with receiving a firearm in interstate commerce, intending to use it to commit a felony and two counts of false statements at the time of the purchase. the alleged purchase happened 40 days before his father's shooting. in june 2018, charlie pleaded guilty to each of the three charges. he was sentenced to 20 years. in november 2019, new defense attorney asked the court to vacate his sentence on the grounds of ineffective counsel. in his filing, charlie admitted

he killed his father but insisted he only did it to protect his mother from his dad's escalating abuse. information the new lawyer argued should've been presented at sentencing. in his young life, he pleased everybody. has coaches, teachers, his devoted friends. outwardly happy, inwardly no one really knew. the motion to vacate the sentence was denied, but finally, courtesy of his 11 page affidavit in his own words, we got an answer to the question shot and killed jim tan. it was a mystery put to rest. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i could speak all afternoon about the person i'm standing on this stage with. >>