because it's what we always been hoping for. somebody to help us. that's why we just want to live and move forward. we know it's gone. it's the past. move on. better days. keith morrison (voiceover): so they profoundly wished. but even life regained from injustice is not always fair. in november 2021, tommy highers died of a heart attack. his brother ray tried to go on but could not face life without tommy. and in april 2024, he took his own. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. melvin, and this is "dateline." hello, i'm craig melvin, andhad the good cop,e."u you had the bad cop, and the polygraph. it felt like "law and order". craig melvin: the fire broke out before dawn.

in the daylight, they found this mother of two young children dead. michael lane: she lived a very courageous life. she was very bold in the things she did. craig melvin: but after the smoke cleared, a mystery lingered. steve lungen: we knew she did not die in that fire. she died before the fire. who do you look to as the suspect? obviously, the spouse is the first person you look to. craig melvin: but her husband had a clear alibi, and he passed a lie detector test. eventually, the case grew cold until this witness came forward with a tale of love and lust gone wrong. but could she be believed? was she out for justice or revenge? is it a perfect world? no. will she get hers? yes, when she dies. craig melvin: what was the lie and what was the truth? how could you miss it. he wasn't there.

hello, and welcome to "dateline". paul and catherine novak wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city. they found peace and quiet when they moved into what catherine dubbed "the big red house". but soon, a roaring fire would ravage the couple's home. and when the flames subsided, one of them would be dead, leaving investigators wondering if the blaze was a tragic accident or something more sinister. here's andrea canning with "secrets and lies". andrea canning: on a frigid december morning in 2008, in a tiny picturesque town along the banks of the delaware, a tragedy unfolded. 911 male operator: 911, what's your emergency? female speaker: the whole house is on fire. andrea canning: a deadly blaze burned a small country house to the ground and left behind in the ashes

were secrets-- love gone wrong, illicit affairs, friends turning against each other. it would take years to unravel the mystery of that fire haunting this town, and those who loved the couple who once lived in that house, paul and catherine novak. the novak's had both grown up as city kids. paul was a new york city paramedic, a job that seemed the perfect fit. i wanted to be that person that would show up, that would help my parents and help my sister if she was in a car accident or something like that. andrea canning: but he also saw the dark side of city life a little too close to home. i would do shootings and stabbings two blocks away from my apartment, and i always thought to myself that i could just never raise a child in this area. andrea canning: so in 2002, paul and his wife catherine went house hunting in narrowsburg, new york, a small hamlet tucked between the catskill and pocono mountains. they didn't need to look for long.

it was the big red house, as she called it. and she would talk about the big red house all the time. catherine's brother, michael and sister-in-law joanne, said she worked hard to make the big red house a home. growing up, we lived in apartments. you know, this was a space of her own. yeah, she was thrilled to have five acres or 10 acres of property, and she loved it there. andrea canning: the perfect place for the perfectly matched couple. they seemed meant for each other right from the start. i liked her from the first moment i met her. she was very effervescent and very funny and very opinionated, and i really liked that in her. andrea canning: so you really saw into the future the first time you saw her? yes. i mean, we ended up getting married, i think, seven months later. andrea canning: two years after that, their first child, natalee, was born. it was very special. andrea canning: catherine's mom, christina, was ever the proud grandmother. natalee looks so much like her mom. so much like her mom. what was it like the first time

you laid eyes on your new daughter? natalee. well, it was like falling in love like 1,000 times more than you ever have with any other person. natalee is just-- she's a part of me. andrea canning: four years later, along came nicholas. she was in her glory. and then to have a boy and a girl, which was good. things were all coming together. yeah. she got directly engaged in the community. in the church, she taught sunday school. she became a girl scout leader. the school board, she did many, many things. andrea canning: and she did almost all of it by herself. paul was still working as a paramedic in new york city, more than 100 miles away. that's a big commitment. this is pretty far from the city. yeah, it's a 2-hour drive. i was making the new york city money, but living up here. and the sacrifice was that i couldn't be home every night. andrea canning: and that, they soon discovered, can be tough on a marriage. we went to counseling for about a year, and she just felt that she never got a break. you know, from being a full-time mom.

andrea canning: but they were both committed to making their marriage work. on their 10th wedding anniversary, valentine's day, paul surprised catherine with a ceremony to renew their vows. now, i'm not a churchgoing type. so for me to do that is a big thing. i planned a couple of day getaway, and she was really taken by surprise by that. and things were good for a couple of months after that. andrea canning: it wasn't enough. the glow of that getaway faded and life became routine again. soon, paul's eyes wandered to a much younger woman, someone from work. they had an affair and paul moved out, leaving catherine and the kids alone in the house. she was beside herself. she was absolutely hysterical. andrea canning: catherine's good friend and neighbor, sue mueller, remembered when the marriage ended. she couldn't even get the breath. she was sobbing so hard. andrea canning: but catherine's family, who considered her the eternal optimist, watched her move on with her life,

pouring all her love and attention into her children. she was very focused on them, very engaged in their lives, did everything with them. sounds like that's what was important in her life anyway? absolutely. andrea canning: she was working at her children's school and had even been on a few dates. catherine was creating a life without paul. then, in december 2008, sometime in the early morning hours, somewhere in her house, a fire started. female speaker: the house is totally on fire. it's on fire. andrea canning: when firefighters arrived, the big red house was a wall of flames. they had no idea if anyone was still inside. 911 dispatcher: does anyone live there? female speaker: yes. yes. they're kids. 911 dispatcher: do you know if they're out of the house? female speaker: i don't know. andrea canning: neighbors knew paul wasn't there. he was living in an apartment three hours away with his new girlfriend. that morning, he got a call from catherine's pastor. paul novak: i picked it up, and it was pastor phyllis. and she goes, where are the kids? where are the kids? and i'm like, they're with me.

what's going on? she goes, the house is on fire. andrea canning: firefighters worked for hours dousing the flames. when catherine's friend sue mueller arrived, the fire was still raging. she stood vigil for hours waiting to hear news of her friend. sue mueller: all of a sudden, the firemen were all concentrated in one area, looking down into the basement. and then the local funeral home was there with the body bag and i saw them bring the body bag down into the basement. andrea canning: in the destruction and muck of the basement, under massive pieces of what had been the house, firefighters found the remains of the family dog, and to their horror, the body of 41-year-old catherine novak. oh, no, no. it can't be. and i think it takes a while to grasp that. death is forever. andrea canning: what did you think when you heard the news?

i was just blank. a complete blank. what on earth am i going to tell these children? how am i going to tell them? she was a great mom. i didn't know how i was going to be able to even try to fill that void. andrea canning: the autopsy report said she was killed when heavy debris fell on her. catherine's death was officially ruled accidental. she lived a very courageous life. she knew what she wanted. she went after it. she was very bold in the things she did. andrea canning: a tragic end to a life that held so much promise. but as you've probably guessed, the story didn't end there. for investigators, it was just the beginning. not everyone believed this was an accident. craig melvin: if it was not an accident, was it murder? it certainly did not look that way until a second autopsy report came back. coming up-- steve lungen: we knew she did not die in that fire. she died before the fire. he goes, we want you to take a polygraph test.

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andrea canning: the remains of that old country house were still smoldering as investigators dug through the debris looking for clues. they wanted to know what caused the fire and exactly how catherine novak died there. her mother's question was more simple. the big thing for me was why didn't she get out.

that was what kept going over in my mind, why didn't she get out? andrea canning: even her estranged husband, paul, said he was puzzled. paul novak: i didn't even know what to think about it. i've been surrounded by death and violence my entire life, and now it hits home. andrea canning: the pathologist ruled catherine's death an accident, but investigators weren't so sure. they turned to district attorney steve lungen to take a closer look. so you were contacted despite this talk that it was an accident. yes, we had a fire and we had a death. the question of how the two of those items were going to come together would not play out for a couple of days later, and actually, years later. andrea canning: the police, as they often do, began by interviewing catherine's soon-to-be ex-husband paul novak. what happened in the interview as far as the way they treated you, the questions they asked you? they were nice. they just asked me about cathy's last whereabouts. if i knew if she had any boyfriends at the time, who

may have been in the house, any utilities in the house that may have had a problem or something like that. andrea canning: the interview was all very routine, but the investigation at the scene was not. fire inspectors couldn't figure out what ignited the blaze. they checked the wiring, the appliances, the pellet stove, the propane tanks. nothing conclusive. but then things changed. the da brought in a specialist, a forensic pathologist, to do a second autopsy a few days later. and the results this time told a different story. we knew she did not die in that fire. she died before the fire. andrea canning: the second pathologist discovered there was no carbon monoxide in catherine's blood or soot in her lungs, which meant catherine had stopped breathing before the fire started. she changed the manner of death from accidental to pending investigation. the question is, what else can we gain or learn before we can start to classify

this as a homicide? who do you look to as the suspect? the state police had done some initial interviews. obviously, the spouse is the first person you look to. the spouse had a clear alibi. andrea canning: paul and his new girlfriend, michelle lafrance, said they were far from catherine's beloved red house when the fire broke out. a 3-hour drive away in their apartment on long island. still, investigators didn't just take the couple's word for it. they made a request. he goes, we want you to take a polygraph test. did you feel like you were almost in a tv show at this point? yes, it felt like "law and order," a really bad episode of it. when did you get the results? he came back about 15 minutes later and he says, ok, you're all done. you passed. he was driving home from the interrogation and he was hysterical. paul's sister, alanna, had never heard him so emotional. he was crying and saying, they asked me if i killed her. and he just found it so unbelievable that he was

being asked these questions. andrea canning: so if it wasn't paul, investigators needed to look for other suspects. the state police did a complete canvas of the area. anybody who had any connection to catherine novak, the state police reviewed, found, interviewed. andrea canning: but after many months and no leads, investigators hit a dead end. the case turned cold. none of that mattered much to catherine's mom. i still miss my daughter the same. i miss her no matter what happened to her. i miss her. andrea canning: seven months after catherine's death, paul and his girlfriend packed up the kids and their apartment on long island and moved 1,000 miles south to florida. i figured with my experience that it would probably be pretty easy for me to get a job somewhere. kind of a fresh start. a fresh start. i thought it would be good for the kids-- great school, nice neighborhood. andrea canning: but paul said not long after their move, things with michelle started to sour.

when they first met, she was a paramedic in training. he was her teacher, her friend. she had confided in him about her history of mental illness, long bouts of depression and alcohol abuse. but now, he says her problems were beginning to take a toll on their relationship. his young daughter, a sore spot. she was very jealous of natalee, and her mental issues definitely became more apparent as time went on. at one point, she actually threatened to commit suicide inside my own house. andrea canning: this was no surprise to alanna and her mom, who loved catherine, but never approved of michelle. what are your first impressions of michelle? we didn't like her. why? she walked into my mother's house and she immediately wanted catherine's pictures turned around because she felt like catherine was looking at her. andrea canning: paul said it took him a bit longer than his family to realize he and michelle were not the best match.

they had been together for three years when he found out she was cheating on him with a married man. he didn't want to stand for that, so he had to ask her to leave. and he did it very nicely and she didn't want to go. andrea canning: in what paul described as a bitter breakup, he forced michelle to move out and told her it was over. by that time, it had been more than two years since catherine's death. investigators back in new york had moved on to other cases. the years were ticking by with no new leads, but the da was a patient man. we never put the file away. it was always a matter of when something is going to come forward, we'll be ready to go forward. and we never accepted an accidental cause of death, ever. andrea canning: his patience would be rewarded. a break in this cold case was coming, and it would surprise everyone. craig melvin: coming up, a surprise knock at paul novak's door.

my girlfriend comes in and she goes, there's something fishy going on outside. there's two police detectives outside and they want to talk to you about your car being involved in a hit and run. craig melvin: is that what they really wanted-- when "dateline" continues. ♪♪ when you have moderate to severe eczema, it's okay to show off. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch. because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin, some even achieved long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after first dose. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems

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i still love to surf, snowboard, and, of course, skate. so, i take qunol magnesium to support my muscle and bone health. qunol's extra strength, high absorption magnesium helps me get the full benefits of magnesium. qunol, the brand i trust. andrea canning: years had passed since catherine novak's body had been discovered among the blackened

ruins of her big red house. but the passage of time didn't make it any easier for her mother. it's the thing that never happens to you. it always happens to someone else. it doesn't happen to you. you don't lose a child like that. it's such a horrible way, a fire. andrea canning: catherine's brother, michael, and his wife, joanne, had stopped asking questions, choosing instead to accept they might never know what really happened to her. to take catherine's perspective, you know, she would look for the positive side, the good things, and she would want us to move on. and that's what we tried to do. we made our peace with it and we went on living. andrea canning: but as time went by, in the little town of narrowsburg, dark suspicions were whispered from neighbor to neighbor, and one name kept coming up-- catherine's estranged husband, paul novak. her close friend, sue mueller.

i was angry as time went on, and i thought more and more about it, and i thought that paul might somehow be involved. andrea canning: as she looked back, she was particularly haunted by the way paul acted the day of catherine's memorial service. sue mueller: the whole congregation was sobbing so loud, i mean, pastor couldn't even finish her sermon. and i went up to him and i hugged him. i kind of was struck by how he really showed no emotion. after 11 years of marriage, that she might have meant a little bit more to him that he might shed a tear. but i didn't see any. andrea canning: but there was no evidence that paul had anything to do with catherine's death. no dna or fingerprints at the crime scene, no witnesses. he had even passed a polygraph test. and he had an alibi for the morning of the fire. he was three hours away with his girlfriend, michelle, in their apartment on long island. paul continued to enjoy his new life in florida

with his two children, working again as a paramedic and now dating a new woman he'd fallen for quickly on match.com, kat delgrosso. we started texting and then we made a date. and we went on a date. really, it was-- was it instant? instant. instant. what was the attraction? i don't know, it's really hard to put your finger on something like that. we just seemed to have an immediate connection. there was 0 stress talking, no uncomfortableness. andrea canning: their romance blossomed and she eventually moved in with paul and his kids. do they look up to him? they worship him. they completely worship him. he's always up with them, checking homework. we do a lot of things as a family. is it a nice life? we were really happy. really, really happy. and then you get a knock at the door? yeah. yeah, that was a tough day. andrea canning: it was an early morning

in september 2012, four years after catherine's death. i was asleep. i was-- i just got off of work. i worked 12 hours at the hospital. and i remember my girlfriend comes in and she goes, there's something fishy going on outside. there's two police detectives outside and they want to talk to you about your car being involved in a hit and run. andrea canning: but when he arrived at the police station, he saw a familiar face and realized this had nothing to do with a car accident. this is investigator kelly from new york. so i'm like, ok. so he sits down and he grabs a chair and he's like a foot away from me. and then i remember him, he's the guy that grilled me. the one that got in my face. how are you feeling-- oh my gosh, these people are back in my life four years later? at that point, i still didn't know what they wanted from me. i knew this guy was yelling at me. and then i just looked at him and i said, i would like to speak to a lawyer. andrea canning: paul had already been interviewed by police several times. he thought this was all behind him. you knew it had to be about catherine?

well yeah, obviously it had to do something with that. andrea canning: later that day, the police went back to paul's house. and i went outside in the driveway with them and they said, we're sorry to have to break this to you, but paul novak is under arrest. i said, for what? and they said it was for involvement in his wife's murder four years ago. andrea canning: what kat and paul didn't know was that a witness had come forward telling police an evil tale. and in that story, paul was the villain. they arrested you? right there. did they put you in jail right there then? yes. andrea canning: the story the witness told was chilling-- just have a seat there. --revealing dark secrets. but was it true? craig melvin: coming up, paul's alibi becomes his accuser-- --when "dateline" continues.

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hi, i'm richard lui with a news update. hurricane milton continuing to intensify in the gulf of mexico, strengthening to a category one sunday. the storm is expected to impact florida this week as the state is recovering from hurricane helene. kamala harris and tim walz are wrapping up their appearances with less than one month to election day. they will appear separately on a 60 minute episode in addition to late-night show and podcast appearances this week. for now, back to dateline. paul novak was trying to move on. he relocated to florida and had a new girlfriend. but then came that knock on the door and detectives placed paul under arrest. soon, he would learn that someone was claiming they had disturbing new details

about the night of the fire. paul's world was about to turn upside down. once again, here's andrea canning with "secrets and lies". andrea canning: catherine novak's death had been a cold case for more than three years when out of nowhere a witness came forward, pointing a finger at catherine's estranged husband, paul. so who was this mystery witness? a woman from paul's past, his ex-girlfriend, michelle. michelle lafrance, who was the defendant's alibi in 2008, has now come forward and said paul was not home and that paul went to narrowsburg and that paul killed catherine. what was that phone call like? it was now time to get to work. jim farrell was now the district attorney. he teamed up with the former da, steve lungen. didn't it feel good that you had a break? it's a break. but again, i needed more information.

andrea canning: investigators sat lafrance down to hear her story. during a 6-hour interview, michelle laid out what she claimed was the true story of how paul killed catherine. she said he started plotting weeks before the murder. michelle says one week before the fire, she and paul went to catherine's house to move his things out, and paul unlocked the basement doors. according to michelle, paul wasn't with her on the night of the murder. that alibi was a lie. instead, she said he was with a fellow paramedic named scott sherwood, who drove paul to narrowsburg.

michelle said paul told her he went inside, set off the basement smoke alarm, hid behind the stairs, and when catherine came down to investigate, he tried to knock her out with chloroform. through her tears, michelle spilled out gruesome details of what paul said were catherine's final words. she begged him to think of their children.

then, michelle claims paul took a blowtorch from the garage and set the kitchen curtains on fire. michelle's story was a stunning betrayal of her former boyfriend. and if it was true, paul had committed a vicious and calculated crime. michelle said paul told her he did it because catherine was a monster. paul's sister, alanna, didn't believe a word of it. from the moment she heard a witness had come forward, she was convinced her brother was being set up. i said, this is michelle. you got rid of her and now what happened? this is payback. i believe that's what it is. andrea canning: paul's girlfriend, kat, who got engaged to him in jail,

also believed michelle's story was suspicious. he's innocent absolutely, positively. why are you so sure? he's just not that kind of a person. he's a caretaker. it's like his job as a paramedic defined him. andrea canning: and while paul had a squeaky clean record, michelle, his accuser, had issues-- a history of depression and alcohol abuse, and she waited years to come forward. michelle lafrance has been described as a scorned ex-girlfriend, a woman looking for revenge. did all that go through your mind? no, i don't believe that it did because after she leaves paul in january, february of 2011, it's 14 months before she gets up the courage to come forward to the police, to tell the police what she knows, fully expecting that she's going to be arrested.

as paul waited for his trial to start, he told us he wasn't worried. and there's really nothing that puts you at that crime? no. there's no eyewitnesses. do you think that's going to work in your favor? i think it's going to go rather well for me. craig melvin: coming up, the prosecution is feeling confident, too. did someone leave digital tracks? the state police immediately did a search for the toll records of that vehicle. and we had a hit at 6:39. craig melvin: but what, if anything, does that prove, when "dateline" continues. with bugs, the struggle—is—real. that's why you need zevo traps. zevo attracts and traps bugs 24/7 using a blue and uv light with no odor and no mess for effortless protection. zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly.

andrea canning: as paul novak prepared to stand trial for the murder of his wife, he insisted he was innocent. are you the evil murderer that some people think you are? no, not at all. any reason to kill your wife? no. no, absolutely not. i mean, when i left catherine, i probably wasn't in love with her anymore. but i respected her, and she was-- she's the mother of my children. andrea canning: for catherine's brother michael, the upcoming trial felt like opening an old wound. part of me wished i didn't get that phone call because i knew how traumatic it would be to the family, and especially how traumatic it would be to natalee and nicholas. andrea canning: catherine's mom also knew a trial would mean more heartache

for her grandchildren. i know no one can imagine how i feel losing my child. i can't imagine how they would feel now with the loss of both parents, in essence. all rise. the sullivan county criminal court is now in session. andrea canning: on august 12, 2013, the trial of paul novak began at the sullivan county courthouse. the district attorney opened the case. the evidence will show that as catherine begged and fought for her life, the defendant ended her life, murdering her in the basement of her own home. andrea canning: prosecutors set out to prove that paul orchestrated this murder down to the last detail. steve lungen: he was planning this for a period of weeks and maybe more in his own mind of how to rid himself of catherine. he's a murderer. he's a sociopath. he planned, he executed, and he killed catherine

novak in cold blood. andrea canning: their star witness was paul's ex-lover, michelle lafrance. the jury heard every minute of those police interrogation tapes of michelle describing the details of how he killed his wife. and the jury didn't have to just take her word for it. prosecutors called scott sherwood, paul's partner, from work to the stand. they told the jury he had been interrogated by police and showed them the tape. let's go from the beginning. paul, you meet paul where? i met paul at his house in glen cove. andrea canning: jurors heard him tell police his version of what happened the night of the murder. so he gets in your red blazer. who's driving, you or him? i was driving. we were driving up towards where his residence was,

where catherine still lived. andrea canning: sherwood said paul told him to park about a mile away from catherine's house and wait in the car. about how long has he gone from the car? over an hour. and what did he say when he gets in the car? he said it's done. he had said that the chloroform didn't work. i had to strangle her and something about hitting the gas line to ignite. so you knew the house was on fire? yes. andrea canning: as scott sherwood's story played in the courtroom, the prosecutors pointed out how remarkably similar it was to michele lafrance. did he say where he strangled her? where in the house? in the basement. andrea canning: prosecutors felt these matching stories were powerful, but didn't think they would be enough to get a conviction. they wanted physical evidence to prove michelle and scott were telling the truth. they began with sherwood's account of the drive up to narrowsburg. sherwood had told investigators paul asked

him to stop at a walmart. when you get into the middletown area, you said you stopped where? at a walmart. and he went inside? he went inside. you waited outside? waited outside. and then he came out with a bag? yes. do you know what he bought? i believe duct tape. andrea canning: prosecutors showed jurors what investigators found when they visited that walmart. the state police found a receipt. only one receipt out of 30 registers that had three things on it-- duct tape, a hat, and gloves. scott sherwood tells us that the defendant used tape to tape up his scrubs. he had a hat and he had gloves on when he went and came back from the house. andrea canning: and there was more physical evidence to back up sherwood's account. he told police he and paul crossed the george washington bridge on their way back to paul's place the morning of the murder. was it a toll you guys went through? i would assume so. we went through, i guess, it was the lower level. but there was no booth.

there was no attendant. andrea canning: no attendant saw them pass. but detectives wondered, could digital eyes help place the car at the toll booth. jim farrell: state police immediately did a search for the e-zpass records or toll records of that vehicle, and we had a hit at 6:39 of that vehicle coming across the george washington bridge lower level. that's huge. that was huge. it was a highly corroborated piece of evidence to corroborate scott sherwood. andrea canning: what's more, there was a photo snapped of the license plate. it was evidence that almost didn't exist. prosecutors said paul had planned to pay cash that night, but construction at the toll booth forced him to drive through the e-zpass lane. he made some mistakes. and he couldn't have anticipated that the bridge was going to be under construction and there were no toll takers. andrea canning: and then prosecutors presented what they thought would remove any smudge of doubt from their case. a third person who linked paul to the murder, elise hanlon, scott sherwood's wife. on the stand, she recalled a conversation with paul

where he told her that he committed the murder and that he did it alone. scott had nothing to do with it. there's no way scott's getting into trouble. scott has nothing to do with it. he told her, i went up there with him. he drove. i went in and i did everything. jim farrell: we have three people in three different rooms that are telling us the same thing. you may not be able to say we have a fingerprint or we have dna, but that's pretty damning evidence. andrea canning: the last piece the prosecution needed was motive. why would paul want to kill his wife, catherine? simple, they said, money. when catherine died, paul cashed in on her life insurance policy and homeowners insurance. it all totaled around $700,000. the defendant said he would kill catherine and burn up the evidence, and he did just that. andrea canning: now, it was the defense's turn to attack. jurors would hear more about the checkered pasts

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♪ ♪ with so much great entertainment out there... wouldn't it be easier if you could find what you want, all in one place? my favorites. get xfinity streamsaver with netflix, apple tv+, and peacock included, for only $15 a month. andrea canning: it was the defense's turn. paul novak would not take the stand to proclaim his innocence.

it's my decision not to testify. andrea canning: instead, his defense attorney, gary greenwald, did the talking. and i'm going to tell you, you're going to have reasonable doubt. andrea canning: his argument, don't believe everything you hear. consider the source. consider the mental states of the key witnesses. consider their possible motives. he started by attacking paul's ex-girlfriend, michelle lafrance, the woman paul had thrown out of his house. gary greenwald: she was a liar. she was manipulative, willing to take whatever steps necessary to hurt paul. andrea canning: the defense tried to portray her as unstable, offering evidence of everything from suicide attempts to a bizarre drunken incident involving the police. the defense attacked her credibility and used her own words to portray her

as a liar who carried on a string of affairs with married men. she was probably one of the most promiscuous people who i've ever seen testifying in open court. andrea canning: and the defense also argued scott sherwood suffered from serious mental health issues. scott sherwood, from the time he was eight years old, was being treated for major psychiatric problems. and one of the crucial pieces of evidence was his psychologist, who testified that when he was put into a conflict situation would say whatever was necessary to get out. i think what some people are going to have a hard time wrapping their head around is why three separate people would all lie. the reality is i take elise out of the picture because she lied to support her husband. scott had a psychiatric problem and he was manipulated, in my opinion, by michelle. michelle was a woman scorned.

andrea canning: and the defense argued their stories were tainted because michelle had been given full immunity when she agreed to testify against paul. and sherwood made a plea deal for a reduced charge and a sentence of three to 12 years in prison. next, the defense went after the evidence that seemed to support sherwood's story. specifically, that photo of sherwood's license plate taken the morning of the murder. one piece of evidence that seemed pretty damning was the e-zpass record that showed scott sherwood's suv crossing the george washington bridge at the right time for this crime. the answer to that is very simple. it proves nothing. there's a picture of the license plate. there's no picture of who's in the vehicle. how do you know, as we're sitting here now, that scott sherwood or possibly michelle were not in that vehicle? the answer is, you don't. andrea canning: and greenwald dismissed that receipt from the walmart in middletown. is it just a coincidence that someone went into walmart around 1:30 in the morning, the morning of catherine's death, and bought a hat, gloves,

and duct tape, all the things that were supposedly used in her murder? ok, first of all, mr. sherwood admitted under oath to me that he got to middletown at 12:00. he never could have been there at 1:30 or so because he was out by 12:15. andrea canning: still, there was an age old motive, money, to explain away. and in our interview, paul himself had an answer for that. are you having any financial issues at this point? actually, at that point, i was in a much better financial situation than i had been previously because i had ended up getting a second job at new york hospital in queens, which was very high paying. andrea canning: and then greenwald called, what he said, was his most crucial witness, paul's landlord. the defense wanted to use him to undermine a key part of the prosecution's case. remember, scott sherwood said that after the murder he and paul drove home to paul's house. do you go straight to paul's house in glencoe

when you come back? yes. andrea canning: but on the stand, paul's landlord disputed that. he said he'd been outside setting up for a photo shoot starting in the early morning and didn't lay eyes on either of them. gary greenwald: how could the man be out there and he never sees scott sherwood or paul? there's only one way. it didn't happen. andrea canning: the landlord's testimony was proof, the lawyer argued, that scott sherwood had made up his story. the defense closed its case, claiming the prosecution had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that paul was a killer. paul novak is not guilty, and we ask you to find that. andrea canning: after seven weeks, the jury finally began to deliberate. going into the trial, paul was certain they would find him not guilty. your life's on the line? yes, my life is on the line. but i think the truth will come out in the end and hopefully-- hopefully, those 12 people will know the true story.

andrea canning: his fiancee, kat, told us before the verdict she will stick by him no matter what. i believe in him. have you thought about your wedding and where it will be? when it will happen? i actually already bought my dress. andrea canning: kat's future, and so many others, would be determined by what the jury decided. for catherine's family, the waiting was the hardest part. christina daws: i truthfully did not know what it was going to be. no matter which way you went with it, it was emotional. there's no winners. andrea canning: almost five years after catherine novak's murder, so many secrets, lies and betrayals had been revealed, so many questions raised. would the jury believe paul's ex-lover and his ex-partner? was paul a ruthless killer or had he been set up? it took the jury two full days of deliberations. on the third day, they had made a decision.

the verdict was in. female speaker: how do you find in the case of the people of the state of new york versus paul novak as to count one, murder in the first degree? guilty. andrea canning: guilty. convicted of first degree murder. paul showed only a slight head shake as he was convicted of all charges against him, including insurance fraud, grand larceny, and arson. female reporter: how are you feeling right now. not very good. andrea canning: paul was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 20 to 60 years. but michelle, who knew about the murder plan from the beginning, walked away a free woman. a lot of people will be angry and think this woman knew about a murder that was going to happen and didn't do anything. is it a perfect world? no. will she get hers? yes. when she dies. andrea canning: as for kat delgrosso, she continued to stand by paul, and the couple married in 2018.

up in narrowsburg, where catherine novak's beloved red house once stood, the trees glow orange and gold, autumns have come and gone. her mother still mourns the daughter she lost, but remembers the life she lived. what do you miss most about her? her smile and her hugs. she was a lot of fun, catherine. she enjoyed life a lot. that's all for this edition of "dateline". i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. ♪♪ this sunday, 20, 20 hindsight. with just 30 days until