what about ashley's family? can they just accept this and go on? i don't think they'll ever accept it. to say that they were distraught would be an understatement. they, i think, truly believe that tom fallis killed their daughter and they are never going to let that go. keith morrison: an idea once so deeply ingrained, true or not, will not go away. and tom fallis and his children make a life as best they can. that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. [music playing] hellsomeone just sucksing, anthe life out of you." and tells you your dream life isn't going to happen.

that wedding you're planning, you don't get to have it. evil exists. evil dwells in people. andrea canning (voiceover): it was a night like this, just before halloween, a killing that still haunts. i found him just lying there and couldn't feel a pulse. andrea canning (voiceover): a young dad engaged to be married, dead on the ground. they determined that it was a murder. andrea canning (voiceover): and here's what made this mystery so chilling. the possible suspects were all in costume. the cowboy and the penguin, everybody's dressed as somebody else. how are you going to be able to identify people? andrea canning (voiceover): cowboy, penguin, costumed killer? sounds like something ripped right from the pages of stephen king. but in this case, the horror was real. we had this piece of a costume. we didn't know what it was. andrea canning (voiceover): a halloween crime that will send shivers down your spine.

i was terrified. something had happened. i didn't know what. hello, and welcome to "dateline." just days before halloween, joel lovelien and his fiancée, heather eastling, headed to a local bar packed with costume clad partygoers. but the night took a horrific turn when joel stepped outside and walked into a troubling mystery. in a case filled with unknowns, one thing was certain-- a man was dead. police rounded up several potential suspects. but could they unmask the true killer? here's josh mankiewicz with "under a halloween moon." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it's the one time when everyone pretends to be someone else, when being two-faced is part of the deal.

there's a feeling that maybe the rules don't apply and that during those moonlit hours, we all have license to eat, drink, and be scary. halloween has morphed from our national salute to sugar into a coast to coast alcohol fueled party. and nowhere is that more true than in the rough rider state of north dakota. but in october of 2007, several lives would collide under that halloween moon. and at least one person may have used a costume to try to hide his true identity-- a murderer. that weekend before halloween here in grand forks, heather easling and her boyfriend, joel lovelien, were putting on costumes, getting ready to go out. it was a nice night, nice night with friends. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he dressed up as a hockey fan, wearing his favorite green jersey. i dressed in a mechanic's outfit.

a friend of mine texted me and said meet us at the broken drum. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the broken drum, half casino, half bar. heather and joel had a lot to celebrate. she had just moved here from texas after dating long distance. it was nearly love at first sight. how long did you go out with joel before you realized, this is the guy? a week. that's it? yeah, and he was taken back when i told him. i said, i'm going to marry you. that's what's going to happen here. and he wasn't really ready for me to say something like that to him, but i was ready to say something like that. that's how sure i was. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but joel, the divorced guy who loved golf, fishing, and his friends, would soon be ready for marriage, too. just 10 months after they met, this smart hospital computer it tech proposed to this 31-year-old elementary school teacher. he proposed on a dance floor in front of about 200 texas

dance hall two-steppers. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): they were to be married the following year. but that evening, inside the broken drum, they were completely unprepared for the most frightening night of their lives. it all started when a bus packed with partygoers arrived at the bar. heather watched as they started piling into the broken drum. the partiers were mostly well oiled 20-somethings on an all-night pub crawl. and they'd been fueled by an estimated 325 jello shots that were on board that bus. heather and joel were suddenly in the midst of people in halloween costumes. as this security video shows, there was a clown with a bright rainbow-colored head of hair. there was also a cowboy, a hunter, a lion, a gangster, and a woman who went as paris hilton. joel, in his green hockey jersey, was enjoying a rare cigar and playing

blackjack next to a man dressed as the penguin. how was the night going? it was fine. at one point, he had to take a call, but it was too loud inside, so he had gone outside to take the call. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): while joel was outside on the phone, that party bus was getting ready to go on to the next bar. but suddenly, someone from that bus needed help. joel had come back in the front door and said somebody got left by the bus. i'm going to go check on him. he kissed me and went outside. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): within a few minutes, someone else would come running into the broken drum yelling to call 911. dispatch (on phone): 911, emergency. caller (on phone): hi, i got a murder at the broken drum-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the 911 call wasn't for the person joel went to help. it was for joel. i went through the back door and around the cars and found him on the ground. joel was laying there with blood all over the cement near his head. could you tell what had happened to him?

no. no. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): heather says that when she got outside, she didn't see the party bus or any of the people in costumes. but joel, the good samaritan who'd gone to help a stranger, had himself been the victim of a savage beating. i remember hearing the ambulances coming and the cops coming, their sirens. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): joel lovelien was rushed to an er in the same hospital where he worked as a computer tech. then the doctors came in and told me they did everything they could, but that joel was gone. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): 800 miles away in montana, joel's mom and stepfather received the most terrible news parents can hear. you raise your children and the things you do to protect them, and somebody, in one minute, takes his life. like, you've stolen my child.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): joel, just 38, left behind not only his family and fiancée, but also a daughter, alexa, from his first marriage. when you hear there's an accident, you know, you think that it's something that can be fixed, you know. so i went to the hospital thinking, you know, he's hurt, not dead. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): later, joel's stepdad learned more about the horrible details. the grand forks police department called us. they determined that it was a murder. who'd want to hurt him? i don't know. i don't know anybody who had that much hate in their heart to commit a crime like that. so this was just, what, bad luck being in the parking lot at the wrong time? yeah. trying to help the wrong person? yeah. evil exists. evil dwells in people, and it comes out. and things like this happen.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): what evil had killed joel lovelien? for grand forks police, the answer lay somewhere on a long list of potential suspects. and maybe one of them had left a calling card, something found at the scene-- a bloody piece of a halloween costume. police thought it might be the key to unmasking a killer. andrea canning (voiceover): coming up, a case playing out like a deadly real life game of "clue." the roundup of those possible suspects begins-- the penguin, the cowboy, and the clown. when "dateline" continues. i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. thanks to skyrizi i'm playing with clearer skin. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur.

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josh mankiewicz (voiceover): a night of halloween drinking in grand forks, north dakota had somehow ended with joel lovelien's death. police were trying to figure out who'd used their fists to beat joel outside the broken drum bar in a fight that apparently no one witnessed. and joel's fiancée, heather, was trying just as hard to understand what had happened to the man she loved. inconceivable that he picked a fight with somebody else. oh, of course, totally inconceivable. he's not a fighter. what would he do if somebody wanted to fight with him? he would back away and use logic. he didn't feed into anger like some men would.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): joel was so badly beaten that the coroner could feel and hear the broken bones in joel's face when she touched it. the cause of death? joel choked on his own blood. it was now up to police to find the killer, or killers, of joel lovelien in grand forks, a city that averaged about one murder per year. john packett was chief of police. this was probably one of the more challenging cases that we've ever had because of alcohol involved, large crowds, people in costume. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the night of joel's murder, police interviewed about 80 people still left at the broken drum. and here's what they heard. the party bus went downtown after it left the broken drum, and police heard descriptions of some costumed people last seen near either joel or that bus-- a clown, a cowboy, a penguin, a gangster, and a construction worker.

and while searching for people in costumes sounds almost comical, it actually helped police identify some persons of interest if the cops could locate them before they took off those costumes. so if you're going to find the penguin and the joker and the rest of them, you got to find them pretty quick. got to find them pretty quick. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): there was also an interesting piece of evidence left behind at the murder scene. police thought it was a bird's foot from someone's costume, and it had blood on it. grand forks police sergeant at the time, bill mackey. could be the penguin. yeah, you know, at that point, we didn't know how the foot played into it or not. was it webbed? you know, i guess, i don't recall if it was webbed or not. but the thinking was this came from if not the actual person who had done the beating, at least somebody who was there during the fight. yep, absolutely, that was the thinking. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): police swarmed downtown grand forks, and at another bar, they found one of the costumed characters they were looking for.

that same night, we found the clown. and the clown was crying? yes, he was. what was he crying about? well, initially, that's something that made us wonder, why is this guy crying? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the tears of a clown-- it made police suspicious. one officer reported the clown's hands were shaking-- from the cold or from something else? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): by the time the clown was brought to the police station, he had dried his tears, but he was not cooperative. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the clown told police he had nothing to do with any murder and was crying because of a domestic argument. that night, he explained to us that, you know, he'd had a bad argument with his girlfriend. that's not real clear and convincing to us.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): police say the clown then asked for a lawyer. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but police just let him go. you got the clown who was crying, who was belligerent, and who asks for a lawyer. and one of the things that could say to me is, maybe i saw something terrible happen. like, i saw somebody get beaten nearly to death. but that didn't strike any of your investigators as anything other than, well, this guy's upset, and he's probably drunk. yep, it's a challenge. one has to determine whether those tears are of remorse, whether they're tears of fear, or maybe they had onions for lunch. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that same night, police also found the cowboy, but the cowboy gave police a fake name, a fake birth date, and became physically aggressive. police placed him in handcuffs, even though he wasn't arrested. and what does the cowboy say?

the cowboy is very difficult to deal with. he wants really nothing to do with us, doesn't want to cooperate with us. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): there is no record of his interview, but an investigator says the cowboy asked a very interesting question-- if the victim was wearing a green shirt with the initials und on it. who was wearing a university of north dakota sweatshirt that night? joel lovelien, the victim. suggesting that the cowboy witnessed that fight, right? on face value, it would appear like that, yes. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): police also let the cowboy go, but soon after, they got the break they needed. the owner of that bird's foot would come forward. police believed it would lead them straight to the murderer. andrea canning (voiceover): coming up, a new witness offers to help the police. how much help would he be? andrea canning (voiceover): more than he realized. when "dateline" continues.

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voltaren, josh mankiewicz (voiceover): in those first hours and days after the murder of joel lovelien, grand forks police had been rounding up the unusual suspects. we're looking for a subject that was dressed as a penguin, someone dressed as the joker from batman, someone wearing just a yellow-colored

sweatshirt with a hood. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): those investigators, including veteran detective mike sholes, were scratching their heads over what appeared to be a bloody claw from a bird costume that was found near joel lovelien's body. so you're looking for somebody in, what, 90% of a bird costume. we didn't know what it was. all we knew is that we had this piece of a costume. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): detectives invited the guys on the party bus, who'd been so difficult the night of the murder, to come back to police headquarters the following day. they did, and this time, saying a different tune, one that seemed to get them all off the hook. they told cops they didn't see joel lovelien's murder, but told of a fight outside the broken drum earlier that evening between one of their pals dressed as a hunter and a guy in an odd costume with a yellow sweatshirt, who had also been on the bus. because of that fight, they told

the guy in the yellow outfit he couldn't get back on the bus. and then they drove downtown to another bar. the now sober and cooperative cowboy told detectives that he last saw joel lovelien alive and well. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the unhappy harlequin explained that his clown tears were all about a flashback triggered when he learned about joel lovelien's death. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): meanwhile, across town, the guy who'd been wearing that yellow costume was just waking up. his name was travis stay, a 23-year-old nursing student at the university of north dakota. and today, he was nursing the mother of all hangovers because he'd had so much to drink on the bus and in the bars the previous night that he slept away most of the next day. when he awoke, one of his friends

shared some worrisome news. one of my roommates had seen that they were looking for a guy in a yellow sweatshirt. so i went down to the police station. bring your attorney with you? no. i had nothing to hide. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so two days after joel lovelien's death, travis sat down across from grand forks detectives. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when the nursing student described his lion costume, detective sholes' antenna went up. he suddenly realized it wasn't a bloody bird's foot next to joel's body, but a lion's paw. and travis then confirmed it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the cops became even more suspicious when they noticed the injuries to travis's face and asked how he got them. travis explained he'd been punched out by the hunter in the parking lot of the broken drum.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): detective sholes noticed some scrapes on travis's hands. and i was looking at him. i saw what appeared to be a blood drop on his shoe. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): sholes pounced on that new lead. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): travis gave the cops everything they asked for, including a dna sample and permission to search his apartment, where his lion costume was still in the trash. travis stay: i gave them everything. without them needing to get a search warrant. because i knew i didn't have anything to do with it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but investigators were suspicious, in part because travis said he couldn't remember anything from the time he was punched until the time he got into a cab more than an hour later. and on the cops' timeline, that was the time when

joel lovelien was killed. what kind of murderer not only keeps the bloody clothing that they were wearing during the murder, but actually wears some of it into the police interview? one that's probably not too smart, and there's plenty of them. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the cops let travis go home, but they weren't buying his story. he was now a definite person of interest. and two days later, they had more questions for him. this time around, the questions were more pointed about just what happened while travis was in his blackout.

i can almost guarantee you that the cops are thinking to themselves, come on. you don't remember? really? yeah, i think that they probably thought i was conveniently drunk. well, it is convenient. and then you walk out of the police station. travis stay: yep. and you think what, that's the end of it? i knew things at that point had taken a swing in the wrong direction. and we were going to look into getting an attorney. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): travis stay was about to find out he'd need a lawyer sooner than he thought. andrea canning (voiceover): coming up, police make an arrest, and the case moves into court. two distraught families on two sides of a murder case. he was just lying there. i was screaming his name at him. andrea canning (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. subject 1: who's coming in the driveway?

subject 2: dad! dad! dad, we missed you! daddy, hi! subject 3: goodness! my daughter is being treated for leukemia. i hope that she lives a long, great, happy life and that she will never forget how mom and daddy love her. st. jude, i mean, this is what's keeping my baby girl alive. announcer: you can join the battle to save lives by supporting st. jude children's research hospital. for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the lifesaving research and treatment these kids need-- now and in the future. subject 4: cancer makes me feel angry. not in the feel on the outside, just the inside i'm angry at it. subject 5: when your kid is hurting and there's nothing you can do about it, that's the worst feeling in the world.

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hi, i'm richard lui with a news update. federal authorities are investigating after man was arrested near former president trump's coachella rally saturday. the suspect was said to have guns in his car but there's no indication it was an assassination attempt. president biden return to florida to survey damage from hurricane milton. the president pledged over $600 million to the states affected by milton and helena last month. for now, back to dateline. . travis stay voluntarily went to speak with police, then found himself in the middle of a murder investigation. turns out, travis was the man in the yellow costume detectives had been looking for. but he told them he blacked out from drinking. investigators doubted him and were about to get new evidence that they thought would bring the details of that hazy night into focus. here, again, is josh mankiewicz with

"under a halloween moon." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): in the month after her fiancée's murder, heather eastling's pain was beyond words. like someone just sucks the life out of you and tells you your life isn't what you wanted it to be. and your dream life isn't going to happen. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): grand forks detectives had been working around the clock to solve this rare murder case. and then those dna tests of travis's lion costume came back. some of that blood on travis was his own. but some of it belonged to joe lovelien. and with that, police had everything they needed. and then one morning, there was a knock on the door, and there was detective sholes and detective simon. and they came in and they said that there was bad news and that joel's blood was on me. and they were arresting me for his murder.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): a nervous travis was arraigned from jail via closed circuit tv. man: "the state versus travis stay." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): his anguish and misery josh mankiewicz (voiceover): iit would get even tougher.. a little more than a year after his arrest, travis found himself on trial for murder, facing the rest of his life behind bars. prosecutor nancy yon laid out the state's case-- joel lovelien, a 38-year-old man-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): --for a jury that would decide travis's fate. travis brutally beat joel lovelien while he was down on the ground and did not seek help for him afterwards, left the scene, allowing mr. lovelien to choke to death on his own blood. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jurors heard joel's fiancée, heather, as she

relived that awful night. he was just lying there. i was screaming his name at him. he didn't say anything. he didn't do anything. he was the last person that we believe was seen with mr. lovelien. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): grand forks detectives felt they'd given their prosecutors an open and shut case with overwhelming physical evidence. when we looked at travis's clothes, it was covered in blood. and most importantly, none of the other costumes matched the paw that was left behind at the crime scene. we tested four different areas of travis stay's sweatshirt. three out of the four samples tested positive for joel lovelien's blood. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and, prosecutors argued, they could prove travis was there with joel lovelien prior to the murder. their eyewitnesses? the guys who'd been so sloshed and uncooperative

the night of the murder-- the hunter, the gangster, and the cowboy from the party bus. bryce larson, the cowboy, took the stand and told a story both his friends would echo. nancy yon: mr. larson, did you ever witness the murder of joel lovelien? no. nancy yon: did you ever see him assaulted in the broken drum parking lot? no. nancy yon: when you left that parking lot, where was he? talking to the guy in the yellow. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and that guy who'd been wearing the cheesy yellow lion costume? he was sitting right there at the defense table. prosecutors laid out their timeline using security video from the broken drum. there's travis in his lion costume, which, by this point in the evening, is little more than a yellow hoodie. moments later, he's gone outside. joel lovelien, wearing his green hockey jersey, can be seen heading out a little later, never to return. the tape, prosecutors said, proved travis was in the parking lot when joel was killed.

and according to the state's witnesses from the boss, it was impossible for any of the other partygoers to have attacked joel because their party bus was gone by the time of the murder. the bus was not at the broken drum when joel lovelien was murdered. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the prosecution argued that joel's last words to his fiancée, heather, supported that timeline. he'd made comments to his girlfriend, some guy missed his bus. i was out there helping him. and then he went back out. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the guy who missed the bus, they told the jury, was the defendant. the state used travis's own words against him. they played every frame of those police interviews in which travis claimed not to remember the most critical part of that alcohol sodden night. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jurors heard testimony that later that night, travis was in another fight.

after mr. lovelien was killed, travis stay left the broken drum on foot, walked to a location in an alleyway where he confronted another individual. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): travis threw a punch at that man and missed. he then got into a cab and went home. if prosecutors were to be believed, the defendant was a halloween nightmare come to life. just add alcohol, and nurse travis turns into a drunk and dangerous mr. hyde. joel was bleeding from his face-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that theory helped them explain to jurors how the slightly built travis was able to take down and kill the much larger joel with his bare hands. police also say the fact that joel had had a few drinks made it easier for travis. he was drunk, and so the fact that a little guy comes at him unsuspecting, and he's unstable on his feet because he's intoxicated, too, makes perfect sense

that he could drop him. aspiration-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): eight days into the trial, the prosecution called its final witness, a blood spatter analyst-- this is a possible position-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): --who used photos to demonstrate that joel's blood on travis's clothing was consistent with travis standing over joel while beating him. travis was either standing right next to joel lovelien or straddling joel lovelien as he was punching him in his face. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the prosecution's evidence was stacking up against travis stay. no question he'd been in a fight with the hunter before joel was killed. no question he'd taken a swing at someone else afterwards. and now he'd have to explain why there were traces of joel's blood on his costume, which travis was either unable or unwilling to do because of his suspiciously convenient amnesia.

andrea canning (voiceover): coming up, could someone else be behind this? you think there are other people who were covering up their own involvement in this? i do. andrea canning (voiceover): when "dateline" continues.

peter wold: all the evidence will show-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): travis stay's defense team faced a difficult task. prosecutors had portrayed their client as a two-faced killer, who changed personalities

after he had a few drinks in him and who, in a blind rage, had mercilessly beaten joe lovelien to death. travis stay is not guilty. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): in the defense's opening statement, attorney peter wold told jurors this was simply impossible. the beaten, drunken, small, stumbling travis stay was not capable of inflicting the multiple brutal injuries. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): wold, along with joe friedberg, defended travis. their argument to the jury, travis stay was too slight, too drunk, and too decent to have killed joel lovelien, a man who was trying to help travis. joel, they argued, was killed by the same halloween costume partygoers he was trying to protect travis from. first, travis's legal team had to address the image prosecutors had crafted.

was he, in fact, a cold-blooded killer prone to alcoholic rages? josh mankiewicz: the prosecution's theory, which was also the police theory, was that travis became a different person when he was drinking. they made that up out of whole air. if they had a witness that said that was travis's history, if they could provide anecdotal evidence that that had happened twice before, 100 times before, or once before, we never saw it. we never heard of it. and they never had a witness that said that. no. no. they had nobody to even sniff at that. they just made it up because it was clear to the jury that this was a nice young man. he's sitting unprotected in front of cops for hours, answering questions and willingly baring his soul to them.

he was credible. he leaned across in the second interview and said, you think it was me? we have to be as honest as we can about it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): next, the defense tried to convince jurors just how improbable it was that the 5 foot 7 travis could have hurt the 6 foot 3 joel at all, let alone when he was knee walking drunk. joe friedberg: when we read the autopsy and it gave the inches and pounds of the deceased, it said he outweighed him by 75 to 80 pounds, was 7 or 8 inches bigger. then it began to take on of a different color. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and so the defense offered some suspects of its own, the first people rounded up the night of the murder, that posse of costumed guys on the bus. mob mentality are a recipe for tragedy. you think there are other people

who were covering up their own involvement in this. i do. what do you think happened that night? i think that the cowboy, the gangster, and the construction worker came back outside and confronted joel and i. they didn't get back on the bus and leave us standing in the parking lot. i think that, you know, they beat us. they beat us both up. travis stay was-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the defense team tried to prove that. they conducted a withering cross-examination of the man who was wearing the cowboy costume that night. the cowboy admitted he had lied to police the night of the murder about not witnessing the fight between travis and the man in the hunter's costume. the defense wanted to know what else he might be lying about. joe friedberg: what is it that we can look for that will help us determine when you're telling the truth? i don't know. joe friedberg: well, if you don't know, who does?

i don't know. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the lawyer's strategy was to hammer away at the partygoers' shifting stories. joe friedberg: are you sure? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): under cross-examination, that crying clown, who cops found weeping and said things had gotten out of hand that night, now said on the stand, he didn't remember crying or being upset. joe friedberg: were you shaken up? do you remember that? i don't remember that. can i look at your shoes as well? yeah. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and as for that blood detective sholes noticed on travis's shoes during his initial interrogation, dna tests proved it was travis's, not joel's. i guess one possible source would be-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the defense introduced testimony suggesting travis might have gotten joel's blood on himself when he was trying to help joel, not hurt him. it appears somewhat evident in the photos-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): an er doctor who examined travis took the stand and concluded travis's hands would have been

far more battered and scuffed if he'd used them to beat joel. joe friedberg: do you find the injuries to mr. stay's hands consistent or inconsistent with having delivered the blows that did that damage? it would be inconsistent. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): prosecutors had argued that the party bus, along with all those theoretical suspects in it, was long gone at the time of joel's murder. but the defense countered that the broken drum security tape proved just the opposite. on that same tape was something important that police and prosecutors apparently missed-- the clown. everyone agrees the clown was on the bus when it left. but here he is, still in the bar after joel leaves, which means as long as the clown was in the bar, the bus was still in the parking lot. josh mankiewicz: you can see joel leave the bar. absolutely. and you can see the clown leave the bar. no doubt.

josh mankiewicz: three and a half minutes later. right. plenty of time for any of the people in that crowd to have confronted and attacked joel. and we know the cowboy, the gangster, the construction worker had already gone out, and the bus was still there. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): in court, the lead detective was forced to concede the police timeline was flawed. we know that they have three and a half minutes to do that, have this face-off, and be back on the bus, right? right. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): three and a half minutes, plenty of time for plenty of people other than travis stay to murder joel. travis never took the stand, leaving open the question of what the jury would make of his amnesia during the most important hour in his young life. josh mankiewicz: you had lost your memory before. right. because of alcohol. right. every time you went out and got drunk? no, not-- i mean not every time, but it was--

i didn't drink all that often, but when i did go out, i drank hard. what as far as you've been told, what's the worst thing that you ever did when you were drunk and didn't remember? certainly nothing violent. anybody ever tell you that your personality changed when you were drunk? no, my friends usually describe me as more of a happy-go-lucky. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): happy-go-lucky or a heartless murderer? seven men and five women would soon decide. andrea canning (voiceover): coming up, both sides confident of their cases. jurors would have a surprise for one of them, when "dateline" continues. my mental health was better. but uncontrollable movements called td, tardive dyskinesia, started disrupting my day. td felt embarrassing. i felt like disconnecting. i asked my doctor about treating my td,

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josh mankiewicz (voiceover): travis stay was looking at a real life halloween nightmare-- more than 60 years in jail if he was convicted of murdering joe lovelien. after a nine-day trial, jurors began deliberating. josh mankiewicz: are you feeling confident? absolutely. really? even though you're looking at what basically is life in a north dakota prison-- yep. --if you're convicted? i mean, i am nervous, but i was confident. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): joel's fiancée, heather, was also confident of a guilty verdict. it just seemed like, ok, we have the right guy. and yeah, done.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the jurors we spoke with said prosecutors presented their case as if it were open and shut. i would not say their style was cocky at all. they were confident. and they felt that they had enough evidence. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the jurors began examining the evidence and the testimony. one key issue was the prosecution's timeline in which the bus had gone by the time joel was killed. the bus was there at the time-- had to have been. the bus was there longer than the prosecution was saying. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jurors were also troubled by the clown. remember, he was found crying soon after joel was murdered. and that just struck me as completely odd, out of character for a young guy on a halloween night. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): they were also concerned by what the clown told police that evening. it was pretty important that he would actually say things got out of hand here. yes. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and they questioned why only travis stay's lion

costume was tested for blood. why didn't they examine any of the people's clothes that were on the bus? you know, why didn't they check anyone else, anything else, besides this lion? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it took the jury only about five hours to reach a verdict. juror: we, the jury, do find the defendant, travis robert stay, not guilty of--[] travis stay: my attorney said a quick verdict is a good verdict in this case. and he was right. it was vindication. reporter: travis, what are you going to do with your life now? any reaction to the verdict? were you surprised? josh mankiewicz: and then the verdict comes in. re-devastated. not guilty. yeah. i didn't understand that. i still don't understand that. i don't know everything, but i do know that joel's blood was found on one person. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): detective mike sholes. you don't think justice was done here. the fact that he's acquitted by jury

doesn't mean he's acquitted by me. there's not one stitch of physical evidence to suggest anybody else was involved other than speculation. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): grand forks police consider this case closed. and in an unusual move, some of the evidence was destroyed. dateline contacted the cowboy, the gangster, and the construction worker who were all on that bus. all declined our requests for on-camera interviews, but told us on the phone that, as they've maintained from day one, they had absolutely nothing to do with joel lovelien's murder, and they feel they've been unfairly accused by the defense. people talk. and when you're accused of something like this, i'm sure it has a negative impact on your reputation. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): since the trial, even joel's parents have been divided over travis's guilt. joel's mom believes he is most likely guilty. but joel's stepdad thinks travis didn't do it. travis was so drunk, he couldn't

hit the ground with his hat. so how is he going to beat up a 240-pound fellow that's 6 foot 3 or 4, when he can hardly stand up himself? do you think there are people out there who know more than they're saying? yes. people other than travis? yes. somebody knows something. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): joel's daughter alexa is left with just memories of her dad. he was kind of like my best friend. when you remember him, what do you think about? he laughed a lot. you know, he liked to make other people laugh. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): travis stay never became a nurse. after going through the legal system himself, he enrolled in law school and became a practicing attorney. the last time we spoke with travis, he wanted to publicly apologize to joe lovelien's family. i'm sorry for being a part of the equation that night. you know, i drank too much, and it was irresponsible. it was reckless.

it was short-sighted and regrettable. but, you know, i didn't kill joel. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the idea behind this night at the end of october is that all that fear, danger, and horror are supposed to be imaginary, manufactured for the child living in every one of us. children: trick or treat! josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but of course, there is genuine evil out there, no matter what the calendar says. and sadly, sometimes the horror of halloween is the real thing. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning. thank you for watching. ♪♪ this sunday, deadlocked.