best in the world, isn't that unbelievable? it sure is. >> you are the reason i don't get sleep, that i am up late, because of the great job you do. >> wow, thank you. my favorite guest, all right! everyone, thank you all for joining us, we leave you on that note. remember catch the nightcap again, tomorrow night. if this was not fun enough, at 11:00 p.m. tomorrow eastern right here on to madrid for now we are signing off, from our colleagues across the nbc networks things for staying up late, see you again on monday. . dallas sonnier: i got a phone call. they said, "your father was found killed in his home." nathan gilmore: i can remember, his face was laying face-down in the garage.

andrea canning: how many times had he been stabbed? 11. that does not sound like a random burglary. dallas sonnier: he had no idea that he was in any danger. i hate knowing that. zach johnson: while they're standing in the kitchen talking, they see a flash. there's one rule in homicide, and it's somebody always knows something. jealousy and rage. that's what we have here. andrea canning: this is, remarkably, still not over. still not over. philip prestwood: there's always that lingering doubt, are you going to solve this? [uplifting music] dance, dance, dance. dance, dance, dance.

andrea canning: memories of a family man. she's a dancing girl. andrea canning: a doctor. missy bartlett: he is the most intelligent person that i know. andrea canning: a lover. woman: he would look at me and he would say, "how did i ever find you?" andrea canning: a good man. dallas sonnier: he was the ultimate support system for everybody in his life. andrea canning: finally savoring life's rewards. until he found himself in the crosshairs of someone's obsession. philip prestwood: there's tons of gossip and innuendo, especially in a small town in west texas. i mean, this story on its own is so sensational. andrea canning: july 11, 2012. a warm summer afternoon in lubbock, texas. landscapers becky sherbet and nathan gilmore were getting down to work outside this spacious home. the owner, dr. joe sonnier, was the chief pathologist as they walked around the yard,

someone pulled up to the house. it was a girl from dr. sonnier's lab. and she was concerned that dr. sonnier had not shown up. andrea canning: odd, because it was a weekday and they assumed the doctor wasn't home. i mean, i certainly don't know his work schedule, but i know him as a person, he would not be late. so we-- we all walked to the front, and i was thinking, maybe he was sick and i was concerned. and we rang the doorbell and we couldn't ever get anyone to answer. andrea canning: so the three of them, the landscapers, and the woman from the doctor's lab went around to the back. becky sherbet: the back of the house is all windows. and i thought maybe i could knock on his window and just make sure he was ok. when i got to the back, one whole section of windows had been just laid over in the house. andrea canning: they peered inside. and there was a gatorade bottle, which was kind of a strange thing.

and you could tell, something terrible had happened. so the young lady behind us immediately went in, and i went after her. andrea canning: that's when nathan found a shell casing on the floor, and becky called 911. nathan and the woman from the lab continued searching through the home. nathan gilmore: and she starts looking in the rooms. and it's a big home. and it seemed like it took forever to go through that home. andrea canning: they searched further and eventually made their way to the garage. and that's where they found dr. joe sonnier sprawled out in a pool of blood.

and i can remember his face was laying. and she automatically started crying. and she stayed his name, dr. sonnier. and she knew that he had passed. andrea canning: nathan returned to the backyard to his co-worker becky. his face told her everything. she was still on the phone with 911. detective zach johnson was sent to the scene. what was your reaction when you heard the address of the murder? i was a little surprised. i knew that we were going into an affluent neighborhood. we were going into a very low-crime neighborhood. andrea canning: an officer at the house briefed him when he arrived. zach johnson: i was told we have a deceased person in the garage of the home.

we don't know exactly how long they've been there. there is blood coming out from underneath the body. and the blood had actually traveled from underneath this body all the way underneath the garage door. and the garage door was closed. andrea canning: dr. sonnier's body was riddled with bullets and stab wounds. what happened? the first guess was an easy one. it could have been a botched burglary. zach johnson: you know, your first instinct is, man, somebody broke into this house in this affluent neighborhood probably to take some things of great value and they were surprised by the homeowner. andrea canning: but not in this case. zach johnson: there were no signs of any body going through looking for things to try to take. and the way that that house was set up, i mean, you could look in there through that window-- i mean, and if you were like a burglar, you would be, oh yeah, this is a big score. and all of those wonderful pieces of artwork and items were still in place, hadn't even been touched.

[somber music] andrea canning: the detective moved through the house trying to imagine what happened. zach johnson: i just walked up and visualized the point of entry. and from where i was at, i could see that the window was pushed in. there was no broken glass, which was very curious to me. andrea canning: johnson also noticed an overturned chair near the dining room table, a glass tumbler with spilled liquid, and those shell casings on the floor. zach johnson: and there was a thought that maybe he had been at that table fixing a drink or something, and-- and he may have been surprised. andrea canning: bloodstains were found in the hallway to the garage. it appeared the doctor tried to get away from his attacker. and there was something peculiar about that gatorade bottle found on the floor. zach johnson: the bottom of it is blown out. and for the gatorade bottle to be blown out like that, i just made the determination that it was possibly a silencer because we did have bullet casings in that immediate area. how many times had dr. sonnier been shot?

he had been shot five times. andrea canning: and how many times had he been stabbed? 11. what did that tell you right there? a shooting is very hands-off, right? i can stand here and i can shoot somebody 25 feet away. but a stabbing is very hands-on, it's very personal, in your face. and so you're dealing with a personal killing and a killer that had no problem with making sure that this person is dead. andrea canning: but who? and why dr. sonnier? soon, the detective would have a list of suspects. coming up. his grown children say the doctor seemed like an unlikely target for a killer. dallas sonnier: there was nobody who could have wanted him dead in his personal life of friends and relatives and neighbors and things like that. andrea canning: and something almost unimaginable. this was not the first murder in this family. dallas sonnier: my mother was killed

two years almost to the day before my dad was murdered. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. mr. clean magic eraser... wow - where has this been my entire life? trying to figure out okay - what am i going to use on the shower? i don't have to think about that. with magic eraser... i use it on everyday messes. i even use it on things that i think are impossible to clean. you just add water, and then i'm good to go. i can go from the countertop, to the stove, to the microwave, and just use one magic eraser. if you're a mom, you need mr. clean magic eraser in your life. it gets the job done. (♪♪) from celebration moments... ...to joyride moments. your moments are worth protecting against rsv. rsv is a highly contagious virus if you're 60 or older with certain chronic conditions, you're at higher risk of being hospitalized from rsv. and there are no prescription rsv treatments. you know how to protect against covid and flu.

so ask your pharmacist or doctor about scheduling pfizer's rsv vaccine, too. because moments like these matter.

your business needs a network it can count on... even during the unexpected. power's out! -power's out! power's out! comcast business has got you covered, with wifi backup to help keep you up and running. wifi's up. let's power on! let's power on! -let's power on! it's from the company with 99.9% network reliability. let's power on!

power on with the leader in connectivity. get wifi backup for your business, or get started with comcast business internet. and for a limited time, get an $800 holiday bonus. call today. [ominous music] dr. joe sonnier was handsome, well-liked, and successful. now, his showcase home in lubbock, texas, was a crime scene. the doctor's body found in a pool of blood in his otherwise pristine garage. how big was this case here in lubbock, texas? it was probably the biggest high-profile case in lubbock in recent memory. it involved a very prominent physician, and it was in a affluent neighborhood. and because of those two things, it scared a lot of people. why in the world would somebody like this be-- you know, be a target of a-- a real vicious crime? andrea canning: lubbock police notified his family.

missy bartlett is his sister, philip prestwood is a close family friend, and dallas sonnier is the doctor's oldest son. how did you all get the terrible news of-- of what had happened? they said, "your father was found killed in his home. can you please let your family know? and would you please come to lubbock, we need to sit down with you and the family members and talk." and so we got our family together, we met in lubbock the next day. andrea canning: they spoke with police when they arrived and learned the awful details of the murder. do you think about his last moments? i do. andrea canning: how horrible they must have been? to think about him lying there, i hate that feeling. i hate that image. i hate knowing that he's a big boy. andrea canning: and adding to the pain. dallas sonnier: he was on the cusp of retirement age, spending time with his grandkids, travel the world,

and it was just all taken away from him, and as he was stabbed on his garage floor. joseph sonnier: dancing. do you want to say it some more? dance, dance, dance. dance, dance, dance. dance. family member: happy feet. [laughter] andrea canning: joe sonnier was a man of means by the time he was killed, but it wasn't always that way. missy bartlett: we weren't poor, but just regular. walked to school. he didn't have a car in high school. went to public schools, public colleges. did he express an interest in medicine? yes. andrea canning: from a young age? was he trying to always help people? missy bartlett: i can remember when we were very young, and we would go and we would play outside, and he was always concerned with what happened if we hurt ourselves. and he had plans for if we were bitten by snakes

and how he was going to take care of that. was he a protector? missy bartlett: yes, i think he was. yes. andrea canning: and when he grew up, joe sonnier went to medical school, had a successful career, and a marriage that gave him a beautiful family. what was he like as a dad? dallas sonnier: it was great growing up with him as a dad. i will admit, we were a handful. you know, three boys in his house growing up, and he handled it great. he was able to identify our strengths and really encourage us, you know, and push us to be the best we could. he kind of had one rule. if you made a's and you were respectful person, that you really didn't have any other rules. and so we were able to learn self-control and respect for other people by having a longer leash than, say, most kids, because he trusted us. and we had a blast.

we had a blast growing up. andrea canning: philip prestwood lived in the same neighborhood as the sonniers. he credits joe with helping him turn his life around. at one point in my life, my dad wasn't in the picture. and i didn't adjust to that very well. he took me in as a son, and, you know, i started doing fine in school and acting like a grown-up. andrea canning: in 2001, joe suffered a blow he never saw coming. his wife left him for another man. dallas sonnier: and it floored him. it knocked him down a rung emotionally. and so he found himself, in his late 40s, a single man with his three sons off to college and starting their adult lives. andrea canning: and that's when joe decided to make a change. he remade his image after the divorce. andrea canning: he picked up a hobby that turned into a passion-- ballroom dancing. it was social, challenging, and he was good at it. trish berlanga: i think that's probably why he liked the ballroom scene, is because he was making friends quickly. and that was good.

andrea canning: trish berlanga was joe's dance teacher in 2004, but she stopped teaching him and began dating him. they were together off and on until 2011. trish berlanga: he was a gentleman through and through. he opened doors, pulled out your chair, put on your coat. andrea canning: there's not a lot of men out there like that anymore. the true gentleman, the chivalry. trish berlanga: no, there's not. he was the total package. he really was. he was a gentleman in every way. andrea canning: how big was dancing in your relationship? trish berlanga: wherever we went, we always danced. meaning that if we were in a store shopping, they always play music in stores. and we would just into a dance right there in the middle of the store. and the salespeople loved it. [ballroom music] andrea canning: dance remained a mainstay of joe's social life. you can see him here in this video. debra hollowell: he loves to do every style of dance. and i roll in. andrea canning: debra hollowell owned a venue dance studio in lubbock.

joe became a regular, dancing six nights a week, taking lessons and joining dance parties. he was good for business, she says. debra hollowell: it helped. a lot more people would come out here and dance while he was here because people loved him. people loved being around him. andrea canning: and then one day, in 2011, after he broke up with trish, richelle shetina walked in the door. rachelle was 49 years old and a divorced mother of four. she and joe hit it off right away. debra hollowell: they were extremely happy. every time i saw them, they were smiling and laughing and joking around with each other. andrea canning: they'd only been going out a few months when joe put her to the ultimate test-- the meet-my-kids date. dallas sonnier: my dad told us that he had been dating a new woman, and he wanted to bring her over to a barbecue we were at. i thought she was sophisticated. i thought she was kind. i thought she was lovely. so they just kept getting more serious. was it evident? seemed like it, yeah. andrea canning: they had been together for close to a year

when joe was savagely killed in his own home. now, everyone in joe's life was struggling to understand what happened. dallas sonnier: there was nobody who could have wanted him dead in his personal life of friends and relatives and neighbors and things like that. andrea canning: this was devastating enough, but even more tragic, it was the second murder in this family. dallas sonnier: the worst part was, my mother was killed two years almost to the day before my dad was murdered. andrea canning: she had been killed by her second husband. dallas sonnier: looking back on it, the phone calls from the two police departments for each of their deaths was so similar that i felt like it could have been the same phone call repeated twice. andrea canning: as for detective johnson, he knew this would be no ordinary investigation. this was all hands-on-deck for this murder?

yes, ma'am. andrea canning: detectives immediately began speaking with everyone close to dr. sonnier, beginning with his girlfriend, richelle shetina. coming up. was someone spying on the doctor and richelle? when "dateline" continues. [coughing] copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath and often out of the picture. but this is my story. and with once-daily trelegy,

it can still be beautiful. and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪what a wonderful world♪ [woman soft laughing] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night.

about once-daily trelegy for copd as detective johnson was surveying the crime scene, richelle shetina, dr. joe sonnier's girlfriend, arrived at his home. what's her demeanor? how's she acting? she is distraught. she-- no makeup, clothes like she had been doing housework.

like, she had just got in her car and flew out to where we were. andrea canning: he asked rochelle to come to the police station. she was barely able to contain her tears as she spoke about joe. detective johnson asked richelle when she last saw or spoke to her boyfriend. she said joe was supposed to call her the night before, but never did, so she sent him a text.

and richelle also gave the detective other details she thought he should know. she said there had been some troubling incidents in the months before the murder. she believed someone was following her. one time, she noticed a strange man in the parking lot of her gym. and later that night, back at joe's house, she said something odd happened in the backyard. but the detective's key question for richelle was,

could she think of anyone who might want her boyfriend dead? she gave the detective several names, beginning with her ex-boyfriend's.

they had been together about a year and a half, and it wasn't easy, she said.

so you clearly needed to talk to mike dixon? yes. is he your next stop? yes. he was in amarillo, so i knew that i needed to get to him as quickly as i could because this investigation is very new. do you just hop in your car and drive to amarillo? about 10:30 at night on the 11th of july, we are knocking on dr. dixon's door. andrea canning: coming up. did a broken heart lead to murder? when "dateline" continues. [ominous music]

hi, i am hayes thinking richard lui-- project 2025 announcing that one of the chief architects of that policy blueprint is his bid for the office of management and budget trump saying russell vought will be an aggressive cost cutter and the regulator. trump also picking hedge fund manager for secretary of treasury, including tax cuts and tariffs. for now, back to "dateline." d, d, detectives set out on a two-hour drive to amarillo to speak to mike dixon. they arrived at his home at 10:30 that night.

the meeting was recorded. was he very accommodating? did he want a lawyer? was it an easy thing happening? zach johnson: yes, yes. he was very nice. he was-- in fact, he and i sat down in his living room. he offered us something to drink, and had no problem with us coming into his house and talking with him. andrea canning: johnson wanted to hear about mike dixon's relationship with richelle, and he was quite open about it.

he talked about the good times.

their relationship ended, he said, over more than that tea of the month club gift. dixon seemed to have nothing to hide. he readily admitted trying to woo richelle back after they broke up. he seemed to accept that it was over. he even had another girlfriend who was at the house when he was questioned.

police wanted to know where had he been earlier that day, a wednesday, when joe sonnier's body was discovered. and where was he the day before? zach johnson: at that time, we didn't know exactly a time of death. we didn't know what happened. so the best information i had was that dr. sonnier was murdered that day, and so where was he that day? and now, you know, give me the time 24/7 hours before, can you recall that? andrea canning: so dixon told the detective where he was, starting on tuesday. when he finished, he said he had lunch with his girlfriend and they met up again later as well. after dinner, he said he went to his office for a while. then he and his girlfriend were at home from 7:30 on. wednesday was similar.

that's about the time joe sonnier's boit seemed as if dixon was nowhere near the crime scene. plus, he was calm and cooperative. zach johnson: we photographed his person to make sure he doesn't have any injuries. i get a dna sample from him. did he have any injuries? he had no injuries whatsoever. andrea canning: on their way out, the detectives learned one other detail. on tuesday night, after dixon and his girlfriend got home from dinner, a friend had stopped by. the friend's name was david shepard. detective johnson called him the next morning. zach johnson: and the first thing out of his mouth is that, "detective, you are wasting your time looking at dr. dixon. he is a very nice guy, and he has nothing to do with this." andrea canning: sure enough, shepard vouched for dixon. yes, he was at his house that night to pick up cigars.

his alibis checked out, so-- zach johnson: they did. we had checked him out. "surgeries is where i was." we went to the restaurant to see if we could obtain a receipt from them. and he had also said, "i can even fax you the receipt that i was at this particular restaurant on this day and time." are you thinking, ok, he's probably not involved? yes. i didn't have anything to tell us that he was involved. andrea canning: a promising lead that went nowhere. detective johnson moved on. there were more people to investigate-- the women in joe sonnier's life. coming up. did joe's former dance instructor and girlfriend make a wrong step? zach johnson: according to richelle, the relationship had not ended on a very good note. andrea canning: so this woman, in richelle's eyes, was maybe looking for revenge? sure. did they ask you if you killed joe? yes. yes. they asked me point blank. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues.

air wick. every year millions of noses are ghosted by their plug-ins. new air wick advanced. our ground-breaking plug-in that pulses scent for staying power, up to 60 days. plus a fragrance boost button. our noses won't be ignored again.

life has twists and curls. but you define them and make them bounce. tresemme flawless curls defining mousse. 24 hour. hydrating curl definition. style your life the way you want. ♪♪ tresemme, style your way. [ screeching ] [ chuckling ] [ vocalizing ] that's a choice. [ vocalizing ] think of what we could do together. ic] zach johnson: richelle, anything and everything that you can tell us-- andrea canning: richelle shetina had lots to tell detective johnson when

they spoke that first night. she suggested he talk to her ex-boyfriend, but that didn't pan out. he had an alibi. plus, he was a respected doctor who had never even met joe sonnier. now, the detective focused on some other possible leads richelle had mentioned. months before joe died, richelle received a bizarre letter. it was from someone rochelle had never heard of. a woman named tina. the money stopped, tina's letter said, and she was angry. joe adamantly denied knowing this person.

joe also told his family about the letter. dallas sonnier: my dad's only reaction to that letter, immediate reaction, was, "that is not me. take that letter to the police right now." he was serious. because he was innocent of anything that letter stated. that letter was a farce. i mean, it's one thing to just say i didn't write that, i have no idea who this person is. it's another thing to swas a complete sham. andrea canning: the detective wanted to know more. the letter had been postmarked in lubbock, but since the mysterious woman gave no last name, there wasn't much to go on. so johnson turned to two other women who richelle thought might have a reason to harm joe. they were less mysterious. they both had actually dated the doctor. one was an old flame who couldn't get over their breakup. so upset, she continually left messages, sometimes full of vulgarities, on joe's phone.

andrea canmotive? correct. andrea canning: investigators spoke to her and ruled her out. there was just nothing there at all. andrea canning: what about that second ex-girlfriend? richelle told the detective that relationship ended just before she met joe.

according to rochelle, the relationship had not ended on a very good note. so this woman, in richelle's eyes, was maybe looking for revenge? zach johnson: sure. yeah, revenge. maybe she wanted to get back with him. and he told her, no, i'm in love with richelle. a lot of those were pretty credible reasons that we had to consider. andrea canning: this woman was trish berlanga. you'll recall, she was joe's dance instructor before they started dating. trish had already called police when she learned about the murder, offering to help.

what kind of questions are they asking you? trish berlanga: well, of course, where i was. did i want to see him dead? and, like, just really ridiculous questions, i thought. did they ask you if you killed joe? yes. yes. they asked me point blank. what did you say? no. absolutely not. andrea canning: and according to trish, what rochelle told police about her never happened. rochelle said that you frequently reached out to joe until he finally had to tell you it was over and essentially to stop. trish berlanga: huh. if two phone conversations in 10 months and two text messages is a lot, i guess. i don't see it that way. i was not begging him to-- to get back together. i knew he was with richelle. i don't go around and break people up. [laughs] even if it's someone i love. andrea canning: after speaking to trish, detectives knew they were looking at the wrong woman. zach johnson: we pushed her buttons.

tried to get any kind of motive out of her for jealousy. and it was obvious that that woman was deeply in love with dr. sonnier. she never wished ill on him for a minute. it was obvious to us that she had nothing to do with that murder. i love you, too. bye. andrea canning: but what about richelle? she seemed helpful. maybe too helpful? police wondered if she could possibly be trying to deflect attention away from herself. richelle is telling you all these things, that she's being stalked, they are being stalked. are you able to rule her out as a suspect? not at that very moment. you you've got to consider, as an investigator, ok, she's given me three names. and she's given me a lot of details about all these three people. is this a misdirection or is this a legitimate, "i want to tell the police what i know?" at that point, i don't have that luxury of not looking

at her as a possible suspect. please state your name, ma'am. richelle shetina. zach johnson: ok. andrea canning: so the detective took a closer look at richelle's story. remember, the night before his body was found, she said joe was supposed to call her at home, but never did, and he never answered her texts. zach johnson: in my mind, this is the love of her life. she's very distraught, yet she calls him, and it's very uncharacteristic for him not to answer the phone. but we don't go to the house, we don't call anybody to go and check on him. to me, that was a little bit suspicious ow to me, that was a these people are involved. andrea canning: and when johnson spoke to the famy, he learned the rela marriage. was he open to marriage? again? missy bartlett: i don't think that he was looking for that. he was finding himself free to--

to explore the world, explore women. was richelle content with just, you know, being boyfriend and girlfriend. and just enjoying life? based on what joe told us repeatedly and how stressed out he was, no. she was putting the clamps on him to get married. andrea canning: all of this raised a red flag for police. richelle is on your radaon y? yes, she is. coming up. did you think, this is going to be a tough one to solve? it was going to be a tough one to solve, but there's one rule in homicide, and it's somebody always knows something. andrea canning: in this case, someone seemed to know everything. when "dateline" continues. some people just know ould save hundreds on car insurance by checking allstate first. okay, let's get going. can everybody see that?

like you know to check your desktop first, before sharing your screen. ahh..that is not. uhh, oh no. no no no. i don't know how that got in there. no. that, uhh. yeah, checking first is smart. okay, uhh. everybody get out. so check allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. you're in good hands with allstate. 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, and learned about ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ ingrezza is clinically proven to treat td, quickly reducing td by greater than five times at two weeks. number-one prescribed ingrezza has dosing that's always one pill, once daily. and you can keep taking most mental health meds. ingrezza can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease. call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden behavior or mood changes, or suicidal thoughts.

don't take ingrezza if allergic. serious side effects may include allergic reactions like sudden, potentially fatal swelling and hives, sleepiness, the most common side effect, and heart rhythm problems. know how ingrezza affects you before operating a car or dangerous machinery. report fever, stiff muscles, or problems thinking, as these might be life threatening. shaking, stiffness, drooling, and trouble with moving or balance may occur. take control by asking your doctor about ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ [clears throat] sounds like you need to vaporize that sore throat. vapocool drops? it's sore throat relief with a rush of vicks vapors. ♪ vapocooooool ♪ whoa. vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops.

drop everything and get some magic of your own during the xfinity black friday sale. xfinity internet customers, our best deals of the year are back! switch to xfinity mobile and get your choice of a free 5g phone, plus your next unlimited line free for a year. get amazing savings and connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go with xfinity mobile.

fly don't walk to get our best deals of the year. connect to the world of wicked this holiday, in theaters now. [mysterious music] after dr. jo sonnier's brutal murder, his family was inundated with sympathy from people all over lubbock. people from dance, covenant hospital. strangers on the street would come up to us and tell us how much he meant to them. waiters at restaurants were coming up to us and telling us a story about when my dad used to eat there and how nice he was to them and they remembered that. andrea canning: detectives, meanwhile, had interviewed several women who had been involved with dr. sonnier, including his current girlfriend, richelle shetina. did she stay on your radar or did she start to fade away as a suspect? she faded away once we engaged her and looked at her phone records,

locations, and involvement. there was just nothing there to connect her. andrea canning: they hit a dead end. you were essentially out of leads? zach johnson: yes, we were. did you think, this is going to be a tough one to solve? it was going to be a tough one to solve, but there's one rule in homicide, and it's somebody always knows something. the question is, are they going to come forward? andrea canning: july 15, four days after joe's body was found, someone did. police got a call from a man with a crazy tale, a tale that would lead investigators down a road no one could have imagined. zach johnson: --special forces, were you-- andrea canning: the caller's name was paul reynolds, a former green beret who was a nursing assistant, and still in his scrubs when he came to talk to police. reynolds lived in oregon, but was in texas staying with an old friend from high school. in the weeks before the murder, reynolds noticed his friend was acting strange.

and the stories continued. then it got worse. the friend tried to kill himself several times with sleeping pills, insulin, and he slit his wrist.

and that's when he told reynolds that he shot a doctor in lubbock. he was waiting for him in his backyard. that got detective johnson's attention.

this detail matched what happened at joe sonnier's. zach johnson: he entered the home through a very large window. and the glass in the window didn't break. well, nobody knew that. we hadn't released that information. this is huge. that's huge, that's huge. andrea canning: that wasn't the only detail reynolds knew. reynolds then went on to tell the detective about that gatorade bottle. well, we knew that was huge, too, because once again, we hadn't released that information either. so these are all little details. that there's no way someone could know who didn't have inside knowledge.

that is correct, that's correct. andrea canning: and there was more. reynolds said someone else was involved in the murder. someone wealthy, prominent. turns out, both people were names the detectives had already heard before. coming up. zach johnson: i couldn't believe it. and i was like, i think we got him. i think we've got good information. nobody knows this. andrea canning: a motive for murder. with a shiny payoff. when "dateline" continues.

narrator: investigators can search years for a clue to crack a case wide open. some get a lucky break from out of nowhere. and that's what happened to detective zach johnson in the joe sonnier murder investigation. interviewer: you said yourself someone always knows somebody.