come running in through the door saying what's for dinner? and there's no-- i will never have any kind of parole from that. that is my life sentence. narrator: she's serving it one night at a time, because the wee small hours of the morning still call to mary bennett, reading the bible and waiting for dawn while the whole wide world is fast asleep. [theme music] i'm andrea canning, and this is "dateline." vehe had gone off the road into this creek bed. she was face up in about ankle-deep water. terry tinker: she's got severe injuries to her head. andrea canning: little did you know, the mystery that was about to unfold.

i go into the living room, and i see blood all over the place. went into the bathroom, there's more blood. the whole time, we're thinking, it was a car wreck and now, what happened? i told my brother, this is how people get away with murder. andrea canning: the rumor mill is in overdrive. kay black: is in overdrive. there was gossip, that there was an affair. sex, lies, and a christian bike club who would have thought exactly this was just tearing her apart you really can't make this up. there's no other way to describe a human being like that satan's spawn hello and welcome to "dateline." when judy orr met jamie baldwin, he swept her off her feet. then, jamie said judy suffered not one, but two accidents in the same night, and she was gone. detectives believed the grieving husband,

but her family launched their own investigation. their question? was this a case of bad luck or the handiwork of a clever killer? here is "the black box." [dial tones and dialing] [water trickling] andrea canning: the slow-moving water, chilled by the december air, trickled over her lifeless body. she was one of my biggest supporters, and she's not here anymore. andrea canning: how this wife, mother, and grandmother ended up in this creek would consume her family for years. i'm not going to give up until i find what really happened.

andrea canning: do you get a lot of car crashes, as the coroner? we do. andrea canning: terry tinker, the coroner for chester county, south carolina, had been called here, to the site of a fatal traffic accident. it was right before midnight on december 14, 2016. a husband and wife were in their jeep when it ran off the road, ending up down by this creek. terry tinker: and when it got to the bottom, the nose of the jeep was right here. andrea canning: he was told, the 53-year-old woman had been ejected. terry tinker: and i saw that lady laying in the creek. i knew who she was. who was it? judy baldwin. andrea canning: you're-- my friend. andrea canning: terry had known judy orr baldwin most of his life. that must have been just such a shock to the system to see that. it was. a long-time friend laying in the creek. andrea canning: the coroner noticed some unusual markings on judy's face-- deep, dark, blackened circles around her eyes.

i'm seeing a lot of bulging eyes, what a lot of people call raccoon eyes. how do you get those raccoon eyes? is there one kind of-- terry tinker: from probably-- way? --brain injury. andrea canning: driving the jeep was judy's husband-- jamie baldwin. he suffered minor injuries. jamie told first responders, they were traveling down this dark, rural road when he swerved to avoid hitting a truck. his out-of-control jeep then careened down a side embankment and crashed into the creek. he said he was knocked out, and when he came to, judy's limp body was in the creek a few feet away. he called 911. andrea canning: jamie had already been taken away in an ambulance, when detective chris reynolds, with the chester county sheriff's office,

arrived on the scene. i actually took my flashlight. i looked in. i saw a cloth with blood on it, blood on the seat. andrea canning: the detective saw the jeep's door open, where judy apparently had been ejected. what's your first instinct of this scene? it's an accident. until it's proven something else, it's an accident. andrea canning: that same night, judy's two sons, josh and chris orr, each got late night phone calls. they were only told their mom had been in a car crash, and they needed to get to the hospital right away. josh orr: i was the first one there, and i run into the emergency side, and i was, like, where's judy orr baldwin at? and they were like, we don't-- we don't have a judy orr baldwin. and i was, like, they've been in a wreck. i said, is jamie baldwin here? andrea canning: josh found his stepdad, jamie, in a hospital room. i was, like, where's my mom at? he was, like, she didn't make it. i was, like, what do you mean, she didn't make it? and he said, she's dead.

andrea canning: chris arrived shortly after and got the terrible news. he asked his stepdad, what happened? and all he said was, i wish, it would have been me. it felt like a dream. i mean, i was, like, i cannot believe we're going through this, again. andrea canning: yeah, because your dad died. tragically. andrea canning: their dad, judy's first husband, died in a motorcycle accident 12 years earlier. it just seemed unbelievable to now lose their mom also in a crash. so here you are, having to say goodbye to your other parent-- your mom. that's really, a hard thing to do-- it is. andrea canning: --to lose both of your parents at such a young age. josh orr: i know nothing's perfect, but our family was-- we didn't have any problems, and we were all happy, and our parents are gone. andrea canning: terry tinker: around 6:30 that morning, judy's 23-year-old niece jesse mcwaters was sound asleep when her phone rang. her dad gave her the tragic news, that her aunt, known

as little judy because she was just 4 foot 11, had been killed. and he said, little judy's dead. and i was, like, what are you talking about? he said, little judy is dead. i just started screaming and crying. i woke up everybody in that house. andrea canning: when judy's nephew heard the news, he realized, his aunt's beloved yorkie was all alone. so early in the morning, he headed over to judy's house. rodney wright: the whole time, i'm thinking, i'm just going to the house to get the dog. andrea canning: rodney wright wasn't prepared for what he saw once he walked inside that house. it was a shock. i couldn't believe it. i go into the living room, and i see blood all over the place, blood in the floor. went into the bathroom, there's more blood. i mean, the whole time, we're thinking it was a car wreck, and now, what happened? a family horrified, mystified, and looking for answers. investigators are about to ask questions of the one person

who knows just what happened that evening. coming up-- andrea canning: --what jamie says happened to judy-- andrea canning: --and then, the clue that baffled the coroner-- andrea canning: so this was going to be the key area-- terry tinker: this was the-- andrea canning: --in the autopsy. --key thing right there. andrea canning: --when "dateline." continues. how are folks 60 and older having fun these days? family cookouts! ♪♪ playing games! ♪♪ dancing in the par... (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound)

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now awake and increasingly now awake and increasingly emboldened. told you it's just a few hours after judy orr baldwin was found dead at the scene of a car crash, her nephew was stunned to find blood in her house-- a lot of it. he had no idea what was going on. it was so confusing. stuff just didn't add up. andrea canning: turns out, there was an explanation. judy's husband told investigators, there had actually been two accidents that night. judy had taken a terrible fall at home-- the reason for all that blood. they were on their way to the hospital when they crashed. jesse mcwaters: i was in complete shock that she was gone. andrea canning: now, judy's family, including her niece, was grieving. jesse mcwaters: she was the bright light in a dark room. she really was. andrea canning: was judy a romantic? did she believe in true love? jesse mcwaters: she did believe in true love, just because she had experienced it.

todd was her one true love. andrea canning: todd was her first husband, who died in that motorcycle crash. jesse mcwaters: i think, after he passed, she was kind of longing for that love, and she wanted to be loved like that, again. was judy lonely? jesse mcwaters: she was lonely. she wanted somebody, for sure. andrea canning: so judy's family was happy when she started dating jamie baldwin-- a former police officer and 911 operator. the couple had a whirlwind romance, and after just eight months, they married in 2012. how did you feel that your mom was with a former police officer? safe, protecting somebody, that would help her if she was in need, somebody that had her back. did they seem happy? josh orr: oh, yeah. they were extremely happy, and her being happy, i'm extremely happy. andrea canning: detective chris reynolds, who knew judy personally, was looking into her death as part of a routine investigation. chris reynolds: i knew miss judy for a very long time, ever since i was a child.

did you like her? chris reynolds: oh, yes. everybody liked her or loved her. andrea canning: the detective had never met judy's husband, but wanted more details on what happened that night. so about a week after her death, he asked jamie to come down to the sheriff's office. why do you bring him in, even though you believe that this is an accident? we're crossing our t's and dotting the i's. i want to make sure i have everything covered. andrea canning: jamie said he had mostly recovered from his minor injuries. emotionally, though, he said he had a lot of healing to do. her all the way down? i could her all the way down? i could have done that for.

andrea canning: jamie said the night judy died, he and his wife were decorating their christmas tree. he then, briefly stepped outside to put some tools away in his shed. andrea canning: jamie said, he assumed judy fell off the ladder and hit her head on the mantel. on the floor were two stocking holders. one of them was broken. andrea canning: jamie told the detective, he grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom and put pressure on her wound, but the bleeding didn't stop. he thought judy needed stitches. andrea canning: although chester hospital was a few minutes from their house, he said the couple got into their jeep and started driving to a bigger

hospital 30 minutes away. going to be painful. and she looked up at me and she said, i love you. >> i said, i love you too. >> and i looked up and i'm pretty sure. >> it. >> was a truck. it was. >> was a truck. it was. >> like andrea canning: and that's when he said, they went flying down that embankment, ending up in the creek. jamie said the impact of the crash knocked him out. gigantic. this like a i'll walk you back out the back door over here. andrea canning: after about an hour, the interview was finished. jamie's story seemed to match what the seasoned detective

had seen for himself, like that bloody washcloth in the jeep and when he went to the house the night of the accident. chris reynolds: i see blood around the metal and blood on the floor. and i did see the latter leaned up toward the christmas tree at the time. andrea canning: does the blood look consistent with a possible fall-- yes. andrea canning: --from a ladder? chris reynolds: yes. it's an accident. as of right now, it's an accident. andrea canning: while detective reynolds was continuing his investigation, the coroner was still trying to figure out, what caused judy's death? he wanted to know more about the large wound on her forehead. terry tinker: there was no damage to her legs, none to her arms. all of it was concentrated around her head. so this was going to be the key area-- terry tinker: this was the-- andrea canning: --in the autopsy. --key thing right there. andrea canning: he concluded, judy died from a skull fracture caused by some sort of blunt force trauma to her head. and those raccoon eyes were the result of a large amount of blood accumulated in her skull, but the coroner struggled to figure out,

what caused that fracture? terry tinker: i needed to know, what do you think she fell against? what was told by mr. baldwin? she struck her head on the mantle, she might have fallen on the stocking holder, but all this stuff's got to be added up. andrea canning: he had to determine, if the fatal injury happened during that fall at her house or during the car accident. even though judy had two autopsies before she was buried, the coroner couldn't reach a conclusion so her death certificate read "pending investigation." and police aren't the only ones investigating. judy's family and friends have questions, too, and what they discover will cast doubt on jamie's story. coming up-- i'm surprised i did it because i was in such shock, but i knew, in my heart, that something else had happened. andrea canning: --jesse becomes suspicious about her aunt's death and takes matters into her own hands. you decided to record the call. i did record it. andrea canning: and then, was someone in this family

harboring a secret, an eye-popping story? sex, lies, and a christian bike club. exactly. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. >> for pet tips for us. >> joint health. >> comes first. >> and it starts with cosequin. our dogs are like athletes in the. >> ring, but at home. >> there are companions. >> just like yours. >> our veterinarian recommends giving them cosequin every day. >> for the moments that matter. >> trust cosequin. >> cosequin. the number one veterinarian recommended retail veterinarian recommended retail joint health brand and official [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. *air wick* how far would you go to set your home ambiance?

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>> fast nationwide coverage if i switch. >> yup. for unlimited talk and text. >> with reliable coverage and your second month free call consumer cellular. >> stay up to date on the biggest issues of the day with the msnbc daily newsletter. get the best of msnbc all in one place. sign up for msnbc daily at msnbc. com when you need brutal honesty, when you need answers first thing in the morning, when you need to go deep inside washington and hear from someone who's been there, you need your morning joe you need your morning joe weekdays at six only on it appeared judy orr baldwin had been involved in two accidents on the same night. most people, including detective reynolds, seemed to agree. sadly, it looked like judy was the victim of bad luck.

one person, however, wasn't buying it-- judy's niece. when she thought about what happened, it seemed suspicious. jesse mcwaters: i had a very weird feeling in my stomach. andrea canning: although jamie had an explanation for why he took his wife to that faraway hospital, it didn't make sense to jesse. jesse mcwaters: i'm, like, why would you not go to chester hospital, it was so close to the house, if she just bumped her head? andrea canning: and why did jamie take a dark, rural back road to the hospital when he could have taken a much faster nearby highway? do you think that was odd? that was super odd to me. andrea canning: so jesse decided to take a bold step. she put her amateur detective hat on and called jamie. you decided to record the call that you had with jamie. i did record it. andrea canning: what, in your gut, was telling you to record this call? i'm not sure what exactly told me to do it. i'm surprised i did it because i was in such shock,

but i knew, in my heart, that something else had happened, and i wanted to hear what he had to say. andrea canning: she asked jamie, how he got knocked out when the jeep crashed-- andrea canning: --but jesse was most concerned about her aunt's final moments. you know. you know. >> how much how would you describe his demeanor? i would simply say, he had zero remorse. he was talking just, how we're talking. no emotion, really. andrea canning: one thing that struck me was he said, "that's the good news"--

yeah andrea canning: --which seemed a little, like, the language was a little odd. jesse mcwaters: yeah, it didn't make any sense to me, either. and it was just, like, an eerie feeling. like, kind of, why would you say that in this phone call? andrea canning: jesse couldn't get the phone call out of her head. jesse mcwaters: i sat there and i replayed that recording so many times. are you expressing your concerns to judy's sons, your cousins? i let them listen to the phone call. and i told them, i was, like, y'all, this just, isn't sitting right with me. andrea canning: after judy's sons started to think about it, they, too, had serious doubts. josh orr: we're sitting there trying to figure out, what really happened to our mom? yeah, because nobody would tell us anything. andrea canning: but soon, one of judy's friends would tell the brothers more than they ever wanted to know. kay black and judy were nearly inseparable and shared their most personal secrets with each other. you said, you were like sisters. we were. i miss her a lot, a whole lot.

andrea canning: kay and her husband, randall, considered themselves judy and jamie's best friends. the four belonged to a biker group called the carolina thunder christian motorcycle club, helping hands and harleys. they spent nearly every weekend with the couple, and kay knew something about judy and jamie that almost no one else did. kay black: talking with judy, i knew their marriage wasn't like he was making everybody believe. he'll find out-- andrea canning: jamie told others, including detective reynolds in that interview, he had a strong, happy marriage. like what? >> i mean, just. >> anything that i need. >> to. >> know about. okay. >> thank you. we had a great life. did you? >> you never got married. >> everybody has disagreements. >> please go talk to some of my friends. you'll find out that.

you're perfect. i mean, we're you're perfect. i mean, we're just andrea canning: kay says, a few months before her death, judy confided in her that her marriage was on the rocks. she thought something was going on with jamie and another woman-- a single mom named teri king, who also happened to be the bike club's treasurer. kay black: she started having her suspicions. what is she thinking? kay black: she was thinking, jamie and teri were having an affair. andrea canning: the club treasurer-- kay black: yes. andrea canning: --and jamie. kay black: jamie. if one went to smoke, they would look at the other one and say, come on, let's go smoke. judy didn't like that. little things like that, judy had started picking up on. a lot of us. yeah, we'd seen a lot of touchy-feely stuff that didn't quite-- we didn't think was right. --look right. kay black: and judy would ask me about it, and i'd say, maybe, maybe not? nobody knows for sure, but everybody's talking about it. andrea canning: so judy decided to find out for herself.

kay black: she even confronted teri. and what did teri say? kay black: teri said, we're not doing anything. she confronted jamie, and he told her the same thing. she said, but kay, they're so calm about it. she said, i know they're doing something. andrea canning: within about a week of judy's death, kay sat judy's sons down and told them everything. as they absorbed it all, they remembered something strange. teri king was at the hospital the night their mom died. in fact, she got there before they did. josh orr: why are you here before us? i mean, this is our mom, our flesh and blood. and we're talking about 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning. andrea canning: and there was another, even more awkward story kay felt she needed to share with judy's sons. chris orr: i don't want to tell y'all this, but i'm going to tell you. she said, your mom, she said that jamie's been trying to get your mom to have a threesome with him and teri. - what? josh orr: yeah. yeah. andrea canning: this is not something your mom wanted-- - no. - no. chris orr: when she told me that, it blew my mind. andrea canning: --or something that you want to think about. no, i don't want to think about either. andrea canning: sex, lies, and a christian bike club. exactly. who would have thought? exactly.

andrea canning: soon after kay opened up to judy's family, she called detective chris reynolds. kay black: i said, chris, i have some texts from judy. i said, i think you need to say them because she tells in there, that she suspected jamie and teri. he said, i'll get back with you, kay. i said ok, and i never heard from him, again. andrea canning: the brothers and jesse also felt, they weren't getting anywhere with the detective. josh orr: we've got to find somebody to help us, and we got to get some answers. i'm, like, why? why is nobody doing anything? it just didn't make sense. andrea canning: but soon, it would all start to make sense with some bombshell news. coming up-- chris orr: that's when we're thinking, ok, the police is going to hit on this. i mean, somebody's looking into this. andrea canning: --a disturbing revelation about jamie's alleged girlfriend did you say to and your supervisor,ce. i think we should have someone come in and look at this blood? no, i didn't. andrea canning: what happened to the blood at judy's house?

what we found out was that teri went to the house and cleaned it up. is this the most bungled evidence collection that you've ever seen? bungled might be being a little nice because there was no evidence collection. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. i got this wow skin from olay body wash. it's new super serum: sink into my skin with 5 powerful ingredients. 5 benefits in 1! look at this olay difference. so luminous! olay super serum body wash. (♪♪) ♪ (slow down) ♪ (♪♪) cut!!!! i get it! slow motion. slow down geographic atrophy. but we don't need gimmicks. stick to the facts. ga, the advanced form of dry amd, can irreversibly damage your vision. but syfovre is an fda-approved eye injection that gives you the power to slow ga.

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>> us citizen. >> israel will release. >> 369 prisoners today as part >> 369 prisoners today as part of that deal. for now, welcome back to "dateline." i'm andrea canning. detectives were convinced, judy orr baldwin died after two tragic accidents in the same night. the coroner was not so sure, neither was judy's family, who suspected her husband, jamie, was having an affair. a rumored romance they believed led to murder. now, a startling new revelation was about to raise even more questions. back to "the black box." two months had passed since judy's death, and her family was questioning jamie's story about what happened. then, they heard something stunning about teri king and jamie. they moved in together. so what are you guys thinking? he's moving in quickly with her. yeah. that's when we're thinking, ok, the police

is going to hit on this. i mean, somebody's looking into this. andrea canning: the brothers had been pushing the chester county prosecutor's office to look deeper into their mom's death. in fact, deputy prosecutor candice lively was keeping tabs on the sheriff's investigation. we were just being told, through the sheriff's office, that they were doing what they were supposed to do. andrea canning: turns out, they weren't. the prosecutor would learn, there were serious problems with the sheriff's investigation. they're basically saying, we got this. we don't need your help right now. exactly, and we were hearing from the family that people hadn't been interviewed, yet. they were concerned that evidence hadn't been collected. andrea canning: chris reynolds said that he truly believed, it was an accident, and so he just didn't feel that need to investigate this as a crime-- a potential crime. candice lively: right, and that is something that, with his experience, he should have known that you don't make those kind of assumptions

up front. when someone dies, you treat it as it's a murder until you know otherwise. andrea canning: we asked detective reynolds about how he handled the investigation. did you collect jamie's clothes? did you take judy's clothes? did you take her cell phone? did you take jamie's cell phone? no, ma'am. why not? we didn't collect anything out of the house. that was just, a judgment call. andrea canning: some consider that a questionable call because there was something else. early in the investigation, the coroner told the detective, he thought judy's death looked suspicious, that it might even be a homicide. wouldn't you, as just being overly cautious as a detective say-- chris reynolds: yes, ma'am. andrea canning: --we should do a little more here? we should get evidence. and even if it's not a murder, at least we have it. we have it. andrea canning: we did our job. i agree. andrea canning: we don't need it, maybe, but let's get it. i agree, 100%. andrea canning: and those photos the detective

took inside judy's house? this is how a number of them came out. some of them were so blurry and bad. yeah, the camera we had wasn't good at the time. andrea canning: but, i mean, even if a camera's not that great, you can still take still shots. i struggle with that camera that we have. andrea canning: he also failed to collect critical forensic evidence. did you say to your supervisor, i think we should have someone come in and look at this blood? no, i didn't. do you think you should have done that? absolutely. i've never denied that. andrea canning: reynolds never sealed the house after he photographed it so anyone could go in, and someone did-- teri king. remember, she was in jamie's hospital room the night in question. what happened to the blood evidence at judy's house? well, according to what we found out in our investigation, was that teri left the hospital and she went back to the house and cleaned it up. with permission from detective reynolds. yes. andrea canning: not only did he give her permission to clean it up, he offered help. chris reynolds: i even gave her a number to a company.

they specialize in crime scenes and disaster restorations. i said, somebody has to clean it up. so you're giving her advice about how to clean up a potential crime scene. no, she asked. she asked for help, and that's with anybody else in the case. if they ask advice on how to-- right, but you're giving her advice on how to clean up a potential crime scene. yeah, but at the time, the crime scene, we were done with. andrea canning: so she's literally, erasing the crime scene-- that's exactly what happened. andrea canning: --whether she was intentionally erasing a crime scene or not. exactly. is this the most bungled evidence collection, handling of a scene that you've ever seen? yes, and i think, bungled might be being a little nice because there was no evidence collection. andrea canning: even though, there was a lack of evidence, the prosecutor spoke to the coroner about judy's severe head injuries and came to the conclusion, this was

no accident, but a murder. at some point, i'm going to have to look at this family and possibly tell them that, we're not going to have what we need to get justice for your family member. andrea canning: judy's family was losing hope. and weeks are going by. oh, weeks, months. andrea canning: months are going by. yeah. andrea canning: then, a breakthrough. eight months after judy's death, the sheriff's office agreed to allow sled to take charge of the case. that's south carolina's top law enforcement agency. what does sled do, now that they're taking this over? they jumped in. andrea canning: agents went to judy's house and took hundreds of photos, detailed measurements, took another look at the vehicle, and reexamined the autopsy findings. they came to the same conclusion as the prosecutor. it all added up to homicide. we said, we definitely have enough to present to a grand jury at this point. and. true billed indictment for murder. andrea canning: for judy's family,

it was a long-time coming. in august of 2018, a year and a half after her death, jamie baldwin was arrested for the murder of his wife. you get a call, finally, that jamie has been arrested. josh orr: yeah. were you shocked? yeah. you could breathe a little bit. i mean, he's arrested for the murder of my mom. andrea canning: but now, came the hard part-- how to prosecute a case with little physical evidence? this was no slam dunk. candice lively: it was far from it, and the family knew going in that we had a real battle. andrea canning: coming up-- maybe, her falling off the ladder isn't going to be a good explanation as to why she has these horrible injuries. he comes up with the idea that she was ejected from the vehicle. andrea canning: --the jaw-dropping story told by the jeep. most people are aware that planes have black boxes.

vehicles have them, too. and, in this case, judy's wrangler had a black box. it did. andrea canning: when "dateline" continues. incoming dishes. —ahhh! —duck! dawn powerwash flies through 99% of grease and grime in half the time. yeah, it absorbs grease five times faster. even replaces multiple cleaning products. ooh, those suds got game. dawn powerwash. the better grease getter. the freestyle libre 3 plus sensor tracks your glucose in real time, and over time it can help lower your a1c. ♪♪ this is progress. learn more and try for free at freestylelibre.us ♪♪ sounds like linda has you beat only. >> in coverage. >> and. plans start at $20. okay. price to get your second. >> month free. when you.

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- there was a plea deal? - there was. andrea canning: he turned it down. he turned it down. andrea canning: jamie baldwin pleaded not guilty. candice lively: it was probably, the most substantially circumstantial evidence i've ever tried in a murder case. andrea canning: with what little evidence the prosecution had, candice lively set out to prove that jamie killed his wife, and then tried to cover it up. he faked that car accident. this is unfortunately, simply, about someone who wanted to get rid of his wife, who wanted to have control of what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it. andrea canning: lively told jurors, the couple had argued multiple times about teri king, and on the night of judy's death, she believes judy demanded her husband end his relationship with teri. candice lively: he got extremely angry, he has a temper, and he attacked her at that mantel. andrea canning: the prosecutor alleged that in a fit of rage

jamie took one of those stocking holders from the mantel and hit judy so hard, it caused her brain to bleed, leaving her with those raccoon eyes. when i actually hold it in my hands, this thing is heavy. yeah, it is very heavy. andrea canning: the stocking holder's shape closely matched the irregular cut on judy's head. candice lively: whenever you look at the picture of that santa stocking holder, it really fit the ridges in that unusual laceration. andrea canning: a medical expert for the prosecution testified that after judy was attacked, she probably, died within five minutes. lively argued, that's when jamie came up with his elaborate plan to cover up his crime. candice lively: he comes up with this idea of maybe, her falling off the ladder isn't going to be a good explanation as to why she has these horrible injuries. terry tinker: so she said, jamie took his wife's dead body, put it in the jeep, and then took that dark, rural road so he wouldn't be seen when he staged the accident. he comes up with the idea that she

was ejected from the vehicle. he pulls her out and stages her. andrea canning: to prove the car crash was staged, the prosecution relied on then lance corporal brian trotter. he's an accident reconstruction expert with the state highway patrol, who was on the scene that night. what this tells you-- andrea canning: he testified and showed us, how a device in the jeep recorded the last seconds of the vehicle's movements. most people are aware that planes have black boxes. i, personally, wasn't aware that vehicles have them, too. and, in this case, judy's wrangler, like this one, had a black box. it did. so i took this one out of a retired police car to show you what they look like. andrea canning: in simple terms, when there's an accident, a car hits something, it triggers the black box to start recording information. what did you learn from judy's black box? well, the one for this case came back with no data. so no data is actually, really important. in this case, it is.

andrea canning: no data means no crash. the corporal's theory is that jamie slowly and purposely drove his jeep into the creek. candice lively: ms. king. andrea canning: the most surprising witness was teri king, the woman at the center of the alleged love triangle. candice lively: i was hoping that, when she finally was put under oath in court, that she would come clean. andrea canning: teri was no longer living with jamie. andrea canning: even though, she was a witness for the state, the prosecutor immediately faced a big challenge. teri flat out denied having a romantic relationship with jamie. >> not with him that day? >> that you were. >> in love with him? >> that you did love him? >> yes. >> and how long had you loved

him but not been in love with him but not been in love with him? andrea canning: but the prosecutor did have text messages sent between teri and jamie. andrea canning: the judge ruled, she couldn't show them to the jury, but she could question teri about them. never lied. >> okay. >> it seemed. >> to me he would say the same to you. >> not only did you. >> said you loved each other, that that you missed. >> each other. >> yes. >> and did you ever. >> tell him? you can. tell me a. >> tell him? you can. tell me a. >> thousand. andrea canning: teri testified, she and jamie were just platonic roommates, nothing more. you felt that teri was misleading the jury. candice lively: absolutely, and she had tried to mislead

us for months, as well. andrea canning: lively said she had suspicions, teri may have played a part in the murder, but never found any evidence to prove it. teri denies any involvement. the defense was up next, and they were ready to exploit all the holes in the prosecution's case. would it be enough to set jamie free? coming up, an expert witness says judy's blood in the jeep proves the prosecution is wrong about when she died-- if she's actively bleeding, she is technically, alive. after she left the house. after leaving the house. andrea canning: and then, the verdict. jesse mcwaters: everybody was holding hands as tight as we could, and you could just hear everybody gasp. andrea canning: --when "dateline" continues. dry eyes still feel gritty, rough, or tired? with miebo, eyes can feel ♪ miebo ♪ ♪ ohh yeah ♪ miebo is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer

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recommend planter. 39 planter >> com. d welcome back. prosecutors accused jamie baldwin of murdering his wife, judy, during an argument over his alleged affair. then, they said he staged a car accident to cover up the crime, but the case was largely circumstantial. now, it was the defense team's turn, and they would start with who they thought was the state's most problematic witness. here is the conclusion of "the black box." jamie baldwin, the former police officer, was facing life in prison for the murder of his wife. his attorneys, philip jamieson and brad jordan,

argued teri king's testimony undermined the state's entire case. defense attorney: teri king testified that there was no affair, and there was no evidence of an affair. andrea canning: the defense asked teri to further explain her living situation with jamie. andrea canning: and she said, there was an innocent explanation for those text messages between her and jamie-- the ones where she said she loved him. andrea canning: not only that, but she told jurors, she would never betray judy. you. you.

andrea canning: most importantly, the defense insisted, there was no crime, just two tragic accidents. and, they said, the state didn't have any evidence to prove otherwise. there was no dna. there were no fingerprints. there was no weapon. andrea canning: they called detective reynolds to the stand and attacked his investigation as shoddy. andrea canning: how does that all play into your defense? had they done a better job, we probably, wouldn't find ourselves in this situation. they would have cleared up all those questions at that time, and this would have gone down as an accident, which is what it was. andrea canning: the defense did agree, the stocking holder may have caused judy's fatal injury, but not because jamie used it as a weapon. defense attorney: we believe that what happened was she was on a ladder at the mantelpiece, she fell, and struck an ornament, which was sitting on the mantelpiece, and then fell to the floor.

andrea canning: ross gardener, a crime scene analyst for the defense, testified and told us, all the blood found in judy's jeep proved something crucial. that she was alive when they crashed. he pointed to the blood on the bumper, the passenger door, and the saturation of blood on her seat. so we're looking at the passenger seat, and what we can see is there's saturation throughout. andrea canning: gardner says, contrary to the prosecution's theory, that judy died within five minutes at her home, the evidence in the jeep proved, that was impossible. if she's actively bleeding, her heart is beating. she is technically, alive. in the jeep-- in the jeep-- --after she left the house. --after leaving the house. literally, this tells us that she was bleeding while in the jeep. andrea canning: the defense also pointed to several experts, including the prosecution's, who all agreed, judy's injuries could have been accidental. having three medical experts, who can't say, hey,

this is definitely, not an accident, in my mind, there's reasonable doubt. we only had to convince one person. in which this case is brought in. andrea canning: after seven days of testimony, the case went to the jury. the prosecutor felt there was a good chance jamie could walk so she turned to the family for support and judy, herself. candice lively: i really felt, like, i had judy on my shoulder. i really did. i felt that family just, really gave me a lot of hope and faith. andrea canning: less than three hours later, there was a verdict. jesse mcwaters: we were all-- everybody-- was holding hands as tight as we could. and when they read that verdict, i mean, you could just hear everybody gasp. jury: we, the jury, find the defendant, james harold baldwin, jr. guilty of murder. josh orr: i just broke down crying because i just, couldn't believe it.

we finally got justice for mom. andrea canning: detective chris reynolds was in the courthouse that day, too. he believes the jury made the right decision, and he wants the public to know, he did more than they think to look into judy's death. still, he realizes, because of is incomplete investigation, a killer might have walked free. you get emotional over this. i do. i take it personal. this case was a big learning experience for me, that i never dropped the ball on anything, and that night, i did, and i'm sorry for it. andrea canning: jamie never took the stand, but he did speak at his sentencing. andrea canning: the judge sentenced the 60-year-old to life in prison without the chance of parole. is he evil?

yeah, he's 100% evil. satan's spawn. 100%. thank y'all. woman: thank you. thank y'all. andrea canning: judy's family says they can finally move on with their lives. and there's one thing that brings them peace. you're religious. does that give you any comfort to know-- josh orr: oh, it does andrea canning: --that your mom and dad are now together? oh, yeah. i mean, she's in-- they're in a better place than we are. andrea canning: what would you say to judy, if she could hear you? i would just tell her, i love her, and i would give her the biggest hug. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning. thank you for watching. >> good morning. >> and. >> welcome to this. >> saturday edition of morning joe. weekend. it was another fast. >> moving week in politics. so let's get