we kept going deeper and deeper into the box, trying to find, where was michelle? she had missed everything. the family album goes on, but she's not in it. she's not in it. dennis murphy: no, she's only in the old photos. a girl smiling out into a world of possibilities, stolen on a cold december night. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. lvin, and this is dateline on mynetwork-tv.. the first thing they asked me was, who would want to kill you? who would want to murder you? and i just kind of looked at them, like what?

i couldn't believe it. was he watching me? that fire was set to throw us off. he was very calculating. years before, his wife killed herself. yes. he claimed that she committed suicide just days before she was due to give birth to their first child. she was extremely excited for that baby. she just wanted to be a mom. this wasn't somebody who was thinking about suicide. exactly. it made me wonder, ok, was he a murderer? so now you're trying to prove a very old murder with pretty much no evidence. correct. is he kind of gloating that he got away with it? he's thinking, well, catch me if you can. we are going to do her and her family justice. we're going to solve this murder. hello, and welcome to "dateline." meg purk was a young mom-to-be, over the moon to be having her first child.

then, just days before her due date, she died of an apparent suicide. her family struggled to understand why. but in a strange twist, a house fire set decades later would point to a possible answer and put investigators on a trail toward the truth. here's josh mankiewicz with "secrets from the grave." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): wander through any graveyard, and you'll find them-- mysteries etched in stone, lives cut tragically short by war, disease, misfortune, and sometimes murder. many who rest in these peaceful places took secrets to their graves. but some here are merely waiting, waiting for someone to take interest and ask questions. and as you're about to see, the dead

can be exceedingly patient. our story begins on a frigid march night in 2009 with a house fire in stow, ohio. that fire was important not for what it destroyed, but for what it illuminated. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the caller was a 16-year-old girl who told the 911 operator that she, her parents, and her younger brother had all escaped, but barely. and then her father took the phone. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that dad was scott purk. you'll be hearing a lot about him. perk said his family had been sound asleep when he heard a loud boom.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): purk said he'd scrambled to get everyone up and out. by the time the first fire units rolled up, the purk home was a roaring bonfire. firefighters smelled gasoline as soon as they got out of their trucks. so a call immediately went out to stow police detective ken mifflin. when i got there, i saw the fire department still putting out the blaze. someone had taken probably a pipe wrench to disconnect the gas line. and it was blowing out natural gas. just, it sounded like a-- it was a very large roaring sound. at that point, that gas hadn't ignited. no. you know, it could have possibly blown up. the person who set the fire poured gasoline all the way to the gas meter and on top of the gas meter. the idea was the fire starts at the gasoline.

it goes to the gas main and possibly destroys the house and everybody in it. absolutely. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): mifflin found the purk family sheltered at a neighbor's house and asked the father scott purk to step outside. so we actually went over to my unmarked detective bureau car. and we sat in my car, where it was nice and warm. i guess the first question is, who'd want to burn down your house? who are your enemies? exactly, right. and scott said he really didn't have any. there was no one that he knew that was so angry at him that would want to try to harm him or his family. so, you know, the investigation just basically took off from there. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): perhaps it was the warm car on such a cold night, or maybe it was mifflin's warm manner. either way, scott purk was feeling chatty. he'd lost his job, you know, about eight or nine days prior to this.

things are not going well in his life. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when asked how he and his wife tammy had spent the evening prior to the fire, purk responded with this little shocker. scott and tammy, they're swingers. and they spent the evening basically apart because scott was at home. but tammy was out with a friend of hers. another man. tammy was out with another man. she was dating his-- their son's martial arts instructor. and so she spent the evening with him, came home roughly around 1 o'clock in the morning. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): strange? sure. but scott purk was just getting started. scott told you that tammy brought him the leftovers from the dinner that she'd had with the guy she was seeing. right. this is just like, you know, "hey, honey, here's some leftover orange chicken that this other guy and i didn't eat." right. tammy went to bed first. and scott finished off the leftovers.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): no detail, it seemed, was too small or insignificant for scott purk. it was like turning a faucet on. once you turned it on, he just kept talking. and i just kept writing down the answers. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): at times, it was hard to keep up. scott purk kept offering answers to questions the detective hadn't asked. and there seemed to be so much more he wanted to say. what scott purk said next would leave investigators stunned and wondering if he was more than just a distraught homeowner who liked to gab. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up. and he's doing almost everything he can to make himself sound like a suspect. yes, exactly. craig melvin (voiceover): as scott purk keeps talking, suspicion keeps mounting about this house on fire and a burning secret.

i was shocked. and it made me wonder, ok, now i need to look into this. and i'm looking at someone who i believe is an arsonist. now i'm wondering, ok, was he a murderer? craig melvin (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. it's mesmerizing. cleaning that greasy mess with dawn platinum... and not even scrubbing. —well, fluff my feathers. — [giggle] it cuts through the slimy stuff better than their old dish soap, removing 99% of grease. that's why only dawn is trusted to save wildlife. 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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as the two of them sat in his car, watching purk's home being reduced to ash, he kept talking, saying things he probably shouldn't have been saying to a cop who already suspected this fire was arson. he was heavily in debt. and he made no bones about telling us, you know, that he had actually figured out if his house actually burned down, he would only owe about $70,000 in debt. it's essentially him saying, "hey, look, i'm not going to hide anything. you're going to find out that i'm in debt." ken mifflin: right. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): arson for insurance money? too early to say, but a real possibility. he videotaped everything in his house. he told us that, too, in case there was ever a fire. and he just did it recently. and when i asked him how recent, he said very recent. and he's doing almost everything he can to make himself sound like a suspect. yes, exactly. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): what was mr. purk up to? the detective couldn't guess. parked down the driveway, well away from the burning home,

set the purk family van, cleaned up and ready for a road trip. according to scott, he and his son had been planning to visit family in north carolina. and what drew our attention was what he actually had packed inside the van. i'm guessing it was not stuff you would typically bring on vacation. old family photos, cookbooks that had family recipes for generations in there, to which he could offer no explanation about why those were even in the van. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it was a few days after the fire at scott purk's house that stow's chief arson investigator jim leidel, back from vacation, called detective ken mifflin. and he says, "you've got to hear this." and so he played me the 911 tape. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): mifflin had heard something on that initial 911 call from scott purk's daughter, something he wanted leidel to hear, too. during a lull, scott purk can be heard

calmly whispering to someone. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he's talking about a pet ferret. and his tone seemed to be more rueful oversight than anguished alarm. that was a bit of a flag, you know, leading us to believe that there had been a plan anyways all along. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): add in scott purk's money woes and his admission that an insurance payout would clear most of his debt. and leidel was pretty sold on the idea of scott purk as an arson suspect. oh, and mifflin wasn't finished. on the night of the fire, the detective told leidel, scott purk had casually added a tantalizing detail to his life story. scott, just out of the blue, says to me, well, his first wife had committed suicide in 1985.

and she was pregnant, nine months pregnant. as if like, you know, not only is my house in embers, but this isn't even the worst thing that happened to me. i was shocked, and it made me wonder, ok, and now i need to look into this. and i'm looking at someone who i believe is an arsonist. now i'm wondering, ok, was he a murderer? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the two lawmen decided to pursue parallel investigations into scott purk. leidel would take lead on the arson case, mifflin, the suicide. you guys know each other and you get along. he knows exactly what he's doing. we do work very well together. we have a great relationship. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): mifflin knew his case had the highest hurdles. not only had scott purk's first wife, meg purk, died 24 years earlier, but she had died in akron, only a few miles from stow, but a different jurisdiction. what's it like to go to the akron police and say, "hey, i'm from a much smaller department,

but i think you got this case wrong back in the mid 1980s." you have to approach it very carefully, but we have a good working relationship with the police department in akron. and you have to make the phone call. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): instead of waving off this small town detective, the akron cops were willing to help. i talked to a detective who i dealt with in the past. he said, "it's not a cold case. it's a closed case. if you want to use your eyes to take a look at it, you know, we'll send you a copy of the report." and he did. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): according to the original police report, meg purk was 24 years old and nine months pregnant on the day she died. scott stated that the morning of march 18, 1985, meg had woken up sick. and scott had made a doctor's appointment for her to go see her doctor. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): later that morning, scott says he was taking a bath when he saw meg

walk past the bathroom door. he gets out of the bathtub about four or five minutes later. and then, lo and behold, he sees meg hanging from a rope in the stairwell of their apartment. his story is that he cuts meg down and tries to do some cpr? yes, once he saw meg hanging, then he grabbed a steak knife from one of the tables nearby and cut the rope. and then he started to do cpr. so he calls for ems to respond and then meets them at the door when they get there. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): meg's unborn baby, a boy, died that same day. meg lingered another 24 hours. she never regained consciousness. the detective had nothing he could test or examine. in fact, even the police photos from the scene had been tossed long ago. still, nothing about scott purk's version of the story felt right. most women who are nine months pregnant and carry their child full term typically

do not commit suicide. that was the first thing. second thing was he was in the apartment when his wife hung herself in a stairwell of their apartment. most individuals do it by themselves with no one around. both of those facts were available to the akron police back in 1985. they had their doubts that this was truly a suicide. however, they just didn't have enough. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): next, the detective examined the original autopsy photos. josh mankiewicz: what did you see? what stood out in my mind from the autopsy photos was on meg's neck, there were lines on her neck that looked like a belt mark was on her neck, not a rope mark. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the detective figured the only way to find out what had actually happened in that apartment in 1985 was to learn all he could about scott and meg purk. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up, something disturbing about meg's past. there was a note on the coffee table.

and it said that she had tried to hang herself. craig melvin (voiceover): and something dark from scott's. he was the ninja burglar. the ninja burglar. ken mifflin: he would actually commit burglaries dressed up as a ninja. how many burglaries are we talking about? there were at least 10 burglaries. he would come into your bedroom and watch you sleep, and then take your wallet or purse off your nightstand. craig melvin (voiceover): 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 joint health brand and official joint health supplement of the westminster dog show.

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josh mankiewicz (voiceover): in the weeks after scott purk's house burned down, police in stow, ohio heard an earful from people who either knew him or knew of him. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): there was plenty of gossip and speculation in tip calls like this one. but occasionally, there was something new. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): remember, purk had told the detective his first wife took her own life. now it seemed he told at least one of his former lovers an entirely different story. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the detective, of course, knew better. scott purk's first wife meg and their unborn son had indeed died in akron in 1985.

her death was suicide by hanging, according to the coroner's report. 35 years later, meg's memory is still fresh for dawn kracker. dawn and meg were best buds in high school. she was quiet. but people would always say that she reminded them of janis joplin in her kind of, like, hippy, kind of bohemian attitude. but she was very much more reserved. like, she'd come into a room or something. and people just wanted to be with her. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): meg had been a serious student back then, an amateur poet, who managed to get several of her pieces published. some of her poetry was a little bit dark. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): meg's brother, michael metcalf. sometimes it was about sadness or about loss, even death. you ever read it and worry about her? back then, nah, not really. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): dawn, who'd known scott since first grade, told the detective he seemed like a model boyfriend to meg.

dawn kracker: he did everything exactly that you would expect a good boyfriend to do. he opened doors for her. he took her out. he did everything that he was-- like, you know, you would expect someone who was interested in somebody to do. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): though meg was charmed, her family never warmed to scott. when they married in 1981, her family was not invited. they didn't run off and elope. i mean, they actually had a wedding ceremony in the area and i guess a reception. but yeah. but her family wasn't there. she knew how we felt. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): nevertheless, meg was over the moon when she learned she was pregnant. as her due date approached, she wrote this letter to her grandmother. it's a letter she never got the chance to mail. "just think, any day now, you're going to be a great grandmother.

and i'm going to be a mother-- a mother. it's even hard for me to believe, but i'm looking forward to it." those did not sound like the words of someone thinking of suicide. she was extremely excited for that baby. and that was one of the things that she had always wanted. she just wanted to be a mom. she wanted a family. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so dawn was stunned when on march 19, 1985, she heard meg had been rushed to the hospital. and then i get the phone call. and kind of the-- like, the floor drops out in front of you. it was a shock. who was it on the phone? scott. you remember anything he said? it was, "dawn, i've got bad news. meg tried to kill herself. she's in the hospital. they don't know if she's going to make it."

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): she did not. as for suicide, well, there had been times before she married scott when meg had spoken of taking her own life. there was an incident one time where she was-- she had locked herself in a bathroom and said she was going to cut her wrists. and this was over at a friend's house. but, you know, after that, she came out. she had not cut herself at all or anything like that. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): dawn kracker says something similar happened once when she and meg shared an apartment. i came home, and i saw the mini blinds on the floor. and i-- there was a note on the coffee table. and it said that she had tried to hang herself using the cord from the mini blinds. did that note explain why meg wanted to take her own life? there wasn't really an explanation other than that she just felt that everybody would be happier if she was gone. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): to underscore his claim that meg had hanged herself mifflin says, scott gave

one of her poems to the akron detective investigating her death. at the very end of the poem, it says. "and then she killed herself." and what? maybe that is the equivalent of a suicide note, or at least, reflective of the way that meg purk was thinking. exactly. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): except, according to family members, that poem was something meg had written back in high school and in no way represented her mood in the days before she died. scott, they felt, was using that poem to promote his own theory. and her family wasn't buying. honestly, my first thought is, what did he do? right off the bat. absolutely. you know, the investigators were getting information from their family members that nobody could believe that meg had killed herself. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): scott said he couldn't believe it either and was as shocked as anyone. in fact, he told the detective he was so rattled by his wife's death that it changed him into a criminal.

that's right. on the night his house burned down, amid all the talk of death and debt and his swinging lifestyle, scott purk told the detective he'd been a famous burglar, dressed in black from head to toe, carrying nunchucks and throwing stars. scott had been so prolific, he'd been nicknamed the ninja burglar. the ninja burglar. that was a thing in stow. it was a thing in stow and the surrounding cities because he burglarized homes and businesses and broke into cars and stole things from cars. how many burglaries are we talking about? at least 10 burglaries, at least four b&es. he would come into your bedroom and watch you sleep, and then take your wallet or purse off your nightstand. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): once arrested, scott confessed and starting in 1986, did six years in the joint.

he used the time behind bars to earn a degree in criminal justice. scott fancied himself as a very smart individual whenever i would talk to him. and i think that was part of his strategy to try and show me how smart he was. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): of course, it was possible that scott purk was not as smart as he thought he was. thanks to his own loose lips, scott had already made himself the prime suspect in not one, but two criminal investigations. so imagine the investigators' surprise when, in 2010, a year after the purks' house burned down from an arson fire, the same thing happened to another house just around the corner. [sirens] craig melvin (voiceover): coming up. i get a call in the middle of the night saying that the house was on fire. craig melvin (voiceover): another house in flames. jim leidel: the gas meter itself was disconnected and was just

hanging by the inlet fitting. so the gas is just escaping into the air. correct. craig melvin (voiceover): was another arsonist at work? the first thing that they asked me was, who would want to kill you? and i just kind of looked at him, like what? what are you talking about? craig melvin (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. (luke) so why can't we say we're the best home shopping site? (lawyer) because while true, you just can't say that legally. (luke) so i can't say... “homes-dot-com is the best!” (lawyer) no. (marci) what if we jumbled up the words? (luke) homes best is com dot the. (lawyer) no. (luke) what if we said it in spanish? (marci) homes-punto-com es el mejor. (lawyer) no. (marci) what if we whispered it? (luke) homes-dot-com is the best. (lawyer) no. (luke) fine! what if he said it? (morgan) homes-dot-com. it's the best. (lawyer) mr. freeman, i'm sorry, but we can't say that. (morgan) say what? (lawyer) homes-dot-com is the best. (morgan) ah-ha! (luke) homes-dot-com. (morgan) it's the best. ♪ rinse it out ♪ ♪ every now and then ♪

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1-800-403-7539. that's 1-800-403-7539. >> hi. >> i'm richard louis. >> with a news update. >> at least eight are. >> dead after. >> rains in devastating. >> flooding sweeping. >> through. kentucky this weekend. the severe weather is expected to continue in. >> the southeast as the. >> week begins. and live from new york. saturday night live celebrating its. 50th anniversary with. a star. >> studded show, sunday. >> night cast members and guest. >> hosts from. >> the. >> last half. >> century returned. >> to studio. eight h to pay. tribute to the legendary. tribute to the legendary. >> sketch comedy series.

welcome back to "dateline." i'm craig melvin. as his house set ravaged by flames, scott purk made a series of startling claims to detective ken mifflin. he and his partner quickly suspected scott was not only the arsonist, but a murderer who killed his pregnant first wife, meg. now a stunning new development was about to add fuel to the fire. back to josh mankiewicz with "secrets from the grave." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): amy salvaggio remembers well the night her duplex apartment in stow, ohio caught fire. it was march 27, 2010, a rare night off for the 24-year-old intensive care nurse. i was at my boyfriend's. i got a call in the middle of the night from a neighbor saying that the house was on fire. we were only about two minutes away. so i drove over very fast.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): amy says she jumped out and ran toward the firefighters who were working her half of the duplex, where the worst damage was. the first thing that they asked me was, who would want to kill you? who would want to murder you? and i just kind of looked at them, like what? what are you talking about? and then they asked me, don't you smell all the gasoline? and that's when i stopped, and i realized that that's all you could smell, was this strong odor of gasoline. you involved in anything illegal? no. josh mankiewicz: anything extramarital? no, mm-mm. anything that's going to make somebody angry enough to make you make them want to do away with you? nothing that i could think of at all. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): investigators heard the same story from the older woman who lived in the other half of the duplex. jim leidel was there that night.

he says even the landlady was checked out to see if she might have had her own building torched for the insurance money. so obviously, we had to go look at her. you know, she lived nearby. but she was fine. financially, she was stable and was successful with her rentals. so she had absolutely no motive for burning it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): one thing was obvious-- this fire was no accident. jim leidel: the gas meter itself was disconnected and was just hanging by the inlet fitting. the responding fire crews had a difficult time extinguishing this fire until they were able to shut the gas off to the meters. so the gas is just escaping into the air. correct. nothing about that looks like an accident. and it doesn't even look particularly subtle. no, not at all. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the scene had all the earmarks of the fire at scott purk's house a year earlier. the disconnected gas lines, gasoline poured around the foundation--

everything seemed to match. i'm not the brightest bulb in the box, you know, but boy, all of a sudden, the light did come on. and i realized that the modus operandi or the mo was the same. one block away. correct, one block away. and almost exactly a year before. at almost the same time in the morning. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): for the past year, jim leidel had analyzed the evidence from the blaze at scott purk's home. he was convinced that fire had been an inside job. and based on what he knew about arsonists, the salvaggio fire was likely set by the same person. it's unusual for them to switch method once they have a pattern that works for them, find something that works. they will do something very, very similar on each of their fires. it had to be scott. and we took that as also as another-- scott was trying to show us that there was a serial arsonist in the neighborhood,

but it wasn't him. because he lived on the other side of town now. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): . mifflin and leidel went to the apartment complex where the purks had been living since their house burned down. the family car, parked outside and still warm on that freezing night, reeked of gasoline. and then, in the apartment, we find a gas can sitting right inside the apartment and a pair of boots that had fresh mud on them. that is just screaming to us, we have found our guy. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): of course, scott purk had always been their guy. that said, the lawmen were still no closer to actually making an arrest. josh mankiewicz: you can't really connect scott to the gas used at either fire. correct. and nobody saw him. it's the middle of the night. exactly. so you have a pretty strong circumstantial case, but not

a tremendous amount of proof. right. yeah, now we have to date our i's and cross our t's and do our due diligence because he's our guy still. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up. he was pretty confident that it was not a suicide and that this was a murder. craig melvin (voiceover): the death of meg purk, a decades old case and a bold new strategy to solve it. he looks at me, and you can just tell that all the color in his face is drained right out. he just looked like he had just seen a ghost. craig melvin (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. what are folks 60 and older learning these days? new perspectives! ♪♪ how to fix things. ♪♪ fun recip... (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound)

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that are, as of that moment, unsolved. you probably didn't need one that was in the closed file reopened right away. we have, unfortunately, a lot of homicides in summit county, ohio. and we were probably, i would estimate at that time, already working on another 50 homicide cases when the detective from stow came to us and said, "hey, i have a really old case that i really want you to consider presenting to the grand jury." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): what evidence did the detective have? well, almost none, beyond a few old autopsy photos and his theory of what had happened. the only physical evidence, if any existed, would involve meg purk's body. so if this case was to go forward, meg would have to be exhumed. josh mankiewicz: deciding to dig up a body that's been buried for a long time is not an easy decision. she's got a whole family that was there

when she was put in the ground. and they maybe have their own opinions about whether or not digging her up again is the right thing to do. exactly. so it was a tough conversation to have with-- i went and spoke with meg's mom. meg's mother believed, along with much of the rest of the family, that it wasn't a suicide. exactly, and they were very supportive of all of us to do an exhumation. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): with meg's family on board, the prosecutor asked a court to order her exhumation. we definitely needed the body of meg perk to be exhumed for the medical examiner. if the body's not in good shape, can this go forward? if it had been too decomposed, it's really unlikely that this case would ever have been prosecuted. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): while the detective pressed forward, that summer, leidel wrapped up the arson investigations. in august 2011, scott purk was indicted for two arsons-- the fire at his home and the one at amy salvaggio's duplex.

josh mankiewicz: police show you a picture of scott purk, ask if you'd ever seen him before or if you knew him? yes. yes, they did. and i'd never seen him before in my life. not somebody you crossed paths with in your personal life or at the hospital or anywhere? i did not remember seeing him at all. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the day after the indictment was handed up, jim leidel and another officer staked out scott's apartment. and we weren't there maybe 15, 20 minutes at the most, and here comes scott's van pulling in. so he pulls right in front of his apartment. so we pull in and block him from leaving. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): 2 and 1/2 years after the fire at his home, 18 months since the fire at amy salvaggio's duplex, scott purk was in custody. and based on what he saw inside the van, leidel feels the arrest was made in the nick of time. and he's got a cooler full of pop.

and on the front passenger seat of his vehicle was his cell phone that had the battery removed so that no one could track him. suggesting he's about to hit the road. we're pretty certain that he came back to the apartment to grab a few clothes, and he was going to head out. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): purk was read his rights. and at that point, the man who'd literally talked himself into serious trouble suddenly refused to say anything to investigators. after being processed, detective mifflin paid him a visit and delivered a message scott purk probably never saw coming. i let him know that, you know, we are looking into his first wife's death. and he looks at me, and you can just tell that all the color in his face is drained right out. and that was not what he expected. he just looked like he had just seen a ghost. scott purk was done talking, but the long buried body of his first wife meg had an astonishing tale

to tell more than two decades after her death. craig melvin (voiceover): coming up. so the bruises on her neck are going the wrong way. yes, and they're not from a rope. craig melvin (voiceover): bombshell new evidence emerges from the grave. how was this missed back in 1985? i don't know. craig melvin (voiceover): and all these years later, a dramatic demonstration of scott's story. you think to yourself, we're getting close to the finish line here. yes, we are. craig melvin (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. with cascade platinum plus, i have upped my dish game auntie, in that dishwasher? watch me platinum plus gives you the highest standard of clean, even in your machine. clean enough for you? yeah! scrape. load. done. cascade platinum plus. upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve

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already taken. get 20%. >> off and free. >> off and free. >> shi scott perk was arrested on two counts of arson, but investigators were determined to add another charge-- the murder of his first wife meg. to cement their case, detectives would need help from an unlikely source-- meg herself. back now to josh mankiewicz with the conclusion of "secrets from the grave." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): meg purk and her unborn baby boy were buried together in this graveyard. detective ken mifflin was certain that meg had taken secrets to her grave, truths which could prove her husband scott purk had put her there. in september 2011, just weeks after scott purk's arrest, the remarkably well-preserved bodies of meg and her baby son

were exhumed. it was amazing to actually meet her. it really was, thinking that, you know, we are going to do her and her family justice. she was holding that baby in her arms in the casket? yes. hard to see? it was very tough. it really-- it brings everything home. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): a lot had changed since that day in 1985 when the summit county coroner had declared meg's death a suicide. first of all, instead of a coroner, the county now had a board certified medical examiner. the staff was all new, better trained. forensic technology was much improved. and thanks to an excellent embalming job, the marks on meg's body were still there. you could still see the belt marks that go across her neck and then down towards her back.

so the bruises on her neck are going the wrong way. yes, and they're not from a rope. the belt mark's going down back towards her lower back, which indicates someone's behind you, and they're pulling a rope-- they're pulling the belt towards them in a downward direction to strangle you. how was this missed back in 1985? i don't know. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that second autopsy also revealed other things that were missed the first time, but were no less damning for scott purk. they found a bruise in the lower back, which was amazing. all those years later? yes, and that was scott purk probably using his knee to hold his wife down, while he was strangling her with the belt. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): to test their theory, investigators went to the actual apartment where scott and meg purk had lived in 1985, with cameras rolling. according to the maintenance records there, there had never been any replacement

of any of the railing around the stairs. so all of that was still in its original condition. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the railing was smooth, no sign anything heavy had ever dangled there. investigators then went to a vacant apartment a few doors down and hung a dummy, roughly the same size and weight as meg, from the banister for a few minutes before cutting it down. well, just that action alone created several indentations in the soft pinewood that we were tied off to. and the first time around, when meg actually died, there were no indentations. correct. correct. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): later, investigators used modeling clay and ropes of varying sizes to try and recreate the marks they'd seen on meg's body.

and we could not recreate that ligature mark with rope. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): only a belt or a strap of some sort, they confirmed, could have made those marks on meg's neck. you think to yourself, we're getting close to the finish line here. yes, we are. yes, we are building this case. i think it's going to lead to justice for the victim. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the summit county prosecutor agreed. we wanted to make sure that justice was done. and we also were working with a family that never believed that meg purk killed herself. and we wanted to make sure that they got justice. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): all that would have to wait. there was still the matter of the two arsons. scott pleaded guilty in both cases, and the judge sentenced him to the maximum, 28 years in prison. in november 2015, scott purk was brought from his prison cell

to stand trial for meg purk's murder. he pleaded not guilty. though the case was largely circumstantial, the testimony of the medical examiner who'd re-examined meg purk's body proved decisive. the medical examiner had some really key findings that showed strangulation and not suicide by hanging. and that was never in the original report. the original report did not reflect anything about the strangulation mark from a belt. it even had markings of the stitching in a belt that the medical examiner was able to find 30 years later that was never noted at all in the initial exam. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): don hicks was scott purk's court appointed attorney. there was never a time when i thought that he had a role in the death of his wife. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): hicks argued that since meg had a history of attempted suicide and nobody knew what really happened,

it was reasonable to conclude that the coroner in 1985 had actually gotten it right. you pointed out to the jury that prosecutors didn't really have any hard evidence. what they had was this wonderful recreation. that's true, yes. juries like hard evidence. you're absolutely correct. we fought very hard. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): after a six-day trial, the jury found scott purk guilty of murdering meg, as well as tampering with evidence. it was almost unbelievable. after all this time, it finally came through, you know. hey, look, you know, the truth is out. he's guilty. he's going away. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the judge gave scott purk 15 years to life on top of his arson sentence. we may never know why scott purk murdered meg or why he mentioned her to detective mifflin

that night as they watched his house burn. we do know that if he hadn't, meg's secret would likely have remained buried with her. i got into this job to help people. and there's nothing better than making a family happy with an outcome for a case. and in this case, it's beyond happy. it's beyond words. everybody-- they can finally rest in peace that this has been resolved the way it should have been. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. >> this sunday. >> foreign relations. this sunday, foreign relations. >> can ukraine survive without u.s. military support? >> we will