invisible on the skin. it works like a dream. why didn't someone think of this sooner? >> that'll do it for me. thanks for watching. tune in tomorrow to the sunday show. when congresswoman jasmine crockett of texas joins us to discuss elon musk's agenda and latest ultimatum to federal workers. i'll also speak with mitch landrieu, former adviser to president biden, about how democrats should respond. all of democrats should respond. all of this tomorrow at 6 p.m. easte she just said, is linda with you? she's missing. we can't find her. that's all she kept saying. everything changed from there on out and just got uglier and uglier. dennis murphy (voiceover): a loving mother one day just disappears.

her car was there, and she wasn't home. the blood was linda's. and we all knew there's something very wrong here. dennis murphy (voiceover): no body, no evidence, and no suspects. no arrests. the ex-husband and the ex-boyfriend both had alibis. dennis murphy (voiceover): then, lightning strikes again. i drove into the driveway. how often are a mother and daughter killed at the same house? dennis murphy (voiceover): who would steal so much from one family? was she afraid of him? she was afraid of him. motive outweighed everything in this case. dennis murphy (voiceover): miles away, buried in the sand, lay one piece of the puzzle. dennis murphy (voiceover): the rest of the mystery hiding away in a woman's heart. she couldn't keep it inside anymore. dennis murphy (voiceover): the killer thought his secret was safe. he was wrong. this is, as they say, a game changer. our prime suspect no longer has an alibi.

dennis murphy (voiceover): it's a timeless old west beauty as the setting sun grazes the mountains, and the vast sonoran desert fades to dark, covering secrets and old bones for another night. it's as unchanging out here as the heartaches all those people in the valley below sometimes seem to make for themselves with their jealousies, their rages. dennis murphy (voiceover): when daily routine without warning gives way to stark terror. dennis murphy (voiceover): a young woman vanished. dennis murphy (voiceover): that was the start of it all, an anguished mother's cry for help in a case

that would take 15 years to untangle. you didn't have a weapon. you didn't have a witness. that's correct. dennis murphy (voiceover): before it was done, there'd be multiple murders. they pushed someone who doesn't like to be pushed. dennis murphy (voiceover): and maddeningly, for law enforcement, suspects who just didn't quite fit. the two key people had alibis. dennis murphy (voiceover): a daughter ensnared in a family tragedy like few others. did you understand what had happened? i don't think i really understood it, like, fully, but something bad happened. dennis murphy (voiceover): it all started here, tucson, arizona, the old pueblo, they call it, nestled in the desert at the foot of the santa catalina mountains. dave watson spent nearly 20 years here with the tucson fire department. he fought fires and was trained as an emt. eventually, he made captain, but he never forgot the camaraderie of his early days at the firehouse. dennis murphy: burning through a lot of adrenaline together, eh? on occasion, yes. hours of boredom, moments of terror.

that pretty much. dennis murphy (voiceover): seemed like everything he needed, until in 1993, she came along. dave watson: i was out with a friend. it was his birthday, and met her at an eastside nightclub. and so and walked up to her and asked her to dance. dennis murphy (voiceover): her name was linda. dave watson: she was spontaneous, spunky, cute. and we just seemed to hit it off. marnel camp: she was very funny and just very sweet. that's always the word i think to describe her. dennis murphy (voiceover): marnel camp was one of linda's best friends, dave's, too. she was also dating dave's best friend. the two couples soon made a young, fun-loving foursome. but we didn't have kids yet. we didn't even have a house. neither one of us even had a mortgage yet or anything, so it was pretty carefree, looking back. dennis murphy (voiceover): lots of barbecuing, swimming, and, yes, a fair amount of drinking, too. this was a hard partying crowd. but there was no denying that dave and linda were in love.

they were the ones that were well liked. cute couple. dennis murphy (voiceover): mike bratton was another close friend of dave's. the kids on the float at high school, huh? yeah, exactly. dennis murphy (voiceover): so it wasn't a surprise when, in 1994, dave and linda married. good bash? yeah, oh, yeah. it was a party. it was a party. the bartender was busy that night, huh? oh, yes. yes. dennis murphy (voiceover): dave and linda scraped together enough money to buy their first home and take on that first mortgage. it was not in the best neighborhood for sure, but very cute. it had a lot of character. somewhere between a dump and a fixer upper? yeah, somewhere there. dennis murphy (voiceover): linda and dave were up for the challenge. they worked to transform that rundown house into a loving home for themselves. and after two years of marriage, baby jordan came along. at first, dave wasn't so sure about having kids, but-- when linda gave birth to jordan,

it was just all that nervousness was gone. so, yeah. it was nice, you know? kids make a world of difference. dennis murphy (voiceover): jordan's grown-up now, but remembers fine details of that little house and her mom. we had a strawberry patch kind of outside of the house. i remember us picking strawberries one morning before breakfast, her cooking breakfast. how was linda as a mother? oh, she loved that little girl. that baby was her whole world. dennis murphy (voiceover): bobbie kutasy and pat hinkle were linda's aunts. she was very attentive to that little girl. loved her to pieces. dennis murphy (voiceover): with jordan's arrival, dave and linda got another visitor, too. marilyn came out to be the nanny because they both worked. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn was linda's mother. was that an sos that went out from linda to marilyn? yes. to come-- mom, i need some help here. yeah, yeah, exactly. dennis murphy (voiceover): not an unusual request from a new mother, but marily'ns response

was unusual. she sold her house and drove her car and headed out. she did all that for her girl and her granddaughter. she did that for the family, yeah. and where was she living? dave actually built a little guesthouse out back for specifically for marilyn. not every young husband likes to have the mother-in-law around, let's face it. it's funny that all the guys at work said that's a big mistake. [laughs] they said it was going to end up in divorce. what was she like? very pleasant, polite, and but as time went on, you know, you live with somebody for 24 hours at a time, you get to know more about them. and our relationship got strained. dennis murphy (voiceover): and soon, that wasn't the only relationship suffering. linda's friend marnel, who, by then, was married and living in oregon, noticed the change when she invited dave and linda up for a visit. you were seeing the cracks right before your eyes. absolutely, yeah. dennis murphy (voiceover): coming apart was a hard reality for dave to accept.

i planned on staying married forever, you know? that was the deal. but it just didn't turn out that way. you know, i was no more longer in love, but i still loved her. and she's the mother of my child. dennis murphy (voiceover): in 1998, dave and linda separated, sharing custody of jordan. that same year, dave met someone new. i saw him and his buddy. i nudged my friend, and i said, i'm going to go ask him to dance. and i made a beeline. dennis murphy (voiceover): her name was rosemary, and she ran a successful karaoke business in town. and she's quite an entertainer, i guess, huh, rosemary. yeah, she is. she said, if you want to be successful in this business, you know, you've got to sell it. dennis murphy (voiceover): they fell for each other hard and fast-- their shared love of music, the outdoors, and little jordan. he loves jordan very much. i know when i met him, he definitely had parenting time with her. and it would go back and forth between linda and dave.

dennis murphy (voiceover): rosemary also had a daughter from another relationship. and in june 2000, she and dave took the big step of blending their families. i had my daughters by my side. he had his two good buddies. and we took our vows and celebrated with everybody around us. dennis murphy (voiceover): linda also seemed to find happiness in a new relationship. his name was carl barton, jr., though most people knew him as jr. he was a firefighter, too, for the air national guard in tucson. what did you think? he seemed nice. you know, i met him a handful of times, but more than skin deep, i didn't know much about him ever. dennis murphy (voiceover): linda called marnel and gushed about her new flame. he was older. and i remember her commenting about how he was sexy or something like that. dennis murphy (voiceover): marnel, busy juggling family and career, really didn't pay close attention. if her friend was happy, then so was she--

until the phone rang one morning in august 2000. this phone call, i think, was one of the lines in the sand where your life was different thereafter. absolutely, changed there. everything changed from there on out and just got uglier and uglier. dennis murphy (voiceover): coming up, on the phone, linda's mother with a question. she said, marnel, it's marilyn, and is linda with you? with you? why would she be with you? it was the strangest call of my life. dennis murphy (voiceover): but things would get much stranger. caller (on phone): the back door was found unlocked. there's a broken cup at the entryway. we got there. her car was there. and she wasn't home. dennis murphy (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. (♪♪) ♪ (slow down) ♪ (♪♪) cut!!!! i get it! slow motion. slow down geographic atrophy. but we don't need gimmicks.

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she called and said, marnel, it's marilyn. and is linda with you? with you? why would she be with you? it was the strangest call of my life. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn said she and linda had gone to church sunday evening. the next morning, marilyn couldn't find her. dennis murphy: how did she sound-- - she said-- - --marilyn? very stressed. very stressed. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn also called the pima county sheriff. dennis murphy (voiceover): detective kelly anderson wasn't on the case back then, but remembers it well. kelly anderson: there are not that many adult missing persons because, frankly, an adult can go wherever they want to. and they don't need permission, or they don't have to tell anybody. dennis murphy (voiceover): still, a deputy was dispatched to linda's house. he doesn't see anything that would indicate foul play. nothing's been tossed in the house. no, he doesn't see any blood. he doesn't see any indication of violence or a struggle. the only thing he notices is the broken coffee

cup and some property that linda has left behind that may be a little suspicious. dennis murphy (voiceover): linda's bible was on the counter, her jeep in the driveway, and perhaps most telling, she'd left her pager behind. remember, this was the year 2000. when she didn't have her daughter, she would keep her pager so that if anything happened with her daughter, that was the way to communicate with her. - oh, so this is important. that's a link to the daughter. that's a link to the daughter. so when she-- it doesn't mean anything's happened to her yet, though. not yet. her purse is gone. so the deputy tells ms. cox, let's just wait. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn didn't want to wait. she called her younger sister, pat. she tells me, pat, linda's missing. of course, you know, this don't happen to your family. it happens to other people. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn also called linda's ex-husband, dave. marilyn says that linda's not home. she's missing. she sounded panicked. and i was like, give her some time. it's monday morning. maybe she went somewhere.

dennis murphy (voiceover): three days passed. it was linda's turn to take jordan. dave and then four-year-old jordan drove to linda's house. we got there. her car was there. and she wasn't home. and so, you know, he was like, oh, that's weird, you know. she's probably just out with a friend or something. dennis murphy (voiceover): it didn't sound that far-fetched to many people who knew linda. she always liked to party. supposedly, she had a couple relationships with some crazy people. pop in the wrong truck after a night of drinking? maybe. yeah, that was the assumption at the time. dennis murphy (voiceover): investigators continued to poke around anyway. they wanted to talk to linda's boyfriend, jr. marilyn brought him up when she reported linda missing. dennis murphy (voiceover): silverbell road, a two-lane blacktop that meanders from tucson out into the vast desert. a detective went to jr's home. he cooperated in every way that was asked of him. dennis murphy (voiceover): jr told the same story others did, that linda

was a heavy drinker. dennis murphy (voiceover): the drinking was why jr said he recently broke up with linda. dennis murphy (voiceover): he said too much alcohol cost linda her job. and, jr said, linda faced an even bigger loss. dennis murphy (voiceover): turns out linda and dave hadn't yet come to terms on custody of jordan. and they had an important court hearing coming up. are you going for full custody? i didn't want to take all the rights away from linda by no means because, you know, every child needs both parents. dennis murphy (voiceover): but after his breakup with linda, jr did something unexpected. he volunteered to testify at the custody hearing on dave's behalf. so here's the strange thing. he now has your back in family court.

not so much mine. i'm sure he could give two shakes about me. but he cared about jordan. so he was doing it for her, not me. dennis murphy (voiceover): more pressure on linda. she had joined a 12-step program. still, shortly before she disappeared, she went out drinking with her cousin, jay, pat's son, at a place away from the bright lights of tucson, at a bar called the circle s saloon. jay was over there. and she was needing to get around some family because, you know, things was a little tough for her. so he told her, well, come on out. dennis murphy (voiceover): linda tried to climb back on the wagon. about 10:00 pm the night she disappeared, she called her church sponsor and asked to meet the next morning, but she didn't show up for the meeting and hadn't been seen since. there seemed to be every reason to believe she was on another bender, except for one thing, something marilyn mentioned in that initial 911 call.

dennis murphy (voiceover): coming up, did linda ask for help too late? there was a domestic incident that they were involved in shortly prior to this. dennis murphy (voiceover): and someone else felt threatened, too. it made me nervous enough to protect myself and the kids and everybody involved. dennis murphy (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. herbal essences is a force of nature. made with supercharged botanical blends, our sulfate-free formulas deeply penetrate to boost hair health. without the salon naturals price tag. herbal essences. american made mattresses on the market today. delivered and set market today. delivered and set up in any room of your house.

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controlling your body odor better everywhere. >> go beyond the headlines. >> with the. >> msnbc app. read, listen and watch live breaking news and analysis anytime, anywhere. go beyond the what? to understand beyond the what? to understand the why. download t before she disappeared, investigators learned linda watson was facing the most trying time of her life. she was broken up. she was upset at jr. she was going through a custody battle. dennis murphy (voiceover): jr told detectives the custody issue was weighing heavily on linda. dennis murphy (voiceover): so jr said linda's mom shared her doubts with her sister, pat. what did marilyn think about this guy, jr? the boyfriend is in and out of the picture. she didn't like him. she said that he's very controlling.

dennis murphy (voiceover): which is why when marilyn couldn't find linda, her mind immediately jump to jr. that very first day, she told her suspicions to the 911 operator. dennis murphy (voiceover): investigators learned that after marilyn called jr to ask about linda, jr called linda's attorney from her custody case and left this message. dennis murphy (voiceover): he phoned someone else as well. he called me up and told me that marilyn had called him, accused him, blamed him, and asked him, where's my daughter? dennis murphy (voiceover): was jr protesting too much? detectives learned while he was dating linda, jr sometimes went with her to pick up or drop off jordan. that's how he knew dave. he was also a firefighter.

he had met dave not through firefighting, but while he was with linda, doing child custody exchanges of jordan. he had met david and rosemary watson at that point. dennis murphy (voiceover): rosemary, dave's new wife of two months. keep your eye on that name. keep your eye on that name, yes. what is jr's alibi for the night that linda goes missing? on the night that linda went missing, jr was with his girlfriend. dennis murphy (voiceover): his new girlfriend. jr was already moving on, he said. but he still seemed concerned about linda. jr was very helpful, offering different ideas or people to talk to or-- but i think cynically, sometimes detective guys inveigle themselves into an investigation when, in fact, they're part of the scheme. sure, that could certainly happen. dennis murphy (voiceover): detectives also had more concrete reasons to suspect jr. there was a domestic incident that they were involved in shortly prior to this. dennis murphy (voiceover): just two days before linda disappeared, she had called the pima

county sheriff's department. she made a report that jr had come to her house on curtis and was banging on the windows and banging on the doors. dennis murphy (voiceover): jr said he was just trying to pick up some of his belongings. but it prompted linda to call her attorney the weekend she disappeared. dennis murphy (voiceover): she wasn't the only one. rosemary and dave also had a restraining order against jr. it stemmed from an incident when he was still dating linda and came to pick up jordan at their home. i was home alone with the kids. and just banging on the door, the big, heavy-- not just a knock, knock. it was kind of a boom. and it was more his tone at the time. it made me nervous enough to protect myself and the kids and everybody involved. dennis murphy (voiceover): of course, after jr and linda

broke up, things changed. jr came to us and said that he had concerns for linda and her drinking. and he said that he would testify about her drinking in order to protect jordan. he made it very clear it wasn't for dave, and it wasn't for me. it was because he loved jordan. he's going to tell the judge this child should be with the father. or at least that she needs to get some help. dennis murphy (voiceover): the hearing happened right on schedule, just four days after linda disappeared. dave and rosemary were there, of course. jr, too. linda was still nowhere to be found. but her mom arrived, spoiling for a fight. jr was in the courtroom. and she accused jr of harming her daughter. she thinks this is foul play. yeah, she does. dennis murphy (voiceover): with linda a no show, the judge awarded temporary full custody of jordan to dave. were you happy with that?

oh, i was definitely happy with jordan in my life, yes. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn went back to linda's house, dejected, but not defeated. and that's when she made a discovery that changed everything. coming up. marilyn calls us and said that she found blood in the entryway to linda's house. did all these little fragments of observations suggest a narration, detective? something violent happened in this area that someone had cleaned up. so now you have a theory of foul play to explain her disappearance. now we have a theory of foul play. dennis murphy (voiceover): but what police didn't have was a suspect. the only two people that might be looked at both had alibis. dennis murphy (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. ok, noah's going to make a fire. our job is to let him do it...by himself. what kind of wood you got there? gregggg! it is important to challenge young homeowners turning into their parents. -mm... -oh! -not a great start. -you got to turn it. you got to turn it. doesn't look structurally sound here.

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1-800-403-7539. that's one. (800) 403-7539. >> i'm richard lui with the news update pope francis remains. >> hospitalized in. >> critical condition in rome. the vatican says the pope suffered a. severe asthmatic. >> respiratory crisis. >> saturday morning. >> requiring high.

>> flow oxygen therapy. >> but he remains. >> alert. and hamas released six hostages in the final exchange of. >> phase one of the israel-hamas ceasefire. while over 600 palestinian detainees were supposed to. >> be freed. >> israel delayed. >> the release, stating. >> it will be postponed until the. >> next hostages. >> release in is guaranteed. for >> release in is guaranteed. for now. linda watson had just vanished. she didn't even show up to a custody hearing involving her four-year-old daughter, jordan. dennis murphy: did you feel abandoned, jordan? no, not really. my dad was always right there if i needed anything. dennis murphy (voiceover): linda's mother, marilyn however, was very worried, especially when she returned to linda's house after the custody hearing. marilyn calls us and said that she found blood in the entryway to linda's house. dennis murphy (voiceover): the blood was under a trash bag hidden from view. the deputy who responded to marilyn's 911 call

hadn't seen it. now investigators came back and did a luminol test. kelly anderson: it lit up blue and turned out to be positive for not only human blood, but matching dna to linda watson. dennis murphy (voiceover): now that they were looking for blood, they found more on the vacuum cleaner cord. kelly anderson: it was apparent from the blood pattern that it wasn't dripped. it wasn't smeared. it wasn't wiped. it-- the cord had been laying in a pool of blood to get that pattern and then dried. did all these little fragments of observations suggest a narration, detective? something violent happened in this area that someone had cleaned up. so now you have a theory of foul play to explain her disappearance. now we have a theory of foul play. were investigators looking at jr as a potential suspect? he was certainly looked at as a person of interest, mostly because maryland said, this guy could have done it. dennis murphy (voiceover): but jr also had a defender--

linda's ex-husband, dave. dennis murphy (voiceover): of course, investigators had to wonder. after all, jr had backed dave in the custody dispute with linda. could dave be covering for him now? for that matter, where was dave the night linda disappeared? dennis murphy (voiceover): the detective also interviewed rosemary, dave's wife. dennis murphy (voiceover): dave, she said, was home with the kids. dennis murphy (voiceover): so both dave's wife and jr's girlfriend said the two men were at their own homes the night

linda disappeared. and despite all that blood, there was still no conclusive proof linda was even dead. we have no body. we have no evidence of anything outside of the entryway. and certainly, the only two people that might be looked at, the ex-husband and the ex-boyfriend, both had alibis. kind of co-equal in terms of suspects or pick your theories here at this point? there would have been nothing to separate the strength of their alibis at the time, no reason to distrust rosemary and no other evidence to point to any other person or thing or reason. and you had a very distraught mother. a very distraught mother who all she knows is that her daughter is missing and stays missing for a long time. dennis murphy (voiceover): the investigation had stalled. and linda's case landed in the place no victim's family wants. it's the vault. and what is that? our administration building, many years ago,

before we occupied it, was a bank. and on the second floor, there is an actual vault. and that is where we keep the cold cases. dennis murphy (voiceover): locked away, a tomb of sorts where mysteries lay buried and forgotten. but linda's mom would not forget, would not give up. i want to find her. if nothing else, i want to take her home. i don't want her in this desert. i want her to come home. dennis murphy (voiceover): that sprawling sonoran desert-- what secrets could it be hiding? marilyn paid for billboards, raised reward money, organized vigils. dennis murphy: this was the start, i think, of what you would come to regard as the steel strength of marilyn. absolutely. yeah. dennis murphy (voiceover): and even if she couldn't find linda, she would continue linda's fight for jordan. marilyn sought a lawsuit for grandparents' visitation rights. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn filed a lawsuit seeking unsupervised visits with her granddaughter.

she made her case in court and in the media. i owed it to linda, and i owed it to jordan, and i owed it to myself to do as much as i could. dennis murphy (voiceover): dave and rosemary fought back for fear of what marilyn might say or even do to little jordan. she's flat out told me as soon as she gets-- finds linda, gets jordan, she's leaving this god forsaken place. dennis murphy (voiceover): amidst their legal dispute, dave and rosemary grew their family. in 2001, they had a little boy, cayden. and then a year later, rosemary took a bold step and adopted jordan. i sent out-- i sent out birth announcements. did you? i said, it's a girl, you know, 3' 2, whatever, 68 pounds, kind of thing. i was ecstatic. dennis murphy (voiceover): for jordan, the feeling was much more muted. it seemed like what my father wanted to happen. i didn't want to displease anybody, so i just said yes.

dennis murphy (voiceover): with three kids, the court battle, and work, the watsons had their hands full. but dave always made it a point to check in with jordan. when i was little and even now, when he goes to work still, i kind of worry. dennis murphy (voiceover): to calm her nerves, dave made sure to tuck her in every night. even if he's at work, he'll still call and say goodnight around the same time every night, just in case. does he still do that? yes, he does. last night, you got a tuck-in call from him? mm-hmm, i did. dennis murphy (voiceover): in january 2003, 2 and 1/2 years after linda vanished, the court finally issued a ruling. marilyn sent linda's friend marnel an email with the news. in big, bold letters, she wrote, i've got jordie. dennis murphy (voiceover): after a two-year legal battle, marilyn won the right to have unsupervised visits with jordan. i always thought that linda must be--

must have given her a little bit of peace to know that jordan was with her mom. dennis murphy (voiceover): rosemary and dave were not happy. rosemary spoke to nbc affiliate kvoa tv after the ruling. rosemary watson: not the state's place to decide where my children stay. they're turning parents into babysitters. dennis murphy (voiceover): at first, marilyn said, the watsons resisted the judge's order. she attempted to have her visitation, but dave watson made it difficult by not answering the phone, by not being available. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn took them back to court for contempt. and once again, she won. on may 7, 2003, marilyn was due to have her first unsupervised visit with now seven-year-old jordan since the contempt hearing. dennis murphy: do you remember seeing jordan off that day? were you off shift or-- oh, yeah, i was off shift. yeah, yeah. i put her out the door. - have fun, huh? - yeah. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn and jordan spent the day together.

dennis murphy: do you remember what you all did that day? i don't. i don't remember that day. maybe the movies, maybe some shopping. maybe something like that. but i don't remember it. dennis murphy (voiceover): maybe not, but what happened next was unforgettable. coming up. i said, is that my sister? and then he said, yeah. and i said, is she dead? and he said, yeah. dennis murphy (voiceover): lightning strikes twice. this is incredibly rare to have a random act of violence to two women who have done nothing to anybody. how quickly, detective, do you start to connect the dots? immediately. dennis murphy (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature.

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astepro starts working in 30 minutes. may 7, 2003. linda and marilyn's friend marnel camp had just moved back to tucson. she'd made plans to catch up with marilyn, who was elated at just having been awarded unsupervised visits with jordan. dennis murphy: what were the plans with jordan? just to stop at the house and see her and see jordan, and then possibly go with her to take jordan home. dennis murphy (voiceover): but by the time marnel made it over to the little house on curtis road-- i drove into the driveway at 7:00-- about 7:45. and it was dark. nobody was there. dennis murphy (voiceover): marnel must have just missed marilyn, who was supposed to have jordan back at dave and rosemary's home by 8:30. that's when marnel remembered something, a tv appointment. i thought, oh, if i leave now, i can still catch "the bachelor." dennis murphy (voiceover): just a short while after she left, calls started pouring into pima county sheriff's dispatch.

dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn's sister pat was just getting ready to turn in when the tv caught her attention. it was the 10 o'clock news. and right at the-- you know how they roll something across there? it said, two ladies shot, curtis road. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn's street. pat rushed over and found an active crime scene. she saw an officer she knew. i said, is-- is that my sister? and then he said, yeah. and i said, is she dead? he said, yeah. and i ask him to please let me go to her. he says, no, i can't let you do that. so i just kind of-- what can i do? i just lost it there. dennis murphy (voiceover): it was nearly incomprehensible, two tragedies in the same family. first, linda disappeared. now marilyn, having just returned home from dropping

jordan off, murdered. and renee also. renee was an innocent little neighbor lady, you know? she was just doing marilyn a favor. dennis murphy (voiceover): renee farnsworth, the second victim, marilyn's friend and neighbor who had gone with her to drop jordan off. someone had ambushed the two women in the driveway. renee had been shot once, marilyn twice, the second shot at close range to the head. this is incredibly rare to have a random act of violence to two women who have done nothing to anybody. how quickly, detective, do you start to connect the dots and saying, this is the mother in the same house of the missing linda watson? immediately. immediately. dennis murphy (voiceover): several hours later, pima county sheriff's investigators went to the last place the two women had visited. two detectives came over and had told us that they were there to do a well check on jordan.

and they started talking to us. dennis murphy (voiceover): investigators told them there had been a shooting at marilyn's home. they wanted to know where the watsons had been. dennis murphy (voiceover): the investigator asked if they had any contact with marilyn. dennis murphy (voiceover): so, dave said, rosemary came to the door. dennis murphy: what did she make of what's going on? same as me, just kind of speechless, not-- just kind of taking it all in, trying to process it all. dennis murphy (voiceover): the investigators never told dave and rosemary exactly what happened that night. dave said it wasn't until the next day that he saw the news and learned that marilyn had been murdered. dennis murphy: did you feel bad about marilyn? oh, heck yeah.

i mean, yeah. i mean, how could i not? this is jordan's grandmother. dennis murphy (voiceover): there was someone else detectives needed to talk to, jr, linda's ex-boyfriend whom marilyn had accused of murdering linda. dennis murphy (voiceover): jr told investigators he spent the evening with his fiancée and his kids. and for some reason he felt the need to tell marilyn's family, too. i got a call the next morning from jr telling me he had an alibi. it's kind of a strange thing. i never cared for the man. i told him. i just said, what do you need an alibi for, jr? well, i just wanted you to know. and i said, ok, bye. and i just hung up. dennis murphy (voiceover): the dawn had risen on the longest day of their lives. marilyn, the matriarch of their family, the one who fiercely fought to keep linda's case alive, was gone. for family friend marnel, the heartbreak was twofold.

i didn't realize until then that i had never truly let go of the idea of linda coming back until marilyn was killed. and that's when i realized, oh, she's gone. that's-- she's dead. so this is a double nightmare. yeah. had you agreed to take jordi home for the drop-off, you really would have been in this. most likely, yeah. dennis murphy (voiceover): three years after linda's disappearance, investigators had a whole new deadly mystery. and the key to unlocking it just might be a voice from the grave. coming up. she let him in the house, which just blew me away. dennis murphy (voiceover): did marilyn know what was coming? pat hinkle: she took him towards the little bedroom and said, that's a gun laying right there. i won't be as easily taken as linda was. dennis murphy (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. with dupixent, stay ahead of moderate-to-severe eczema. as you welcome the feeling of touch

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plus, 0% interest for 48 months. for years, marilyn cox had been an advocate for her missing daughter, linda. with marilyn's murder, that role fell to her sister, pat. i felt like, literally, she handed me the baton. i told her, you know, i might not do as good a job as you, but as long as there's breath in me, i will do my best to try to find linda. and i will try to find who killed you. dennis murphy (voiceover): pima county sheriff's detectives were working to do the same, for marilyn's family and for the family of renee farnsworth. renee is as much a victim as anybody else. she was moral support, huh, for her friend. she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. dennis murphy (voiceover): investigators compiled the preliminary evidence from eyewitness accounts. we know as soon as they got out of the car, they are attacked, accosted by a lone gunman, 6' to 6' 2, slender, well built, something covering his face,

probably a hoodie. dennis murphy (voiceover): it looked like a targeted killing. kelly anderson: there's no other motive. there's no burglary. there's no sexual assault. there's no car theft. there's nothing. dennis murphy (voiceover): but there was, potentially, valuable physical evidence. the bullet casings from the scene were a 9 millimeter. and when you combined the bullet casings with the bullets from the victims, it was consistent with a ruger 9 millimeter p85, semiautomatic handgun. dennis murphy (voiceover): hanging over everything was the question-- who would have wanted maryland dead? detectives knew from the moment linda disappeared, maryland had accused linda's ex-boyfriend, jr, of harming linda. it became a nasty feud. they even tried to get restraining orders against one another, but a judge denied their requests, which is when marilyn's attention seemed to shift. after about january of 2001, when jr and her had no more contact with each other, and she totally focused on dave.

dennis murphy (voiceover): detectives knew, the whole town knew that she'd been feuding with dave and rosemarie over visitation with jordan. pat said the reason marilyn asked her friend renee to go with her to drop jordan off was that she feared a confrontation with dave. she thought there was safety in numbers. dennis murphy (voiceover): pat recalled in earlier incident, she said, when she was on the phone with marilyn, and dave showed up unannounced at marilyn's house. she let him in the house, which just blew me away. but she wanted him to feel better at having jordan over there, so he could see that it's nice, it's not dangerous, and i'm not planning on taking off. dennis murphy (voiceover): but, pat said, the visit turned tense. pat hinkle: so she showed him through the house and took him towards the little bedroom. and it was just off to the left there. and she said, and that's a gun laying right there. i won't be as easily taken as linda was. dennis murphy (voiceover): marilyn warned everyone around her that if anything happened to her, there was one person they should look at. this is a letter she wrote to the sheriff's department

in february 2003, shortly after she won the visitation case and just months before she was murdered. "this is just to let you know that if i should suddenly disappear, that i am not on vacation, as they told jordan linda was. i hope you keep this on file somewhere because dave has now lost some major control, and he's having a hard time with that." she was nervous, and she was scared of david watson. dennis murphy (voiceover): now, marilyn was dead. detectives couldn't dismiss the strange coincidence of two tragedies happening at the same place to the same family. how often are a mother and daughter killed at the same house three years apart? that doesn't happen. dennis murphy (voiceover): when linda went missing, two men were blips on the investigators' radar. first was her ex-boyfriend jr, with whom she'd had a tumultuous relationship. jr insisted he was at his house the night of marilyn and renee's murders.

and his alibi checked out plus, said detective kelly anderson. there's nothing evidentiary at the scene that would indicate jr had any involvement. and he doesn't even match the physical description of the person the eyewitness saw at the scene running away. dennis murphy (voiceover): but then there was linda's ex-husband, david. he, too, of course, had an alibi. he said he was home the night of the murders. and his wife, rosemary, backed him up. rosemary had an alibi, too. she had been at home with the kids when marilyn dropped jordan off. ever look at rosemary as a co-conspirator here possibly? she had interest in retaining custody of the child, too. could they have been in on it together? sure. you don't ignore the wife. just because she's who she is doesn't mean that she's excluded as being looked at. obviously, she's not a man running from the scene. we know that. but could she be involved in it? could she be planning it with him? dennis murphy (voiceover): detectives had already

talked to rosemary of course, but there was another potential witness at that house. what did she know? dennis murphy (voiceover): dave's daughter, jordan, sat down for an interview the day after her grandmother was killed. she told the detective that her adoptive mom, rosemary, greeted her at the door when marilyn dropped her off at home. dennis murphy (voiceover): a curious response from the little girl that dad told her he'd been outside. dennis murphy (voiceover): the detective prodded further. here or where's dad? did you want to see your dad?

>> yeah. >> okay. did you ask her anything about that? anything about that? >> yeah, she said, i don't she does not know where dad was at 8:30. dennis murphy (voiceover): detectives wanted to speak with dave watson again. coming up. police have tough questions for dave. dennis murphy (voiceover): and a disturbing discovery. a reflection caught my eye. i said, look at this. look what i found. i picked it up, and it said ddw. anybody you know is a ddw? well, we know dave watson. and his middle name is dwayne. dennis murphy (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. ♪♪ well would you look at that? jerry, you've got to see this. i've seen it. trust me, after 15 walks, it gets a little old. ugh. i really should be retired by now.

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of people to go talk to. dennis murphy (voiceover): once again, dave told the detective he was home from his fire department meeting by the time jordynn arrived at 8:30. remember, though, the night of the murders, he said he was in the bathroom when jordynn was dropped off. now, his story was a little different. dennis murphy (voiceover): small inconsistencies. but detectives also wanted to ask about their strongest piece of evidence-- bullets and shell casings consistent with a 9 millimeter ruger handgun. did dave own that type of gun? well, we ended up looking for that ad, and we were never able to find any ad for a 9 millimeter by dave watson. dennis murphy (voiceover): but when they looked in dave's gun safe,

they did find 9 millimeter ammunition. why would he have that if the gun was long gone? they asked the big question. do you have. dennis murphy (voiceover): a firm denial and they had nothing that placed dave at either crime scene. and detectives talked to rosemary again, who confirmed what she'd said initially. dennis murphy (voiceover): which meant dave could not have been the shooter. but then, a few weeks after marilyn's death, her sister bobbie kutasy noticed something in marilyn's backyard. as i'm coming back toward the gate, a reflection caught my eye. i said, look. look at this. look what i found.

and i picked it up, and it still-- i think i said, somebody lost her money clip. and it said ddw. anybody you know is a ddw? well, we know dave watson. and his middle name is dwayne. dennis murphy (voiceover): there was no proof it was dave's, no fingerprints or dna. and even if it were dave's, it didn't necessarily mean anything sinister. after all, he'd once lived in that home, except-- after linda's disappearance, marilyn got rid of everything that remained of dave's. and by every account, anything that belonged to dave was long gone. so what do you make of the initial money clip? is it evidence? just something maybe interesting or what? no, it's beyond interesting. that's certainly evidence. ddw goes beyond coincidence. dennis murphy (voiceover): and there was something else, an unusual comment dave's friend, mike, overheard. dave allegedly says-- somebody brings up marilyn's murder in the driveway. and he says, well, i don't know what happened, but she probably deserved it.

i did hear him say that. i don't think that was a good comment either. i mean, i don't have an answer to that. don't like to hear something like that about anybody, but that was him saying it. dennis murphy (voiceover): bad blood, contradictory statements, shell casings, and a money clip. dennis murphy: i imagine in your war room in the homicide offices, you're batting ideas back and forth. you're looking to dave watson for this thing. absolutely. this is a guy who kills when the issue of his child custody is challenged. those similarities became glaring. dennis murphy (voiceover): but it doesn't seem to go anywhere investigatively. it does not. there is a lack of physical evidence in this case. and the suspect has an alibi for both nights. dennis murphy (voiceover): three women gone, and no answers on the desert horizon. dennis murphy: and now all three investigations are in the vault. all three go cold.

dennis murphy (voiceover): coming up. but for some people, cases never go cold. i was always just shocked that there wasn't outrage in the community. i just couldn't believe that these innocent women were murdered, and no one was talking about it. dennis murphy (voiceover): apparently, somebody was. dennis murphy (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. (♪♪) ♪ (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. syfovre was proven to slow ga lesion growth over 2 years with increasing effect over time. it's the only treatment to slow ga

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by the spring of 2003, three women in dave watson's orbit were either missing or dead. detectives had their suspicions, but no hard evidence dave had committed any crime. and so the cases of linda, marilyn, and renee sat quietly, collecting dust in the cold case vault of the sheriff's department. we keep waiting and listening and hoping that something will come up. they'll find something that proves that dave did this. dennis murphy (voiceover): and all the while, dave continued to climb the ranks at the tucson fire department, even if he couldn't quite shake the shroud of suspicion that surrounded him. i mean, this is-- tongues are wagging in tucson. oh, absolutely. dennis murphy (voiceover): matt mcdonald, courtney corcoran, and richard johnson all rode horses with dave and worked with him at the tucson fire department. i mean, i went into a station and-- where dave was working, and the phone rang. and one of the guys picked up the phone,

and they go, hey, killer, phone's for you. yeah. i mean-- dennis murphy: you guys are tough on him. yeah, tough on him in there. somebody called him cold case. is that true? - i did. yeah. dennis murphy: you did, matt? i did. dennis murphy (voiceover): one day, his friend, matt, decided to ask dave point blank if he had anything to do with the murders. he was very candid with me. and we spoke for probably 4 hours that morning. you had questions, matt. did he answer them? did he persuade you? he did answer them. dennis murphy (voiceover): his buddies were convinced. dave had done nothing wrong. i never had any doubt that he was innocent. you don't see him as the guy in the hoodie. no, i don't. no, i do not, not at all. i never called him on it because i never suspected dave. dennis murphy (voiceover): despite the whispers around town, dave never left. and jordynn says he remained focused on his kids. my dad really tried to make everything normal, so we could have a normal childhood. dennis murphy (voiceover): but the ongoing investigation took its toll on dave and rosemary's marriage. i said, i can't do this anymore. and he said, ok.

he asked if there was anything that he could do. and i said, i don't think so. dennis murphy (voiceover): by 2007, they'd divorced and moved on. rosemary worked as a radio disk jockey, supporting her family, including her adoptive daughter, jordynn, who lived primarily with her. dave was promoted to fire department captain. he earned it. it was not given to him. he earned it. dennis murphy (voiceover): time, as it tends to do, kept moving on. but here in the cold case vault sat those three cases-- linda, who was officially declared dead in 2006, marilyn, and renee. i think my biggest concern was always them being forgotten. dennis murphy (voiceover): linda's friend, marnel, did what she could to keep that from happening. for years, i sent letters to all the media, just saying, here's the story. i was always just shocked that there wasn't outrage in the community. i just couldn't believe that these innocent women

were murdered, and no one was talking about it. dennis murphy (voiceover): but by december 2007, it seemed as though there had been a huge break in the case. the local papers reported that the sheriff's department had new evidence. information in this case is snowballing, and we have to pursue that, said an investigator. in reality, it was all a bluff, the cops planting a story, hoping to pressure dave. they tapped his phone, too, and recorded this call he made to rosemary. to you yet? dennis murphy (voiceover): dave seemed to suspect someone close to him was talking to the cops. dennis murphy (voiceover): detectives interviewed a friend of dave's named luis who told investigators about something dave said at a party one night.

dennis murphy (voiceover): not so, said dave's best friend's wife, who was at the same party. she said dave was talking about a missing dog, not linda. hard to tell if it was just an innocent misunderstanding or a slip of dave's tongue that indicated something sinister. the mystery of linda's disappearance and marilyn and renee's murders no closer to being solved. no way of knowing that out there, in the desert, an answer had already been found. coming up. it was an aha moment for me. dennis murphy (voiceover): someone took a horse ride out to the middle of nowhere. what was he looking for? i think he was going back to the scene to see if we were there, if we'd been poking around. it seems very coincidental that you would ride it there when at that point in time,

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stores. just text mind to 215215. now. >> we're going. >> to start with breaking news on capitol hill. >> mounting questions over the future of tiktok in the us. >> reporting from. >> philadelphia. >> el paso. >> and the palisades, virginia. >> from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. >> each week, veteran lawyers. andrew weissmann and mary mccord break down the latest developments. inside the trump. >> administration's department of justice. >> the administration. >> doesn't necessarily want to be questioned on any of its policy. >> main justice. >> main justice. >> new episodes dro linda watson had been declared legally dead, but no body had ever been found. so there was no proof of a crime and no case to make against her ex-husband, dave watson, not for linda's disappearance, or for the subsequent murder of her mother and a friend.

all that changed because of a random discovery and a long delayed lab result. dennis murphy: so where are we, detective? why here? kelly anderson: we are outside the silverbell mine area, that being the silverbell mine. oh, yeah. very remote area, the northwest side of tucson and pima county. dennis murphy (voiceover): remember, jr had lived off of silverbell road. silverbell mine was near the same road, but 20 miles from where jr lived. way back in october of 2003, not long after marilyn and renee were killed, hunters found a partial human skull here. kelly anderson: this is a high trafficked area for undocumented border crossers. and unfortunately, many in the summertime in the hot summers of arizona do not make it and perish in this area. dennis murphy (voiceover): the medical examiner's office in tucson runs a unique program to identify such remains.

but it takes time. so a small portion of the cranium was removed for dna testing at a later date, much later. eight years later in february of 2011, we finally get a dna match back from that skull that was found in 2003. and it is a positive match for linda watson. dennis murphy (voiceover): suddenly, the skull was a big priority. there was no sign of trauma, no evidence of how she died. still, 11 years after linda watson disappeared, at last, here was proof she was no longer alive. that's when you have a case. that's when i have a case. dennis murphy (voiceover): indeed, he did have a case-- three of them, in fact. detective anderson took over as lead detective after linda's skull was identified. by the time i got the case in 2011, it was 11 years old. and there was 11 years of investigative work that had been done. and i had to start piecing it together. dennis murphy (voiceover): it took him a year

just to read through it all. there were so many things that stood out. but one in particular caught his eye. it happened years before linda's remains were identified. it was an aha moment for me. dennis murphy (voiceover): back in 2007 when detectives planted that new story about the case heating up, they also put a gps tracker on dave's vehicle. i discovered gps coordinates that indicated on december 31, 2007, he drove his truck and his horse trailer and rode a horse within hundreds of yards, at least no further than 1.1 mile, of where linda watson's skull was found back in 2003. speculate. what do you think was going on? i think he was going back to the scene to see if he saw anything, if we were there, if we'd been poking around, if nothing had changed. it seems very coincidental that you would ride it there when, at that point in time, nobody else knew that linda

watson was out there. dennis murphy (voiceover): after studying every detail of the case, detective anderson found it convincing. it was obvious to me and everybody i presented this case to that only one person committed these three murders, and that one person was david watson. dennis murphy (voiceover): and he had a theory about how linda's murder went down at her house. manner of death, do you see it? i have no idea, something that creates a great amount of blood. and i think that he takes linda in the very early morning hours out towards the silverbell mine and buries her in a shallow grave in the wash. dennis murphy (voiceover): and as far as detective anderson was concerned, dave was the only person who had motive to kill marilyn, too. motive outweighed everything in this case. we have two women who took him to court over his daughter. he got what he wanted as a result of these homicides. dennis murphy (voiceover): enough to go forward?

maybe. but this wasn't the only high profile cold case being rescued from the vault at the time. "dateline" covered the case of gary triano, who was killed when his car exploded in the parking lot of an upscale tucson country club in 1996. they had new leads on that one, things to follow and do right now. dennis murphy (voiceover): another four years passed. that other case was solved, and then in 2015-- bam, bam, bam on my front door. i thought the thing was going to break in. and there's cops out there in tactical wear. they asked me to step out. four guys threw me to my gravel driveway. you know, i said, i think you guys got the wrong person. i told them that you're under arrest for the murders of linda watson, marilyn cox, and renee farnsworth. and i'm like, yeah, no. i told you before i didn't do any of this. you know, and i told them, you know, i didn't do this stuff. you know, i'm innocent. i told you.

i said, you guys know everything about me. you guys come and checked me out. you know, you asked me questions. you guys have done everything. i've never left town. i'm always here. i have nothing to hide. dennis murphy (voiceover): linda watson's friend marnel saw the news on tv. we arrested david dwayne watson for three counts of first degree murder. all of a sudden, i just couldn't breathe. and i said, oh, my god, this is it. and i started trying to call her aunt pat, and she just said, this is it. and i was like, are you sure? are you sure? i just remember screaming and crying. and she said, they just arrested him. i couldn't believe it. i just couldn't believe it. this is 15 years after linda's gone missing. yeah, i just could not. and i still had to pinch myself. dennis murphy (voiceover): dave's daughter jordynn couldn't believe this day had come either, but for a very different reason. she fully supported her father, believed there was no way he killed three women. all they really had was that he was in a custody battle.

and it seemed like a vicious custody battle. and when it came to a climax, somebody died. yes. and that's all they had. there's no hard evidence putting him somewhere, you know. no murder weapon in his hand, nothing like that. they never found anything. you know, his dna isn't anywhere that they were. dennis murphy (voiceover): and remember, dave had a solid alibi. his wife at the time, rosemary, told detectives she was with him at home when all three women were killed. he pleaded not guilty and, in a recorded call from jail, told his friend mike bratton he was counting on his daughter and his ex-wife to defend him. dennis murphy (voiceover): dave had a big surprise coming. did he ever. coming up, rosemary's dark and dangerous secret.

how do i look my daughter in the eye and live the rest of my life, knowing what i know? dennis murphy (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. ok, noah's going to make a fire. our job is to let him do it...by himself. what kind of wood you got there? gregggg! it is important to challenge young homeowners turning into their parents. -mm... -oh! -not a great start. -you got to turn it. you got to turn it. doesn't look structurally sound here. tom! they can't help themselves. -a fire starter?! -you know cavemen, they built fires with nothing but their wits and their bare hands. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto -when you bundle with us. -can't watch this. ugh, when is my allergy spray going to kick in? -you need astepro. -astepro? it's faster, bro. 8x faster than flonase. it's faster, bro! it's faster, bro! it's faster, bro! it's mom to you. astepro starts working in 30 minutes. astepro and go!

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bond. get in touch with irresistibly touchable skin. >> i'm richard lui with a news update. a shooting at upmc memorial hospital in southern pennsylvania saturday. morning left one police officer dead and five people injured. after being held hostage by the gunman, police have identified him as. >> 49 year. >> old kenneth. >> arcangel ortiz. >> a motive. >> not known. and one airman. >> is dead and another injured after. shooting at. >> kirtland air force. >> base in. >> new mexico. security forces responded early saturday. >> one airman was found. >> dead at the scene. local authorities are. >> still investigating. for now, >> still investigating. for now, back to dateline. i had told nobody.

and when you have a deep, dark secret, you don't tell people. dennis murphy (voiceover): for seven years, rosemary watson carried the knowledge buried down deep. it festered, ate away at her. if i never said a word to anybody, you know, how do i look my daughter in the eye, you know, and live the rest of my life, knowing what i know and keeping that? dennis murphy (voiceover): rosemary said the seeds of this dark secret first took root in august 2000, the night linda disappeared. she, of course, had been her husband's alibi, told investigators he was home with her all night, but she told us that wasn't entirely true. in the middle of the night, she said, she actually woke up. and dave wasn't in bed. and i got up and i kind of walked through the house, and i didn't see him. and i went and i laid back down. i fell back asleep. dennis murphy (voiceover): sometime later, she said, she woke up again. and he was not in bed with me again.

and i was looking for him and through the house, kind of peeking out into the backyard. and then i saw him. where was he? he was standing at the back of his jeep. i could see him through our kitchen window. he appeared to be-- he looked as though he was just kind of cleaning out the back of his jeep. and then he comes in. he does come in. and he said, i went for a walk. and i asked him if he was ok. and he said, yeah, he just needed to clear his head. that make sense to you? it did make sense to me. i had no reason to doubt him at all. none. dennis murphy (voiceover): and then, rosemary said, dave handed her something. he actually handed me a box of latex gloves, you know, and said, put these away, which, you know, i didn't think anything of it at the moment. this is your new husband you're in love with. absolutely. dennis murphy: you don't know all his habits. nope, still learning. he might get up and talk to birds. you don't know, right? he was an early riser. dennis murphy (voiceover): and so when investigators showed up and asked where dave had been the night

linda disappeared-- i didn't mean to lie. that wasn't my intent, was to lie to law enforcement. did you say, dave's in a jam here. i got to cover for him. i said, i love my husband. he went for a walk. it looks really bad and very suspicious that he went for a walk. now, suddenly, all this is happening. you know, he said i'm home, and i'm like, he's home. dennis murphy (voiceover): so, no walk. he was home all night. that was her story, and she stuck with it, although, privately, she said, she couldn't help but turn things over in her mind, and at one point, even confronted her husband. what i said was, please, tell me that you're not involved, that, you know, this has nothing to do with you. what did he say? i didn't do anything. and that was enough for me. and i said ok. dennis murphy (voiceover): and so three years passed. rosemary gave birth to her son, adopted jordynn, and battled over visitation rights

with marilyn. and then on may 8, 2003, the investigators were at the door again. marilyn and renee had been shot. where, they asked, had dave been around 8:30 that night? dave and rosemary, as we know, said he'd been at home. but the truth? at that moment, rosemary, was dave home? dave was not home. dennis murphy (voiceover): according to rosemary, dave did not get home until after jordynn was already tucked into bed, sometime after 9:00 pm. and he walked in. and i saw his face. and it's something that nobody will ever, ever take away from me. tell me. panicked, which panicked me. white as a ghost, sweating. i mean, just his eyes were huge. and it just instantly-- it scared me, to where the first thing i-- the very first thing i said to him was, what's wrong? and he didn't say anything.

and i said, dave, what is wrong? and he didn't say anything. and he leans down, kissed jordynn, and he shut off the light. and he kind of pulled me around the corner. and i kept asking him, what is wrong? what's going on? there were a lot of, what the hell is happening? he started to take off his clothes in the kitchen and quickly. and he said, wash those. i'm getting in the shower. and then he made a beeline for the shower. dennis murphy (voiceover): and then when the investigators showed up at the door-- he clearly stated, you know, been home. and they asked you directly, was dave here? yes. you told them a lie. i absolutely did. i followed dave's lead. dennis murphy (voiceover): but rosemary says her insides churned. i mean, it really took a toll on me physically and mentally. just, everything terrified me. dave terrified me. he handed me knowledge that i didn't want to know. i didn't ask for it.

i didn't want it. and he left me there, holding it. and it became a very, very heavy burden. is that when your marriage becomes unraveled with dave? it definitely starts there. it never was the same after that. it never was the same. dennis murphy (voiceover): the dominoes, said rosemary, quickly began to fall. dave's behavior changed. and he had an affair. months after marilyn's murder, rosemary confronted him again. i said, i think you killed three women. and his response to me was, are you afraid of me? that's how he responded to that confrontational question? that's how he responded to me. there was no-- there was never any reassurance. there was-- you know, i wouldn't have done a thing like that. none of that kind of-- - there was nothing. it was, are you afraid of me? and do you trust me? dennis murphy (voiceover): dave, she said, blamed her for the suspicion that had fallen upon him. he had made statements, you know, saying people are saying that you're telling

this town that i did it. and what he told me was, you need to shut your mouth. and what i said was, i'm your [bleep] alibi. and that was a quote. and it was kind of left at that. dennis murphy (voiceover): a few years later, rosemary and dave were divorced. and it was in the midst of an argument over childcare arrangements that rosemary said everything came to the surface. the moment that it hit me, it was just when i said, please, don't make me take you back to court. and when i said that, he took off his sunglasses, and he said, don't [bleep] with me, rosemary. and it did. it scared me. did you fear for your life at that point? i-- linda, marilyn, renee, i might be next here. i might be the subject of this, whatever is going on with this guy. there was a moment, yes, that i did. dennis murphy (voiceover): after this confrontation, rosemary confided in her best friend, who urged her to call the sheriff's department. she met with an investigator.

and i told them straight out. i said i lied both times. and i think as we went through conversation, you know, it kind of ended with, i never believed you anyway. but the alibi had gone up in smoke. yes. and there was no turning back. it was the truth. dennis murphy (voiceover): detectives kept rosemary's confession secret as they slowly built their case against dave. when he went on trial, she would be the star witness. but by her own admission, rosemary had lied for years. why would a jury believe her now? coming up. did any of that get to you, jordynn? did she plant a seed? no, knowing my father, i really don't feel he could go as far as to kill a woman. dennis murphy (voiceover): a daughter defends her father and explains herself. being a seven-year-old, i probably wasn't very clear. dennis murphy (voiceover): and an ex-wife takes the stand. i knew that i could not hold this in any longer.

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back and do the next case. dennis murphy (voiceover): and there were few cases as daunting as the one he took on in 2014. the defendant, tucson fire captain david watson, accused of killing three women. this is the pinnacle for a prosecutor, to take a challenge, make the challenge almost insurmountable, make it big, and overcome it. dennis murphy (voiceover): mosher and his co-counsel, nicole green, felt they were up to the challenge. we had no doubt, no doubt that david watson killed these three women. we just wanted a chance to put it in front of a jury. we will start with the state court. dennis murphy (voiceover): that chance came in october 2016. two women battled david dwayne watson for control and custody of jordynn watson, two women who are both dead. dennis murphy (voiceover): the prosecution called jordynn, who still believed her dad was innocent, to testify about that interview she gave at age seven.

that is, number one, corroboration for when rosemary comes forward later and says that david watson was not home. being a seven-year-old, i probably wasn't very clear, of course, but yeah, i have no memory of that at all. dennis murphy (voiceover): and, she told us, her relationship with rosemary was never the same after rosemary started expressing doubts about dave. did any of that get to you, jordynn? did you start to turn these ideas around in your head? did she plant a seed, well, is there something to this? she really tried, i'll give her that. but no, knowing my father, i really don't feel he could go as far as to kill a woman. dennis murphy (voiceover): don't let the helpful fire captain image fool you, said the prosecution. dave's training, they said, is exactly why he was capable of killing three women. what does a paramedic do? responds to bloody scenes. they remain calm in such circumstances.

and this was david watson's key attribute. dennis murphy (voiceover): that, along with a mountain of other circumstantial evidence. the money clip, the 9 millimeter shell casings, dave's statements to his friends, the horse ride near silverbell mine in 2007 all pointed to a guilty man, according to the state. you prove this case by 1,000 cuts, 1,000 little cuts. and there's not going to be the one aha moment that comes down from on high and solves this case. dennis murphy (voiceover): wrong, said the defense. there wasn't an aha moment because dave didn't do it. representing dave watson, husband and wife legal team, michael storie and natasha wrae. and much like their prosecution counterparts, not ones to shy away from a challenge. this is the most monstrous undertaking we've ever had in our careers together. dennis murphy (voiceover): according to the defense, there were any number of reasons why linda, renee, and marilyn died, reasons that had nothing to do with dave watson.

as much as the state says dave watson, dave watson, dave watson, you're going to see it going in other avenues of people and circumstance. dennis murphy (voiceover): other avenues such as suicide, whether linda's-- with the drinking, an ex-boyfriend testifying against her, losing her job. dennis murphy (voiceover): --or even renee's. the defense said marilyn's friend had once discussed suicide. and they suggested she may have chosen an unusual method. we all know insurance won't pay if you commit suicide. is your theory, or at least, you're willing to consider it that renee, the friend, has somehow commissioned her own murder? that was something that we had thrown out, a theory. natasha, what were you seeing? there's some crazy people out there. dennis murphy (voiceover): then there was the idea that maybe linda's ex-boyfriend jr was the culprit here. dna consistent with jr and not dave was found on a trash bag that had linda's blood on it, although jr himself testified, nothing surprising about that.

he said he'd been helping linda fix up her house and that he had nothing to hide. i have cooperated with the sheriff's department in their investigation 110%. dennis murphy (voiceover): and remember how linda went out drinking with her cousin a few days before she disappeared. the circle s saloon isn't far from a rural part of town called green acres. a witness testified she had heard someone in green acres talking about moving linda watson's body. she reports that that body was being moved to silverbell road. and that is within four miles of where the skull was found. dennis murphy: so geography matches. she had it. and this would fit the theory that linda got into the wrong pickup truck, come to think of it. - right. dennis murphy (voiceover): the defense said dave, an avid rider, had ridden out near the silverbell mine before. but as for that specific trip on new year's eve 2007-- i don't think that happens. you don't believe he went for the ride? mm-mm. dennis murphy (voiceover): the defense highlighted that while pima county sheriff's

investigators provided a printout of the gps coordinates, they never saved the raw data. and what about that money clip with the initials, ddw? the defense theorized maybe marilyn's family planted it. we have our theories that this family was looking for a scapegoat, and they believe dave did it. and so they planted the money clip. dennis murphy (voiceover): ludicrous, said marilyn's sisters. we may be old, but we ain't senile. no. if i was going to do something that stupid, i would have took it up front where the crime scene was. why would i put it clear in the back? dennis murphy (voiceover): the defense also pointed out that there was no provable link between the ruger dave once owned and the gun that killed marilyn and renee. it's not conclusive that it was a ruger. dennis murphy (voiceover): but at the end of the day, both prosecution and defense agreed. the case hinged on the believability of one witness, rosemary watson. if you do not believe rosemary, we don't have a case. it just chilled me to the bone.

dennis murphy (voiceover): rosemary explained to the jury why she decided to come forward in 2007. and i knew that i could not hold this in any longer because three women lost their lives, and their lives matter. dennis murphy (voiceover): and then there was a critical detail. rosemary testified that on the same day linda disappeared, dave found out his own mother was planning to testify on linda's behalf at the upcoming custody hearing. he begged her not to. prosecutor: did he succeed? no. she was very adamant about testifying for linda. dennis murphy (voiceover): the prosecution said everything was coming to a head that night. it's about control. and that's a man who's seething inside the night that he finds out he can't get his mother not to testify against him, his own mother. and that's how vicious it had become.

so you see the fuse being lit here. yeah, i mean, you know, i don't know when the fuse was lit, but it was getting down close to the explosives at that night. dennis murphy (voiceover): but according to the defense, rosemary watson was just not credible. she was either lying back when she gave the alibis, or she's lying when she recants the alibis. jurors pick it. oh, they shouldn't pick it. they should take it and say, i can't believe anything she says because i don't know what to believe. michael storie: so for a seven-year span, you have this story you're calling a lie now, right? it is a lie. michael storie: and then the last seven years is the truth. right? i came forward and told the truth. michael storie: i understand. they're completely different versions of those nights, yes? they are. michael storie: one of them is a complete lie, yes? correct. michael storie: that's all i have. dennis murphy (voiceover): the defense in a nutshell, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. so she's lying to stick it to her ex. that's your theory. exactly right.

dennis murphy (voiceover): a point the defense drove home in closing arguments. she's a liar. and when you have a blatant, bald-faced liar like that, you cannot consider their testimony. you have to throw it out. dennis murphy (voiceover): the prosecution argued the jury should believe rosemary and not the wild theories floated by the defense. the truth is, folks, in august of 2000, that man killed linda watson. in 2003, that man killed marilyn cox and killed renee farnsworth. there is no other evidence based in reason to any other answer than that. dennis murphy (voiceover): and now it was in the hands of 12 jurors. and right before thanksgiving, they had surprised everyone. coming up. juror: we, the jury, do find the defendant, david dwayne watson--

dennis murphy (voiceover): after so many years and one last twist, a verdict. there's no way, no way beyond a reasonable doubt, you could think i would have done any of this. we were all pretty positive that, you know, this was going to be over, and he's going to come home. my hands were sweating. i was nervous because i know the victims' families are behind me. and this is everything to them. dennis murphy (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. with dupixent, stay ahead of moderate-to-severe eczema. as you welcome the feeling of touch with clearer skin and less itch. the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, helps heal your skin from within. severe allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for face, mouth, tongue or throat swelling, wheezing or trouble breathing. tell your doctor of new or worsening eye problems, like eye pain, vision changes, or blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma or other medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent. always dry scoop before you run.

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jordynn watson firmly believed her father was innocent and expected to have him home for thanksgiving. you know, we were all pretty positive that, you know, this was going to be over. he's going to come home. dennis murphy (voiceover): then, three days after deliberations began, the jury came back. but it wasn't what anyone expected. was there any possibility that the jury would want to consider further discussions? juror: not at this time. no, no sir. dennis murphy (voiceover): the jury was hung. dave watson soon learned he'd been just a few votes shy of walking out of jail a free man. dennis murphy: it was tended to acquittal in the case of linda, and 8 to 4 for acquittal in the case of marilyn and renee. yeah, it brought tears to my eyes that it was even a hung jury. dennis murphy (voiceover): the defense contained their excitement and braced themselves. anything short of conviction is a win.

but it's a hollow win in that the state can come right back and charge it again. dennis murphy (voiceover): which is exactly what happened. the retrial began on january 25, 2017. the prosecution led with its star witness. jonathan mosher: the state calls rosemary watson. dennis murphy (voiceover): but this time, they retooled their case a bit. i read the transcripts from the first trial. and one thing i saw too much of was me speaking. and so i doubled down on the idea that the jury needed to hear from rosemary. and so i got out of the way. i asked shorter questions. did anything unusual happen that night? yes, i woke up in the middle of the night a couple of times, and dave was not there. dennis murphy (voiceover): the second time around was different for rosemary, too. now i'm a little mad. not only is he lying, he's making me out to be just a boldfaced liar. dennis murphy (voiceover): she testified about how she had lied to protect her family and about what coming forward with the truth had cost her.

jordynn doesn't speak to me very often anymore. correct. dennis murphy (voiceover): the prosecution called jordynn next so the jury could hear how her interview at age seven backed up rosemary's claim that dave wasn't home. not so fast, said the defense. i can only imagine if my seven-year-old was interviewed about a key fact that's going to decide a guy's life, it would be scary. dennis murphy (voiceover): the defense maintained dave was home the nights in question. he didn't kill anyone, they said. they once again presented multiple other scenarios of what could have happened to linda. she died by suicide. she was murdered by a mysterious killer from green acres or by the one suspect who stood out for the defense. if not dave watson, then who? it would be carl. dennis murphy (voiceover): carl barton, jr., jr. nonsense, said the prosecution. there is no evidence linking jr to any of these three murders, none.

dennis murphy (voiceover): after seven weeks of testimony, dave's fate was once again in the hands of a jury. we were getting indications from questions out of the jury that they might actually go into the next week. i was thinking, they're pretty hung. dennis murphy (voiceover): but then, after a day and a half of deliberations, the jury buzzed with a verdict. it was st. patrick's day. detective kelly anderson hoped luck would be on his side. kelly anderson: my hands were sweating. i was nervous. i'm nervous over every verdict, but i'm more nervous now. and it's because i know the victims' families are behind me. and this is everything to them. dennis murphy (voiceover): the stakes were high for him personally, too. he was retiring, and this was his last homicide case. the moment of truth, the one that had taken 17 years to arrive, was finally upon them. juror: we, the jury, do find the defendant, david dwayne watson, guilty of the offense of second degree murder of linda watson. oh, when he said linda, i didn't even

have to listen to the rest of it because we knew if we'd got him for linda, the other two was just an automatic. dennis murphy (voiceover): david watson, father, friend, and fire captain, was also convicted for the first degree murders of marilyn and renee, the loyal friend who didn't even play a lead role in her own murder case. she was forgotten a lot, but my mom was kind of the meek, mild, quiet person in the back and just kind of went with the flow. and she was always there for anybody that needed anything. dennis murphy (voiceover): jordynn was heartbroken. dave says he could not believe it. i would have never imagine that in a million years. from what was being presented in court, i've thought there is no way, no way beyond a reasonable doubt, you could think i would have done any of this. did you go over to linda's house, abduct her, kill her? no. dennis murphy: drop her in the wash up by silverbill? no. no. did you get a 9 millimeter, your ruger?

did you put on a hoodie and go kill marilyn and her friend in the driveway of their house? sure did not. dennis murphy: point blank range? nope. dennis murphy (voiceover): but the jury believed otherwise. and the men who made a career out of saving lives is now doing time for taking them. dave watson was sentenced to life in prison. dennis murphy: is it a kind of nice, sentimental ending for your career as a homicide detective? it's kind of bittersweet. there's a little bit that makes me want to do it again. dennis murphy (voiceover): the vault is three cases lighter now. and the families of linda, marilyn, and renee have some measure of closure, thanks to an enemy-turned ally. dennis murphy: one of the ironies here is that you ended up delivering for women that you had been fighting earlier in your life. you delivered for linda. you delivered for marilyn and her friend, renee. ultimately, i did, didn't i? dennis murphy (voiceover): she hopes jordynn will one day come to understand that. dennis murphy: speak to her directly now. everything that i didn't want for her has happened.

and so speaking to her, i guess, the only thing that i can say is that i'm sorry. but i am always here for her. you're sorry, but you say you also did the right thing. i did do the right thing. if this was me and i died fighting for justice for my daughter, i would hope that everybody would just tell the truth. dennis murphy (voiceover): but the truth sometimes as murky and hard to see as the desert with night closing in, what with all those secrets and old bones scattered about, unchanging. teline. or her because she didn't come back to the dorm. they found her car abandoned with the keys in the ignition. everything was a blur. all i'm thinking is, is shannon really gone?