years old. whew. all right, gang hagar. see, you didn't know who my mvp was going to be, and it was a good one. >> it was. >> a good one. david, molly, hagar and my dear friend steve. friday night. no, ty and david, ever the nerd and the tie. thank you all for being here. this is a huge, huge day in news and i'm glad to have spent the night with you. on that note, i wish you all a very good night and good news for you. you can catch the nightcap again on saturdays at 11 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. but for now, we are signing off from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news. thanks for staying up late. i'll see you at the end up late. i'll see you at the end of monday. erin house: robin's mom is calling me, asked if i'd seen robin. six hours later, i pick up the phone, all i say is, did you find her? she said, they found her body. denny hargrove: and i saw three girls running towards me hollering, she's dead,

she's dead. allan mongold: something horrible has happened here. it's a homicide. we knew he was lying to us. erin house: once she suspected something, katie's claws came out. she certainly had the means, and she certainly had the motive. allan mongold: we find the facebook photo of her shooting this pink pistol. james farren: if that gun killed robin, only two people could have done it. katie phipps: i want robin back. i want to be happy. i want what will never be. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it began with a letter mailed from a sun-scorched stack of cement blocks and steel wire on the dusty plains outside amarillo,

texas, randall county jail. we often hear from inmates, but this letter seemed a little different. within the neat lines, the author dangled a promise, i will "give you one hell of a story." now, that was the truth. the tempestuous tale that unfolded was about two family-oriented women, robin and katie, friends from church who fell hard for the same guy, and then, somehow turned on one another with a vengeance. once she suspected something, katie's claws came out. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the dizzying spiral of betrayal and bad blood between the women exploded into violence ending in a merciless nighttime murder, and years of lies and suspicions. don't be alone with her. she's the kind of crazy that'll kill you.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): keep this in mind. the letter made one thing very clear, nothing was quite as it seemed. even as a teenager growing up in suburban amarillo, robin bledsoe had a clear sense of her destiny. she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): robin's mom jackie and her dad steve, who'd been married to the military and each other for 40 years, we're about as apple pie as it gets, and robin craved her own slice. it's like she wanted a relationship like we had, but she couldn't find it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the boys robin chose weren't exactly the clean cut type. steve bledsoe: she liked the bad boy image, of being the girlfriend of a bad boy. jackie bledsoe: and every time she'd find a guy that was like her dad, she'd freak out and go and run away and go find a bad one, again. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): what robin feared most, said her mom, was having no boy at all.

jackie bledsoe: she never wanted to be alone. she hated to be alone. that was why she went from boy to boy to boy. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): with her warm personality, robin became a hostess at a local restaurant. erin house: bubbly, outgoing, friendly, just loved everybody. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): erin house waitressed at the same restaurant, and was a magnet for nice guys. erin was hoping some of her luck might rub off on robin. she always imagined having the perfect family, the white picket fence, 2.0 kids, dog, the whole nine yards. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the path to that domestic tranquility was rocky and hard to follow. robin and erin were fellow travelers on it. erin house: we loved to go dancing. we were both under 21, so we weren't drinking. we were just enjoying being young. best friends? yeah. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and then, one evening in 2003, robin met a cool guy.

his name was jeremy david spielbauer, and he went by jd. they danced all night long, and she said they had a blast. he was genuine, he was caring, and he showed her a lot of attention. the perfect guy. - yeah. - polite? very polite. says yes sir and no sir. erin house: yes. and would be the type to take his hat off when he met you. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jd's good conduct came as perhaps no surprise. just 21, a big part of jd's life story was his service in the marine corps and combat in iraq and afghanistan. he would tell people all the time that certain things would cause him like ptsd, and he couldn't be in loud places, and he didn't want to be in crowded bars. because he had been a marine and fought overseas. yeah. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): in civilian life, jd was a mechanic, a gearhead. erin wasn't sure about jd, but it was robin

who was so taken with him. and erin wanted her best friend to live her dreams. erin house: she wanted the happy ending that she no matter what would make it work. you think she settled? erin house: i do. i think she loved him, but failure was not an option for her. she wanted to make it happen. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): two months later, it happened sooner than planned. robin became pregnant. she broke the news to her mom and dad, who were only just then hearing about their daughter's new man. she was like ok, so i'm moving out, and moving in with him and his grandmother. and we were like, um, wait a minute, ok, you're grown up. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): robin was just 22, and after she gave birth to a baby daughter, she and jd decided to get married. it wasn't long before robin and jd had a second daughter. money was tight, and they struggled financially and otherwise. the couple was on again, off again.

they also began attending a local church, which came as a surprise to erin. erin house: they'd never been to church before. josh mankiewicz: and all of a sudden, they start going. erin house: yeah, like three times a week. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): at church, someone new came into their lives, a single mother of two. her name was katie. erin house: katie's family was a part of that church, and they all started hanging out. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie and robin soon became friends, but erin grew suspicious of jd's newfound religious zeal. josh mankiewicz: you think this was less the desire to worship in that church than it was jd's desire to be around katie be around katie. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): erin, never shy, warned her friend. robin was having none of it, even as jd's interest in katie was breaking up her marriage. erin house: she really waited till it was extremely obvious before she said they're together. but she finally did admit it to herself.

yes, after they moved in with each other. josh mankiewicz: so my husband is hooking up with this woman who was my close friend-- mm-hmm. josh mankiewicz: --and i've now rationalized that, too. erin house: yeah. and do you say to her, this is crazy? yeah, pretty much those exact words. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): after nearly eight years of marriage, robin divorced jd, and eventually moved back in with her parents. it wasn't long before robin had more news to share about jd and katie. erin house: she called me, and said he married her. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): for a lot of couples, that kind of betrayal might be the last time they acknowledged either their ex or the other woman, but not robin. it was pretty clear she was still stuck on jd, who was now helping katie raise her two kids. over time, robin found a new man named jared, who worked several jobs. jackie bledsoe: she was giggly. she was like a young person in love

or in that infatuation stage. mom, i really like this guy, i've got a crush on him kind of deal. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): after all the growing pains, it seemed that a white picket fence was maybe, at last, in robin's future. she was becoming the robin i had met back in 2001 that was friendly and happy and outgoing, again. that must have felt great. it was like a light had come back on. and then, just as quickly-- it was turned off. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): one april night in 2014, robin went out in her black tahoe, and she never came home, again. coming up. all i say is, did you find her? and i don't remember the rest of the conversation. when the second police officer pulled up is when it was scary. josh mankiewicz: what's your gut telling you at that point? that something horrible has happened here. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. how are folks 60 and older having fun these days?

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the sun has been punishing amarillo, texas since long before this was part of the united states, but the sunrise on april 8, 2014 was of particular interest to robin spielbauer's mom jackie. robin had gone out the night before, and at sunup, there was still no sign of her. i'm like ok, wait a minute. robin's not here, i've got to be at work at 8:00. how are we going to get girls to school? what's going on? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): as the hours passed, jackie and her husband steve nervously conjured up scenarios as to where their daughter robin might be. maybe with her new boyfriend jared or her best friend erin. jackie bledsoe: ok. well, she fell asleep at erin's house or she fell asleep at this house. she wasn't at any of those places. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): meanwhile, around high noon, local businessman denny hargrove was driving through farmland outside amarillo, and swung his pickup onto a curved strip

of dirt called helium road. denny hargrove: as soon as i turned, i saw three girls running towards me saying, hollering, she's dead, she's dead. and my first response was, who's dead? i freaked. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): ahead, he saw a black chevy tahoe, and something, make that someone, was slumped near a rear wheel. denny hargrove: the girl was not moving, not breathing, lots of dried blood on her forehead. we called 911, and immediately, the officer showed up and took over. so we do a real brief examination of the body. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): sergeant allan mongold of the randall county sheriff's department took the lead in the investigation. allan mongold: we find this large crush injury, blunt force trauma on the upper-left portion of the head. could you tell how long the body had been there? it had been several hours. and it appears she'd been killed by the blow to the head. it really didn't appear to be a self-inflicted injury. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): they searched the body and the vehicle,

but couldn't find an id. her cell phone and her wallet were missing. josh mankiewicz: suggesting robbery, maybe? yeah, that's something we looked at. was it an unexpected encounter with a robbery? what's your gut telling you at that point? that it's a homicide, that something horrible has happened here. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it took only a few minutes to run the plate and turn up the victim's name. it was robin spielbauer. robin's family still hadn't heard any news about their daughter, and by now their minds were going to dark places. josh mankiewicz: at some point, it stops being irritating and frustrating, and starts being scary. erin house: when the second police officer pulled up in front of house is when it was scary. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): right then, one of jackie's friends called to say a black chevy tahoe had been found. and i was like no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. this is not happening. it's not her car. and then everybody was contacting me, it's robin's car, it's robin's car. i'm just like no, we're not going to go there, just not. and then, detective mongold showed up, and told us.

we tell them it's a suspicious death, of course, and they ask the question. yeah, we think at this point, it's a homicide. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jackie broke the news to robin's young daughters. their mom was not coming home. so they broke and cried. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): then, she called robin's former husband, jd. and told him that they'd found robin's body, and he was like, what are you talking about? i'm like the police are here. they said they found robin's body. you need to get here, now. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jd dashed over. he was there at the house within five minutes, and burst into tears. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jackie then called robin's best friend erin. erin house: all i say is, did you find her? and she said, they found her body. and i don't remember the rest of the conversation. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): back at helium road, investigator mongold and his team continued to process what was now a crime scene.

one of the first things they noticed was unusual damage to one of the tahoe's windows. there's some nicks in the glass, and there's also a hot pink paint polymer transfer to the glass. somebody hit the glass with something that was pink, something that was plastic and pink. that's what it looked like, yes, sir. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): at the time, the investigator had no way to know how significant that pink plastic on the window might be. and by now, he was trying to figure out who might have wanted to kill robin spielbauer. he went to see robin's new boyfriend jared, who worked at a bar. his story was basically that he goes to the bar, he's there till about 9:00, 9:30, goes home, plays xbox till 11:00, midnight, and then goes to sleep. not the perfect alibi. no. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the investigator also questioned jd at his home. josh mankiewicz: and what does jd say? he has a story where he came home, had a couple of beers, passed out. and he wasn't anywhere near helium road. that's what he says. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that's when jd told mongold about another man in robin's life, a name the investigator

hadn't heard before, chris. who's chris? well, he tells us a story. they used to date, and i think he's into drugs, and i think there was some violence. i think he's kind of a bad guy. you're hearing this from jd. from jd. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and jd's new wife katie backed up her husband's story. tells the same story, names the same guy. so off you go to chris. allan mongold: yeah, off we go to chris. same questions, when's the last time you saw robin, what's y'all's relationship, who doesn't like her, the same questions. i was here, mom's in the house, i live with my mom, talk to her. he had an alibi. he had an alibi. so chris is off the list. nobody gets off the list that early, but yeah, he's at the bottom. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jared soon moved to the bottom, too, but jd was about to move up the investigators list because his story was about to change. coming up, an ex-husband caught in a lie, coming up, an ex-husband caught in a lie,

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have caused the administrator to resign? right now, in our time today. the unpopularity of what they're doing really does create they're doing really does create real political pressure when investigators first spoke with robin's ex-husband jd spielbauer, he said he didn't know anything about the night she was killed, not where robin was going or who she was with. then, they got hold of jd's phone records, including the texts he'd sent that night, and those told a different story. so sergeant mongold hauled in jd for further questioning. on the night of robbins death, jd said he was at home, drinking beer, and watching tv with his uncle ty. he said his new wife of just five months katie, robin's one-time friend turned romantic rival, was at a friend's house with her son diego.

jd said that after his uncle left, he fell asleep on the couch, then woke up shortly before 10:00 pm. >> 4950, if that, because. >> i started. >> sending. >> sending. >> text messages and calling. jd said he then called his uncle ty. an uneasy feeling, that was interesting, so was what jd did next. at 10:18 pm, he sent this text to robin, "is everyone ok?" >> i didn't get a text or >> i didn't get a text or anything from her.

just a few minutes after jd tried to reach robin, katie showed up at the house. jd's uncle, who'd come back to check on jd, pulled up right behind her, and confirmed katie arrived around 10:20 pm. >> how was your day? >> how was your day? >> like, i that eerie feeling, again. jd seemed to be dropping hints, and mongold had solid evidence he knew a lot more than he was telling. according to jd's own texts, on the night she was murdered, robin had plans with him. "are we still on for tonight or do we need to reschedule, again?" then, this text exchange at 9:20 pm, "u about ready?"

"yup," which, as it happened, was the last text ever sent from robin's phone. josh mankiewicz: so presumably, that's setting up the meeting. allan mongold: yeah. so we knew he was lying to us. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): not good for jd. >> meeting that she made. >> meeting that she made. >> jd now said he had planned to meet robin at his house to talk about their kids. he said that's the reason he wanted his uncle there, to be a witness just in case katie showed up. >> approximate time? >> yes, sir. >> how come you. >> didn't. >> because i was. >> over. >> drinking beer. decided to. >> drinking beer. decided to. >> pla

it was clear to sergeant mongold, jd's story was not adding up. and in truth, jd didn't seem to have much of a motive to kill robin, which got investigators thinking about who might. >> katie's not stupid. she's pretty sharp. she finds out. >> tell her i have a meeting. >> that night. >> that's why she's. that's why she's not at the house. >> you said. >> to meeting up and something really bad happened. >> so you're. >> basically out there saying i. >> did. >> something personal or something to my wife? you or i know. >> of something. know something? >> it's not very subtle. >> i believe. you know what's. >> going on here? the best. >> i can do.

>> giving you the benefit of every doubt i can possibly. >> give you, is that. >> you have some. >> you have some. >> real deep frickin whatever those suspicions were, jd wasn't saying. investigators had suspicions of their own, and next in the box? katie's wife, katie spielbauer. i was actually going to see if i could pull that chair. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): coming up, the warning robin's friend gave her about katie. don't be alone with her. she's the kind of crazy that'll kill you. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and why katie may have been so angry with robin. >> tell you this right when "dateline" continues. some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking allstate first. like you know to check the weather first, before sailing. it's gonna get nasty later.

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>> richard louis with the news update. ukraine's president volodymyr. >> zelensky clashing with. president trump and vice president j.d. vance in the oval office friday. >> zelensky challenged trump's proposal. >> for a. >> ceasefire that. >> failed to. >> include security guarantees. >> and seemed. >> to. favor russia. the meeting ended abruptly without the signing. >> of a rare. >> minerals deal. and pope. francis remains in the hospital after, quote, sudden worsening of. a respiratory condition. the 88 year old pontiff has been put on a noninvasive mechanical ventilator and is said to be alert. alert. >> for now, back to dateline. when investigators questioned jd spielbauer about the murder of his ex-wife robin, it seemed pretty clear he was hiding something. as they poked around in jd's private life, they soon found out what it might be. josh mankiewicz: bad blood between katie and robin? we had bad blood between katie and robin. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): there's a song titled "all my ex's live in texas," and that was definitely

true for jd spielbauer. married to robin, he had an affair with katie, then married katie, after which, jd appeared to be having another affair, this time with robin. it was the texas 2-step of stepping out. robin lived just a few houses away from jd and katie on manhattan street. jd said they stayed friendly for the benefit of their kids, but according to robin's friend erin, katie had figured out there was something else going on. katie and jd would get in a fight, and honestly, robin found it a little bit funny. she found katie's anger funny? yeah. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jd had cheated with katie when he was married to robin. now, erin said robin seemed to relish the idea of making katie jealous. so now, the shoe's on the other foot. mm-hmm. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): two women were locked in a battle over a man they both believed was a cheater. what made jd a prize worth fighting for remained a bit of a mystery.

i don't think women like being lied to. i don't think anybody likes being lied to. no. josh mankiewicz: and yet, so many people seem to sort of let that go. yeah. josh mankiewicz: robin certainly did. katie seems to have. katie didn't let it go like robin did. once she suspected something, katie's claws came out. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): erin said robin told her about an incident in 2013. robin had gone to katie and jd's house to pick up her daughters. erin house: she goes walking up the stairs, katie grabs her, and pulls her off the stairs, and gets on top of her, and starts hitting her. and robin kicks her off, and slams her into the fireplace. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when erin heard what happened, she warned her friend about katie. don't be alone with her. she's the kind of crazy that'll kill you. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): five months after that fight, robin was dead.

sergeant mongold met with jd and katie outside their home on that first day, and says jd was so stunned, he was having difficulty speaking. jd finally found his voice, and he starts trying to talk to us, and she looks over and says jd, shut up, and get in the house. i'm talking to the police. and jd puts his head down, turns around, and walks into the house. so she's in charge. very much so. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): now, mongold had katie in the little room with the camera, and katie had a question for him. can i ask you a question-- sure. --and can you be honest with me? yeah, i will be. is my husband cheating on me with her? i don't have proof of that. i will tell you this right now, they were going to meet last night. there were multiple text messages between them, and he deleted those text messages, where they were supposed to meet at 9:30. [crying] now, here's the problem we get into-- some tissues right there. you take a minute. like i said, there's some stuff you don't want to hear.

josh mankiewicz: was there any question in your mind that katie already knew the answer to that question when she asked? allan mongold: no. so why ask me that question if she already knew the answer? you didn't have suspicions? i had suspicions, that's why i hated her so much because i thought she was trying to sabotage my marriage. maybe so, you sabotaged hers. turned out fair play. talk about [bleep] karma, huh? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): karma is something homicide detectives know all about. who wants robin dead, and why? i don't know. you've got a motive for it. you don't like her, not much of a motive, but it's a motive, so that's why you get looked at. y'all have had conflicts in the past. have you ever threatened to kill her? no, i have not. because a couple of folks have said you had. no. i have not threatened to kill robin. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): investigators had evidence that katie was lying. it was the same kind of evidence got tripped up jd, her text messages. she is very, very upset with jd and very upset with robin. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): james farren

was randall county's district attorney for more than 20 years. james farren: she's just hammering jd with messages about i know you're lying, i know you're having an affair with robin. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and not just one or two texts. prosecutor farren found that in just four days leading up to the murder, katie sent jd 336 texts, messages like this one, "if robin breaks any of my [muted] when you bring her home, i'll break her nasty face." and this one, a day later, "i'll hurt every single one of you on my way out!" on the day robin was killed, katie unleashed a text storm directed at jd. "i caught the last amount of disrespect from you and your bitch ex-wife. if i find out you were with robin, so help me god!" it culminated with this one less than an hour before the murder, "my dreams of a happy family are gone.

i will not make you carry this burden any longer. you started this whether you want to believe it or not. i will finish it." it was the kind of statement that turns a jealous wife into a murder suspect. did you kill robin? no, i did not kill robin. did you conspire with anybody to kill robin? no, i did not conspire with anybody to kill robin. no. i'm not going to sit here and tell you that i liked her because i didn't. my father died when i was two. i buried my mother when i was 18 years old. i know what it feels like to grow up without a parent. i would never do that to anybody. i'm not a murderer. i may be a lot of things, but i'm not murder. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and maybe she wasn't. although katie seemed to be oozing with motive, she had an alibi. she and her son were at her best friend savannah's house the night of the murder. i left there about 10:00. and drove straight to the house? straight to the house. stayed there the rest of the night. stayed there the rest of the night. didn't leave till- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): if that was true, katie would not have had enough time

to drive to helium road, kill robin, and then make it home by 10:20 when jd and his uncle saw her there. and besides, no evidence placed her at the murder scene, not yet anyway. coming up, a pink smoking gun. we find the facebook photo of her shooting this pink pistol. josh mankiewicz: that makes you sit up and take notice. allan mongold: yeah. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. long as we have. >> joint health. >> comes first. >> and it starts with cosequin. >> for athletes. >> in the. >> ring. >> and at home. trust cosequin. >> and at home. trust cosequin. >> cosequin can your pad absorb everything and stay fresh? always flexfoam can. it's the only pad made with a flexible foam core that locks in blood and sweat while the top stays dry. keeping you up to 100% leak and odor free. see what foam can do for you. checked single care?

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the citizens of the country. >> we are all watching. >> and waiting. >> to see. >> who is going to hold the line. >> don't miss. >> the. >> weekends. >> saturday and. >> sunday mornings. >> at 8:00. >> at 8:00. >> on msnbc. katie spielbauer had strong suspicions her husband jd was cheating on her with his ex-wife robin, suspicions that spilled out in hundreds of angry and threatening text messages in the days leading up to robin's murder. josh mankiewicz: katie had the motive, angry at robin for sleeping with her husband. absolutely. i didn't kill that woman. ok. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the same day investigators questioned katie, the medical examiner performed robin's autopsy. remember, at the crime scene, her only apparent injury

was a blow to the head, but the autopsy found something else. allan mongold: at that point, we knew there was a .22 caliber wound to the back of robin's skull that was fatal. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): a gunshot wound, something investigators at the scene had missed. sheriff's investigators went looking for the gun. allan mongold: april 9th, we're at the spielbauer residence on manhattan, ran a search warrant. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): robin's parents, living just three houses down, watched as police went into their son-in-law's home. josh mankiewicz: you saw that search happening. - yes. - mm-hmm. so you know one of those two people under suspicion. yes. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): investigators recovered several firearms from katie and jd's house, not exactly an unusual find in the lone star state, but one small gun turned out to be a very big deal, a sig sauer pistol with a distinctive pink frame. josh mankiewicz: it was a .22. it was, indeed. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the same caliber as the bullet that killed robin. what's more? allan mongold: the gun's broken.

it's got broken pieces on it, which are pretty odd. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so investigators went back to the crime scene, and sifted through the soil around where the tahoe had been, and they found a .22 caliber shell casing and two tiny fragments. josh mankiewicz: no question, those two little chips found on the ground fit that gun. fracture matching, they match. like a jigsaw puzzle. just fits right in there. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and just as the pieces of the pistol fit together, so too did a clearer picture of what happened that night, like those inexplicable marks and pink residue on robin's window. allan mongold: you envision a scenario where somebody is beating on the glass with a gun. why would somebody bang on a window with a gun? anger. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it looked as if the pink gun could be the murder weapon, which was very interesting because right after the murder, before they even found the gun, investigators had examined katie's facebook page, and-- we find the facebook photo of her shooting this pink pistol. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): in that moment,

they didn't realize the significance of the photo, and by the time they figured it out-- she takes it off her facebook account. that makes you sit up and take notice. yeah. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it seemed katie didn't want them to know about the gun, so investigators looked more closely at where katie herself was the night of the murder. remember, she had an alibi. she and her son spent the evening with katie's best friend savannah. katie told investigators they didn't leave savannah's house until 10:00 pm, and jd's uncle said katie arrived at her own house around 10:20. that was not enough time to commit the murder. so katie seemed to be in the clear-- savannah: katie sat there-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): --except for one thing. when investigators questioned savannah, they noticed a discrepancy. about those extra 10 minutes da james farren believed

were significant. james farren: from savannah's house to the spot where the murder occurred on helium road, it takes about three and a half to five minutes to drive to that location. savannah believed she left her house about 10 minutes till 10:00. if she arrives at helium road in three and a half to five minutes-- plenty of time. james farren: --she has time to kill robin, and then drive back to manhattan street and arrive about 10:20. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that 10 minute gap cast doubt on katie's alibi. josh mankiewicz: so it's really katie's best friend that's sort of putting the noose around her neck. absolutely. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): something else was hurting katie, too. if you watch "dateline" regularly, you know cell phone data can either make or break a case, and that was certainly true in this one. james farren: at 10:13, katie pinged off an antenna at the lockney tower. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): which was close to savannah's house and also to the crime scene.

and when she checked her voicemail, it pinged off that tower. so that ping from katie's phone, that's actually consistent with your theory-- james farren: it fit our theory. --that she had committed the murder and was heading home. it fit our theory. that's right. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): motive, means, and opportunity, randall county sheriff's investigators believed they had everything they needed. on april 11, 2014, only four days after their daughter's murder, an investigator gave robin's parents the news. steve bledsoe: he says, well, we just arrested katie. wow. it was like dun, dun, dun, and she was done, and we were like, ok, so this is awesome. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): case closed? not quite. coming up, katie offers up a new suspect. who do you think did it? i don't know. i'm starting to think maybe jd did it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and jd has a new story.

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was behind bars. katie's family was feeling something else, disbelief. i never could get my heart or my mind around the idea of her actually doing that. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie's sister-in-law ronda phipps. i hit the floor and i cried. and i asked god, is it possible? could she really have done that? of all things, that? katie? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and then, there were katie's children. her daughter harley was 10 years old at the time living in florida with her father. she remembers horsing around with her friends one day at school. oh, my mom is so cool, i bet she's smarter than yours because i was being a little kid. so i had looked up on my science teachers' laptop, my mom's name, and it said, arrested. and i was like no, no, that's not true. it's false. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): oh, but it was true, all of it. this was katie the day she was arrested back in that little room with sergeant mongold.

i did not do this. so you have nothing to offer us? that's not true. i don't know. who - do you think did it? i don't know. i'm starting to think maybe jd did. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): this was certainly not the first time investigators heard a suspect in a murder case point the finger at someone else. their reaction wasn't new, either. no. i know you know. you're not here by accident. stop yanking my chain, stop wasting my time, tell me the truth, or let's go. i did not kill robin. who did? and don't give me this-- i do not know. katie, listen to me. at this point-- at this point right now, everything points to you. no, sir. i didn't do it. it can't point at me. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie sat in jail unable to make bail while sheriff's investigators and district attorney james farren continued to build their case against her. and soon, they had some help from the man in the middle.

jd spielbauer cheated on robin with katie, divorced robin, married katie, then cheated on katie with robin. so when he said he had some information to share, investigators were eager to hear it. jd began by telling them what he had before, about hanging out with his uncle ty and sending robin that text about meeting up, except this time, he provided some additional details. jd now said katie came home a little after 9:00 pm in a bad mood. talking to the again, jd said he woke up a while later to find katie gone. she had apparently taken his truck. that's when he said he started texting katie and ty and robin, who never responded.

obviously, mongold wanted to know why jd changed his story. was that really why jd was coming clean? this time around, he not only admitted he had plans to meet robin that night, but also told them where, and it was not at his house as he had first said. but jd maintained, he never left his house. mongold already knew a ping from jd's cell phone was telling a different story than jd was telling. jd said he could explain that. the house. which was?

that would be katie. >> okay. why would she take your. your. >> phone currently? she mongold thought jd was still holding back. he believed jd was at helium road with robin, and laid out a scenario of how it all might have happened. shows up, she starts. >> beating on that back glass because we. >> have chips out of the window. >> and paint transfers. >> from that gun. it happens in a flash right there. >> in front of you. you can't do anything about it. >> it's driving you crazy. >> it's not your fault. >> it happened in. >> five. >> seconds time. >> seconds time. but eight days later, jd said he was ready to come clean, and the story he then told matched investigator's suspicions. jd now admitted he had gone to helium road that night to meet robin.

that's when jd said he noticed headlights shining through the back window. something like a pink gun? katie there, which took. >> me by surprise. >> there they ran. >> back at each other. >> and i'm. >> trying to stop the big room. i just put my foot down and say, this isn't. >> what it looks like. >> we're talking about the girls. that's it. >> she said something. >> along the lines. >> of. >> yeah, i don't give a. >> i'll turn to katie. i tell her, let's. her, let's. >> get in the car, let's go jd said he thought katie would follow him in her car, but when he got home, no katie, which is why jd said he sent katie and robin those texts

asking if everybody was ok. remember, katie said yes, robin never responded. jd seemed aware of how his shifting stories must have looked. misleading anybody. anybody. >> i was hoping. but now, jd was done. he filed for divorce, and never once went to see katie in jail, which was a place it seemed she would be for a long time. unless, there was something to prove she was innocent. did you kill robin? no. i didn't kill robin. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie wanted a lie detector test, so they gave her one, and then another. she failed the polygraph miserably. it wasn't even close. i hoped that katie would say all right, i'll give it up.

instead, katie said, i have no idea why i failed the polygraph because i did not kill robin. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it was a position katie firmly maintained from behind the cement walls of the randall county jail awaiting trail, which is when we first learned about her case, and receive the first of those letters. coming up. katie phipps: there's a very dangerous man walking the streets of this town. i know the truth. i won't stop screaming until someone listens. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie's story, a long and winding road. amarillo is a plague. come on vacation, leave on probation. to josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. go? what if the solution was right in your pocket? introducing pocket air pro by bullseye, the compact compressor that goes anywhere to fill it up

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reporter: 28-year-old katie spielbauer is accused