for pool toys, exercise balls, and more. gas station air out of order. fill it up anytime, anywhere with pocket air call or go online now and get the complete pocket air pro system for just 59.99. it comes with the carry case, car charger, and a 90 day money back guarantee. >> and for a limited. >> time, we'll give you a 50% discount on a second one. plus, we'll ship your entire. order free. you get it all in incredible value. remember when your air is low, you need bull's eye pocket air pro order now. >> to order, call 1-800-346-2806. that's 1-800-346-2806. or go online to buy pocket air. com that's 1-800-346-2806 or go to by 1-800-346-2806 or go to by pocket air.com. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): here at "dateline," when we heard the tale of katie spielbauer in amarillo, texas, the case, at first glance, seemed open and shut.

reporter: 28-year-old katie spielbauer is accused of killing robin spielbauer. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie was locked up on charges she'd murdered robin spielbauer with a bullet to the head, a bullet investigators thought came from katie's very own pink 22. katie's alibi looked shaky, and she'd failed two polygraphs. add to that how robin also happened to be the ex-wife of katie's husband, jd, and that robin's romantic relationship with jd somehow seemed to survive the end of their marriage. there was a river of bad blood between the two women, a bunch of blinking signs that said katie did it. we started digging a bit, and we wondered if there was more to the story. so in february 2015, one of our producers sent a letter to katie at the randall county jail. karen israel: "dear ms. spielbauer, i've been following your case for the past several months and felt it was time i reached out to you directly."

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): a week later, we received a response from inmate number 80059, housing unit 2, pod b, cell 22. it was the kind of letter that makes an impression. katie spielbauer: "i appreciate your interest in my story and your desire to want to know what is really going on in this pathetic excuse of an investigation." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): she clearly knew her audience. katie spielbauer: "as long as you respect me and mine, i will give you one hell of a story." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): because, she said, she had information we would want to hear about her ex-husband, jd, the man she said was the real killer. katie spielbauer: "there is 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): listen, we did. those letters kept on coming. and soon, katie and our producer, karen israel, were chatting by phone.

>> we were finally able. >> to connect. >> i'm just. coming at this, trying to learn as much. >> as. >> i can. and want to hear what you. have to. >> say about about the whole situation. >> well. >> it's. it's a pretty rotten situation. i have. found myself. >> fighting for my life. my ex-husband. >> did some pretty, pretty. >> wicked things, and i'm caught in the middle of it. in the middle of it. >> anyone josh mankiewicz (voiceover): keep in mind, we hear this a lot. "i didn't do it. couldn't have done it. the other guy did it." but the more we talked, the more we realized there was something about katie we couldn't ignore. she was smart, strong, insistent. could she possibly be telling the truth? our correspondence continued for six months. katie spielbauer: "good day. i hope you had a wonderful vacation and are well and rested.

so i thought i would have a letter waiting for you to catch you up on what's been going on here in randall county, texas." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): a relationship like none other, this careful dance unique to journalist and inmate. katie spielbauer: "i will not quit fighting for robin and her family, even though they have been led to hate me. i cannot wait to meet you." josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when we met face-to-face, it was in amarillo, where you'll find something called the cadillac ranch. it's a chunk of the recent past buried in plain sight. and that is a pretty good metaphor for katie spielbauer, who wore her own past like a crown of thorns. you had pretty far from a perfect childhood. it was a pretty rough childhood. my father passed away just a month before my second birthday. and my mother could not cope with that very well. and she ended up addicted to heroin, crack.

she was an alcoholic. we never had a stable home. she was in and out of jail most of my childhood, in and out of rehab. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): no structure, no rules. katie was a self-described wild child. in eighth grade, i ended up dropping out of school. in eighth grade. in eighth grade. i was homeless. i was doing drugs. i don't know how i'm still alive. and i ended up pregnant at 15 with my son. and that was the moment that everything changed. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): she credits that baby, her son, diego, with saving her life. the number one goal in my life is i am not going to be anything like my mother. and i knew that i had to stand up and be better than what everybody else thought i was capable of. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): she says she got off drugs and moved out of amarillo with diego's father. it sounds like he really helped you. he showed me what it was to live well in a decent place with a decent car with clothes and food and not having to go hungry and not fight for everything that you have.

and when i got a taste of that, i realized that's the life that i want. and that's the life that my kids are going to have. and that was a life that you, what, either had contempt for before or just thought could never be mine? could never be mine. girls like me don't have things like that. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when diego was a year old, katie broke up with his father, and she moved back to amarillo, where she met another guy. this one, not so special. and i got pregnant with my daughter at 17. when i was six months pregnant, her father left me for a stripper. ok, well, sorry. i mean, life is what it is. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): while she was pregnant, a friend introduced her to his brother who lived in florida. katie moved there and gave birth to her second child, harley. katie's new boyfriend helped raise harley, and katie earned her ged. then i realized that, oh, people like me, if they really do work hard enough, they can get to where they want to be. an american success story.

getting closer to it. out of hell. beauty from ashes. it was hell. it was hell, but i learned how to not give up. and i learned how to survive in the worst situations. i learned how strong i was. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): after five years in florida, another relationship went south for katie. she broke up with her boyfriend. and her brother back in amarillo said he could use her help caring for his child. was there a voice in your head that said, don't move back to amarillo? yes. amarillo is a plague. you can move away, but you always come back. the people who can actually leave this town and stay gone are the ones that do the best. there's just something about this town that can destroy lives. i don't think the chamber of commerce has that on the city seal. they don't. come on vacation, leave on probation. but you ignored that voice. i did. i did. i wish i hadn't have. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): back to amarillo she went

and straight into the arms of jd spielbauer. coming up. the courtship was perfect. the marriage? it went from everything's going to be great to, oh, crap, what have i done? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): even katie's daughter knew this marriage was in the red zone. i would always kind of stay awake in case something bad went wrong. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. my kids can't hide anything from me. i'm home! especially when they've been using toilet paper that doesn't hold up. new charmin ultra strong has a diamond-weave texture that's more durable and it cleans better* so you can use less. enjoy the go with charmin. how are folks 60 and older having fun these days? family cookouts! ♪♪ playing games! ♪♪ dancing in the par... (high pitched sound)

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katie may not have been happy to come home to amarillo, but she told us she did get a big texas welcome. a family member had thrown a welcome home party for me and invited everybody. and he was one of the people that showed up. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): he was jd spielbauer. katie had known him as a kid. and through that, you met robin. i met robin. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): robin, jd's wife. the women became friends. katie told us robin even turned to her for counsel when jd treated her poorly. i would go have drinks with robin and basically just listen to her cry. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie said robin described jd as angry and violent. eventually, she couldn't take it any longer. in august of 2012, robin filed for divorce. but by then, jd had started coming around to see katie. you'd had a front row seat to what kind of husband

he was with robin. you think at all, like, maybe i don't want to sign up for that? the thought crossed through my mind, but at the same time, i also had watched him purposely try to make changes in his life to better himself and his situation. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): according to katie, it was a big texas-style courtship. we would go and watch all the rodeos. we're country. we wear boots. we drive trucks. you know, we listen to country music. we go out two-steppin'. that's our life. and we marry people whose other marriages haven't always worked out. that's right. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): they married in 2013 on november 10, the anniversary of jd's beloved marine corps. it changed so fast. it went from, everything's going to be great, to, oh, crap, what have i done? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the marine motto is semper fi, meaning "always faithful." apparently, that meant more to the marines than to jd.

katie's daughter harley remembers her mom and jd fighting all the time. i'd ask mom, like, how are you? i heard some yelling. she'd go, oh, i'm fine. and i'd be-- no, you're not. and she would just tell me a few things. not much, but i knew it was getting pretty bad. and when she put us to bed and they thought we were asleep, they'd start going at it again, yelling. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): a lot of those fights, katie said, were about robin. as you know by now, there was no love lost between the two women. katie suspected jd was cheating on her with robin, which probably shouldn't have been surprising. i got to ask you, jd ever cheat on robin with you? yes, after their separation before their divorce. yep, i did that, too. so, yeah, i'm not any better than either of them. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): remember that fight when robin pushed katie into the fireplace?

katie told us that did happen. she also admitted to sending her husband hundreds of furious texts in the days before robin's murder. those text messages make you sound pretty angry. well, would you be happy if even thought that your wife was cheating on you and lying to you? i mean, i'm not going to sit here and say it was all rainbows and butterflies. no, i was hurt. i mean, it hurt me. i'm human. i have feelings, too. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): we asked her to explain one troubling text that she sent to jd about 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." the conversation that was going on at that point was a divorce. and he was denying everything. and finally, i was like, you know what? i'll handle it. i'll go down. i'll file the divorce. i already had the paperwork. i just needed the money. i'll take care of it myself. i'll get a divorce. i'll get a divorce.

not, i'll eliminate robin, the woman that has come between us. not that at all. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): just as she told investigators over and over again, katie told us she was never on helium road that night. so where was she? katie told us she picked up her friend savannah's son at school at 3:00 pm, her own son, diego, at 3:30. and then they spent the rest of the evening at savannah's house. she said the only time she left the house was a trip with the kids to mcdonald's. josh mankiewicz: and you were gone how long? maybe 20 minutes. the kids were with you the entire time? the kids were with me. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): after mcdonald's, she said, they returned to the house. josh mankiewicz: and you were at savannah's until? till approximately 10:00 to 10:15 that night. i mean-- and then you went home. and i went home. my clock said 10:18 when i pulled into the driveway. and during that time, you were always in someone else's company. right, yes, i was. there were three adults and two kids. you were never alone? i was never alone. would you ever leave your son?

no, my son stays with me. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie insisted she did not kill robin, and she stuck to that story, even in the face of new evidence that investigators believed would prove katie was lying. coming up. he said these phone records was the last thing that i needed. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): was it all over for katie? as i said to our investigator, get that data because wherever diego was, katie was. i couldn't wait to get that data. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. head & shoulders is launching something huge. ♪♪ the bare minimum. anti-dandruff shampoo made with only nine ingredients. no sulfates, silicones or dyes. and packaged with 45% less plastic. giving you outstanding dandruff protection. and leaving hair beautiful and moisturized.

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>> mounting questions. >> over the future of tiktok in the us. >> reporting from. >> philadelphia. >> el paso. >> in the palisades, virginia. >> in the palisades, virginia. when investigators first looked into robin's murder, the case seemed open and shut. it took just four days to arrest katie. they quickly tied her to the murder weapon. her weapon, that pink gun. according to jd and the timeline, she had the opportunity. she certainly had the means. and she certainly had the motive. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the witnesses placed katie and her son at her best friend's house that night. the friend said katie left at 9:50 pm. jd's uncle said she didn't get home until around 10:20. that's 30 minutes katie could not account for. and jd had filled in the blank when he told investigators he was on helium road with robin when katie suddenly showed up, spoiling for a fight.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): district attorney james farren took jd's statement to use as a lever to move katie off her story. we believed that if we explained that to katie, hey, he's throwing you under the bus. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but she didn't change her story, and she certainly didn't confess. no matter how they came at her, katie's answer was the same. i did not do this. i am telling you the truth. i was not at helium road. ok, but i was not at helium road. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): she stuck to her story, even if that story wasn't getting her anywhere. why would i confess to something that i didn't do? a month goes by. nothing happens. two months. katie spielbauer: nothing. - six months. - it keeps going. there has to be a point where you're sort of losing hope here. well, i mean, i've already talked to my lawyer. what do we do? his response is we wait. we wait and see. he said, katie, the evidence is going to come back,

and the evidence isn't going to lie. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): james farren had been putting criminals away for longer than katie had been alive. he knew his evidence against katie was not definitive. cell phone pings the night robin was killed showed katie was in range of a cell tower that would have been on her route home from helium road. but from katie's best friend's house, the location of her alibi, katie would also have been in that cell tower's range. and then, serendipitously, came a break. katie had been in jail more than a year when, strangely enough, one of my investigators overheard one of the secretaries up front talking about the fact that if you have an android phone, that this tracking event occurs. and she had seen some program on television about it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): funny the things you learn on tv. turns out some smartphones leave a digital footprint whenever they

connect to a wi-fi network. katie's phone had the wi-fi turned off. but her son diego's phone had it on. that meant investigators could use wi-fi data to map diego's every move that night. and based on witnesses, prosecutors were convinced katie and diego were always together. so if you can track diego's phone, you can track where katie was. as i said to our investigator, get that data because wherever diego was, katie was. if diego was on helium road that night, then katie was on helium road that night. i couldn't wait to get that data. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): farren knew it in his gut. that data would finally put katie at the crime scene. it took months to get. and when it finally came in, the da arranged a meeting with katie. katie's been in jail for how long at this point? 467 days. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the facts, he told her, could no longer be denied.

he was right about that. and he sits back and he says, over the weekend, i got your phone-- yours and your son's phone records from an expert. and i have determined that you were never at the scene of the crime. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it was a stunning admission, not from the suspect, but from the prosecutor. he said these phone records was the last thing that i needed. and i thought that it was going to be what was going to put you in prison for the rest of your life. but today, it is what's going to let you go home to your kids. when i told her, her case was being dismissed and why, she broke down and cried. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): several hours after that conversation, katie was a free woman. we spoke with her days after her release. katie spielbauer: i never thought that i was ever going to see grass again or clouds again or little things that so many people take for granted. sunshine, just sunshine on your face, it's a gift.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): by then, she'd dropped the last name, spielbauer. went back to her maiden name, katie phipps. her first trip out of jail was a surprise visit to see her daughter, harley, who'd been living in florida with harley's dad. harley spielbauer: i was sitting on the arm of the couch. they opened the door, and the sun was right in my face. [dog barking] [crying] my mom and my brother walked in. the tears went, puh. and they were just there. my mom was like, oh, my little baby, i'm home! josh mankiewicz (voiceover): happy ending? not yet. because if katie didn't do it, that meant someone was getting away with murder. coming up. he had multiple firearms at his disposal. he chose a sig sauer 22 pistol that had a history of jamming

after the first shot was fired. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): would katie be the next victim? it was scary. i saw him drive by my house. and i had told my lawyers. he said, well, honey, you're bulletproof. and i remember telling him, as long as i'm not within rifle range. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. in the fridge. >> it's not dog food. it's fresh pat. >> real meat. >> real veggies for. >> my boy. >> junior. >> junior. >> what are we doing here? -we're done. -what about these? looks right. nooo... nooo... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. bounty, the quicker picker upper. [coughing] copd is an ugly reality. do you have his medical history? i watch as his world just keeps getting smaller.

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person's anatomy upon birth. for now, back to dateline. thank you so much for standing by me. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): after more than a year in jail, katie phipps was suddenly back in the arms of family and friends. she was free, no longer accused of murdering robin spielbauer. not everyone in amarillo was sharing in the love, including robin's parents, jackie and steve bledsoe. when we got the call, it was like, what? you're releasing her why? what was your reaction? disbelief at first. and anger? quite a bit. i mean, you understand that it fits intellectually, but there's a father in there who's watching the woman accused of killing his daughter being led out of the lockup. she was angry. i'm guessing you were pretty angry. i wasn't happy by any means.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): robin's friend erin had a very different reaction-- not so much rage as resolve. at that moment, i completely shifted. and i knew we had to get jd. i knew that if she was innocent, he was 100% guilty. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): da james farren admitted publicly he'd made an unthinkable mistake. you had the wrong person in jail for 15 months. yeah, 467 days. that's not how this is supposed to work. no, but no human system is perfect. the investigators basically followed the evidence where it took them. and it took them to katie. the system, though, in the vast majority of cases, works. eventually, it works. and eventually, the system and the investigation

cleared katie. did you think maybe you'd arrested katie too quickly? no, no. josh mankiewicz: you didn't rush to judgment here? no. in fact, it was the very opposite of a rush to judgment because we continued to work on this case almost every day, all the time she was sitting in jail. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): ultimately, farren had come to a humiliating conclusion-- he'd been played by jd spielbauer. what went wrong was that we had an individual who had decided to frame his wife for the murder of his ex-wife. and he was pretty good at it. and he was a lot better at it than i thought at first. i didn't see jd as a particularly bright, clever person early in this investigation. i now believe he's much more clever than i thought he was. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): there were several guns found in jd and katie's home.

the da believed jd had set up his wife by intentionally choosing the pink gun to shoot robin. he had multiple firearms at his disposal. he chose a sig sauer 22 pistol that had a history of jamming after the first shot was fired. but he uses that gun anyway because it's hers. he picks that gun because it's hers. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): after jd shot robin, farren's theory now went, he took the pink gun back home, where he left it for police to find. if that's true, then jd was out to get rid of both robin and katie, and katie was worried. maybe he was still out to get her. it was scary. i saw him drive by my house. and i had told my lawyer. he said, well, honey, you're bulletproof. and i remember telling him, as long as i'm not within rifle range. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie well knew jd wasn't

her only enemy in amarillo. i still had people approaching me, calling me ugly names and saying, oh, you deserve to rot in prison for the rest of your life. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): for da farren, the investigation had to start all over again, now with jd as the focus. farren concentrated on jd's lies. remember, jd first told investigators he was never at the crime scene on helium road. later, he said, yeah, he'd been there, but so was katie. investigators found security video of a pickup truck that looked like jd's near the crime scene, close to the time of the murder. james farren: can't read the plate. can't see inside the vehicle. we're confident that it's his vehicle, but we can't prove that. what about katie? we never saw any vehicle come through that security view that looked anything like the car katie was driving that night. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): tantalizing, but not definitive, which seemed to be true of a lot of the evidence against jd.

it had taken just four days to file murder charges against katie. but farren, burned once, was reluctant to charge jd without more proof. and so nine months went by. and then the da got a call from robin's mother, jackie, that forced him to act. jd had apparently asked his mother-in-law for a big favor. had me buy him a ticket to go to new york for the weekend. that trip to new york felt phony to you. oh, yeah. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and it did to farren as well. it's not that far from there to the canadian border. and after talking about it and thinking about it, i said, let's go ahead and make the arrest. josh mankiewicz: your daughter had been married to this guy. yes. and now he's accused of her murder. it was like, i just can't believe it. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and for katie, there was relief, to be sure, but much more than that. when i got the call that he was, in fact, in custody,

i laid there in bed, and i was just crying. i want robin back. i want those kids happy. i want to be happy. i want what will never be. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): now remember jd was only arrested, not convicted. and as we saw with katie, any case can fall apart. and that's when the da made another head snapping move. he invited the suspect he'd once charged with robin's murder, katie, to help him develop the case against jd. we were invited to one of their meetings in may 2017, three years after the murder. i'm confident that robin, at some point shortly before the murder, confronted him with two issues. number one, jd, i've met somebody else, and i'm through with you. we're not hooking up anymore. and number two, i want my child support. and i want all of it.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): to farren, jd's thinking was clear. i kill robin and get rid of her. i frame katie and get rid of her. get rid of them both, and less than a month later, you got a new younger girlfriend in the picture. that's right. it solves all my problems. i'm jd. this solves my problems. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): so with some help from katie, the da prepared for trial and also prepared to gamble that the biggest mistake of his career would also become his best argument in court. josh mankiewicz: are you confident you're going to be able to convict jd? yes. josh mankiewicz: you have a stronger case than you did against katie? yes, because the case we had against katie, the defense was going to be obvious. jury, you have just as much reason to believe jd did it as you do katie. and that's also going to be jd's defense. it won't work. scientific data proves katie couldn't have done it. she was never on helium road.

she left savannah guy's house, and eight minutes later, she arrived on manhattan street. but he admits he was on helium road. if that gun killed robin, only two people could have done it-- either katie or jd. and i can prove it wasn't katie. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but not according to jd spielbauer. you don't think there's evidence against you? jd spielbauer (on phone): no, sir. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): coming up. there are some things you just shouldn't lie about. what kind of person, in your view, does that? a liar, a fraud. charlatan. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): who was jd really? if he's trying to set her up, he's either the worst setup artist in the world, or he is the most sophisticated criminal there ever was. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when "dateline" continues.

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she talks to some. >> of. >> the biggest. names in democratic politics. >> with the biggest. >> ideas for how democrats can win again. >> the blueprint with jen psaki. >> the blueprint with jen psaki. listen now. when auto mechanic and local lothario jd spielbauer went on trial for his ex-wife's murder, the jury heard a lot about cell tower pings and wi-fi connections. but according to da james farren, the trial's most damning witness was jd himself and all of his changing stories. there is jd's four versions of what happened, four different versions of what happened. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the jury watched the video of him lying to investigators about whether he met with robin on helium road the night of the murder. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): then jurors were shown another recording taken a few weeks later, when

jd's story changed dramatically, and he admitted he did meet with robin that night. and, he said, so did katie, who jd claimed followed him out to helium road. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that was not the biggest lie jd was accused of telling. even bigger was this one, giant even by texas standards. it wasn't about the night of the murder. it was about jd's past. a record search by investigators had yielded this. jd, the gearhead, was no jarhead. he'd never served a day in the marines or any other branch of the military. all of it seemed to be something he made up to impress women like robin, whose parents both had military careers. josh mankiewicz: is that kind of thing offensive to you? both: yes. what kind of person, in your view, does that? a liar, a fraud.

charlatan. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): for the record, jd now denies telling anyone he was in the marines. the most dramatic moment of his trial was yet to come, when his ex-wife, katie, also the ex-suspect, took the stand to testify against him. katie knew the public perception of her guilt or innocence was riding on the credibility of her testimony. i knew i was going to be on trial as well. because you're, like, sort of the alternate defendant. right. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): to establish katie's credibility as a witness, da farren had to admit to the jury he'd wrongly charged her with robin's murder years earlier. once we identified the sig sauer pistol as the weapon that killed robin, now the suspect pool becomes pretty small. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): by telling the jury that katie could not be the killer, farren hoped to reduce that suspect pool to just one--

jd. as arthur conan doyle said through the lips of sherlock holmes, when you've eliminated every other possibility, whatever's left is the truth. the only person left is jd. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): the defense's case, though, rested on two basic facts that were not in dispute. first, robin was struck in the head hard. blunt force trauma, the medical examiner called it. second, robin had also been shot once in the head with that pink trimmed 22 caliber pistol, katie's pistol. based on that, jd's attorney, joe marr wilson, summed up his defense in just three words-- "katie did it." and the gunshot might have killed her, but the pathologist testified the blunt force trauma would have killed her. and that says anger to you. that says anger. that says everything katie was doing. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and as far as jd framing katie? couldn't have happened, said wilson, for one simple reason. his client, jd, just isn't smart enough.

jd's a mechanic, working guy. grew up in a broken home. if you were going out there to set katie up, you would do it a lot better. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and wilson felt there was one other flaw in the prosecution's setup theory. how do you set katie up if you're not sure where exactly where she's at? you would have done it when you knew where katie was or knew that she couldn't alibi herself. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): in other words, jd didn't have control over katie's movements that night. so how could he be sure she wasn't with witnesses who could provide an alibi? if he's trying to set her up, he's either the worst setup artist in the world, or he is the most sophisticated criminal there ever was. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jd did not testify at his trial. he did talk to me from jail. did you kill robin? jd spielbauer (on phone): no, sir.

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jd said he and robin were just hanging out at their rendezvous site on helium road when katie emerged from the darkness. were you and robin just talking when this happened or something more than that? jd spielbauer (on phone): no, we was just talking. but all of a sudden, katie shows up. jd spielbauer (on phone): yes, sir. and she's furious. jd spielbauer (on phone): a little past furious. and then you leave. jd spielbauer (on phone): yes, sir. how is it that you had two women literally fighting over you? jd spielbauer (on phone): that, i'm still trying to figure out. i'm not even a decent-looking gentleman. i really don't know, to be honest. if you're not involved in this, why not tell police the truth from the beginning? why tell police more than one story? jd spielbauer (on phone): because i just still did not want to believe that katie would or could be able to do anything like this. so if you're avoiding telling police that story, you're doing that to protect katie and not yourself. jd spielbauer (on phone): yes, sir.

i mean, look, there's another way to look at this, which is, you planned this whole thing. you killed robin. you put the gun back in the house to frame katie. katie's arrested, robin's gone. you're a free man again. jd spielbauer (on phone): no, sir. that wouldn't have happened if katie had been prosecuted? i mean, you would have been all alone. jd spielbauer (on phone): there would have been no type of benefits out of any of this. i would have lost the woman i love. my children lost their mother. i just lost my second wife. what makes you not guilty here? what points away from you? jd spielbauer (on phone): oh, plain and simple. katie was the last one to see robin alive. the best thing for us was that the state had indicted katie spielbauer and held her in jail for over a year because we can say, well, if they thought she did it, how can you not have reasonable doubt?

josh mankiewicz (voiceover): what and who would the jury believe? coming up. that was the scariest few minutes of my life. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): jd wasn't the only one whose future was at stake. josh mankiewicz: were you worried that if the verdict comes back not guilty, that that's like the jury saying katie is guilty? that's exactly what i was going to think. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. what are folks 60 and older learning these days? new perspectives! ♪♪ how to fix things. ♪♪ fun recip... (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound) jordan's sore nose

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jury deliberations are a tense time for any defendant. but in this case, it wasn't just jd spielbauer sweating out the verdict. that was the scariest few minutes of my life. were you worried that if the verdict comes back not guilty, that that's like the jury saying katie is guilty? that's exactly what i was going to think. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): although katie also realized no matter what the verdict, some in amarillo will always wonder about whether she played some role in robin's murder. one of them is the man who arrested her. two things a cop can do that are horrible. one is kill an innocent person. the second one is taking an innocent person's freedom away. so you don't think you did either one of those things. no. you didn't take an innocent person's freedom away. no. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): mongold told us he believed jd was guilty of robin's murder. but-- the question is, was anybody else involved and how much?

you have doubts as to whether or not katie was involved. i do. i have some unanswered questions. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): but the da who let her out says he has no doubt the cell phone data proves she wasn't there when robin was killed. katie played no role in this whatsoever. didn't know about it, didn't do anything to facilitate it. no, had no idea. because you know there are people involved in this who still think katie got away with murder. i got up in front of the world and admitted i charged the wrong person. but some people can't bring themselves to admit that. when we first talked, which was a couple of years ago, i asked you if this was a rush to judgment. and you said it was not. well, i didn't feel like it was a rush to judgment. later, after we had put everything together, it clearly was a rush to judgment. it was a-- if you were going to write a textbook about tunnel vision, confirmation bias, and a rush to judgment, this is the case you'd

use to write the textbook. i love to hate him and hate to love him. i respect mr. farren. don't necessarily think that he would ever be somebody that i would call on a weekly basis to check in, but i respect him. he is good at what he does. he is a very smart man. and he admitted his mistake-- he did. --which a lot of prosecutors really don't like to do. they don't. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie had waited 467 days to be freed from the lockup. the wait for a verdict wasn't nearly as long. it took the jury only about three hours to find jd spielbauer guilty of robin's murder. his sentence? life in prison. justice finally for robin, but for her parents, nothing could take away the pain of knowing their daughter's greatest fear had been realized when jd left her out there on helium road. she never wanted to be alone. she hated to be alone.

and to be left out there was just not anything i could deal with. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): erin still struggles with her own sense of loneliness. i lost my best friend. i can't call her anymore. josh mankiewicz: her number is still in your phone? yeah. because? if i delete it, i delete her. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): and as for katie. josh mankiewicz: you feel better now? yes and no. i'm happy it's over, but it's still sad and heartbreaking. it's a tragedy. it doesn't go away. it doesn't fix anything. it doesn't bring robin back. robin's mom gave you a hug after the trial. she did. i love robin's mom.

and for her to reach out to me like that, actions speak louder than words. and there wasn't a single thing that she could have said to me that was more powerful than the hug that she gave me. josh mankiewicz: you hugged katie at the end of the trial. she hugged first. and it's-- i'm a hugger, so, yes, i hugged back. would katie be wrong to see that as a sign of forgiveness? i don't know how to answer that because i don't know if i have forgiven either one of them yet. i mean, one of the theories is that they were in it together. either of you believe that? i mean, either of you believe that katie is getting away with murder right now? i don't know what to believe. all i know is, i believe the person that actually hurt our baby is where he needs to be.

and that's what i have to believe because that's what they proved. that's what makes sense. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): one question is proving difficult to answer. josh mankiewicz: what made jd somebody women want to fight over? it was easy for him to turn himself into somebody that he wasn't. we saw something different than what everybody else saw. but what we didn't know at the time was that we weren't his wives. we were his property. and he was going to control and dominate that property any way that he saw fit. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie promised us one hell of a story. she certainly delivered. and she said she's not done yet. katie graduated from college, the first in her family to do so, with a degree in legal studies. she went on to work as a paralegal in a law firm. on top of that, the founder of a non-profit organization

happened to see katie on "dateline," inspiring a program called ignite you first. it's dedicated to breaking intergenerational cycles of trauma. katie spielbauer: i never had a male role model in my life. so i was never taught what kind of man i should be looking for. i was never taught what kind of humans and people and friends i needed in my life-- josh mankiewicz (voiceover): katie's hope is that by being part of that program, she can help teens and adults make better choices. katie spielbauer: when something like this happens, it gives you purpose. and life has no meaning without purpose. hello, i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." josh mankiewicz: he was the new kid in town-- super popular, all about adventure. friend: this kid was, like, awesome. anna: he just jumped right into the culture.