in a survey, 91% of users wish they'd started sooner. so why wait? talk to your doctor. botox® effects may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away as trouble swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. those with these conditions before injection are at highest risk. side effects may include allergic reactions like rash, breathing problems, dizziness, neck and injection site pain, and headache. don't receive botox® if there's a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions like als, myasthenia gravis, or lambert-eaton syndrome and medicines like botulinum toxins, which may increase the risk of serious side effects. chronic migraine may still keep you from being there. ask your doctor about botox® today. learn how abbvie can help you save. ask your doctor about botox® today. narrator: continuing with our story, dancer and high school sophomore meghan landowski has been murdered.

it was just so brutal, and she was all by herself. narrator: the main suspect, her stepfather's best friend. there's only one person we thought it could be, just one. narrator: but he was cleared by dna evidence. he was your prime suspect, and there's no match. it's frustrating because what you think you have, you don't. narrator: what would it take to solve this case? we completely changed direction. narrator: the identity of the real killer would surprise them all. instant panic. instant, instant panic. i still get chills. it just can't be. [music playing] narrator: the investigation into who murdered meghan landowski, the sweet 16-year-old who loved to dance had shifted to her circle of friends and acquaintances. a few weeks in, investigators had a good lead.

they were trying to connect that sneaker print found at the crime scene to neighbors of meghan's. you took these two people seriously, to have marshals come in. we took everybody that we thought would potentially could have done this, we took everybody serious. narrator: the men in question had left town not long after the murder. so you brought them back. did you interrogate them? when we brought them in and talked to them, we found that they didn't know meghan. narrator: and didn't know anything about her murder. their fingerprints, their dna didn't match what was left at the scene. but investigators had plenty of other people to talk to, starting with a high school full of potential suspects. so the day that she was killed, we went back and pulled all the video and tried to track meghan all the way through the school, just to see if there was any type of confrontation, if there was a guy. narrator: the videos didn't point to anyone suspicious. still, they interviewed student after student, looking for someone who had a problem with meghan,

but no luck. everybody talked nice about meghan. but when you have no leads, you want to find the one person or several people who aren't saying nice things about meghan. narrator: popular at school, meghan even stayed friendly with kids from the arts magnet program she'd attended as a freshman. she was very inclusive. she really would hang around with anybody. anybody. anybody, yeah. she did not care what you looked like, what you liked, if you like different music than her. she-- yeah, she didn't-- she didn't care. narrator: meghan's friendliness made it harder for investigators. in fact, she was so beloved, her remembrance tree was getting plenty of visitors. and that got detectives thinking, maybe one of them was more than just a visitor. we were working with ncis, and they came up with this. hey, we got this idea. maybe the killer would come to the tree, maybe he'll say something, or whoever it is. narrator: so right next to the tree, ncis technicians placed a hidden camera

in a memorial stone. we had a container that was off here, that was off to the side. we would run the recordings back to the container and change the vhs tapes. every day. every single day. did the investigators ever find anything? did you find anything? no. we saw plenty of her friends, people who cared about her, people that we didn't know who they were, and they would come up, people from out of town. but no, no killer. so a creative tactic, but yet another-- dead end. it ended in a dead end. narrator: investigators had what they hoped would be another source of leads, meghan's own words. she'd kept a diary. we went through the journals that meghan kept. we were looking for boyfriends, anything that might give us a clue. or anyone maybe she was angry at or that was angry at her. for a teenage girl, she wasn't down and negative. she was very upbeat. do you remember her having a boyfriend at all during that time? no not that i-- not anything super serious that i would consider saying that this guy was somebody that

she dated as a boyfriend. was there anyone that she was interested in? not really. there was a few guys that she talked to that were in-- there was one that was in the band, and then there was another one that played baseball. narrator: but the guy who caught investigators' attention was named donald. her parents thought he was a bad influence, but meghan had befriended him. detectives didn't have to look hard for donald. he was in jail after being arrested for driving without a license. right off the bat, they found his words and demeanor strange. narrator: what was he talking about? he told the detective he and megan had briefly dated. narrator: between tears, he swore he had only fond memories of meghan.

>> she always. >> made everybody. >> made everybody. >> laugh and narrator: loved her to death? he also told the detective it was meghan who broke up with him. they wondered, was he torn up enough to murder her? narrator: the detective asked him what he knew about the crime. narrator: and then the detective came at him. i heard. that ain't what you heard. yes. you need to tell me a little bit more. i think you know some first hand information. you're not. giving

it. no, i don't, sir. it. no, i don't, sir. >> i swe narrator: he swore he was just repeating gruesome gossip. narrator: and as he fell apart before them-- narrator: --his grief, to them, looked more like guilt. everything that he said, the way he was acting, everything he was doing would make you believe that he was the one who killed her. narrator: coming up, another dna test and another sharp turn in the case. we completely changed direction in our investigation. she looked at him as a big brother. how did he act? he didn't trust the police, didn't want to talk to police. not very cooperative? not very cooperative. narrator: when dateline continues.

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to narrator: he insisted he cared for meghan. he'd never harm her. narrator: he offered up his alibi. narrator: investigators wondered, was he their man? one way to find out get a swab of his dna. narrator: and then they sent him back to the jail and waited for the test results. meantime, investigators still had their long to do list. who are we going to interview? where are we going to go? what evidence needs to be sent to the lab? narrator: as detectives dove deep into meghan's young life, friends, neighbors, even strangers in the community seemed eager to help, anything to narrow the field of suspects. we're getting dna samples volunteered by everybody

that we talked to, which is pretty amazing because we collected a hefty number of dna samples from different people. narrator: more than 80 people volunteered samples, even megan's stepdad, chris. but not one matched up with the murderer's and that included meghan's friend, donald. another letdown. we were all hard on ourselves because we hadn't found the killer yet. we were meeting every single day for months. every day. every day. are you holding press conferences as the months are ticking by to generate leads? initially, they did. they held a few of them, but we got to where we just didn't have any leads. narrator: so investigators asked themselves, what else could their forensic evidence tell them? they heard about a dna test that could trace a person's geographic ancestry. at the time it, was relatively new dna. and so ncis had done some research into it.

we didn't know what race that we were looking for, which helps, generally, so you narrow down your field. narrator: the team sent the killer's dna to a lab in florida. what did you find? we found that 72% sub-saharan african was the makeup of the killer. this person would self-identify as african-american. so we completely changed direction in our investigation. narrator: investigators looked through their records for anyone they might have missed and found a notation in a file. meghan took martial arts classes. the one that was running the studio at the time, it's an african-american owned business. narrator: the team asked the studio's owners to provide dna swabs. they all voluntarily came in and gave dna samples. narrator: none of those samples got a hit. then the detectives scanned through meghan's other extracurriculars. she'd also spent time at a teen center on base.

someone there matched their profile. there was a counselor there that was african-american, and we talked to him. he seemed more like everybody's friend. narrator: meghan's parents knew the counselor and told detectives meghan considered him a trusted friend. she looked at him as a big brother. it never went anywhere from that. did you start to wonder about him, given how close they were? you grasp for straws when-- i mean, you don't have anybody pinpointed, then everybody's a suspect. narrator: most everyone they talked to so far had been helpful. but this guy? how did he act? he would be very-- he didn't trust the police, didn't talk to police. not very cooperative? not very cooperative. narrator: still, investigators requested that the counselor, like dozens of others, provide a dna sample. his response? unlike the others-- he said that he was too busy, and then he never came in to give it.

did he start moving higher up on the list? yes, he became a person of interest. narrator: now the detectives had a lot more questions for the counselor. they officially asked him down to the station. he was actually a no show for his police interview. yes so what did that tell you? it makes him look guilty. narrator: but looking guilty and being guilty are two different things. it's still not definitive. narrator: it wouldn't be the last time in this vexing case investigators would have to get creative. coming up-- the detectives told us they're going to turn over every stone that they have to, to get this case solved. i wanted to do something for the community to raise questions, to get somebody talking, to get anything out of anybody. narrator: a memorial walk for megan is about to bring investigators one step closer to the killer.

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didn't seem eager to talk and never provided a dna sample. did he eventually give it, or did you have to get it through another way? we had to get it through another way. we went to covert measures. we got a surreptitious dna sample by swabbing the door handle on the driver's side of his vehicle while it was at the teen center. is that considered part of his property, or is it because it's on the outside-- it's on the outside. oh, so that's fair game, anything on the outside. yes. narrator: and so the counselor was none the wiser as his dna was compared against the killer's. was it a match? no. narrator: to detectives, it felt like deja vu. what's everyone thinking at this point? again, deflated. narrator: deflated, but not done. they were still thinking about meghan's friend donald and his strong emotional attachment to her. narrator: dna had ruled him out as the killer, but maybe he knew something. who killed her.

>> no, sir. >> i'm sure as i'm sitting here, donald, i will tell you. that you haven't been completely you haven't been completely honest with me s narrator: he again told the investigators he knew nothing. narrator: and again, they thought he acted odd. he said he was too ill to talk. >> seriously like. i feel like i need to. need to. >> go to the hospital. narrator: despite the drama, investigators had no evidence connecting donald to the crime. he didn't do it. he didn't know who did. he says, i really liked her. and he was very forthcoming after a while.

narrator: he tells dateline he was traumatized by his lengthy interrogations and is truly sad about the loss of his friend. five months into the investigation, still no call to the family to report an arrest. after dozens of interviews, dna tests, and tips, every lead had dried up. it exhausted a lot of investigative skills, a lot of time. and every direction we turned was always a disappointment. narrator: a new kind of fear gripped portsmouth as the case went unsolved. reporter mike mather remembered how folks worried this killer might never be caught. one by one, all the people who were the most obvious suspects or the most obvious potential suspects had been ruled out. and that also means that they were ruling nobody else in. there was definitely some fear in that community. narrator: meghan's parents lived in a nightmarish limbo. you never lived in that house again. no. after that. too painful. i could still see her after she was gone.

that image of your daughter must just haunt you, seeing her like that. absolutely. we started a new school year and everything, and it was still-- nobody knew. did you start to get really worried that this might not be solved? oh, yeah. and then you start to kind of accept maybe this is a really random thing. we all just kind of started to not really know what to make of it at that point. the police aren't telling the public really anything. yeah. yeah, there wasn't really much as far as updates or what was happening. did you have any fear that this would turn into a cold case, that they wouldn't be able to catch megan's killer? we did have a fear that it was going cold, but the detectives told us they were going to turn over every stone that they have to, to get this case solved. the investigators we spoke to,

they had such a passion for this case, for solving this case. they said they were not going to let this go. did you feel that? yes. i felt it, yeah. narrator: as the investigators tried to keep the case from stalling out, meghan's friends yearned for an arrest. did you feel like there was a chance that meghan's murder may never be solved, as the months went by? i guess i thought maybe there was a chance, but a very small one. i know that the police were working very hard, and i didn't think that it was something that they were just going to let go. you had faith that they would solve the case. mm-hm. narrator: and then meghan's dance teacher, kelly derek, came up with an idea, something she thought might help the police. i wanted to do something for the community, to questions, to get somebody talking, to get anything out of anybody. narrator: on a saturday in late september, friends and family gathered for a walk in meghan's honor.

we had a huge turnout. it was a beautiful day. we told the community to come out, and it was to remember meghan. you couldn't ask for better friends. your daughter was loved. very much so. narrator: investigators were there, too, just in case someone had a tip. did you believe at this point that her killer was hiding in plain sight? we did. narrator: this time, in this lengthy and often trying investigation, creative thinking worked. just days later, the phone rang at the police station-- a new lead. the phone call was from a concerned citizen that said, hey, i just heard something that might be of interest to you. narrator: and was it ever. coming up-- the bus driver said there was one kid that took a liking to her, and she kept telling him, hey, that's not the girl for you. and i said, well, who is this kid? we had never heard his name. narrator: enter a friend of meghan's.

would they ever study together? i know of a few times that they hung out after school, or he'd get off at her stop and just walk home from from there. narrator: and a bubble gum mystery. when dateline continues. ♪♪ life with norman is fun and full of adventure. he just started to slow down a little bit on walks and seemed like he had some discomfort. his doctor diagnosed him with osteoarthritis pain and recommended that we try librela. veterinary professionals administering librela who are pregnant, trying to conceive, or breastfeeding should take extreme care to avoid self-injection, which can cause allergic reactions like anaphylaxis. librela has helped norman get back to his old self. ♪♪ 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.

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1-800-403-7539. >> i'm richard lui. >> with a news update. a white house official. >> telling nbc news direct. negotiations between the trump. administration and ukraine are on hold after friday's tense oval office exchange. trump said zelensky must want to make peace and stop criticizing putin to. restart talks. >> and pope francis. >> condition remains stable. >> the vatican. >> said saturday. >> but it cautioned. >> that his prognosis. >> quote. >> remains guarded. >> he spent. >> the night resting after. >> suffering a. bronchial crisis the day before. >> for now. >> for now. >> back to dateline. meghan's memorial walk did the trick when it drummed

up a promising new lead. a concerned citizen suggested detectives talk to meghan's bus driver, the one from her freshman year. so sergeant mcdaniel caught up with the driver outside meghan's old high school. churchland high school, i walked up to her and i said, hey, can i talk to you about megan? well, we had already interviewed 12 kids on that bus. and they all said, yeah, we knew meghan. she rode the bus. she was a good girl. narrator: but the driver said detectives may have missed someone. she shared a story mcdaniel had never heard before. the bus driver said there was one kid on the bus that took a liking to her. and she kept telling him, hey, that's not the girl for you. i'm not trying to tell you what to do with your life, but you're showing interest in her and she's not showing interest back at you. so the bus driver is giving this kid love advice, kind of harmless teenage stuff? yeah. narrator: the bus driver worried it would

end in heartache for the boy. and i said, well, who is this kid? i've talked to all the ones that you pick up. and she said, his name was robert barnes. we didn't know who robert barnes was at the time. we had never heard his name. narrator: but meghan's parents remembered him. he lived nearby. robert barnes would come over and catch the bus with megan when they were both going to churchland high school. narrator: they were part of that same exclusive arts program. meghan danced and robert played the violin. around the school, he was considered an exceptional violinist. there was even talk of him going to juilliard. he played violin at a governor's school of music. he was honor roll. he was a kid that was going to make good, the success story. and their worlds would collide when she was dancing, he was playing. - right. i mean, he liked music. she liked music, too. that's how they kind of clicked together. he'd practice on the bus with us on the way home. he-- yeah, he was really, really good. he was a nice guy.

he was normal and he blended in and he made good grades, did great in orchestra, was very committed to his craft of the violin. narrator: meghan's friend britney remembers teasing robert about his crush. there was always that time, it was just me and him, kind of, on the bus. and i was like, i think you like meghan. and he of course tried to play it off at first and was like, no, no, no way. and he finally admitted it and was like, yeah, but just don't say anything. did he say what it was he liked about her? nothing super specific. it was just that he just liked hanging-- being around her and she was funny. she was smart. would they ever study together? yeah, i know of a few times that they hung out after school or he'd get off at her stop and just walk home from from there. narrator: the detective went to churchland high school to have a chat with robert barnes. so i said, you knew meghan? he said, yeah. and i said, can you sit down and talk to me? we sat down and we talked.

he laughed. he kind of smiled about things. didn't do anything out of the way. but the whole time, i had this funny feeling about him. and it just was weird kind of feeling. what was weird about it? - he just-- for some reason, the smile on his face told me that's not the real person i was dealing with. like it was a facade. it was all a facade. so i talked to him-- but it doesn't make him a killer. no. i mean, he could have been hiding that he stole something from the 7-11. i don't know. or he's a teenager being interviewed by a detective. right. robert seemed to fit that geographic ancestry profile, and the detective realized he could be the kid they'd been looking for. a friend of meghan's, a young person who might own a pair of air force 1 sneakers. mcdaniel asked him to provide a dna swab. and he said, well, i can't do it right now. but let me talk to my mom and see what she says. which is fair. which is-- i mean, if you're a high school kid--

yeah, and i really didn't expect him to say anything other than that. narrator: the next morning, something unexpected. sergeant mcdaniel got a call from robert. and it's from his home phone number. and he says, hey, can you meet me at the school? i think i remembered something. you asked if i would remember anything, call you. narrator: he said he had new information. and i got the school resource officer and said, hey, this kid robert barnes said he might have something for me he remembers about meghan. can you go get him out of class and i'll talk to him? narrator: at first, the meeting was a waste of time. his new information wasn't new at all. he starts giving me some story about hey, you know, i just thought it was kind of weird. she said she was afraid of somebody. all that was in the news. so he's repeating stuff that he heard in the news. i said, by the way, did you ask your mom about a dna sample? he said, no, but i think it'll be ok. and he's chewing on a piece of bubble gum. narrator: robert offered to give the detective his gum. so you're like, i'll take what i can get.

i knew that the bubble gum was just as good as a swab, if not better. so we send the dna-- the bubble gum off to the lab with the other samples. it was about two, three weeks later, the lead investigator comes up and he says, hey man, the lab tech needs you to call her now. it's 9:00 at night. and i was like, what is the lab tech doing in a dna lab? and he goes, she needs to talk to you right now. narrator: robert's dna test result was in, and it was about to crack the case wide open, but not in a way anyone suspected. and she said, we got a problem. narrator: coming up. that's a head snapper, right? i just sat there and i said, we got to talk to this kid again. narrator: and talk they did. narrator: robert barnes tells a chilling story about the day of meghan's murder.

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you can quickly compare insurance options and find the right coverage even if it's not with us. what's the bad news? [ indistinct conversations ] i skipped the line. >> our federal government. >> now can discriminate against the citizens of the country. >> we are all watching and waiting to see who is going to hold the line. don't miss the weekend, saturday. >> and sunday mornings at. >> and sunday mornings at. >> 8:00 on by now, police had tested the dna of dozens of potential suspects. so far, not one hit. then, sergeant mcdaniel got word he needed to talk to the technician about the results for 17-year-old robert barnes. so i called her on the phone, and she goes, did you get it from a guy or from a girl? and i said, i got it from a guy. narrator: he told the technician how robert had given him his bubblegum.

she said, did you see him actually touch it or spit it out of his mouth, or-- i said, no, he put it in a wrapper, and he put it in the glove the way that i sent it. and she said, well, we got a problem because the dna is coming back to a girl. it's not male dna. that's a head snapper. and i just sat there and i said, well, he could have switched it, because i had to turn my head. narrator: if robert barnes had tried to pull a fast one, it didn't work. it only made the detective more suspicious. this is a big moment here. so i'm standing over the lead investigator and i said, we got to talk to this kid again. narrator: with permission from robert's mother, sergeant mcdaniel picked robert up from school and drove him to the police station. the funny thing is, when he was walking out of the car, i offered to open the door for him. he says no, i got it. but then he pulled his hand up into his sleeve, because he was worried that we were going to get fingerprints from him. so-- so this is a red flag for you. red flags all the way. narrator: at the station, with robert barnes' mother

in the room, sergeant mcdaniel told them the dna on the gum belonged to a female. suddenly, like a switch had been flipped, robert began to talk. robert barnes looked at me and he said, this occurred on april 10, right? narrator: april 10, the day megan was killed. he said, we got out of school at 12 o'clock. and we stopped. why did you stop? his mom wanted to talk to him. he was there voluntarily we let him leave, go talk to his mom for a minute, so that they can make a decision whether she wanted this conversation to go any further. they walked out. they sat in the car. they talked, and then they came back in.

narrator: and that's when robert barnes admitted he was in meghan's house on the day of her murder. he starts laying out the story about how he went to the house. meghan had invited him over. he had seen her on valentine's day prior to that, and then this was-- he came over because they had planned this out. he climbs into the window and he's calling meghan's name. narrator: and here's where his story took a bizarre twist. he told the detective he walked into a crime in progress. another man was already in the house. narrator: he claimed a man was on the bed wearing a mask

and holding meghan at gunpoint. suddenly, the man started barking orders at him. like, i don't know. grab her by the throat. so i'm just he just having me do all sorts of stuff to her. >> like what? >> just basically. >> you know, just. >> grab her roughly. >> in the. >> throat and the shoulders. he told me to tie her mouth. up with the tape. with the tape. narrator: robert said the man demanded he have sex with meghan. narrator: and even though they were being held at gunpoint, robert said meghan tried to fight back. narrator: according to robert, the man told them to go downstairs.

and the masked man grabbed the knife and started stabbing megan. and the masked man, when he was done, made him hold his finger out and he stuck his finger, cut his finger open and put blood in the blood with megan's. narrator: he ended his twisted tale by explaining how the masked man ordered him to leave. when he stabbed him, the blood splattered everywhere. >> he took. >> his shirt off and run, ditched the knife in the gutter

down. >> the street. >> the street. >> okay. are you buying any of this? no. he's going through all the motions. and i'm watching his face. and you can see, like, he's proud of what he's talking about, but he's trying to play it off like he's just repeating what had happened. narrator: the teenager's elaborate story appeared made up to fit the mountain of evidence. just. >> because it might be from >> because it might be from nike, narrator: when asked to describe the masked man, the detective thought robert's answer was convenient, to say the least. he just put a mask on me and he gave a description of me standing there in front of him because i was asking him how tall he was, what did he weigh. he even told me that the guy's eyes were blue.

narrator: after interviewing robert for more than five hours with his mother listening, the detective had heard enough. i see it. all right, mom. >> and i'm just. there's no other way to put it. there's everything ties you to this. nothing ties anybody else. there's no footprints. there's no other dna in the house. everything ties you to this, okay? 100%. all right. so i okay? 100%. all right. so i don't know any other w narrator: now, robert's mother jumped in. to know. is he under arrest. >> right now? >> well, ■ mean, that's. >> is he. >> under arrest? that's all i want to know. >> i'm just asking him. >> is. yeah. >> no, no. hold, hold, hold, hold on for a minute. don't say

nothing, though, because, i mean, what. >> can i do? >> excuse me. >> excuse me. >> robert. >> i'm going to take your phone call. i'm the lead investigator call. i'm the lead investigator in this case. okay. narrator: finally, an arrest in the case that had stumped detectives for months. but would it lead to a conviction? i mean, it just looked like they must have gotten this wrong. the police must have added 1 and 1 and gotten 5. narrator: coming up. instant, instant panic. it hit me so hard. i mean, you just feel so betrayed, and i don't even have words to describe it. it was just like, why? why her? why him? narrator: a town stunned at the news. this will split the community right down the middle. narrator: could this gifted teenager really be the killer? a jury might have a hard time convicting someone who looks like robert barnes, who's that young. that talented. that talented. never heard a bad word about him.

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the lead detective had made a deal with meghan's mom. he would only call once there was an arrest. six months after her daughter's murder, he called. and i put him on speakerphone

so chris could hear it. and he's like, his name is robert barnes. i'm like, i know exactly who it is. it must be just the strangest thing to hear. it was. it was just like, why? why her? why him? narrator: word of robert barnes's arrest spread quickly. my now husband, who actually went to high school with me, he said, somebody got arrested for meghan's murder, and it's robert. robert barnes. what is going through your mind? this is the kid that you rode the bus with. rode the bus with. who had a crush on her, who was the violinist. yes. instant panic, instant, instant panic. it hit me so hard. i mean, you just feel so betrayed. you feel so just-- i mean, i don't even have words to describe it. what was that moment like for you, after such hard work and so many dead ends? it was surreal. you know, even talking about it right now, i still get chills. like, it was one of those moments that done our job.

narrator: but not everyone believed law enforcement had done its job correctly. reporter mike mather remembers how some people in portsmouth reacted when the news first broke. i recall very early on that you know, here we go again, portsmouth has a white victim and they've charged a black kid. this split the community on a racial line, i think, right down the middle, fair to say. and that line stayed there the entirety of the case. narrator: robert's defense attorney, robert moorcock, says the teen was an outstanding student, had no criminal record. how could he be the killer? never heard a bad word about him, never. and we talked to a lot of people. and a jury might have a hard time convicting someone who looks like robert barnes, who's that young. that talented. that talented. accomplished so much and has such a good report card across the board, academic, social,

everything. and so that helps steel the pro-barnes defense in the community. it just can't be. it's a rush to judgment. narrator: sergeant mcdaniel knew this was no rush to judgment. the case against robert barnes was strong and getting stronger. detectives had discovered the honor roll student, the violin virtuoso, had another side, an evil one. do you think he had planned this attack out for a while? yes, i do. i think he had planned it out long enough, probably since valentine's day to the time it happened. narrator: he was convinced of that because of what police found on robert's computer. he was very much into a fantasy world, breaking into houses and committing rape. he had put out questions on a chat room about if somebody said that they'd just killed somebody, what would you say to them? narrator: investigators began to wonder

if robert barnes just might be a serial killer in the making. he had put his picture, photoshopped his picture into a news report of an elderly woman that had been raped during a burglary of her house. robert barnes put his own photo in a real news article. in a real news article. narrator: the more meghan's parents learned about robert barnes, the more horrified they became. it was also cold and calculated. after he did this to her, he went to orchestra practice that night. that night. that night. he cut his finger. he asked his mom, do you have any band-aids? wrapped his hand up, because there are students there that remember his hand being wrapped. and his hand was wrapped and he went to orchestra practice. narrator: after his arrest, detectives were finally able to test his dna. we got it within 24 hours. oh. yes. and was it a match? it was a match. that must have felt pretty darn good, to get that dna sample as a match.

for the whole group, it was a relief. narrator: given the mountain of evidence, robert's attorney was ready to make a deal, and the prosecutor was receptive. i don't think he wanted to further inflame the community. i think he wanted to end the case. he wanted to be tough, but he wanted to be fair. narrator: so they worked out a plea. robert barnes pleaded guilty to first degree murder, attempted rape, aggravated sexual battery, abduction, and statutory burglary. in return, he will be eligible for release after serving 42 years. meghan's parents were relieved there would be no trial. i didn't want to hear all the graphic details about what happened to her. i mean, i know what happened to her. i-- i see it, you know? but i didn't want the world to know that. narrator: and because of virginia's violent sexual predator law, meghan's parents were told by the prosecutor it's unlikely robert barnes

will ever be a free man. when he's up for release, he has to take a test as a sexual predator. it's a psych test. you kind of feel like he won't pass and he won't get out. right. narrator: on the day of robert's sentencing, meghan's mom finally got a chance to confront him. [video playback] i love her. i miss her so much, and i don't understand why. i don't understand why. she never did anything to hurt anybody. [end playback] i wanted him to feel my pain. i wanted him to know the person that he killed. [video playback] losing meghan crushed my world. she was to graduate this year from high school, and i will never see that. i will never see her get married or hold her children. i can't go see her. [end playback] you caused all this pain that you see, and i wanted him to feel that.

narrator: solving meghan's murder still feels bittersweet for the man who met the teen in a time of need and told her not to worry. does anything still haunt you about this case? still a lot of-- there's still guilt about what happened to meghan. i can't take that away. i'll never change that because it's a promise that i made that-- i didn't break the promise, but i still feel responsible. narrator: for meghan's family and friends, with her killer behind bars, there's finally some peace. you can at least start to heal a little bit from it, and just move on and know that you don't have to constantly look over your shoulder. narrator: instead of focusing on how she died, they remember how she lived, joyful, loving, and forever dancing. she definitely taught me how to be a better friend. and she's-- just remember her light and her fun that she brought to the world.

i miss you. i wish you were here. she was just very, very giving, i mean, even from the second i met her. i just wish we had more people like that in the world. do you think meghan is dancing in heaven somewhere? oh, i know she is. and you know, it's tested our faith. and i know she watches over us. you know, there are times when i kind of feel like someone's watching me, you know? and i feel it's her. [music playing] [audio logo] nobody seen her, nobody heard from her-- she's really missing. keith morrison: chelsea was out to scare up some halloween fun. she had a poison ivy costume-- bright lipstick, a wig on. she looked beautiful in her costume.