>> i could see him laying on the ground. >> i couldn't think of a soul who would warrant to hurt him. >> questioning a suspect with a motive who had suddenly changed his looks. >> in fact, when he showed up to work that morning, he was beardless. >> rock solid alibi. >> where did that lead you. >> worried about my case. >> he had no phone, and i did. >> a tip, a tire track, and a case one detective will never forget. >> shot in the dark, but i took it. >> i'm lester holt, and this is dateline. this is keith morrison with a perfect spot. a winter's night in a southern forest. the inc. black darkness the headlights and closed around them like a shroud.

overcast, and then, the ragged clearing, muddy patch of sand and dirt away from the whole word, a place for their valentine's tryst. as is if they could see a hand in front of their faces. or the fate, lurking out there, in the dark. >> what a way to begin a love story, the hot air balloons the man so loved. the motorcycles on which together in daylight, they discovered their own special place, the remote forest, belton park, although park is a grand word beside the river, north of atlanta, georgia. >> i knew them both very well. scheck. their love the scouting that

>> both of our sons were cub scouts. >> with kids, boys especially, they were naturals. >> stacey was a ball of energy. full of ideas, would literally drag us to do things. >> the go-getter. >> and we also called her mama spreadsheet, because everything that she did had to be laid out in a spreadsheet. >> one a planner? >> she was. >> scouting is how bill fanning got to know them too. >> richard was a good motivated tore -- motivator, and i saw how much fun was having and got involved my solve. >> she was a den leader. >> she was pretty good with the kids too, yeah, she was. she and richard worked well together. >> as they did with her three sons. greg was surprised, he said,

the kids were stacey's. >> i thought they were his children. >> because it looked like that. >> the way he treated them. >> oh, yeah. >> so when richard officially a dropted the younger two of the three boys, cousin connie was thrilled. >> my heart melted. i was like that's the best thing. >> he wanted to adopt those kids, because he loved those children, and those children loved him. >> richard himself marched to the beat of his own drum. >> my brother was always a big kid. >> assayed said his sister, not a suit and tie type person. >> he had to be out and about. a very good athlete. >> kind of like a pied piper to his niece. >> he would roller-skate with us, or throw a ball with us, or color with us. he was our cool uncle. >> no wonder.

and nephew for a ride in a hot air balloon. >> i could barely see over the edge, it was just cool seeing just skies and clouds all around you. >> pam martin was one of his balloon buddies. >> people wou fight over him, could i have richard today. he was just the best crew person. we liked to be around him because he was very eccentric and funny. >> stacey. >> she was friendly, nice, i liked her. >> a happily blended family. she was the breadwinner, richard a maintenance manner, but remained the main caregiver for the kids, two of them together were, people noticed. >> they always gave each other kisses, hugs, so they seemed wonderful together. >> all of which may explain why on valentine's night 2010, richard and stays ee decided to

little, at this special place here in the woods. >> what happened next, was shocking. of course an understatement. >> hall county 911, what's the address. >> oh, my god. please, i need help right now. >> the voice on the 911 call was stacey's, the victim of whatever happened here, was her husband, richard. he had arrived there first, and when she got there later, he was lying on his back on the ground beside his truck. >> i'm at this little park, my name is stacey schoeck. >> he's been what? >> he has been shot he is dead. >> the hall county sheriff's department got the call. there it was, valentine's night, as he drove a dark and winding road by the river. >> it's in the middle of

special dark that you can't appreciate until you're there. >> detective is an experienced man, and this, this is one. >> one of the very few cases the more i dug, the less sense it made. >> no, nothing made sense about this. >> a murder so sudden and so brutal, was it a robbery gone bad? the investigation was just beginning. when we come back -- tire tracks in the mud that belonged to neither richard nor stacey. >> you could see richard's impressions pass over those and they pass back over richard's. that lets us know they were there before richard. >> it had to be the killer. the decision to ride on and save money. he decided to save money by switching

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if there is a such thing a perfect spot for murder, this might be it. >> this is remote. my god. >> it's pretty secluded. if you didn't know what to look for, you would miss it, right. >> there was just a void on the side of the road. it's a dark void. >> it was going on 11:00 p.m. on february 14, 2015, when detective franklin found the place. >> so this is the entrance to the park where richard was killed. >> that night, the cops lit up

>> we've got it lit up like it's christmastime. but if the lights weren't on, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. >> it was like that that night? >> lying dead beside his truck. shot five times, three times through his body, twice in the face. lay on his back near the open door of his truck. >> probably a pretty ugly crime screen. >> terms of what happened to him. >> it was particularly gruesome. >> what did it say to you right away. >> overkill. especially with the placement of the shots. >> also, pretty clear from the get go, this was not a robbery. >> the fact that richard had his jewelry, he had his wedding ring, expensive watch that he had on, cash on the console of the truck undisturbed, the truck itself was still here, ripe for the taking, running and on and the door was open. >> something else the detective could infer from the bullets

he must have gotten out of his truck and approached whoever shot him. >> when stacey found richard, his truck was running, the headlights were on. he simply pulled up and got out of the truck to approach the person who shot him. it was compelling, something that got our attention. >> who was it? who did richard approach? whoever it was, long gone by the time stacey arrived. >> so not much to go on. except when a police technician trained his lights on the clear from the side, just so, a whole new picture suddenly emerged. story of tire tracks including that did not belong to richard or stacey's. >> you could see richard impressions pass over and pass >> okay. >> so that let us know the vehicle was here before richard got here, and then likely left after he was dead. >> had to be the killer, but how

them find whoever did this having seen what he could, detective franklin headed back to the sheriff's station to meet stacey and record her statement. it was after midnight by then. >> this feels unreal. >> reporter: stacey explained it was her weekend to care for her grandparents, and richard planned to come by on sunday, valentine's day, to cook dinner. he arrived about 5:30. >> and i had my valentine stuff for him sitting on the desk when he walked in the back door. he was like, "oh well, mine are out in the truck, but i thought we would do that at the park." >> reporter: because they'd already planned a brief romantic rendezvous at belton bridge park on the way home to see their kids. >> he was like, "come meet me at the park. you know, it's all secluded," and, you know, "it'll be --" i mean, "we'll exchange our valentines." and when he gave me a kiss, he was like, "and maybe even make out a little." >> reporter: day or dark night,

intimately. >> we've ridden by that park gazillions of t -- i don't know, lots, lots of times. even when we were dating, we would go and find little, obscure places and make out like teenagers. >> reporter: so after dinner richard left for the park first, she said, and she followed a bit later when a night nurse arrived to look after the grandparents. >> i think i probably pulled outta the driveway at about 9:20 or so. i called richard and it went to voicemail and i didn't know why. and i didn't leave a message. and i left. >> reporter: and when she got there? >> i knew something was wrong. i could see -- i saw his truck immediately 'cause the lights were on, and so i pulled down and i headed right towards his truck. but as soon as i -- my -- i could see him.

ground. >> reporter: ah, but life is a complicated business, as everybody knows. even lovers aren't always straight with each other. these, however, were investigators stacey was talking to. she knew they'd ferret out her secret sooner or later. so right away she came clean. >> i was having -- i've been having an affair for several -- you know, six, seven months. >> reporter: an affair. his name was juan reyes. he worked in stacey's office in a job she had gotten for him. >> you know, i am in -- i'm in deep with juan. i know that. i -- i'm telling you. >> reporter: oh yes, she certainly was. stacey and richard owned the house reyes lived in with his family. she met juan for sex at an apartment stacey rented for the purpose. she paid for the truck he drove, paid his cell phone bills. and, she admitted, she had just taken him to vegas. and disguised it as a work trip.

park up here? >> he did. >> how did he know that? >> we -- i mean, i had told -- i had told him. i had probably tuesday night -- it -- it was either tuesday or thursday. >> reporter: was stacey saying juan may have been the killer? >> no, no, i can't im -- i mean -- i guess i've seen enough tv to know that strange thing, you know, things happen but i can't -- i can't imagine him doing that. >> reporter: but the detectives certainly could. >> and so we start getting some direction we have this unknown set of impressions. so we have a third party at the scene. and so now we have to ask ourselves, is it juan? 'cause he was looking really good, at that point. >> reporter: time to go and have a little chat with mr. juan reyes. even if it was 4:00 in the coming up, we knocked for a

>> where would somebody be >> reporter: richard schoeck, 46 years old, had been escorted suddenly from this life as he waited for his wife in a secluded georgia park. on valentine's day. there was an outside chance, of course, that it would turn out to be a simple case of murder by mistaken identity. maybe richard showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time. or maybe he witnessed something he wasn't supposed to see. but when stacey told the story of her affair with this guy named juan reyes, the cops knew they were listening to a motive as old as time. jealous boyfriend gets rid of competition. the cops showed up at juan's house that very night. >> we knocked for awhile. we knocked on windows. we walked around the house and never could get anybody to the door. >> when you say you knocked at the door, just what politely? >> no, no, no, no. a law-- >> bang, bang, bang? >> --enforcement bangin' on the door and bangin' on the side of

>> reporter: had he fled? run away? later that morning, the detectives went to his workplace to see if he'd show there. he did all right. but -- >> his appearance had changed from the information that we had -- from different sources that showed that he had a beard. chief of detectives at the time and worked the case with franklin. and in fact when he showed up at work that morning, he was beardless. or at least, he'd removed his formerly full beard and shrunk it to an appearance altering goatee. so now juan found himself at the sheriff's station. he agreed to talk without a lawyer. he sat in the interrogation room for more than four hours with several detectives having a go at him, including franklin and tripp. >> now, it's my understanding that you and stacey are romantically involved. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> reporter: he spilled all of that.

him. then they caught him on something. stacey had already told the detectives that she informed juan on tuesday or possibly thursday about the plans to meet richard that sunday night of valentine's day. >> when did she tell you that? >> she told me friday. friday after work. >> and would you find it odd if i told you that she's made a statement that she told you earlier than friday? >> no, i-- i mean, i remember the conversation on friday. if she mentioned it before that, i wouldn't-- i wasn't thinking about it or didn't pay attention to it. >> but there's -- i'm forgetful sometimes. >> reporter: was he forgetful...or was he hiding something? >> okay. well, let me ask you this. did you have anything to do with what's happened to richard? >> no, not at all. >> do you know who did?

>> reporter: and so they asked him where was he before and after dinner on valentines day. >> me and my son went up to blockbuster. >> we ate dinner about -- i wanna say about 7:30. >> and by 10:30 i was in bed. i don't sleep much, so three/four hours later i'm up, tossing and turning. >> reporter: wait a minute: if he was up tossing and turning. how did he not hear the cops banging on his door? >> i don't know what to tell you, man. i was in my bed. >> we were there. we rang the door bell, like, eight-- or ten times-- for 15 minutes. >> all right, well, i didn't hear you. we do sleep with fans on, as i said prior about fans. i did take tylenol pm, as i stated to you. >> but then you also said that you're a light sleeper, you tossed and turned last night, and maybe got three, four hours, and-- and that's it. >> right. i was up about 4:00, tossing and turning. i looked at the clock again at 5:00. >> we were there.

i don't know what to tell you. >> reporter: juan reyes was like a brick wall about the murder. didn't do it. didn't know who did. really? the polygraph - said former chief of detectives tripp - told a different story. >> the polygraph results indicated that he was not telling the truth, or he was not being truthful to those relevant questions posed to him about the homicide. >> reporter: questions such as did you shoot richard schoeck? do you know for sure of anyone who shot richard schoeck? were you present when richard schoeck was shot? >> you know he knows where richard's gonna be. he's in an affair with stacey, he's not at home at 3:00 -- 4:00 in the morning the night of the murder. he shows up the next morning altered his appearance. so when you put all of that together -- yeah, there's a lot

>> reporter: coming up bells will juan's wife back up his alby. >> if she wanted to throw him under the bus, that was the opportunity. >> she had the opportunity. i'm dying my hair mom. hair dye? no, not in my bathroom. relax mom. honey, just let me in. no! tiffany! no! tiffany!!! it's just purple. teenage daughter? get scrubbing bubbles. kill 99.9% of germs and destroy dirt and grime. you only need scrubbing bubbles disinfectant cleaners for 100% problem solved. we work hard so you don't have to. sc johnson a family company. your heart loves omega-3s. but the omega-3s in fish oil differ from megared krill oil.

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>> reporter: there can be few things in life as shocking, as disorienting, as the sudden death of a loved one. especially one so affectionate, so endearing, so apparently happy. and when the dreadful news came with the word 'murder' attached... >> i couldn't think of a soul that would want to hurt the man. i couldn't think of anyone. >> reporter: richard and his scouting buddy bill fanning spent the evening together the night before richard was killed. and so bill heard him get the phone call from stacey about their plans for valentine's day. >> he said, "we're making plans to get together up near her

>> because she was staying up >> she was looking after her grandmother >> so was he happy about that? >> he-- he thought that's great. >> reporter: a week later, he was at richard's memorial. a memorial organized by stacey. stacey asked bill to give the eulogy. >> it was one of the most difficult things i've ever done was to get up and talk about it. i, i, i remember looking down at the honorary pallbearers and they were all scouts. there was not a dry eye there. >> reporter: at the end of the service, everybody wrote messages to richard on balloons and released them into the air. all fond memories, said his nephew bryan. >> everybody had their own personal little story. "richard helped me tie, you know, my first knots in my tent." "richard helped me build my first fire. you could tell the cub scouts he was working with, that he touched their lives like he had me and my sister's. >> reporter: meanwhile, the hall

working on their only lead. >> we were focusin' pretty hard on juan in the very beginning. >> reporter: juan reyes, the boyfriend. >> though we thought that he was the shooter, at the same time he deserved for us to verify his story. >> reporter: remember here's where juan said he was late in the day february 14. >> me and my son went up to blockbuster. we ate dinner about, i wanna say about 7:30. and by 10:30 i was in bed. >> reporter: there were ways to check, of course. they talked to juan reyes's wife, ex-wife actually, she was living with him in an effort to reconcile. >> the first thing that i told her was that juan had been having an affair with stacey for quite some time. she wasn't happy about that. >> reporter: no she wasn't. but listen to this, the woman scorned, still confirmed his alibi. >> he had gone to blockbluster while i was cooking so between 6 and 7. he had taken, 6 and 7:30 then he

he ate dinner in the room. i laid down and we went to bed. >> what time was that? >> i know we were watching the 10:30 news, the 10, i think it was the 10, the last time i looked at the time it was like 10:37. >> if she wanted to throw him to do it? >> she had a great opportunity. >> she didn't take it. >> so maybe he wasn't your guy >> correct even though he failed to answer the door. even though the polygraph result was not in his favor. juan reyes was innocent. he didn't do it. >> well, where did that leave you? >> worried about my case. >> reporter: a case that had become personal for detective franklin. he felt like he knew richard. like he was mourning him, somehow. >> i would sit at the scene, stand at the scene, reflect, and just kind of sit there and, and try to go over things in my head. and, and try to figure out what direction to take. >> reporter: what could he do? about all franklin had to go on was this picture of tire tracks

clearing. could he use this to find his killer? not so easy. he didn't even know the make of the tire. >> we looked on the internet. but we're comin' up empty. we went to car dealerships. we went to retail tire establishments. we would pull up next to cars at traffic lights and look what kind of tires they had on 'em. >> and you were seein' them? >> no. and anybody, anybody that we talked to, we looked at their tires, just to just to be sure. >> reporter: then onday, in yet another tire store, a colleague called him to a stock area out back. >> he pointed at this tire. and i looked at it. and immediately i said, "well, that's it." and i said, "okay." so we pulled it. and it was a goodyear integrity. >> reporter: well. that whittled it down. couldn't be more than, what, millions of cars with goodyear integrity tires? but just about the time franklin was contemplating that little problem... >> got a phone call from an i.t. technician at the dekalb medical center. and this was -- >> just like out of the blue? >> yes. >> reporter: that's where the office was that stacey managed.

part, clearing the junk from employee email accounts. >> and he noticed that stacey's inbox for friday, saturday, and sunday had been completely cleaned out. >> reporter: curious. that was the very weekend of the murder. >> he thought enough to give us a call. >> reporter: was stacey, mamma spreadsheet, the cubs scout den leader, hiding something? or did she just accidentally hit delete too many times? course, all those deleted files had been backed up. so they got a warrent and collected all of stacey's emails, not just from that weekend. 4000 emails in all. >> it was quite a task. >> reporter: and a lot of it was spam. except stwo e-mails seemed, well, they stood out, requests from stacey to her bank to transfer money out of something called a "real estate" account. >> a few weeks before the murder was the first transfer. $8,902.

friday before the murder on february the 12th of 2010. and that one's for $1,100. >> reporter: both times, the money went into the account of somebody named lynitra ross. who turned out to be stacey's friend and work colleague, and, tenant. she was renting a house from stacey. so they went to have a talk with lynitra. >> how did she react ? >> very calm, very cool. >> didn't seem to be hiding >> not based on what i was lookin 'at. she just seemed very, very collected. and so, i asked her about the money transfer. >> reporter: he made an audio recording of the interview. >> so how much money did you get, overall? >> um, it's been about, it was 89 at first, and then -- >> 89? thousand? >> 8,900. >> why did stacey give her 89 hundred dollars >>she transferred some money to me for the repairs and stuff. >> she said that they had redone the roof. the, the interior of the house carpet flooring and that kind of

>> reporter: and the $1,100, still more repairs. >> but the story made sense. >> it made sensz and she was cooperative reporter: a simple business transaction. detective franklin was right back to where he started. >> yeah, it, it gets to a point where you're, you're still, you know, lookin' for, for ways to, to move forward. >> reporter: it was march by then. close to a month since the murder. it seemed to be going nowhere. what to do now? how about grasp at straws. >> it's call a tower dump. >> it was a shot in the dark, but i took it. coming up, a killer with a gun and a cell phone about to make a big mistake. >> my way of thinking, is he sitting there twiddling his

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stacey's cousin connie. she'd been troubled by something, she told the detective. >> it took me a good three weeks contemplating, you know, should i call, should i not? >> reporter: after all, stacey was like a big sister, said connie. but there was just something wrong. like the strange business about her grandparents' 2009 impala. >> stacey was supposed to sell it for them because they were having problems and they needed money for medical bills. >> reporter: but after stacey took the car -- >> a couple weeks later it'd be back at her house and then a couple weeks later it wasn't. then it got to the point where she said that she sold it for $16,000. >> reporter: and yet stacey never produced the money. >> the family was -- was persistent about this car. and so finally we're like, "you know, it -- it's likely that it was used. we don t -- let's find this thing." >> reporter: so they ran the vin number, and found the car. stacey had sold it by then. >> lo and behold, it's got goodyear integritys on it. so at that point, i was confident that i'd found the car

>> reporter: which was great. except who was in it? no idea. detective franklin was still stuck, so he took a long shot. he asked for something called a tower dump. information dump, that is, from this cell tower on a farm near the crime scene. >> i subpoenaed all calls that generated from the tower that services belton bridge park for the night of the murder from about 7:00 p.m. till about 9:30. >> reporter: till 9:30, because that's when stacey arrived and found richard. why start looking at 7:00 p.m.? >> it was apparent to me that the gunman lay in wait for richard. and so my way of thinking was if he's sitting there waiting in this secluded, dark place at night, is he gonna sit there and twiddle his thumbs? or maybe he'll make a phone call. had no idea. >> reporter: if the killer called anyone, it should show up on the tower's record of four major carriers on that tower. thousands of calls.

for? why not play a hunch he'd had all along? >> stacey's involved somehow. you have this third vehicle at the scene. you have overkill with the -- with the way richard died. so based on all those things, a murder for hire starts crossing your mind. >> reporter: franklin's idea was to compare the numbers from the tower dump to the phone numbers on stacey's personal contact list. >> the best source of information i felt i had was stacey's contact list. it was 258 contacts, i think. >> so if you could find any phone call coming from the crime scene that happened to be on her contact list, that would give you a big leg up. >> yes, sir. i -- that would -- that would give me some direction. >> reporter: a lot of numbers to compare. but then he got lucky, really lucky. maybe 150 numbers into his search, there it was. a match. >> it said, "reggie." >> reporter: the call was placed at 8:40 p.m. >> and it was a 28 second call. so richard left the grandparents' house at about 8:15.

the park. >> would have got there around 8:30. >> he would have got there at 8:30. and we felt he was killed as soon as he stepped out of his truck. so you're looking at him dying sometime right around 8:30 to 8:45. so here's a call from reggie in stacey's contact list at 8:40 p.m. on the night of the murder. >> reporter: but who was reggie? >> under reggie's company name it said, "mr. results." >> reporter: so franklin's next step, naturally -- >> i simply googled, "mr. results." and the first link was mr. results personal training. >> reporter: his name was reginald coleman. a personal trainer and former semi-professional boxer. and he held work out sessions at stacey's office. then detective franklin looked at the number reggie called. >> i should have already recognized it, because i already had it in my notes. because it was lynitra ross. >> reporter: lynitra ross, the woman who claimed she received $10,000 from stacey for house repairs within three weeks of the murder.

very warm. he pulled phone records for all three, reggie, lynitra and stacey. combed through hundreds of calls and texts. until -- >> a very interesting sequence of calls actually emerged from that. >> reporter: a sequence on february 14. it went like this: at 6:42 p.m. reggie called lynitra. at 6:45 lynitra called stacey. at 6:48 lynitra called reggie back. >> in my mind, reggie called lynitra and said, "are we still doing this?" and lynitra called stacey, and stacey confirming, "yes, he's here. i'll have him at the park." and then lynitra calling reggie back saying, "yes, go up there." >> reporter: and after that, no more calls until 8:40 p.m., when reggie's call to lynitra was captured by the tower near the crime scene. >> the call at 8:40 p.m. to lynitra ross was reggie calling her saying, "it's done." >> reporter: and then, get this, at 9:00 p.m., lynitra sent

"happy valentine's day" it said. >> is that a code? >> it was. >> reporter: code for it's done. he's dead. almost there. all, he needed to find a money trail to prove murder for hire. so bank records this time. >> it was the same tedious work as the cell phone records. >> reporter: and guess what? that $10,000 that stacey transferred to lynitra, supposedly a real estate account for home repairs? only $1,800 went into that. the rest went to lynitra for cash. lynitra and wrote reggie a check for $700. >> all within three weeks of the murder. >> that's the whole thing. it had come together at that point. reggie's my triggerman. my middle person is lynitra ross. >> reporter: and the mastermind? stacey. three months after the valentine's day murder of richard schoeck. >> you're charged with malice murder. >> i read you that -- make you aware the charges and it's malice murder. >> reporter: reggie coleman and

but then? >> i told stacey, "we can fight this." >> reporter: a surprise was coming. check that. surprises. more than one. stacey had a story to tell. coming up, ever an excuse for murder. >> having lived through that, i

to >> reporter: three months after stacey schoeck found her husband's bullet-perforated body at belton bridge park, she and her alleged confederates were under arrest, for murder. it was just crazy. didn't make sense. a mother of three, cub scout leader. surely she'd come up with a defense when she met with her attorney, max hirsh. but no, that's not what

far from it. >> she laid it all out. she didn't hesitate. she didn't minimize. she told me exactly what the plan was. >> reporter: the plan, for murder. her lawyer, no surprise, had his own plan. >> i told stacey, "i already know how we would defend this case." she looked me straight in the eye, without hesitation, and said, "no, the gig is up. i did this. what i did was wrong. no more lies." >> reporter: stacey wanted to confess. it took a while to arrange it, but, seven months after the murder, with the recorder running, confess she did. >> i'm not going to keep lying. i'm done, i'm done, you know. >> reporter: "it all started over lunch with lynitra," said stacey. when she told her friend she wished her husband was dead. and lynitra offered the services of her sometimes boyfriend, reggie. >> i was like, "reggie, really?"

he did." that's what he does. that's how he supplements his income. he does jobs. >> reporter: "so," said stacey. "lynitra arranged for the three of them to meet." and reggie agreed to kill richard. >> so, and then i was like, "well, how much cash." he was like, "well," you know, "i was thinking around $10,000." and i was like, "okay." >> reporter: that was the $10,000 stacey transferred to lynitra she gave the money to reggie. stacey also agreed to give him her grandparents' 2009 impala. yes, that impala. and the house lynitra was renting from her. a week later, all three went to scout the crime scene. >> he was like, "yeah, this is a perfect place." and he even made a comment that, you know, i might have to use this place more often. >> reporter: "but the night of the murder," said stacey, "reggie botched the plan." >> "it was supposed to be a robbery." that's what he had said.

to the head," i said. i don't want him to suffer. i don't want him to see anything. >> reporter: but why would she possibly want to have richard killed? to that question stacey offered this story. >> things started clicking in my brain of what was happening with my kids and my family. and i was convinced that my kids were being harmed. >> she said she believed richard was molesting her son. >> you don't know what happens, what he does to me when you're not here that kind of -- you know, that stuck in my brain for sure. >> reporter: to her, there was just one solution. >> i didn't want the police. i didn't want a divorce. i just wanted him dead. >> reporter: and so here it was. her, reason for murder. stacey said she had been molested as a child.

and she knew what it was like. >> having lived through that, i was never going to let it happen to my kids. >> did you ask -- did you ask the boys? >> not directly enough. not then. i have since. >> reporter: it was after her arrest, her sons asked her why? what would make you want to hurt him? and she explained. >> people touched me in a bad way when i was a kid and i reacted in certain ways, and sometimes your behaviors made me worry that you were getting touched in a bad way. >> reporter: and the son who made that earlier statement to his mother responded, devastated. >> he said, "no." he said, "i'm sorry i exaggerated, and i'm sorry that i said those things, i -- i -- i blew things out of proportion, mom," you know. >> reporter: stacey was wrong. there was no abuse. >> now that's a hard thing to deal with too because now he has guilt.

she admitted real, or was a more venal truth still witheld? there would be an answer. just not quite yet. we asked for an interview with stacey, but prison rules wouldn't allow it. so her attorney, spoke on her behalf. >> she understands completely what she did. she understands it is her fault richard schoeck is dead. she doesn't have excuses. >> reporter: stacey schoeck pleaded guilty to murder. reggie coleman did the same. lynitra ross stood trial and was found guilty. all were sentenced to life in prison without parole. the case solved. three convictions for the detective who pored through reams of phone numbers and sniffed out a murder for hire case. >> you know, when your gut tells you something, you should go with it. and if it makes sense, then -- then that's -- that's probably -- what it is. >> pretty obvious if i ask you where this fits in your -- in your catalogue of cases. >> the -- the -- there'll be -- never be another one like it,

i hope not. >> reporter: and now finally, the last admission. a few days after stacey was sent away, richard's sister, carol, went to see her. glared at stacey through the glass partition. she didn't buy stacey's story about her reason for killing richard. >> i said, "okay, stacey, this is it." "i wanna know." and i said, "no bull, no lies. i wanna know why you had richard killed." >> reporter: there was a long pause. and then, out it came. >> she said, "because of my actions back then, and because of the way i was living my life, i knew that i couldn't divorce richard.

would have enough of a chance to get custody of my kids." which he had adopted legally. and i couldn't let that happen. and i just looked at her. and i said, "thank you." and i hung up the phone. >> reporter: but, if the answer satisfied some need to know, the pain was and is no different. richard schoeck is dead. his quirkiness, adventurous spirit, devotion to those boy scouts, all gone. >> we had a thing. it was called a richard fire. if it wasn't stoked up and burning bright and the flames almost licking the treetops, it wasn't a good fire. so if you want a richard fire. that's the fire you got to have. and when we're at scouting events and we see the big fire we built and the smoke coming up, we all talk about richard.

thanks for it's monday, february 22nd. coming up on "early today," breaking overnight. camille cosby forced to testify. the last-minute bid to stop today's deposition related to sexual-assault allegations against husband bill cosby. super tuesday a week away, the shrinking field pass the candidates spinning as they shore up support and money. a prayer vigil 24 hours after a shooter went on a rampage. new detail on this the kalamazoo killing spree.

finish in daytona 500 history. the ultimate battle of wits and endurance. chess like you've never played it before. and one of the coolest white house meetings ever. "early today" starts right now. i'm dara brown. breaking overnight, overruled. camille cosby, wife of bill cosby, is being forced to testify under oath later this late sunday night a massachusetts federal judge denied an emergency motion to delay the deposition of bill cosby's wife. compelling her to answer questions related to sexual assault allegations against her husband. this is the latest of several motions lawyers for mrs. cosby have lost seeking to dismiss demands she be deposed in the civil case against her husband in which seven women claim he defamed them by denying their sexual assault allegations. mr. cosby has repeatedly denied the allegations made by dozens of women accusing him of sexual misconduct or assault dating back to the 1960s.