that he had no idea this was happening to him. he had no idea that he was in any danger. i hate that feeling. i hate knowing that. a golden couple, a stash of silver. a streak of jealousy. >> this is pride. >> this was murder. >> i got a phone call, they said your father was found killed in his home. >> a wealthy, respected doctor. why? why is this man dead? >> these lovers had a stalker. >> watching her. >> creeped me out. >> did one man's obsession lead to another man's dead. >> jealousy, raid. >> that's what we have here. >> someone pulled the trigger, but was someone else pulling the strings?

playing a game. >> but this, was no game. >> this can't be. you don't live this kind of life. >> i'm lester holt, and this is "dateline." here's andrea canning. memories of a family man. >> she's a dancing girl. >> a doctor. a lover. a good ma >> he was the ultimate support system for everybody in his life. >> finally, saveroring life's rewards, until he found himself in the cross hairs of someone's obsession. >> there is innuendo, in a small town in west texas. the story on its own is so sensational.

town where texas sized dreams can actually come true. lubbock texas produces livestock, good schools, great health care. with the right set of skills, people can live large in this little city. as long as they watch out for dust storms, tornadoes and other dangers that strike out of nowhere. on july 11, 2012, a brutal hot spell had loosened its grip on lubbock. a warm afternoon was still cooking away. dr. joe, becky sherbet and nathan gilmore, when someone pulled up to the house. >> it was a girl from dr.'s lab and they were concerned that he had not shown up. >> he was chief pathologist at covenant hospital. >> we rang the doorbell and couldn't get anyone to answer. certainly don't know his work schedule, but i know him as a person.

>> a lot of people knew dr. so in. a -- >> she admired her big brother. >> he didn't go halfway with anything. anything he pursued, he did well. >> a family presented, who joe treated like a son. >> went through med school, dirt pool, lived in a tiny roach filled pardon me, had no money, until he was a successful doctor. he was totally self-made and had a drive. >> a successful career and a marriage that brought him a beautiful family. everything was on track. then, in 2001, he suffered a huge set back. his wife left him for another man. >> so he found himself in his late 40s, a sin gailgle man and their kids starting their adult lives.

>> before he had been a button-down doctor who had been married to his high schoolgirl friend of 30 years, and then all of a sudden, he has to basically start over. >> he dated women who appreciated him. he bought himself a house, made it nice. just the way he liked it. he even started dressing more fashionly. >> he was very han some and tall. and he dressed, i mean, he looked great in everything. >> a bachelor in his late 40s, who had, you know, let's face it arcs i decent amount amount of money. >> he sounded like a catch. >> as he reach his 50s, joe seemed to be making up for lost time. >> how did he do with all the attention he was getting from the ladies? >> he was very humble. >> answered picked up a hobby that turned into a passion. ballroom dancing. it was social, challenging, answered was good at it. >> his dance card was pretty

>> he really remade -- he remade his imagine after the divorce. >> he loved to do every style of dance. eye rolling. >> debra owns d venue in lubbock. >> everyone wanted to dance with him. >> he became a regular. and then one day, in 2011, rochelle walked into the door. friendly. extremely bubbly. and everybody that i know that came into contact with her really liked her. >> rochelle was 49 years old and a divorced mother of four. they had only been going out for a few months, when joe put her to the ultimate test. meet my kids date. >> my dad told us that he had been dating a new woman and wanted to bring her to a

where we met her. i thought she was sophisticated. i thought she was kind. i thought she was lovely. and our first impression of her was very good. >> they dated for close to a year. until that day, when he didn' show up for work. the landscapers and coworker gave up knocking on the door and decided to look for the doctor out back. >> and opened the gait, and one whole section of windows had been just laid over in the house. they peered inside. >> there was a gatorade bottle, which was a strange thing. you could tell something terrible had happened. >> so the young lady behind us, immediately went in and i went after her. >> that's when nathan found ashella shell casing on the floor and

>> somebody has broken a window in the back and the doctor has did not show up for work today. there is a bullet in -- it was laying on the ground. >> okay, was it an actual bullet or had it already been fired? >> i don't know. i didn't pick it up. somebody else walked in. i'm not here. i'm not going in. >> nathan and the woman from the lab continued searching through the home. >> she starts looking in the rooms, and it seemed like it took forever to go through the home. >> they searched further, and eventually made their way to the garage, and that's where they found joe spaawled. >> she automatically started crying and she said his name, dr. sonay.

and his face told her everything. his face told her everything. it's not good. oh, no. god. >> ma'am, ma'am, what's going on. >> i don't know. >> but this much was clear. a man they admired, a doctor, that good man, was lying dead in a pool of blood. coming up, what happened to the doctor. rochelle rochelle, the doctor's girlfriend think she may know. >> she said i hope this hurts him as much as he hurt us. (knocking on door) honey? 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.

for 100% problem solved. we work hard so you don't have to. sc johnson a family company. shoulders don't just carry pads. they carry your fans' passions, hopes, and dreams and maybe, a chance at greatness... because shoulders were made for greatness. not dandruff in our house, imagination runs wild. but at my table, i keep the food real. like country crock's recipe made with real simple ingredients.

real country fresh taste from real ingredients. welcome to crock country. check this out, bro. what's that, broheim? i switched to geico and got more. more savings on car insurance? yeah bro-fessor, and more. like renters insurance. more ways to save. nice, bro-tato chip. that's not all, bro-tein shake. geico has motorcycle and rv insurance, too. oh, that's a lot more. oh yeah, i'm all about more, teddy brosevelt. geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. let's get these dayquil liquid gels and go. but these liquid gels are new. mucinex fast-max. it's the same difference. this one is max strength and fights mucus. mucinex fast-max. the only branded cold and flu liquid gel that is max-strength and fights mucus. let's end this. they say when mr. clean saw all the different things his new smart phone does... ...it reminded him of his magic eraser. it's not just for marks on walls...

and bathroom grime too. he's your... ...all around-tough-cleaner, mr. clean. degree motionsense is the world's first deodorant activated by movement. as you move, fragrance capsules burst to release extra freshness all day. motionsense. protection to keep you moving.

dr. joe sonay was handsome, well liked and successful. but his showcase home in lubbock, texas was a crime scene. his body riddled with bullets and stab wounds, found on his garage floor. >> we've got the chief pathologist murdered in his own home. >> why? that's my first question. why is this man dead? >> how did you all get the terrible news of what had happened? >> they said your father was found killed in his home. can you please let your family know, and would you please come to lubbock. we need to sit down with you and the family members and talk. >> the news was devastating

the second murder in this family. >> the worst part was, my mother was killed two years, almos to the day, before my dad was murdered. >> their mother had been killed by her second husband. >> looking back on it, the phone calls from the two police departments for each of their deaths was so similar, that i felt like it could have been the same phone call repeated twice. >> when detective johnson showed up, the garage door was closed. but graphic evidence of joe's killing was apparent to anyone who got close enough. >> the blood had actually traveled from underneath this body all the way underneath the garage door. >> what happened? the first guest guess was an easy one. it could have been a botched burglary. >> your first instinct is somebody broke into the house, take things of great value and surprised by the homeowner.

the crime seemed to center on joe so innay. >> how many times was he shot? >> five. >> stabbed? >> 11. >> the detective moved through the house, trying to imagine what happened. >> i just walked up and visualized the point of entry. and from where i was at, i could see that the window was pushed in. there was no broken glass, which is very curious to me. >> investigators also noticed something about that gatorade bottle on the floor. >> a projective traveled through it. i made the determination it was possibly a silencer. we had bullet casings in the immediate area. >> the people close to joe were in for scrutiny, including his girlfriend, who rushed to the house when she heard the news. >> what was her demeanor. how was she acting. >> distract.

you know, clothed, like she had been doghouseing housework, got in her car and flew to where we were. >> he asked her to come to the place station. >> how would you describe your relationship with him? >> he's the love of my life. i can't imagine who would want do this to him. he's the kindest man. >> rochelle wasn't the only person who thought he was a keeper. she told police that the doctor left a number of broken hearts in his past, including a relationship he ended just before he met rochelle. >> they had an on again off again relationship.

>> so the women in rochelle's eyes were maybe looking for revenge. >> she felt she had been shorted out by dr. sonay. >> another woman couldn't get over her break up with the doctor, so upset, she continually left messages, sometimes full of vulgarities on joe's phone. >> she had called and called and called. to the point where he had to hang it up, or had to turn off the ringer. joseph would get these horrible text messages, you know, calling him [ bleeping ]. you know, you're such a [ bleeping ], whatever. the next day, it was like hi, do you miss me? >> do you know when the last time he received any communication from her? >> it wasn't that long ago. >> so another, if i can't have him, no one can. >> correct. >> she also told police about a strange letter she received in the mail. in it, a woman named tina

relationship with the doctor, and he had broken his promises to her. rochelle described the letter. she met joseph on the internet, and that they had sex for money basically. and she and her daughter lived in this place, and joseph hasn't been paying, and she's going to lose her place. she said i hope this hurts him as much as he has hurt us. >> rochelle said that she and joe thought the letter was a prank. still, it was another possible lead for police. >> you've got all these lights going off in your head. and so you're just trying to balance out how these people are involved. >> rochelle was also concerned about a strange incident a few months before the doctor's murder. she thought a burly stranger was watching her. >> a creepy looking guy. he was looking for someone or watching someone. >> not long after that,

night at joe's house. >> and so while they're standing in the kitchen talking, they see a flash. which they believed to be a flash on a camera. >> investigators checked out those weird incidents, and the ex-girlfriends, but they also had to look at rochelle herself. >> at this point, rochelle is not a suspect. she's more of an involved person. however, i don't have that luxury of not looking at her as a possible suspect. >> detective johnson learned the family felt rochelle was pushing joe hard for a marriage proposal. >> i just don't believe that she let her foot off the throttle very often. >> she's putting the clamps on him to get married. >> so he wasn't digging that? >> that was stressing him out. >> rochelle said she and joe talked about having a long-term committed relationship, but never discussed marriage.

until they got a tip that the killer might be someone the doctor had never even met. coming up, a growing list of suspects. is one linked to rochelle. >> i'll be honest, i love, love,

i really rochelle seemed lost, exhausted, as she talked to police about the man she loved, and about who might have killed him. she told them about women in joe's past. she said some of them were angry. but joe wasn't the only one with past relationships. rochelle had a few too. and one in particular came to mind. >> dr. thomas michael dixon.

well to do and well-known plastic surgeon, with a beautiful home, thriving practice, at at one time, his own local talk show. >> i get the patients who come in and say i want to look like j low or beyonce. >> he had three kids when he first met her at a spa he owned. when his wife found out, she divorced him. mike and rochelle dated for about a year and a half, but she says it wasn't always easy. >> it was volatile. it was up and down, and he would, i believe, that he was seeing other women and he denied it. >> but the final straw, was a birthday gift that fell flat. >> he signed me up for tea of the month, and he had it mailed to me. i was just, like, really? you know, you couldn't hand me something. you had it mailed to me. >> by all accounts, she broke dumped him.

come back, even after she started dating dr. sonnier. >> she went to his house the night after the murder. what was his face like when he opened the door? >> he was a little surprised to see us. >> he invited them in. they recorded the meeting. >> i'm shocked. >> believe me, you're on a list of like eight, nine people. this is a huge, a huge who done it for sure. >> well, i didn't. >> he was calm, even chatty. never met joe, their only connection, rochelle. if he carried a torch for her, it was over. >> i'll be honest, i really loved, loved, loved her. in fact, i had fallen head over heels. made a lot of life changes for her, but just wouldn't have -- it just wasn't going to work. >> in fact, he already moved on to a younger girlfriend, who was

questioned. most of all, he had a solid alibi. >> yeah, we didn't think he was involved. we had checked him out as far as the information, we had solid. surgery, this is where i was, so on and so forth. >> they continued their search for the killer. it was just a few days later that police got the break they needed. they got a call from a man with a crazy story that would launch a murder mystery into the headlines. >> he's been relating stories about this things that he did. >> his name was paul reynolds, a veteran studying to be a nurse and still in his scrubs. he lived in amarillo, about two hours away. an old friend from high school, a guy with problems. >> he can be very bombastic, pompous, ar grant, obnoxious.

guy was a blow heart, could barely hold a job and a talked a big game. but reynolds was concerned his latest story might be more than talk. his friend was telling him that he killed a doctor in lubbock. >> just got up, he had this gun and shot the guy. and then he said something about pushing in a window. >> did he say that the window was broke? it is that theshattered. >> it didn't break. that got his attention. this detail matched what happened at joe sonnier's. >> nobody knew that. we didn't release that information. >> that's huge. he also used a gatorade bottle as a silencing device on the gun. once again, we hadn't released that information either. >> the guy's name was dave shepherd, and that rang a bell. police remembered that when they

said he knew a guy named dave shepherd. detectives learned they were best buddies and business partners. >> i don't know how they met, but they were just good friends. >> did he go into any other details about his contact with mike? why did he do this? >> right, right. >> paul reynolds said dave might have something about a triangle. possibly a love triangle. >> but something happened between these two that made dave think that he needed to avenge. apparently dixon was not only going along with it, but he was going to pay him. >> police put aside any suspicions, and focused on this

super sized wing man, big dave shepherd. >> coming up, a doctor in denial. >> i had no idea what is going on here. >> thanks to dave, police do. >> in the bag is a gun, a knife and a belt.stand how much they move,... and created degree with motionsense. the world's first antiperspirant activated by movement, it has unique microcapsules that break with friction to release bursts of freshness all day. keeping you fresher with every move. motionsense. protection to keep you moving.

don't use windex to make windows spotless and clear! go see my big fat greek wedding 2 and learn how to use windex the right way on weird stuff! not on windows! who's got tickets? i do! i'm okay! enough pressure in here for ya? i'm gonna take mucinex sinus-max. too late, we're about to take off. these dissolve fast. they're new liquid gels. and you're coming with me... you realize i have gold status? mucinex sinus-max liquid gels. dissolves fast to unleash max strength medicine. let's end this. one day a rider made a decision. the decision to ride on and save money. he decided to save money by switching

there's no shame in saving money. ride on, ride proud. geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. they say when mr. clean saw all the different things his new smart phone does... ...it reminded him of his magic eraser. it's not just for marks on walls... it's tough on kitchen grease... and bathroom grime too. he's your...

after dr. joe sonnier's brutal murder, his family was inundated with sympathy. >> waiters at restaurants were coming up to us, knowing who they were and expressing their deep condolences, and when my dad used to eat there, and how nice he was to them and they remembered that. >> by now, police had their big

a tipster implicated rochelle's ex. it was enough to charge them with murder. mike dixon seemed surprised. >> i have no idea what's going on here. >> but andrew dixon, mike's son was dumbfounded. >> he was somebody that valued the human life. >> but neither mike nor dave were talking. dave cut a deal with the d.a. the death penalty was off the table if he told his story in full and if the d.a. believed him. >> i would like for you to tell me how it is that you ended up meeting up with dr. dixon, michael dixon. >> we were at a smoke shop maybe four years ago and we connected and hooked up. >> it was an unlikely friendship. dave shepherd, the likeable

and dr. dixon, prominent plastic surgeon, wealthy, they were the odd couple. >> these quick women, smart-ass and we hit it off. >> both men were getting divorced in 2010, andike was involved with rochelle. >> she was around 49, 50 years old. smoking hot. i thought she was just lovely. i thought she was a sweetheart. >> mike was cries aeazy about her, according to dave. when rochelle took up with another man, another doctor named joe sonnier, mike didn't like it one bit. the two buddies tossed around some things to -- >> he told dr. dixon, if you want to get to sonnier, you need to order him some gay porn magazines and you have to send it to his office. that would destroy him. >> and immature.

>> no, they don't do that. dr. dixon is like no, i don't want do that. >> another scheme to embarrass him, hiring a woman he knew from a gentlemen's club named shina. >> he has a proposal for you. >> he said a friend, dr. dixon, had been dating a woman, and that she was now dating a doctor in lubbock and he wanted me to call the ex-girlfriend and lie to her, say that i was having sex with her boyfriend as well for money. >> shina said no, but mike wasn't giving up. he sent dave to lubbock repeatedly to spy on them. >> full on stalking. >> stalking, committed, we're going to do this. and so david pretty much commits that i'm going to go ahead and do this for you. >> but then, dave said, mike's evil intentions towards joe

to murder. >> tell me how he told you or how you all discussed killing dr. sonnier? >> initially he wanted somebody to break in his house to make it look like, you know, just a home invasion or robbery. there had been some in luock. >> this is go time. we're not turning back. dave's like, oh, my god. he wants this man dead. >> dave told the detectives it became clear that he would be the killer. acting for mike. mike would supply the weapon, dave said. >> it was a little beat up 25 automatic, i could barely put my finger in it. it was tiny. >> on july 10, 2012, dave said he got to lubbock around 4:00 in the afternoon. he schmuck into dr. sonnier's backyard and waited for the doctor to come up.

my glasses, shorts, i had my bag. the bag was a gun, a knife and a belt. >> three and a half hours went by. nothing. and then, dave said, a wrapping on the window. joe sonnier was inside his house, looking right at him. i wave at dr. sonnier and get up. i walked to the window and he lowered the window about this far from the top down. >> what happens when you walk up to the window? i pulled the gun out of the bag, i point the weapon, discharge it several times. after three or four discharges, he's backing away, trips on his feet. falls to the ground. discharged a couple of more times. he's running across to the i believe the garage. >> so he runs down that hallway,

>> what do you do next? >> i pushed the window in. i don't know if he's going for a gun. i don't know if i ever hit him. i don't know what's happening. so i push in the window, crawl in. >> so you were in, and you have an empty gun. >> yes, sir. >> and you go in there, what happens? >> i pretty much run around the corner as fast as i can so i can intercept him if he has a weapon and he's going oh come after me. as i turn around, down the hallway, right into the garage, he's laying on the floor. >> not moving? >> not breathing, nothing. i check his pulse in his neck. he's dead. >> but that wasn't enough for dave. i pulled the knife out of my bag, and i stabbed him in his

>> a full confession. he watched live from another room. >> you must have been hanging on every word he was saying. >> yeah, we certainly were curious as to everything that had taken place. there is no doubt in my mound he was telling the truth. at least most of it. >> dave also said mike paid him in three silver bars, and detectives learned, dave did cash in those bars. as for the murder weapon, he led them to a lake in amarillo, where he tossed. >> he remembered everything. >> he did. he said i remember coming over here, and i had that gun, and i just under hand tossed. >> these two trees. >> correct. right into this area here. >> a year later, in august 2013, dave shepherd pleaded no contest to two counts of capital murder in exchange for a life sentence

but mikes dixon was going to trial. their attorneys said their client had nothing to do with their plot. >> from day one, he made it very clear that he did not pay, he did not plan, and he did not participate in the killing of joseph sonnier. never wanted it to happen. >> but what happened in court during the trial would be unbelievable. coming up, a star witness with a startling new story to tell. >> 20 cent meettersmeters, i had never been involved in something like that. >> when dateline continues. do you know where the waterfall is? waterfall? no, me tarzan, king of jungle. why don't you want to just ask somebody? if you're a couple, you fight over directions. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance,

oh ohhhhh it's what you do. ohhhhhh! do you have to do that right in my ear? in our house, imagination runs wild. but at my table, i keep the food real. like country crock's recipe made with real simple ingredients. and no artificial flavors or preservatives. real country fresh taste from real ingredients. welcome to crock country. there's moving... and there's moving with move free ultra. it has triple-action support for your joints, cartilage and bones. and unlike the big osteo-bi flex pills, it's all in one tiny pill. move free ultra.

don't use windex to make windows spotless and clear! go see my big fat greek wedding 2 and learn how to use windex the right way on weird stuff! not on windows! who's got tickets? i do! i'm okay! degree motionsense.the world's first antiperspirant with unique microcapsules activated by movement, that release bursts of freshness all day. motionsense. protection to keep you moving.

take one of those pillows and take a big smell. they smell really fresh what if we told you we washed these sheets 7 days ago. really? no way downy? downy fabric conditioner give us a week, and we'll change your bed forever. want more freshness? add new downy fresh protect. (cell phone rings) where are you? well the squirrels are back in the attic. mom? your dad won't call an exterminator... can i call you back, mom? he says it's personal this time... if you're a mom, you call at the worst time. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. where are you? it's very loud there.

lubbock, texas was transfixed on this love triangle gone bad. for rochelle, it was an unimagine able situation to be in. d.a. matt powell. >> our theory was, an obsession with rochelle. this is vengeance, pride, jealousy. he spent months and months trying to destroy a relationship she was in. so i don't know if it was just a vengeance for him, or if some part in the back of his mind said you know, i may get her back.

he was an innocent man who had poor taste in friends. >> what is mike dixon guilty of? >> where do we start? >> capital stupidity of the highest degree. and trusting david shepherd. >> in court, prosecutors argued that mike dixon was the master mind. >> this crazy plan. amazing. still amazing to me today that two guys that at least on the appearance had a lot to lose, would just throw it away in something so callus as this. >> been convicted. >> when you met with him before the trial, everything was on track. >> yeah, i mean -- >> all on the same page. >> you had a deal. >> the deal was already done. he pled guilty. >> dave shepherd had one job to do for the prosecution. get up on the stand and repeat what he told detectives.

exchange for three silver bars from dr. mike dixon. >> you're in the courtroom, he is on the stand, all is well. >> it wasn't all well very quickly. >> that's because dave shepherd pulled a fast one. when he got on the stand, he told the court he had lied about dixon's role in the murder. fabrication. dave said he acted alone, and that dr. dixon had nothing to do with the murder. >> am i shocked that he acted the way he did? am i shocked he acted like a con man, no. to do the things he did, no, i didn't see that coming. >> you had to think on your feet. >> yeah, it was something when 20 something years of doing this job, i had never -- i've never been part of something quite like that before. >> there weren't any cameras in court capturing the drama, but there was one in jail. weeks later, when dave confided

>> it was a careless accident. nobody is responsible except me. you need to understand that. it was not intended. i wasn't paid do that. >> why would you make a statement that mike paid to you do it if he didn't pay you to do? >> because my attorneys, what they told me when i did that statement to the police, my attorneys told me i needed to sell it. >> dave shepherd's about face was pure gold for defense attorneys. >> were you surprised when he did that? >> that's what he consistently told me. no, mike did not pay. he did not want anybody harmed. that was all me. mike didn't have anything to do with that. so i was prepared for what he had to say. we didn't disclose it to the prosecution, and i think they learned when he testified for the first time that he was going to recant his first story. >> for the sonnier family, watching the proceedings from

courtroom, difficult shepherd's 180 was a big blow. >> the, we'll call the it the circuit created by the froud length testimony, through everything into a tailspin what is going on in the minds of the jors after seeing dave shepherd come in and spin that awful tail. >> joe's son was right to worry. as it turned out, the jury was hung. a mistrial was declared. the family was distraught. >> he walked in, and without missing a beat, looked us straight in the face and said to us, guy, i'm so sorry this happened but we're going to turn around and do it again and we're going to get him the second time. >> mike dixon's son wasn't -- it

>> one of the hashedist things just to watch his name just get, you know, drug through the mud, and you know, you're just think, we're going to get to say something, and let everybody know who my dad is and that he can't be capable of what he is accused for. >> but would mike dixon prevail the second time around? maybe. maybe not. coming up, the tail of the text. >> there is no way that you would think that these are texts about a murder. >> the evidence was very strong that he was a active, willing participant in this. >> a new trial.

on october 26, 2015, it was dajuvu. charged with the murder of dr. joe sonnier, for the sonnier family, it was time to put on a game face. >> i decided before the second trial that we should be confident as a family and support the d.a. and really push this thing forward. >> pushing it forward was exactly what prosecutor matt powell had in mind. that meant the prosecution would not put dave shepherd on the stand this time. although the jury would hear about his confession. >> it's a largely sircircumstantial case. would he want to kill a total strainer? >> i didn't think it would be a tough sell at all. the evidence was strong that he was an active, willing participant in this. >> prosecutors had discovered hundreds of text messages between dave and mike.

after the murder, but forensic experts were able to retrieve about half of them. >> a series of urgent texts between shep perherd in the middle of june. got to happen tomorrow. i know. i need him to show. not trying to second because we're get down to the wire. >> why is there a time limit? why is it important for him to show? why is it important if he shows up, it's over. >> what they were doing, prosecutor powell argued, was planning a murder. >> but no evidence of murder, either, in the text messages. >> are you going to put evidence in a text message that says go kill the guy. obviously you're not going to do that. instead of saying killing somebody, put it on him. can't wait for him to get home. i need an opportunity. get it done. >> the prosecution pointed to 38 texts and four calls between dave and mike on the day of the murder. when dave called mike that night, the call hit a cell tower

the day after, there were 21 texts, including the one mike fired off to dave once detectives left his house. >> just had a visit from lubbock pd. cigars. stay calm. lay low. >> hard to misconstrue that one. police there and all of a sudden, you're texting the murderer to lay low. >> the defense attorneys said none of the evidence pointed to murder for hire. >> a lot was made between the text messages. they don't look great. >> they look horrible. >> something clearly was being planned. but you don't believe that it shows that murder was being plan? >> there is no way that you would think that this -- these are texts about a murder. no way. >> and that is what mike dixon said when he took the stand in his own defense. the volley of texts, they were all about trying to get photos to make joe sonnier look bad in

>> he acknowledged that he was trying his hardest to get proof of joseph sonnier being with other women and not being litted to rochelle. he acknowledges being inpatient. he acknowledges pushing david shepherd to do that. but he absolutely does not, and did not, ever want david wouldn't start destroying all this evidence, and jumping into the pool with my phone. >> they could say they wouldn't do it. until they were in that same situation. >> he's being wrapped up in a murder that he had nothing to do

and in the sense that he never wanted dr. sonnier dead. >> andrew dixon, mike's son. >> naive, almost a sense of people. studying all the time, working hard and i think those things left him naive to the way people are sometimes in the real world. >> but would jurors buy that. on november 18th, after delib rating for two hours, they returned with a verdict. >> they kept saying guilty, guilty, guilty. yes, i found him guilty, and it was like a bad dream. >> guilty of two counts of capital murder. rochelle was not in court for the verdict. but she sent us a statement, saying in part, she couldn't express the depth of her despair and grieve. she said she saw no red flags, and expressed anger with mike dixon and dave shepherd and

with a man she now considers a sews sews sosiopath. >> the idea of mike dixon for not being in prison is so horrifying, you can't wrap your mind around it. there is the concept floating out there until it's finalized and it was. >> now joe sonnier's family focused on his legacy, a doctor, a father, a passionate dancer. heaven. >> he may be. he may be. >> that's all for now.

thanks for joining us. it's monday, february 29th. coming up on "early today." leo wins, "spotlight" shierchs, and chris rocks on. >> well, i'm here at the academy awards otherwise known as the white people's choice awards. and the political insults and miscues as the candidates sprint for votes ahead of tomorrow's super tuesday with 12 states voting. >> plus a major assist from an anonymous shopping cart guy. that and much more as we kick off a busy week ahead. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm dara brown. the award goes to -- last night the stars came out for the awards. "spotlight" won best picture wheel mad max, fur yore road and the revenant won big. it had plenty of controversy