it is the drug at the center of the michael jackson case. tonight it is also at the center of a riveting murder mystery. >> i can remember dropping to the ground. >> she was a young college student ready to change the world. but she never got the chance.

found dead in her own bed and no one knew why. >> a young, healthy girl. just didn't make a lot of sense. then strangest thing, a tiny dot in the crook of her arm. >> i get a phone call from the medical examiner. >> a single pin rick and it became perfectly clear this was a case of murder. >> no way. that only happens in the movies. >> injected with the drug propofol. but who could do such a thing? >> we just thought he was going to pull off a perfect crime. >> it would take a detective, the fbi and a chase around the world to unravel a mystery of "obsession." the picture album looked great. millionaire dad, stay-at-home mom, a gifted son. but a happy family -- not on your life. a divorce was in the works with millions at stake.

she asked for half of everything. and wound up dead on the kitchen floor. >> it had been done in anger. >> could her husband be behind it? he had a motive but he also had a rock solid alibi. cameras proved he was miles away when the murder happened. so who did it? >> he had a plan. that plan was for her to die! >> the real story took years to unravel. then came the showdown. father against son. he said i will destroy you. >> this really was "a family affair." a "murder in the family." good evening, welcome to "dateline" i am ann curry. the drug at the center of the michael jackson investigation, the powerful anesthetic propofol is at the center of another investigation. experts are calling it the first known case of murder using the

drug. first detectives thought a healthy college student died of natural causes then the medical examiner discovered one crucial thing, a tiny pin rick in her arm. >> reporter: college attracts kids full of fire ready to change the world. there is idealism and there is michelle herndon. >> she gave to the world, a lot of fun. >> she had a fascination with apes. she worked at a prime ate sanctuary. >> she want to a homeless shelter. i have seen her get out of the vehicle in the middle of a target parking lot because someone threw a cup in the parking lot. and she was so irate. she told him, young man, college student like her. there is a trash right there. would it have killed you? that's what she said.

>> reporter: for michelle it was simple, we are all custodians of our planet and of everything on it. >> she was a caretaker, yes, of people, of things, of animals. >> reporter: of everything. >> she scald me on the way to work i am going to be late for work i'm going to get in trouble. why? a squirrel, i found it in the rode. it has a broken leg, i have to take it to u.f., veterinary clinic. i'm thinking, oh, michelle. >> reporter: 26 years old. michelle herndon wanted to join the peace corps and do charity work in africa and donated money every month to sponsor a needy child. >> she had the photo of the boy in her day planner. jessica look at this boy i just adopted. >> she had the world by the tail and was riding it. my child has never been happier. she had everything she ever wanted. >> reporter: but her life would take an unexpected turn in early november, 2005. becoming the center of a mystery that would baffle detectives and

forensic experts and take more than two years to resolve. michelle herndon dreamed of traveling the globe, but she got her start on the two-lane county roads of liveoak, florida, a sleepy, tight-knit community the georgia border. >> she was our everything. her brother used to always say that we all lived vicariously through michelle, through her eyes. >> reporter: athletic, tall, with long blond hair, michelle loved attention. she was comfortable at the center of any crowd and knew how to work a room. >> she usually made a grand entrance. her smile could light up the darkest night. and she had the bluest eyes. she reminded me of a butterfly the way she would kind of float around. >> reporter: when she left the cocoon of liveoak to attend college in gainesville, michelle's parents knew their social butterfly would land on

her feet. michelle lived by herself off scam pus and bounced around from house to house. sometimes not in the best neighborhoods. >> she had a little christmas get-together. one of the girls said if my mother knew i was over in this area of town she would not be very happy. michelle said who is going to rob me. they all think we're as poor as each other. >> reporter: to make extra money. michelle, a health nut worked part time as a personal trainer at gainesville health and fitness. she started a recycling program almost immediately. >> she was a breath of fresh air. >> reporter: jessica also worked the early morning shift at the gym. she and michelle became inseparable. and pretty soon you could always find michelle at jessica's house, giggling, talking and co-hosting dinners and barbecues in jessica's big backyard. >> once a week we tried to have what we called family dinners. where we would all sit around and have a nice home cooked me. it would be myself, my

girlfriend, skye, and michelle, and who ever kels else we could invite. >> reporter: the dinners were girlfriend, but some times roommate oliver would join them. he was shy, awkward around women. but michelle always did all she could to make him feel at home. >> i really don't have very many friend, he said i am so much smarter than most people that i have a hard time relating to them. and michelle is like, yeah, he is kind of full of himself. i feel bad. he's the kid that got picked on in school. >> reporter: it also seems to me that she was one of those people who sort of took in the strays a little bit. >> uh-huh, animals and people alike. peoplewise it seemed like everybody who needed a little built of encouragement or help, she was always right there to get their back. >> reporter: michelle had a full social life but she was ready to make as much room as possible for one particular guy -- jason deering. >> she tried to fix him up with her cousin at a family reunion

in 2001. and she said i realize at that moment when kim kind of looked at him like, oh, she said i wanted him all to myself. >> you could pretty much tell that they were in love with each other from the get-go. >> reporter: now after four years of on and off, off and on, they decided they wanted to be on for good. >> she looked like a little school girl. oh, my gosh, you have to hear about this conversation i just had with jason. they just really decided let's go for it. 100%, we're going to have a real committed relationship. let's go for it. >> reporter: michelle herndon was the happiest she had ever been. practically yelling from the roof stops. but then -- silence. she stopped calling her mom, her boyfriend, she missed work, and even her best friend said she couldn't reach her. >> i called her probably ten times just to see what was going on. >> i thought jeez she must really be working or classes or something is going on.

and then finally at 3:30 in the morning. on november 10th, michelle's mom, belinda herndon received a phone call, jason. after not reaching michelle for two days he had driven back to gainesville, from miami and standing outside her house sick with worry. inside he could hear her dog barking, her cell phone ring rg, but there was no sign of michelle. >> he said i am at her house. her car is here. she left her cell phone and left duke. and duke was her baby. all i could think of is maybe jessica got sick. so she went over there. >> reporter: belinda roused herself out of her sleep and tried to call jessica. >> michelle's mom called, couldn't get ahold of her. i jumped right out of bed got dressed called michelle's mom and said i will drive over to michelle's house right now. >> reporter: so belinda herndon waited. waited for jason. jessica, anyone to healtell hert was going on. but her phone didn't ring,

wouldn't ring. so there was nothing left to do. >> started driving? >> yes. >> when did it hit you? >> i knew going down there something wasn't right. i just -- i knew. and i passed people, i went in the parking lanes and the middle of gainesville. i mean. i kept thinking, "please, god, please let a policeman pull me over." because then they will be able to get me there quicker. it was the longest drive of my life. >> reporter: it took belinda an hour to get from her home to michelle's. and when she finally arrived, she was greeted by the very last thing any parent wants to see -- yellow police tape, squad cars and the grim faces of detectives at work. >> the detective walked up to me and he said that our daughter had been found dead in her home. and i can remember dropping to the ground and telling him if he

didn't find the man that did this her father would and this family would suffer another tragedy. >> reporter: her daughter was a healthy and vibrant young woman who never suffered anything worse than a migraine. right away belinda thought -- foul play. but gainesville police detective michael douglas wasn't so sure. did you see any signs of trauma or any blood or -- anything like that? >> none whatsoever. >> nothing? >> nothing. i was perplexed. >> reporter: so the detective had to kid the idea that michelle had done this to herself. >> there are so many things so many different thoughts that were tossed around. i remember somebody saying maybe it was suicide. i just wanted to choke them. obviously you have never met her, you have no idea what you are talking about. >> reporter: based on accounts of michelle's demeaner in the previous days and the absence of a note that theory was ruled out pretty quickly. >> this girl, you know, didn't appear to be suicidal at all. she had too much. she was looking forward to the

future. >> reporter: next, detective douglas thought perhaps she was a drug user who overdosed by accident. >> you can usually tell a lot about a person's personality as you go through their belongings. i went through everything in her house. >> reporter: what did that tell you about michelle? >> she seemed like a neat, conscientious, health conscious individual. >> reporter: how could you tell she was health conscious? >> by what is in her fridge, milk, walter, yogurt, fruit. things like that. >> reporter: not like beer? >> beer and cold pizza, nothing like that. >> reporter: so i am clear, you didn't see any signs of drugs, or no signs of alcohol. >> no. >> reporter: in a matter of hours they ruled out an intruder, suicide. an accidental overdose. there was only one other explanation, michelle herndon had died of natural causes. >> it happens but not very often. i have had where deaths were seemingly healthy person had a seizure disorder and died.

i had one since michelle's death, this girl was 19 years old. no medical history. found dead in her bed. >> reporter: so it does happen? >> it does. >> reporter: detective douglas began wrapping up the investigation. but before he could close out her file, procedure dictated that he send michelle's bed to the medical examiner for a routine autopsy. >> it just didn't make a lot of sense, why a young, healthy girl would be dead. she wasn't known to use drugs. she wasn't known to hang out with a rough crowd. she didn't have any of the warning signs of somebody who was in danger. >> reporter: coming up -- death by natural causes or by an unnatural act? >> i get a phone call from the medical examiner. i thought this is very unusual. >> reporter: the clues begin to mount. when "obsession" continues. show and tell

you weren't always my favorite day. with all the pet hair in the air, i'd spend class preoccupied, bothered by itchy eyes. but now i have new zyrtec® itchy eye drops. it works fast, with just one drop, to relieve my itchy eyes from allergies for up to 12 hours. no other allergy itchy eye drop works faster or longer. which is good, 'cause there's a lotta paws to shake. with new zyrtec® itchy eye drops i can love the air™. (announcer) find it in the allergy aisle next to other zyrtec® products.

the object approaching it is your hand. observe the differences closely. because when juicy, 100% angus beef is involved, the lines can become blurred. notice that the angus third pounder is bursting... with a bevy of toppings that make it virtually irresis-- whoa, close one. angus axiom number 16: don't bite the hand that feeds you. the astonishing new angus third pounders. all angus. all mcdonald's. ♪ ba da ba ba ba

you know, a lot can happen in a year. life changes. your insurance coverage should change, too. people get married, move, have kids. that's why nationwide insurance does an on your side review. we help you get the right coverage at the right price. i'm marlene dailey, and i am on your side. ( marlene ) switch to nationwide insurance now. ( man ) call 1-877-nationwide.

>> reporter: after years of a when michelle herndon was found dead, within hours of being called to her home, gainesville police ruled out an intruder, suicide. a drug overdose. >> at that moment i thought, how ironic the person that takes care of them self, that gripes at the rest of us had either an aneurysm, just whatever it was. >> reporter: michelle's family and friends were devastated. but they took some small comfort in the belief that michelle's death was perhaps part of god's plan. they quickly want to work planning a memorial. people told story after story about michelle's passion for people for animals for the planet, and they pledged to do their part to continue her good works in her memory. >> gorgeous day. a little breeze. kids running around playing. the day was all michelle. then we all had a big cookout.

then her two uncles that had never recycled a day in their life proceeded to go through three barrels of trash and recycle everything. >> reporter: after coming to grips with the idea that michelle had died of some unseen ailment, belinda herndon did not want to pursue a post mortem exam. >> reporter: why was that? >> i knew michelle didn't want to be cut on. i couldn't bear the thought that my child was dead now somebody was going to cut on her. >> reporter: the medical examiner understood but knew it was necessary. >> we try to explain to the families even though it is not something they would look their loved one to go through it does give us very good information that would be usually helpful to them. >> reporter: the awe temperature see of michelle's body revealed what everyone already knew, that michelle was in great physical shape with no diseases. but it also revealed a huge clue wrapped in a tiny new detail. a detail that would blow the

nearly closed case back open wide. on michelle's left arm there was a dot. though smaller than a freckle, dr. berg decided to take a closer look. detective douglas remembers the bombshell that followed. >> i get a phone call from the medical examiner. >> reporter: saying? >> i found a needle puncture in michelle herndon's left arm in my medical opinion it appears to be administered by someone with a level of skill. >> reporter: level of skill? >> level of skill. >> reporter: what did that tell you? >> i thought this is very unusual. my first question, are they needle marks could michelle be a closet junkie. the doctor said no. >> reporter: just the one. >> just the one. >> reporter: one single pin rick? >> that's it. >> that was the key to the case, the single pin prick. >> yes. >> reporter: and the doctor was bothered by the position of michelle's body when they found

her. >> the other thing that was also very unusual was the pattern of lividity, settling of blood after a person dies. and her pattern of lividity indicated she had been placed face down relatively soon after she died. >> reporter: to her it looked like michelle's bed had been placed with her face in the pillow. not the way she would land if she had fallen ill and collapsed. suddenly, michelle herndon's death was not looking so natural after all. armed with this new information, detective mike douglas returned to her house. >> searched her vehicle, looked in the tall grass. looked everywhere we possibly could. this is after scouring the house the previous day. >> reporter: so there was a pin the where you discovered a crucial piece of evidence. >> you say discovered. i would say stumbled. >> reporter: stumbled? tell me about that. >> laying on the ground is a clear plastic grocery bag from publix. >> reporter: it was a stray

garbage bag inadvertently left behind when the trash was collected earlier that day. >> we poked around. picked it up. looked at it. and lo and behold inside it we found several bottles of pharmaceuticals and needles and a catheter. >> reporter: did you think jackpot, we found it? >> i didn't know what i had. of course i drew the connection. to me this was wonderful and also just dumb luck. >> reporter: detective douglas went on the internet to look up propofol, the name of the drug in the vials in michelle's trash. he learned it was a fast acting sedative that would render a person unconscious within second. propofol is the same drug that would later be at the center of the investigation into michael jackson's death. now, just 24 hours after finding michelle herndon deaden her home it seemed like gainesville police had stumbled into a full-blown murder mystery. they had a body, they had a pin prick and needles and empty

vials of a powerful hospital-grade anesthetic only available to medical professionals. all they needed to find was what the medical examiner called the skilled hand that had delivered the injection. detective douglas began reinterviewing everyone in michelle's life. he had to figure out why anyone would want to harm michelle, the cheerful do-gooder who soomd eeo have a kind word for everyone. while looking for access to an one who had access to the hospital and michelle's house. he got a description of one of michelle's neighbors of a man seen at her house a day or two before. >> he said somebody had spotted a small-framed, you know, caucasian person wearing glasses, do you know anybody like that? i was like, yeah, my roommate fits that description. >> reporter: what was the first thing you thought right then? >> no way. >> reporter: no way. >> that only happens in the movies. >> reporter: coming up -- harmless or dangerous? did jessica's roommate have something to hide?

>> it kind of seemed like he was keeping it a secret. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. ( scanner beeps ) and that's one... ( sighs ) ( quacking ) ( growls lightly ) unlike ordinary candles, glade® scented oil candle tins... quickly fill the room with fragrance. ( doorbell rings ) - hello there! - hi! - mmmm... nice! - very nice! make the mood in a moment with scented oil candle tins. and yes, it's glade®. s.c. johnson, a family company.

but not nearly as important as outer beauty. ♪ that's why i use covergirl's simply ageless makeup with olay regenerist serum. a department store brand can glob up in lines and wrinkles and actually make you look older. simply ageless stays suspended over lines and makes you look amazing. simply ageless from olay and easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. ♪ and try new simply ageless sculpting blush to bring out your cheekbones. introducing new brawny. a towel built with one layer to be even softer and another for added strength. brawny can do it all.

tif you're an avid golfer andr want gps to show .h. your distance from the green, there's an app for that. if you're an avid baseba fan and want to catch a game-winning run live-there's an app for that. and if you're an avid tennis player and want to play on... center court...there's an app for that too. because there's an app for just about anything. only on the iphone.

>> reporter: the sudden and unexplained death of 24-year-old michelle herndon left her family

overwhelmed with grief. but the news they received from detective mike douglas a few weeks later left them positively dumb-struck. >> he said i really need to talk to you. i said okay. well, he said, we think michelle was murdered. and i said, you what? and he said, did michelle know anyone that worked at a hospital? i said yes, she knew a young man who lived with her best friend. rented a room. >> reporter: that young man was oliver oquinn, the shy, awkward guy who lived with her best friend jessica. it turned out he was a nurse at nearby shands hospital. >> it's a person that you trust. he was in my house. if i didn't trust him i wouldn't be sleeping in the same house with him. >> reporter: seemed unlikely, oliver didn't have a criminal background. he was a divorced father who still spent time with his child. professional no harm. but now the question hovered --

could oliver, the guy michelle felt so sorry for, the guy who she befriended, could he have been involved in her murder? at that point, nothing was conclusive, but evidence was mounting. and as michelle's friend and family began telling the police everything they knew about him, a complicated portrait begin to emerge. >> he told me that he was an emt, paramedic and fire fighter. he also told me a story about him being a captain in the air force. he said he was a paratrooper and he jumped into afghanistan, he was the first crew to jump in after 9/11. >> like he is painting himself as a hero. >> i think we always excused it. he was a small guy who wanted to paint a big picture. >> reporter: looking back, jessica and michelle's mom say there were signs that oliver was becoming increasingly fixated on michelle. >> reporter: did you notice anything he was paying special attention to her early on. >> i would say probably within the first couple months.

she would brush it off. she wasn't going to not talk to him just because he had a crush on her. >> reporter: even play dates with michelle's dog, duke, took on a new meaning. >> he would meet her. he actually borrowed somebody else's dog a couple of times. to meet her so duke would have somebed to play with. >> reporter: they continued to be friend, but there were signs he was getting possessive. >> that was a birthday party for one of our girlfriend. >> reporter: uh-huh. >> it was at my house. we had a campfire out back that we sat around. >> she kept moving her chair. every time she moved her chair he proceeded to move his. she told me she sat up right next to one of the other girls close as she could get. he kind of worked his way in there. >> we knew that she kind of didn't enjoy him following her around quite so much. we kind of made a game out of it. michelle would get up and move to one chair. oliver would move next to her. she would wing and get up and move a few chairs over. he would get up and move to the

chair next to her. >> reporter: there were signs that he was getting possessive. >> there were times that he and michelle had hung out together. he would say "my friend" i am going to have coffee with my friend. i would say, yeah, your new friend. who is your new friend. it's my friend. i would talk to michelle, what did you do. oh, yeah, oliver and i had coffee. kind of seemed like he was keeping it a secret. >> reporter: her mother remembered about three weeks before her death, michelle begin to worry that oliver had gotten a little bit too attached. >> she said, you know he is calling constantly. he is dropping by unexpectedly. and she said it just kind of creeped me out. >> he would follow her around like a little puppy dog. in fact i later learned that he called her 43 times in 30 days. >> reporter: finally, belinda gave detective douglas a potential motive. she believes that in her excitement, michelle probably told oliver that things between

her and her boyfriend jason were getting serious causing him to get jealous. >> i think he got mad. you know? why not me? i've been going to the dog park with you? i've been meeting you at maude's for coffee, helping you with your college papers. >> reporter: why not me? >> why not me? >> reporter: the only thing left for detective mike douglas to do was talk to the man himself. easier said than done. coming up -- >> he just thought he was smarter than everybody else he was going to pull off a perfect crime. >> reporter: where was oliver, a global game of hide-and-seek. when "obsession" continues. generally awesome. and you could just-- go online, video-chat with my cousin. this is un-- under $200. are you some kind of-- mind reader, visionary ? no, i have them. huh. the new lightweight hp mini netbook with windows and america's largest and most-reliable 3g network built in.

only 199.99 with mobile broadband plans from 39.99 i am-- speechless, envious. wanna be me right now. getting one. new carefree ultra protection liners, with wings! absorb ten times more, like a pad but feel thin and comfy, like a liner. new carefree® ultra protection™

need a lift? hey buddy, i appreciate the ride, you know. no problem. ♪ mind if i take a shortcut? yeah, sure. ♪ i knew the subaru legacy was the smart choice...

what i didn't expect... was the fun. the all-new subaru legacy. feel the love. the all-new subaru legacy. geico's been saving people money and who doesn't want value for their dollar? been true since the day i made my first dollar. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

>> reporter: two weeks after michelle herndon's sudden death it was beginning to look like she had become a victim of her own kindness. police believed that oliver oquinn, a loner with a crush, went to her house and somehow managed to inject her with a cocktail of propofol and other drugs stolen from the hospital where he worked. >> i put a full court press trying to find this guy. >> reporter: how many times did you call? >> five or six times. >> reporter: so a police detective called him five or six times he never responded. >> that's right. >> reporter: red flags must have been flapping? >> yeah, i had a problem. >> reporter: next he tried the hospital. >> i went in and speck to the charge nurse. she goes i just let him go yesterday. >> reporter: let him go. fired him? >> fired him. >> reporter: worried the trail would get cold, detective douglas checked a hospital where oliver freelanced. >> lo and behold there is his car in the parking lot. i go in the emergency room. i walk up and say hello, oliver. i am detective douglas.

aren't you even curious why a detective is calling you five, six times saying look i want to talk to you right away. aren't you curious? he looked at me and goes, yeah, why? i said i want to talk to you about the death of michelle herndon. he looked at me and said, yeah, i read about that. i said, well, you come see me tomorrow. he goes, oh, okay. >> reporter: in his gut, the police veteran was now sure that oliver was responsible for michelle's death. but without any concrete evidence to take to the district attorney, his hand were tied. he wasn't surprised when the following day came and went with no oliver. desperate for lead, detective douglas went to oliver's hometown in tennessee to speak to his father. but his prime target had already come and gone. i asked him about his son's attitude when he came home, was he happy? was he sad? dad said well he struck me as being a little depressed.

really, why would he be depressed? >> he told me a girlfriend of his died of a drug overdose in gainesville. i had him repeat that. i couldn't believe what i had heard. >> reporter: nothing had been out in the media about the pin rick. >> knob knew. >> reporter: nobody knew anything. >> toxicology had not returned. >> reporter: right then, bang. >> bang, you knew? >> yeah. i called the fbi. >> reporter: uh-huh. >> look, i got a problem who may have left the country. and they flagged his passport. and i found out that he landed in the republic of ireland on november 29th. ♪ >> reporter: oliver oquinn, the leading suspect had slipped away beyond the reach of gainesville police and into a country that had repeatedly refused to extradite fugitives back to the united states in protest of the death penalty. they would not send him back, but irish police were more than willing to provide surveillance of the suspect. detective douglas learned that as soon as he hit the ground,

oliver started planning for a new life. renting a room at a hostel getting a local cell phone and applying for jobs with the irish nursing board. >> he thought he was the center of the universe, smarter than everybody else and he would pull off a perfect crime and get away with it. >> reporter: you must have been out of your mind? >> i was. i bought a ticket. i have a ticketen our safety deposit box. cost us $3,100. >> bought a ticket to ireland? >> yes, one way. there was no need for me to come back. i went through a very bad period. >> reporter: but then, belinda and detective douglas hatched a plan. they released details of the case to the irish media hoping the glare of the spotlight would force oliver to move again. perhaps into a country more willing to send him back home. so finally, in june of 2006, after every flicker of hope had

been extinguished. a break from the other side of the world. >> he pops up at the american embassy in mauritania. to receive a money order. >> how did that flag you? >> he identified himself with his passport to the personnel there. they saw his passport was flagged but they didn't know for what. they notified the marshall service. they stalled him. they said, can you come back later for it? that spooked him. and he fled across the border into the neighboring country of senegal. >> reporter: he didn't get far. authorities in senegal captured him and had no problem sending him back to the united states. >> reporter: left ireland, ran to africa, which is so ironic because that's where michelle wanted to go. actually when they called and told me they caught him in africa, i actually got sick on my stomach. then after i let it soak in. i started laughing.

i thought what a fool. michelle was all over africa. you know, he had to have known that. he had to have known that. she wanted to join the peace corps. she wanted to work with aids victimsment i mean -- >> reporter: her place? >> yeah, that was stupid. >> reporter: he ran to her place? >> he did. he did. he was caught shortly after going to her place. within a week. >> reporter: coming up the case moves into court. and revelations from the crime lab. >> i think this would be a really good place to look for dna. >> dramatic dna evidence when "dateline" continues. a pinstripe oxford shirt sleeve. this is thick, juicy, 100% angus beef. an oxford, while stylish, is largely ineffective at removing... melted cheese from about the face and mouth. angus axiom number 57: roll up your sleeves and get down to business. the astonishing new angus third pounders. all angus. all mcdonald's. ♪ ba da ba ba ba

are enjoying the new palm pre from sprint. its revolutionary web os allows multiple applications to run at the same time. - ( thunder and rain ) - millions are using the simply everything plan. - each is saving $1200 over an at&t iphone plan. - ( cash register dings ) together that's billions of dollars. enough to open a dunkin' donuts in space. from america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. get the palm pre. only from sprint. only on the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. make that the video store. - ( sighs ) - if she had netflix, she could keep her dvds for as long as she wants. take the drama out of renting. announcer: netflix. unlimited movies for $8.99 a month.

take the drama out of renting. connie loves target for its incredible deals. and with her daughter starting middle school tomorrow, connie's got some high expectations. she expects look 11 might be the one. she expects look 17 might be the one. so she shops target. where they've always got her back for back to school. target.

expect more. pay less.

>> reporter: may 20th, 2008. the day michelle herndon's family and friend had been waiting for. more than two years since 24-year-old michelle herndon was discovered dead in her home. more than two years since they realized the harmless guy who had a crush on michelle was anything but. oliver oquinn who evaded police by fleeing to africa was finally back in florida in a courtroom facing trial for murder in the first degree. prosecutors james cola and tim browning set out to paint a picture of a man obsessed,

spurned then driven to murderous calculating rage. >> he called the victim 43 times. he spock to her every single day for nine straight days preceding her death. never calls her on the ninth. he never calls her on the tenth. he never calls her on the 11th or the 12th. because he knows there is no one there to answer. >> reporter: they called michelle's frniends to the stan. jessica was first. >> did you ever meet any woman that he was dating? >> no. >> had he ever introduced you to anyone he character iszed as his friend? >> no. >> what do you recall him saying? >> i recall him saying he found her very interesting and he had never met anybody like her before. >> reporter: when jason deering, michelle's boyfriend took the stand he told the jury how they had decided to officially take their relationship to the next

level, a sort of preengagement. >> we decided i would move up closer to gainesville and we would -- make an attempt at a more serious, stable, committed relationship from there. >> reporter: michelle's tearful mother belinda said her daughter couldn't wait to tell everyone. >> she was crazy about him. she was on top of the world. >> reporter: prosecutors allege that when michelle shared this news the next day with oliver who had grown dangerously infatuated with her, he snapped. and delivered the fatal injection with pinpoint accuracy. >> did you examine the tissue beneath the puncture wound? >> yes, underneath was a very minimal amount of hemorrhage. >> the person who created that puncture wound would have been some one with skill or precision in knowing how to do so? >> it is very suggestive of that. >> your statement -- >> reporter: next the

prosecution called oliver oquinn's own father to the stand. >> do you know oliver? >> yes, i do. >> how do you know him? >> he is my son. >> in the early days of the investigation, he told detective douglas that oliver told him a girlfriend of his had died of a drug overdose. at that point the toxicology reports were not back yet. so no one knew that key detail. not detective douglas, not even medical examiner, martha burt. >> i don't remember, to the best of my knowledge that could have been what was said, i don't know. >> reporter: now when asked to testify against his son, he denied his previous on-the-record statements. >> you do remember talking to them that day? >> yes, sir. >> do you recall what you told them that day? >> no, sir, i don't. i was upset. i might have said something about i heard about a girl -- a lady friend that passed on or something. didn't say about a girlfriend. i did not say anything about her

dying with an overdose. >> you do understand that you are under oath? >> i understand that. >> let me ask you this specific question. is it your testimony then today that you did not tell detective douglas that when oliver visited you on thanksgiving he told you that a girlfriend of his in gainesville had died of a drug overdose? >> no, sir, he did not tell me a girlfriend died of an overdose. if he told me anything about this i would have contacted our local authorities. >> reporter: prosecutors could not get beacher oquinn to incriminate their own son but they didn't take the stunning reversal lying down. >> the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. >> reporter: they followed up with oliver's half cyst ter, saying not only did beacher oquinn told her the overdose story and asked her not to cooperate with investigators. >> did tee tell you what to do if law enforcement contacted you? >> don't tell them anything. >> what was your response to

that? >> that i always tell the truth. >> reporter: with oliver's feelings for michelle, motives and premature knowledge of the cause of death documented it was time to show he had the know-how. >> did you find him to be proficient at administering ivs to pash snents atients. >> was he tested for all these drugs but also for propofol? >> yes in the test questions. >> did he pass that test? >> yes, he did. >> reporter: next prosecutors focused on oliver's sudden trip to ireland two weeks after michelle's death. they said it was a desperate last-ditch effort of a guilty man. >> when he starts to find out on november 21st that there must be something because law enforcement is now persistent in seeing me and speaking to me things change and he begins to go about saying his good-byes. >> how do you know him? >> he's my ex-husband. >> oliver's ex-wife testified

that oliver cam to see her and their daughter at the end of november 2005. he said he was going away for two weeks but promised to take a special trip when he returned. >> did the defendant ever come back for president's day or martin luther king day to take your daughter to disney? >> no, sir. >> did he ever come back and take her to disney? >> no. >> reporter: now all that was left was the proverbial smoking gun. back in 2005 when detective douglas and his team found the plastic grocery bag behind michelle's house filled with empty drug vials and needles they knew it could be an important clue. but they didn't know how important. >> i gave it to my crime lab guy. well his wife happened to beep a nurse. he says, you know i have seen my wife give shots. when she does she puts the needle in her mouth and bites the plastic tip off so she can use her hands. i think this would be a good

place to look for dna. please, do it by all means. >> reporter: when those results came back from the lab, the state's expert said the dna left behind on those needle covers and the syringes found in the trash at michelle's house could only belong to one person. >> the dna profile obtained from my exhibit 8, the 3 cc syringe matched the profile obtained from the cheek swabs represented as being from mr. oquinn at all the locations i tested. >> reporter: coming up -- the defense goes on the attack. the dna evidence, were mistakes made in the lab. >> if nobody caught that what else might they not have caught? >> who will the jury believe? the verdict when "obsession" continues.

you know, a lot can happen in a year. life changes. your insurance coverage should change, too. people get married, move, have kids. that's why nationwide insurance does an on your side review. we help you get the right coverage at the right price.

i'm marlene dailey, and i am on your side. ( marlene ) switch to nationwide insurance now. ( man ) call 1-877-nationwide. need a lift? hey buddy, i appreciate the ride, you know. no problem. ♪ mind if i take a shortcut? yeah, sure. ♪ i knew the subaru legacy was the smart choice... what i didn't expect... was the fun. the all-new subaru legacy. feel the love.

>> reporter: the prosecution rested its case after showing oliver oquinn had motive and opportunity to kill michelle herndon. they even had dna evidence that proved he handled the needles that delivered the fatal shot. public defender, drew mcgill did not call a single witness. ir a strategy would would require him to use the closing argument

to do all the heavy lifting. >> the state attorney said they were going to show you that he was infatuated with her, that he adored her, but they didn't show you that. >> reporter: first he asked the jury to flat out reject the notion that oliver was obsessed with michelle herndon. he tried to recast the story of the birthday party at jessica's house where oliver kept sitting next to michelle in a different light. >> is that terribly unusual? does that seem like such a stretch of the imagination that somebody is in a big social setting, they don't know any of these people, but they know one person, so, you know they're hanging close to them. you saw her, she is attractive. >> reporter: and he argued there were other women in oliver oquinn's life who he had perfectly normal relationships with. >> so oliver is attracted to attractive young ladies. he was attracted to michelle herndon, he was attracted to his ex-wife we can presume since they got married.

>> reporter: when it came to the investigation, the defense tried to show that detective mike douglas targeted oquinn not based on facts but convenience. >> oliver is a nurse. we have a pin prick. ooh, anything that doesn't fit we'll disregard. then mcgill pointed out what he called one state witness blatantly contradicting another. >> the state attorney at times portrayed him throughout this trial as this person of great skill, this great skill person, he could make this -- you know very small injection here. few minutes later, they're telling you he is getting a boot because he is incompetent and his skills arnen't up to par. finally the defense attacked the dna evidence only noncircumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution. he said the analyst had mistakes in her report. >> and she said, well, yes, it was a typographical error. but she didn't catch it when she was proofreading it.

three reviews didn't catch it either. so if nobody caught that, what else might they not have caught? >> reporter: with that it was up to the jury to decide. one question never answered in the trial -- how did oliver manage to inject michelle without a struggle? investigators believe that oliver may have pretended he was going few give her some medication to treat her persistent migraine headaches. but instead gave her propofol, the same powerful sedative that may have played a role in pop superstar michael jackson's death. >> so sheep trusted him. and this guy gave her four times the lethal dose, knowing, noek that it was going to kill her. it's sinister. this guy planned it. >> reporter: the verdict would take just 2 1/2 hours. >> we the jury find as follows. the defendant is guilty of first degree murder as charged in the indictment. >> reporter: more than two years after michelle herndon's death,

oliver oquinn was found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to life without parole. it was a moment belinda herndon thought would never come. >> reporter: when you heard the words -- >> relief. i wanted to stand up and point at him and say, like, gotcha or something. just that these people saw the truth. i was like -- i have won the lottery. >> reporter: before oliver oquinn was take any way to begin serving the rest of his life behind bars. belinda herndon spoke directly to him. >> i think about what you did to yourself. and michelle would have been your friend to life. she could have been your friend ten years from now. but you took that. you chose to take that. what you took from us you will never know. i almost let you take everything from me because i almost didn't survive this.

>> reporter: did you look at him when you were doing it? >> very much so. >> reporter: did he look back? >> he looked at me. i don't think he saw me. >> reporter: expressionless? >> dead. dead eyes. that's what i thought when i looked at him. i thought i have never seen such lifeless eyes mine life. >> reporter: how do you feel now? >> like i have to do something that michelle expects it. i don't think the peace corps wants me, i think i am a little over the age limit. but i have to do something. i have to. >> reporter: belinda herndon says her daughter is still with her every day. >> i see michelle on the street here. i see michelle in the way chimes blow in the wind. >> reporter: she takes comfort in knowing michelle's brief life will have a lasting impact. >> the people that have come forward and said michelle made

me a better environmentalist, michelle made me be a better person, she makes me be conscientious. i think she died not knowing how many lives she had touched. oliver oquinn is now appealing his conviction. you can hear more from michelle herndon's family and friend on the website. learn more about the drug propofol if you log on to dateline.msnbc.com. our next story is the case that took years to solve about a woman who was starting a new life until someone decided to end it. police had a strong suspect from the very beginning but there was one problem -- they also had undeniable proof that he could not have committed the crime. here is dennis murphy. ♪ >> reporter: after years of a domineering husband putting her in her place the miami woman was starting the first day of the rest of her life with a new hairstyle and a manicure.

>> she was saying that she had to take care of herself. >> reporter: maggie locascio had finally taken the step. the next day the divorce would be on its way to being final, a last deposition in court. as she drove her mercedes back to the nice house in coral gables, we don't know if she was thinking about the end of her 28-year marriage or her next chapters. her son ed locascio, jr. had been urging her to call their marriage quits for years. >> she cried a lot about it. but afterward i think she knew it was for the better. >> reporter: but once the garage doors closed, maggie locascio only had a few minutes of life remaining. homicide detective john butchko found a disturbing crime scene when he arrived at 2806 granada. >> reporter: there was an alarm that sounded, which indicated that the victim was in the house with the alarm on. it was a very bloody violent scene. there were bloody footprints into a kitchen and bloody

fingerprints on a wall. >> reporter: maggie lay dead on the kitchen floor. she'd been bludgeoned in the head, an awful wound, then stabbed, kicked, even choked by her killer. >> there was indication that the victim resisted, that she fought back. >> reporter: so it could have been a home intruder at that point? >> yes, it could have been. however, there seemed to be more to it than that. >> reporter: an icon of the cruelty of this murder, a barometer of the rage in that kitchen, was this black metal police baton found on the floor. it had been used to bash in maggie's head. >> reporter: did the nature of the death tell you anything about who the perpetrator was? yes. it seemed to have been done in anger. it appeared to be somebody that would have, some sort of relationship, as opposed to a stranger. >> reporter: her son eddie junior was in medical school running some lab experiments that night so he didn't get home to coral gables until after ten. by then there were flashing cop cars, gawkers, police lines. eddie elbowed his way to the front. >> finally i asked, "where the hell is my mother?" >> reporter: the son didn't get

any answers. he was taken to the police station where detectives put him in a room and started asking him questions. the detectives began to piece together the unhappy soap opera of the locascio family. maggie, the 45-year old victim, had been an accountant with a master's degree. but had mostly been a stay-at-home mom since son eddie junior came along. edward locasio senior, the husband and father, was an accountant, too, and he'd done well with investments. a family with a net worth estimated at up to $6 million. but the house was bitterly divided. mother and son joined against a cold, abusive husband and father, at least by eddie junior's account. >> reporter: you call your father, ed. >> yes. >> reporter: rather than father or dad, or pops. >> right. >> reporter: it seems a little bit funny, you know? >> um-hum. >> reporter: nothing funny at all about childhood or memories of his father as he tells it. ed, junior bookish, happy to find sanctuary in a library. the father berating him for not

being more than a scrub on the track team he coached with firebreathing intensity. >> one of the kids who he actually coached came up to me and told me, "you're so lucky to have a father like ed." and i was absolutely shocked. >> reporter: the obvious question to the detectives was: what's up with this husband, described as an abusive character, in the final stages of a bitter divorce. did he have the motive and the rage to actually beat and stomp his wife to death? >> ed locascio was abusive to her. he's threatened her before. >> reporter: so in the ranking of possible suspects he's moved up ahead of the unknown intruder >> he was a strong suspect. >> reporter: the detectives asked the son who he thought might have done it and he didn't hesitate. >> i think my exact words, "i can't believe the bastard finally did it." >> reporter: the bastard finally did it. meaning? >> ed. >> reporter: your father? >> right. >> reporter: but ed locascio senior had an airtight alibi. he was at his condo on miami's south beach when the murder

occurred a security camera picture proved it. and something else, the cops had had extraordinarily good luck in finding a trove of evidence in a gym bag ditched in a neighbor's shrubs near the murder house. dna. and not the husband's. a forensic clue just waiting to be matched up to a killer out there. maybe the guy in the white pick-up who did an illegal u-turn out of the scene as officers screamed up? who murdered maggie of that very unhappy locascio household? bingo as they say. there was dna on the inside of latex gloves. >> a gym bag tossed in the bushes and a big break in the case. that can take so much out of you. i feel like i have to wind myself up just to get out of bed. then...well... i have to keep winding myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the trouble concentrating, the lack of energy.

if depression is taking so much out of you, ask your doctor about pristiq®. (announcer) pristiq is a prescription medicine proven to treat depression. pristiq is thought to work by affecting the levels of two chemicals in the brain, serotonin and norepinephrine. tell your doctor right away if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, teens and young adults. pristiq is not approved for children under 18. do not take pristiq with maois. taking pristiq with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. tell your doctor about all your medications, including those for migraine, to avoid a potentially life-threatening condition. pristiq may cause or worsen high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or glaucoma. tell your doctor if you have heart disease... or before you reduce or stop taking pristiq. side effects may include nausea, dizziness and sweating. (woman) for me, pristiq is a key in helping to treat my depression. (announcer) ask your doctor about pristiq.

(announcer) ask your doctor so? mmmm ok. you were right. these healthy choice fresh mixer thingys, they taste fresh... say it again! what? say it like, "mmmm, these healthy choice fresh mixers taste freshh!!" they taste fresh... wait. what are you doing? got it. you're secretly taping me? you were good too! but you know, it wasn't a secret to us, we knew... yes, but it was a secret to me. of course, otherwise i would be sitting like this and completely block his shot. so that's why i was like... didn't you notice this was weird? no. they taste fresh because you make them fresh. healthy choice fresh mixers. in the soup or pasta aisle.

new pencils, new books... new backpack... looks good. just trying to look our best. eh, gonna take more than looks. from what i hear, ms. haskins is a toughy. oh, we had a good breakfast so we're ready. gonna be another great year, huh guys?! you bet your 8 layers! yeah! long-distance high 5! oh, careful! hey, watch it. start the school year with an excellent source of fiber. a clinical study showed kids who had a filling breakfast... of kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats® cereal... had 11% better attentiveness... compared to kids who missed out on breakfast. ( shouts ) keeps 'em full. keeps 'em focused.

>> it was the first minutes of halloween morning 2001 and police were taking their photos, measuring blood spatter stains, trying to understand who had so viciously murdered the homeowner lying on the kitchen floor. they knew early on the victim maggie locascio and her estranged husband edward locascio had been living apart for several months. she'd gotten a restraining order against him. they called the husband at his miami beach condo telling him only the briefest version of the truth to lure him over to the house. >> they told him there was trouble at his house? >> yeah, there was a problem there with the alarm.

he needed to come there. >> when he arrived at the street outside, edward locascio, the husband, seemed to the detectives talking to detectives talking to him quite placid, even incurious, about why the home of his wife and son was marked off as a crime scene. down at the police station he told detectives he said he and he wife were split and he didn't kept up with her lately what with the ugly divorce proceedings and the restraining order. when the cops finally told him his wife had been murdered, they noted that his reaction was blank. nothing. unbeknowst to the husband, the detectives were interviewing his son, eddie jr., in a room down the hall. they would pass in the hall afterward. >> an officer was escorting him one way and me another way. and we crossed in a hallway and i think the look on his face as he saw me was one of both anger and surprise. >> did he say anything to you? are you okay? >> did you reply? >> no. >> at that moment you believed that he had killed your mother? >> yes. >> but there'd been hostility between the father and son for years and years.

a son who despised his dad and suspected the worst of him didn't add up to evidence against edward locascio sr. the father, the victim's husband said he'd been at his beach condo miles away when maggie was murdered and the time-coded security tapes of comings and goings at his building showed he was telling the truth. so locascio wasn't the likely killer but cops are trained not to lock onto one suspect early to the exclusion of other possibilities. >> 2806 granada blvd. >> and now one of the first officers responding to the burglar alarm that night was thinking back to that white pick-up truck he'd seen near the locascio house. the driver had pulled an illegal u-turn and if he hadn't been running hot to the scene, the officer would have pulled him over. the white pick-up would be a detail they would pursue. but bigger, more immediate, evidence had fallen right into their laps the morning after the murder. >> we received a phone call from

one of the residents here that they had found a small sports bag in the bushes between the houses. >> the gym bag turned out to be a cop and prosecutor's dream. inside a knife, the killer's bloody clothes, and the victim's stolen credit cards. lab experts had every reason to hope for some solid dna evidence, hairs, fibers, maybe even some fingerprints. then something a little odd happened. two days after the murder police get a call from edward locascio saying someone has broken into his accounting office. the cops check out the reported burglary and find nothing stolen just some papers scattered around the floor. but the so called burglary turned out to be a turning point in the murder investigation because the detectives used that opportunity to talk to some of locascio's employees about their boss and his family. one family member in particular came up. >> one thing we learned was that he had a brother that lived in north carolina and during that next day we actually found out that his brother had a white pick-up truck.

>> the brother -- michael locascio, lived in charlotte, north carolina, and in a heartbeat, police officers there were searching his white pick-up. the upholstery had been ripped out. the inside of the cab hosed down. >> i believe he had blood all over him and that would be the motive for tearing the seat cushions out of his car and for washing out the vehicle. >> michael locascio, it would turn out, was the obverse image to his brother's success, a mostly unemployed guy, addicted to pills and who'd been busted once on a fraud charge. the investigators kept michael locascio squarely in their sights as the lab experts processed each bit of evidence from the scene. the police baton, the bludgeon known formally as an asp, yielded no fingerprints. but prosecutor gail levine said the killer did leave his mark behind. >> he thought he was smart enough to have used gloves. and he didn't bleed. so he thought he was okay. well, then he came back, and

bingo as they say there was dna on the 'asp' and there was dna on the inside of some latex gloves that were in the green bag that he tried to throw away. >> dna that matched michael locascio. just two weeks after the murder he was charged with killing his sister-in-law, maggie locascio. >> eddie, how do you even take that information in? the detective is telling you, "we believe we have your mother's killer and he is your uncle." uncle michael? >> at first, i was optimistic about it, actually. because i thought well there must be some link to ed. >> and the son wasn't the only one thinking that way. the detectives, the prosecutor all saw the hand of eddie's father, ed sr. -- behind the heinous murder. >> i think in most cases, it's the "we got it" and it's scientific. it's dna it's everything we need but in this case it was, "we got one. now we got to get another."

>> it sounded straight forward -- who had the motivation? the temper to dispose of maggie locascio? easy, the husband ed. but that isn't the way the law and evidence work. and maybe there was something that no one knew about between the accused michael locascio and the victim, his sister-in-law. michael locascio was going on trial for murder and his brother edward was going to work and dating. we're hoping to hope that michael would confess to committing the murder and saying how ed was connected to it. >> reporter: would someone crack when "dateline" continues. if you want to share contact info with a bump, there's an app for that. or if you just want to share some downtime, well, there's an app for that too. because there's an app for just about anything. only on the iphone.

every day special. fancy feast introduces an entirely new way to celebrate any moment. fancy feast appetizers. simple high quality ingredients like wild alaskan salmon, white meat chicken, or seabass and shrimp in a delicate broth, prepared without by-products or fillers. new fancy feast appetizers. celebrate the moment. that's why there's one-a-day teen advantage... for her and for him. the only complete multivitamins designed... for their specific health concerns. like her healthy skin and his healthy muscle function. one-a-day teen advantage. how about a swim? i'm a little irregular today. don't you eat activia? for my little issues? they're not that bad. summer's no time to put up with even occasional digestive problems.

believe me, once they go away, it's amazing how good you feel. announcer: activia is clinically proven to help regulate your digestive system in two weeks. summer's a wastin'... take the activia challenge now. it works, or it's free. ♪ activia announcer: say hello to the can-doers. - the budget masters. - ♪ yeah yeah the knock-out artists who are finding more ways to spread their dollar further. - to bolder color in less time. - ♪ are you feeling it? say hello to newer ideas and lowered prices, enabling more people to turn more saving into more doing. - that's the power of the home depot. - ♪ are you feeling it? try out different colors with new 8-ounce paint samples

at a new low price of only $2.94. on fast congestion relief. neither should you. thank you claritin-d. (announcer) so you'll find claritin-d behind the pharmacy counter. thank you claritin-d, for staying tough on the toughest allergy symptoms. for refusing to change your formula. (announcer) nothing works stronger, faster or longer to relieve your worst allergy symptoms including congestion and sinus pressure without drowsiness. thank you claritin-d for helping me live claritin clear. (announcer) get claritin-d at the pharmacy counter. still no prescription needed.

michael locascio was charged with the murder. if convicted he could face the death penalty. prosecutors were hoping michael would stew unhin his juices. they were hoping he would flip and testify against his brother. that's what locascio's son certainly wanted. we were hoping that michael would say that he himself would confess to committing the murder how ed was connected to it or how a pay yuf was to be made. he never did.

>> so the trial was on. michael locascio charged as the lone killer. but the prosecutor made it clear she thought the brothers were in on it together. this defendant decided to end the marriage not by waiting for the judge's ruling but by murdering her. >> reporter: and the facts were bad for him. the white pickup truck leaving the scene was like his white pickup recovered at his home in north carolina. the one with police found the inside ripped out. and the gym bag recovered by the crime scene with the murderer's bloody clothes, a weapon and michael locascio's dna on a latex glove. a familiar argument in criminal trials. the lab work was flawed. the motivation wasn't proven. >> the state's case is based mainly on dna and circumstantial evidence.

>> reporter: the jury took six hours to convict michael locascio of first degree murder. >> we the jury find michael locascio guilty of first degree murder as charged. >> reporter: the jury recommended a life sentence which judge stanford blake imposed. it is a brutal, brutal, killing. no living thing deserves to be killed like that. the death that she suffered that night at your hand, someday we may all meet our maker, life sentence may be the easy part for you. >> reporter: eddie junior in an impassioned speech argued for the death penalty. >> we do not believe that you nude show this killer no mercy when he showed maggie no mercy. >> reporter: eddie locascio jr. was brilian and tortured. he graduated from college at 19, was accepted at the university of miami medical school where he

was one of the top students. but eddie was also living a role out of an ancient greek tragedy, the son determined to bring down the father, avenging the death of his quiet, much put upon mother maggie. eddie jr. was getting through his studies at a double time pace so he could get his medical career up and running and get his mother away from the father he called ed. never dad. >> something that drove me really hard to study for was eventually to become financially independent. >> so you could make the money as soon as possible to get her out of the situation. >> right. >> reporter: his mother's first step had been the restraining order, the second getting a good divorce lawyer. in florida it is 50/50 and there seemed to be enough community property to share. a net worth estimated at up to $6 million. >> freeze his assets? >> freeze his assets. to pay the alimony he starts to take it out of the joint assets. judge said no you are supposed to take it out of your income.

he doesn't want to do that. he wants all for himself. >> reporter: edward sr. was an accountant so was his wife maggie. she knew how to read the books on family finances knew the accounts where the money was invested. she knew that her husband hadn't disclosed their true net worth to the judge. she was going to tell the judge in effect that edward had been squirrelling away money from the court and from her. >> she could say in her deposition this is what this marriage, this guy is really worth? >> exactly. she had been a cpa. and she was finding every single account. >> reporter: but hours before that courtroom confrontation, she was murdered by her brother-in-law from north carolina. that was the jury's finding. the day after his wife's murder, edward locascio's lawyer did go to court to have the divorce case dismissed, assets unfrozen and declare him sole beneficiary of the estate. >> how someone could have an utter lack of regard for human life and immediately after this

woman he was married to for 28 years, after he murders her, he moves to cash in on the money he murder her to obtain. >> eddie jr. pursued his father into civil court to keep him from getting hands on the money. eddie the medical student found himself in courtrooms as much as classrooms. >> i had to basically, teach myself how to become a lawyer. i would actually go to probate court. i had to defend on various occasions, motions from his attorneys to unfreeze his assets. and i prevailed on the motions. >> reporter: eddie jr. was winning against his father in civil court. but he was having less luck with the criminal case. even four years later, while his uncle was awaiting trial, the prosecutor cautioned eddie jr. about getting his hopes up of ever nailing the person he mast the crime. his father, ed. >> he said we'll probably never arrest him. he will probably get away with it. >> reporter: pushed by eddie jr. and his aunt, the prosecutor went hard after heretofor

reluctant witnesses. the investigators went through the evidence one more time and in november 2005, they thought they finally had it. edward locascio sr. was brought before a judge and charged with first degree murder and conspiracy in the killing of his wife maggie. >> he told her i could kill you with one blow. >> reporter: a showdown years in the making transfixes the court. it's father against son. and later, edward sr. has his own story to tell. >> did you have your wife killed? >> reporter: when murder in the family continues.

announcer: during the autobahn for all event, you can get great lease deals. i love it! i just want to know it's the right move. me? thirteen days in the future. you get a deal on the car you always wanted. scheduled maintenance is included, it's all good. what's the future like? you love your new jetta.

and the suit? you like it? no...i love it! from that first dollar forward, cash flow isn't just an important thing to small business. it's everything. that's why pnc is introducing your new cfo, cash flow options designed to effectively improve your cash flow.

cfo helps every dollar work harder. from the very first dollar to the last dollar of the day. get in touch with your new cfo. pnc. leading the way. you know, a lot can happen in a year. life changes. your insurance coverage should change, too. people get married, move, have kids. that's why nationwide insurance does an on your side review. we help you get the right coverage at the right price. i'm marlene dailey, and i am on your side. ( marlene ) switch to nationwide insurance now. ( man ) call 1-877-nationwide.

>> reporter: 5 1/2 years after his mother maggie locasio had been found beaten and stabbed to death in her home. a year after his uncle had been convicted of the murder, eddie locasio jr. was staring across the courtroom at the man he saw as the evil architect of the crime, his father, edward locasio sr. the conviction of the mother brik cal had been a prosecutorial snap. he had left his dna on tools of the murder. it wouldn't be that easy with the brother, the husband, the father, edward locasio sr. you charged him with first degree murder but you didn't have a great case against him. >> every single prosecutor says what is the defense case going to be. where are my weaknesses.

i was aware i had a circumstantial case. >> gail levine and her co-prosecutor were telling the jury the buttoned up middle-aged accountant before them was tired of his wife didn't want her to get half in the pending divorce so he got his brother to do the dirty work. >> a pact was formed, a blood pact between brothers. a silent pact. with this defendant advising and inciting his brother michael to murder maggie. >> reporter: the jury was introduced to the stomach churning crime scene photos. the police baton used to bash in maggie locasio. did he ever say what is going on at my house? >> no. >> the officer wearing the badge, miami-dade homicide, says your wife is dead. and he has no reaction. >> that is an important moment? >> extremely important.

very, very telling to the detective that was sitting across from him. >> reporter: how locasio reacted or failed to react and what he said about his wife would become building blocks in the circumstantial case against him. >> approach -- >> reporter: one of the key prosecution witnesses would be a former employ year in his accounting office. >> is that the kind of quote you can build a case around? >> we thought that statement he used to this young woman was a powerful statement. again his conscience speaking to us. >> but if edward locasio in effect hired his brother to kill his wife, where was the contract? the agreement about money perhaps to be paid at some future time?

unfortunately, for the prosecution, there was no evidence like that. but it did have record of phone calls. brother to brother calls in the months leading up to the murder. unusual for the two of them. >> between michael and ed there had been no contact, except for birthdays. now, there's a barrage of phone calls. >> reporter: a lotta calls. >> thirty-nine in six weeks. >> reporter: but, again, it's -- it's circumstantial. you don't know what they said. >> i know what they said. they were planning a murder. >> reporter: after locascio's brother was arrested for the murder, edward senior learned that his secretary gudilay gonazlez had been talking to the cops about all those overheard phone calls between the brothers. her boss, she testified, went nuts on her. >> he went like this -- like. "because of you my brother is gonna be in prison. and he could die." >> did he attempt to grab you by your throat? >> almost. >> what did you do? >> i went and i called detective estopinan. >> reporter: detective julio estopinan had taken the secretary's original statement.

he works undercover now so the judge asked that his face not be shown as he testified. >> when you got the cell phone call from miss gonzalez, could you describe her demeanor to you on the phone or her attitude. >> she was very angry -- scared. >> reporter: then came a long awaited moment. >> the state calls edward john locascio. >> reporter: if this had been greek tragedy or shakespeare the confrontation between father and son might have taken place with swords on a battlefield wet with blood. but here in district court miami eddie junior -- who'd been fighting for his father's indictment for years -- took the witness box. the man he called "ed," the accused, sat at his table. >> in 1999 -- >> reporter: the prosecutor led the son through testimony focusing on his recollection of years of his father's physical and mental abuse of his mother. there was the time his father threatened to strike her with a heavy piece of sculpture. >> it was too heavy for him

to -- to -- to throw at her. but he was able to pick it up. and he was going to throw it at her. >> reporter: and five-months before maggie locascio's murder, the son told the jury about the blunt, simple threat his father had made, almost a promise. >> he told her -- "i will kill you. i will end you. and i will destroy you." and after that, he proceeded to -- as -- he would usually do bump into her with his chest and told her, "i -- i could kill you with one blow." >> reporter: and the prosecution put an exclamation point on its depiction of edward locascio senior as a menacing bully by calling his former mistress. eleanor salazar, a masseuse, had been outside locascio's south beach condo the night of the murder. she testified that she spotted locascio's brother michael -- the now convicted killer -- trying to get into the apartment a little after 11:30 that night. in court the girlfriend testified with the help of a translator. >> and what did he tell you? >> that i couldn't tell that to

the police. >> what did he say? >> that if i called the police, something worse than what happened to his wife would happen to me. >> reporter: and the same condo security camera that gave edward locascio his alibi -- he was home when the murder occurred miles away -- turned out to be a doubled-edged sword. because that security cam verified the mistress's story about the brother showing up. that's him -- michael locascio time-coded at 11:41 am. he's seen ringing the buzzer repeatedly. what was he doing there two hours after murdering maggie locascio? the security tape shows him walking away -- his shirt soaked -- had he just hosed down the interior of his bloody pick-up as the prosecution suggested? >> clearly, michael would have never come back to the apartment to report, or to get help, if ed wasn't aware. so, really the pieces of the puzzle were big pieces that fit together.

>> reporter: all along the prosecution's theory of motive was this, edward locascio had decided that his wife maggie had to be killed the night she was, otherwise, the following morning she was going to tell the divorce judge where he'd stashed away millions of dollars in secret accounts -- money that he would lose in the impending settlement. the brother, argued the prosecution, was dispatched to fix the problem. the prosecutor -- with help from the medical examiner -- brought the murder of maggie locascio vividly into the courtroom. as the medical examiner testified as to what the wounds told him about the violent attack, he stuck pieces of color tape to a mannequin. each color representing the different ways he believed michael locascio tried to kill his sister-in-law. she was initially hit on the head with a baton that wasn't bent initially and then ultimately bent and was rendered useless. eight blows to the head with a metal police baton. then, savagely slashed with a

steak knife, a finger all but severed. defensive wounds were evidence she fought back but the m.e. said michael locascio began choking her. >> pushing her into the wall until she gives up, stamping on her stomach or chest and then walking away there leaving her to die. >> the bloody footprints leaving the murder scene were clearly michael locascio's. >> reporter: had the prosecution convinced the jury that it was his brother edward who had caused them to be there and was, therefore, guilty of murder, too? >> so when you want to lie under oath, you'll lie under oath. >> reporter: the defense was about to argue it's case, saying, in part, star witnesses shouldn't sleep with lead detectives. >> reporter: a very different version of edward locasio. did any of this add up?

>> the bloody scene was not a contract type murder. where it's weak. where it's vulnerable. ♪ tylenol arthritis works with your body to block the pain, without interfering with certain high blood pressure medicines like aleve sometimes can. ♪ so you don't just feel better, you feel better knowing doctors recommend tylenol more than any other brand of pain reliever. ♪ population 49 million. 145,000 teenagers are typing a text message at 70 words a minute. average speed of their parents: 8. right now, 90 high schoolers are shopping for new kicks on zappos.com. - none of them got game. - ( buzzer sounds ) 19,000 teenagers are flipping 354,000 burgers - to get the new samsung exclaim. - ( sizzles ) - ( gasps ) - just one of four iming, texting and twittering back-to-school phones you can get from sprint, starting at $19.99. sprint. the now network.

deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com. (announcer) it's that time of year again they're going back it's back to school time at staples over 7000 supplies at guaranteed low prices ♪ staples. that was easy.

introducing the all new chevy equinox. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon. and up to 600 miles between fill ups. it's the most fuel efficient crossover on the highway. better than honda cr-v, toyota rav4 and even the ford escape hybrid. the all new chevy equinox.

>> reporter: ed and maggie locasio just wanted to get divorced, nothing more, nothing less. little did they know that brother, mike, had other ideas.

edward locasio's defense attorney, bob amsel, argued that the prosecution got it right in the trial of michael locasio, the brother. >> count four, conspiracy to commit murder -- >> reporter: it was michael who indisputably murdered his brother's wife. the criminally bent, drug-addicted brother claimed the defense with a warped idea about how to help his brother out of a failed marriage. no conspiracy at all. edward locascio was not his brother's keeper. >> so your theory of the crime is, in some crazed manner, he's doing his brother a nice thing? >> right. >> by killing the wife? >> that bloody scene was not a contract-type murder. when mike killed her he did it with such passion and such rage that it defies imagination that he was doing that to help his brother. >> reporter: the defense had to paint jurors a different portrait altogether of edward locascio, senior. that he wasn't the abusive bully of a husband and a father.

that there were family snapshots of happy times, when even eddie junior had a smile. and he wanted jurors to think about the son's possible motivation for going after his father --money. with his father behind bars, eddie junior would get everything. millions. >> you're clearly seeking all of your father's money, aren't you? in the civil side of the case? >> technically, i mean it passes as if -- >> answer yes or no. >> no. >> well, well -- technically yes. yes. i'm sorry. yes. the answer's yes. >> reporter: and what about the prosecution's depiction of a suspiciously indifferent edward locascio when authorities informed him his wife had been murdered? another locascio brother testified that edward locascio was, in fact, devastated by his wife's death. >> he was very upset, very sad. i didn't think he could keep things together. >> reporter: in a circumstantial case, maybe the most damaging testimony was a story told by locascio's secretary. she said after a phone conversation with his brother

michael, he blurted out, '"my brother's crazy. he told me that if i ever wanted the bitch killed he could do it and no one would even find out." now, the key words there were, "the bitch." crude shorthand in locascio's office for his wife. the defense told the court that that damning quote had a dubious history. the secretary, in a follow-up sworn deposition, watered down her initial recollection of edward locascio's outburst. he hadn't used the words, "the bitch", she said, rather he had said "someone." the brother was crazy enough to kill "someone." quite a different thought. now, here in trial, the secretary reverted to the original version, the one with "the bitch."' >> you're the one who told this jury that you actually did lie under oath. >> i'm telling the jury today that if i lied about the bitch word was because i didn't want to get myself more involved in this case and i wanted to get out of it, plain and simple. >> your choice is that when you want to lie under oath, for whatever reason it is, you'll lie under oath, right? >> you continue accusing me from lying. >> i'm trying to ask you a question.

>> and i'm answering your question. >> well, i don't think you are. >> well, maybe you're not happy with it. >> reporter: and there was something else about the secretary and her story. she had become intimately involved with the lead detective on the case, julio estopinan, an affair that turned out to be a cringing embarrassment and ethical taboo for the prosecution. >> she is literally sleeping with the lead detective in this case for a year, a year and a half. >> reporter: the defense berated the detective for living with his star witness in a pending first-degree murder trial. >> you see nothing wrong with that? >> i explained that, that it is wrong. >> so if it's wrong, why didn't you stop it? >> reporter: was the affair with the cop why the secretary had changed her mind and gone back to telling the more damaging story about hearing locascio say the brother could kill the bitch for him? >> isn't this why your testimony changes over time? >> no. >> because of your relationship?

>> it has nothing to do with my relationship. >> you want to make him look good and make his case for him. >> no. >> reporter: there was a call -- >> reporter: the prosecution's best evidence of a brotherly plot was thin. what the prosecution characterized as a barrage of phone calls, 39 in six weeks, between the usually distant pair. >> the strongest part of my case was that any juror would necessarily have to guess what was said between ed and his brother. >> reporter: the defense argued that maggie locascio's murder had never been about money. edward locascio may not have been happy to split his millions with his wife but he was loaded, and killing his wife just to hang on to more of his wealth simply didn't make sense. what did add up, the defense told the jury was the picture on that condo security camera of a wild-eyed brother fresh from a bloody murder. >> i think that's about someone who is sick, who has lost his mind, who is panicking, how in the world could that be part of this conspiracy?

the last place you'd go to is back to your brother, the last place. >> reporter: so what was it? edward locascio senior, a plotting murderous husband? or the unwitting victim of an unguided missile of a crazy brother? edward locascio wouldn't take the stand to explain himself. the case was headed for the jury. >> there is no evidence, no physical evidence. >> the verdict -- what would the jurors decide? and at long last, edward senior's side of the story. he breaks his silence with a surprise. >> are you implying that edward jr. might have been responsible for the death of your wife? >> yes. ♪

of sheer white cotton? to that posh boutique on miami beach... or that fancy little place on rodeo drive? how about right around the corner? luxurious fragrance at a practical price. find it where you find glade®. s.c. johnson, a family company. first lesson: never look directly at the angus bacon & cheese. quick, look away! your eyes can't handle that much flavor! gazing at its crisp red onions, crinkle-cut dill pickles and hickory-smoked bacon... atop a third-pound of 100% angus beef,

has made grown men cry! look away! only look directly at the angus burger... when it's securely in your hands. consider yourself schooled. next lesson: three ways to elevate your angus game -- mcdonald's style! ba da ba ba ba!

summer days were not good to my skin. (announcer) new neutrogena total skin renewal. it's clinically tested to help undo the look of a year's worth of skin aging in just one week. do-overs do exist. (announcer) total skin renewal neutrogena. this is my verizon small business specialist, tom. now, i know the catering business but when i walked in here i wasn't sure what i needed. i'm not sure what i need. tom showed me how to use mifi to get my whole team working online, on location. i was like, "woah". woah ! only verizon wireless has small business specialists in every store to help you do business better. you're like my secret ingredient. come in today and connect up to five devices on one 3g connection. now only $99.99

>> all rise for the jurors please. >> reporter: the prosecution and the defense had rested. each side had one last chance to summarize its case for the jury. >> he had a plan. and that plan was for her to die. >> he was the one that needed this done, not michael locasio. >> the very idea that ed locascio, a man who is undoubtedly smart, would use someone like michael locascio, a

man whose life is spinning out of control,is absurd. >> all rise for the jury please. >> reporter: edward locascio senior was on trial for his life. his fate was in the hands of the jury. the central question for jurors to resolve was the relationship between the two brothers. had michael locasio acted alone when he killed his sister-in-law? or, was it a conspiracy between the two? a question that led them to wonder why prosecutors had been so long in bringing edward locasio senior to trial. >> they had a pretty difficult case to bring. all circumstantial. there's no evidence. no physical evidence. no dna. >> reporter: maybe then, the defense's theory, the crime is accurate. that the brother was a crazy off by his own. and the other brother wasn't

involved? >> that's what made it difficult. >> reporter: the prosecution had asked the jurors to understand the accused motive and state-of-mind through stories told by witnesses like the secretary gudilay gonzeles. she testified that after a phone call between the brothers, she heard her boss ed blurt out that his crazy brother would kill his wife for him if he wanted. one juror thought that outburst actually spoke to edward locascio's innocence. >> i felt that anyone who's -- premeditated a crime of this type isn't gonna blurt something like that out to somebody in their office. it didn't make any sense. >> reporter: and jurors wondered why the secretary had changed her original story about that phone call and had lied under oath in a later deposition. as she admitted, she said for fear of getting dragged into a murder investigation. >> robert, did it bother you that she amended her story a little bit? >> very much so, very much so. it implied that the detective somehow influenced her giving testimony. >> reporter: and all the jurors thought the son, eddie jr's, depiction of his father as a domestic brute was both poignant and credible. >> your son calling you, ed? >> that struck me very strange

that this is the way that family grew up. >> reporter: the string of phone calls between the brothers, where previously there had been few, were points for the. prosecution. >> i would have liked a little more information on what was being said in the phone calls. but for me, it was the key evidence. >> reporter: as for that security cam picture of michael locascio at his brother's condo door the night of the murder. these jurors didn't buy the defense's spin that it showed how out of control the wacky lone wolf brother was. >> i thought it had more to do with what went wrong after the murder than really coming back to report anything to his brother. it was one of the more incriminating pieces, i think. >> reporter: for two days the jurors had gone back and forth, trying to get into edward locascio's head but they didn't have irrefutable evidence that showed them what was going on there. >> reporter: on the third day, they reviewed again: motive. >> at the end of the day, michael didn't have a motive. >> reporter: they sent out a note. they had a verdict.

>> the state of florida versus edward stanton locascio, defendant -- >> reporter: waiting to hear the verdict, edward locascio senior looked grim. across the courtroom, eddie locascio gripped his grandmother's hand and closed his eyes. >> verdict, we the jury find the defendant edward stanton locascio as to count one first degree murder, guilty of first degree murder as charged. so say we all. >> reporter: guilty. eddie junior took in the words he'd been waiting almost six-years to hear. his father shook his head, he now faced a possible death sentence. it has to be a densely complicated emotion. it's your mother, it is your father, and yet, you want this verdict. >> what we wanted to have come out was the truth. because so many -- for so many years, my mother and i had suffered in silence. >> reporter: your father, found guilty of murdering your mother. did you also believe that he should be put to death? >> we certainly didn't oppose the state's desire to -- to seek it. to me, it was like flipping a coin.

either way he's gonna die in prison. >> reporter: the jury was out only a few hours in the penalty phase. >> the jury recommends to the court that it impose a sentence of life imprisonment upon edward stanton locascio without possibility of parole. >> nothing will ever bring back your mom, your sister, your daughter. but i hope you have some comfort in feeling that our system of justice works. >> reporter: edward locascio would not be put to death. he was taken from the courtroom and never looked once at the son who called him "ed". locascio never told his story to the jury during trial. but six months into his life sentence behind bars in a high security lock-up, he talked to "dateline." mr. locasio, you were convicted of, in effect, putting your brother up to kill your wife. did you do that? did you have your wife killed? >> absolutely not. even to the point of her death, i always thought we were probably gonna get back together. at trial, you'll remember locascio's defense was that his

brother was a lone wolf killer who took it upon himself to fix locascio's messy divorce. now, after the verdict, locascio has a different theory. >> reporter: do you accept that your brother michael did it? that he killed maggie? >> i could never see my brother doing that. no. and i can't even -- i-- it's so surreal. >> reporter: edward locascio believes it was a member of his family who killed his wife. not his brother, michael, but -- get ready for this -- his son eddie jr. >> reporter: are you implying that edward, jr. might have been responsible for the death of your wife? >> yes. >> reporter: that he might have killer her? >> yes. >> reporter: and his motivation would have been what? >> money and to keep me out of the house. >> reporter: he'd kill his mother that he dearly loved. he was a mama's boy. >> yes. >> reporter: and he would get rid of her and get you put into the state prison system so he could have the money? that's the -- >> yes, sir. he lied throughout this thing. and it's taken me a long time to say this. there was a love/hate

relationship between eddie and his mother. absolutely. >> reporter: the way eddie tells it, it was a love/love relationship. and you were the odd person out in that household. >> it's just the opposite. she and i were hooked at the hip. >> reporter: you know, people who watch you tell this story, believing that you're guilty as charged, that you conspired with your brother to have your wife killed and now hear you laying off the crime against your own son. they'd say how poisonous is this guy? >> that's their opinion. >> reporter: talking about eddie, of course, and the bad blood. eddie, your son, tells the prosecutor you should get the death penalty. >> it's incredible, isn't it? that's pretty vicious for your own son to say something like that, right? so -- that's a sorry, sad son. >> reporter: police and prosecutors say eddie jr. was thoroughly investigated and cleared after the murder. knowing now what his father is saying about him, eddie jr. says

he is a desperate man saying desperate things. i think i know the answer to this. will you ever see your father in prison?