in a calm, steady voice, she detailed a life of abuse starting at the age of six. but it was her relationship with her husband that got the jury's attention. karla porter says that ray controlled every aspect of her life. constant verbal abuse consisted of curse words as well as telling her she was ugly, fat, and stupid.porter says everything would set ray off. his problems and accidents were her fault. physical abuse included hitting her with a wooden tailgate, smashing lost keys into her for headhitting her in the back with familye because the puppy would not come to ray on demand. her metal -- with a metal tool box. he pressed the power drill into her stomach.

after dumping out holy water in the river jordan he won -- she wanted to baptize her children with, he kicked her in the side, saving now her side hurt like jesus. she was asked why did she not tell somebody? her consistent answer -- i was afraid. it was easier to do what he wanted.i didn't want to cause any waves. she says that he threatened to kill her several times. while visiting her mother's gravestone, he pushed her head thatthe gravestone.he said she should be dead with her mother. a surprise for you. i am going to kill you by smashing your head into the kitchen floor. she claims that he slammed her head into the kitchen floor for five minutes. not long before the murder, porter pointed a gun to her head and said, no matter what, we are going to florida. she says that ray was obsessed with selling the gas station and blamed her for the winter snow and failed real is eight deals. -- real estate deals. her attorney asked, why did you do something?-- why didn't you

do something. she replied "i was afraid. i was always afraid." her attorney asked, why did you have ray killed? she said "i just felt like i porter says she did not leave ray because he said he would find her. examination,- prosecutors tried to plant the seeds of doubt and the jury by questioning where were all the witnesses? why she toldanded counselors just last month that he was not all that bad. david collin, wbal-tv 11 news. >> david, thank you. the man did of killing his wife and burying her body under a shed in the backyard of the maximum penalty. we were in the courtroom when robert jarrett junior learns his fate. >> it has been a long year and a half. we are happy with the judge's

words and the sentence. to judgegerrit reacts richard bernhardt's decision to sentence robert jarrett for the maximum 30 years for the murder of his wife christine back in 1991. found guiltyt was of murder after killing his wife and burying her body underneath a shed in the backyard where it would rest for 21 years. according to sentencing guidelines, he could have been sentenced anywhere from 10 to 21 years, after -- but after bobby, a statement from including that he and his brother used tplay in the shed, not knowing they were standing on top of their mother, the judge said the maximum sentence was just. >> it has been 21 years. younow, we have to really look

back at our entire lives and just -- it realize the manipulation and the deceit through all of these years. it was tough, but it was very therapeutic. >> robert jarrett's attorney said he was not surprised, saying the fix was always in for his client. >> unfortunately it was anticipated he would get every day of 30 years. he was not sense is for the crime, but the way she was disposed of. >> not true, says bobby and his supporters. he feels that his father got what he deserved. a monsteryour father hiding behind the softness of human skin. what do you think of that? >> i think he got it dead on. >> he will get 170 days. he could be eligible for parole

in 15 years. his attorneys have already filed the necessary paperwork for an appeal. a-rod's bike against his suspension by major league baseball has officially begun. the suspensiont by major league baseball is officially begun. the case has been sent to an independent arbiator. aftervied the suspension an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs. the new york yankees third baseman can play while the suspension is being appealed. five on monday night in a loss to the white sox in chicago. cal ripken junior appeared on the show to talk about the world series, but we asked for his reaction to the suspensions. >> i think they are doing everything they can to deter people from trying it. ae investigatory approach is strong one. i am an advocate for harsher penalties.

there is a lot of money involved and it seems like that is the issue that forces people to do it. >> now says he would not mind players being suspended entirely from the game, but he says that mistakes happen and that needs to be taken into account as well. 180 days after they won the super bowl, the ravens take the field for their first three season game. gerrysports director sandusky checks and as we are an hour away from kickoff. factor in could be a the preseason openers for the raven. when the team arrived shortly after 4:00 this afternoon, so did the thunderstorms. john harbaugh may have to make personnel changes along the way. otherwise, coach harbaugh and the coaching staff will look for the same things you will look for in the preseason opener.

who will emerge as the inside linebackers the starting rotation? how will the old safety and the new safety play along matt elon tonight? will be the go to guys for joe flacco? who will fit the role of tight end with data and dixon sidelined with injuries -- pitta dixon sidelined by injuries. john harbaugh would rather be answering questions about the season proteins and i've been talking about last central team. in tampa, gerry sandusky, wbal- tv 11 news. >> that brings us to the ravens text question of the day. earlier we asked, will be ravens playing back-to-back super bowl's? 61% said yes and 39% said no.

not? shall see, shall we [laughter] >> a good reason to get your back-to-school shopping done this week. >> what items you can save on, next. >> heavy downpour is pushing through baltimore. we will track these through t

>> if you are like most parents, you adore the chance to save some money, right? and next week will be tax-free week in maryland.

he will not have to pay the six percent sales tax on clothes and shoes and items that cost less than 100 bucks. this is the fourth year in a row for tax-free week. >> this is the second most important week of retail sales in the entire year. we are out here to sell maryland consumers, that they should deserve and take advantage of this tax break to buy their back to school clothes for the kids. begins thisweek sunday, august 11 and runs through next saturday, august the 20. >> three winning tickets matched the powerball numbers. a last number sold in maryland. two came out of new jersey. the third from minnesota. all not lost. a lower tier winning ticket was sold in calvert county. check those numbers again. 25 -- powerball is 32.

you have to match the first i've numbers to -- first five numbers to win that $1 million. >> now your 11 insta-weather plus forecast with meteorologist ava marie. >> we can hear the frequent thunder over the studio. some of you in baltimore city may be hearing that as well. temperatures have been falling as the rain moves through and clears things down. we are down to 76 at the airport . 81 in columbia. very humid out there. it felt like 90 degrees even areas were only in the mid 80's. the red bull lies indicating rainfall rates at one to two inches per hour. this is moving to theast. it is pounding parts of the city all the way up tcockeysville. you can see how this would continue to move up in northeast toward harper county, eventually

cecil county. on the backside, a little bit of a lull. there could be more activity developing through the afternoon, especially as the clouds start to break apart a little bit. sign on aver a good day like today. the additional heat allows the atmosphere to continue to bubble. that is why we see the storms moved through. watch out for showers and thunderstorms, any which could be heavy and and some strong winds. of theail is not out question either. because it is so warm and humid, we are only expected to drop into the mid--70's in the suburbs. you definitely want to keep the windows shut tonight. showers and thunderstorms again tomorrow. especially in the afternoon. the highs will be in the mid- 80's. feeling very humid. very muddy out there for tomorrow. high pressure off the coast.

this continues to move through the mid-atlantic. there is a cold front off to the north and west. it is a slow-moving one, but we intopect it to move maryland this weekend. behind it more comfortable air. the front will probably stall right over maryland in that means the southern part of the state, the beaches will have multiple showers and storms to deal with over the weekend. keep that in mind if you go to ocean city. not to say it will be raining the entire time. you will definitely be dodging those storms. temps should be near 80 degrees each afternoon. our seven-day forecast shows that we do have more storms expected, a couple showers possible on sunday. notice the seven-day looking into the mid--80's. tampa.k -- here is the ravens will start their preseason game. a couple light showers moving through at this point.

that is not a big eel. it is the lightning we have to worry about. -- that is not a big deal. it is the lightning have to worry about. as we progress through the night, those storms should move off the coast. the end of the game does look much brighter than the start. that is what we have to worry about, if there is a delay because of the thundernd lightning. temperatures in the mid-80s. >> this is 11 sports. cry from thea far last time you saw the ravens play, but it is footballs and -- it is football and it is the ravens. you may recall the last time we saw the ravens. february 3 in new orleans. on that night a workaround champions of the world -- they were crowned champions of the world. tonight a new journey begins. names that you know like flacco, rice, suggs -- how much action

will they see? >> we are not going to play them the whole game. it is different because we play sothursday. we play sooner, we try to factor that in as we go. kickoff between baltimore and tampa bay. it is said just after 7:30. gerry standing by. the pre-go -- the preshow game live from tampa. markll or nothing slugger, reynolds. baltimore opted not to pick up his option. instead he signed with the indians. that ended when cleveland designated him for assignment. reynolds was one of the key players on the orioles amazing playoffs run. he has been stuck in a typical reynolds nightmare at the plate.

struck out 65 times in 45 games. all that said, some rumors that the rate -- the orioles have interest in the infielder. he was really like inside the baltimore clubhouse. the final major of the golf season is here. route that summer does fly by. round one of the pga championship in rochester, new york. will this be the tournament where the drought ends for tiger woods? his last major, 2008. not the way he wants to finish round one. he bogeys that whole. one over. to the defending champ, rory mcelroy. he takeser though -- the long putt, the distance for birdie, and he will move to two under after that shot. he is at the top of the leaderboard with five under.

stay with us. we have a look at your seven-day forecast.

>> here is a look at what we are working on for 11 news tonight. an elderly couple never again

victimized by scammers. tonight after the game, how suspects gained access to their home. in her own words, the woman accused of hiring a hitman to kill her husband describes a lifetime of abuse. plus, tax- free shopping. plus, the economic impact. the stories

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute

--www.ncicap.org-- >> it is quiet now, but it was not -- >> thundering. >> we may get a brief break, but more is still possible. thursday night, tomorrow. it looks like it will clear out for baltimore for the weekend. southern areas of the state will have to deal with with storms through the entire weekend. baltimore and north, pretty good weather. >> also the weather in tampa tonight. it will be dicey for sure. thanks for joining us, everybody. the nightly news is next. >> we will see you at 11:00.

on the broadcast tonight -- disaster zone. the worst flash flooding in years overwhelms more than a dozen states. high water rescues tonight. and out west an exploding wildfire forces evacuations in

southern california. a family's plea for a teenaged girl's safe return. and fears about what happened to her brother. tonight, an amber alert spreading across several states and a growing manhunt. black boxes. they help investigators after a plane crash, but did you know they're in nearly every new car on the road? and that's got a lot of people concerned about privacy. and meet the millionaires who just hit one of the biggest jackpots of all time. "nightly news" begins now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is ""nbc nightly news" with brian williams. i'm lester holt in tonight for brian. we start with the days and days of torrential rains that have left neighborhoods cut off, cars swept away and led to evacuations and some dramatic rescues. it's happening across the nation's midsection and it has left scores of communities awash

in misery. as we come on the air tonight, flash flood watches and warnings are posted for more than a dozen states. from kansas to tennessee. to give you a sense of the intensity of the downpours they've been seeing, parts of missouri saw 15 inches of rain in two days. parts of arkansas got 10 inches overnight. so far this weather system has left at least two people dead. we begin our coverage in hard-hit nashville and nbc's kerry sanders. kerry, give us a sense of what all that water is doing. >>eporter: well, good evening, lester. more than 200 people here in tennessee were rescued by boat. the power of those flash floods is evident right here. this is the foundation of what was a one-story office building. those flash floods picked it up and deposited it over here in a parking lot. rain was predicted, but nashville residents didn't expect to wake up to this. eight inches of rain on already saturated ground sent water

rushing down city streets and highways, forcing some to shut down completely. it began before dawn. >> a couple more inches and this area is going to be in trouble again. so hopefully this will slow down. >> reporter: but the water kept rising. >> i got up and looked out the bedroom window and i said, oh, my god. >> reporter: making it especially difficult for emergency crews to reach people who managed to escape their homes, only to become stranded. 911 calls began at 4:30 in the morning. at least 35 water rescues were reported. schools opened on schedule, but buses were diverted from flooded areas. by late afternoon, floodwaters began to recede, revealing the damage. >> all my furniture, everything was just messed up. couches turned over. >> reporter: in missouri, six inches of rain on top of three days of relentless downpours set the stage for flash floods. more than 40 roads remain closed in central missouri. one woman died when her