i was thinking any second i'm going to be sick. i knew he didn't do this and if we didn't fight, hcould be sitting in there for 30 years. >> she was found dead on the floor. >> my wife killed herself. >> he found himself in the crosshairs. >> it's not typical for someone that's going to commit suicide to do it by the way that she done it. >> the fact of the matter is -- >> but this husband had a trump card. >> we knew that he could not

have committed this crime. a man cannot be in two places at the same time. the only thing more shocking than the verdict, what came after. >> she said i have a bombshell? >> she did. >> it's the smoking gun. >> she revealed that they had an intimate relationship. >> followed the money. >> after four years of twists, a family prepares for the truth. >> that's a scary moment. >> it was a horrible moment. >> they weren't so sure as they campaigned for his freedom, he loved her too much for that, they said. and anyway, he was with us, they said. he could never have done those dreadful things, they said. here on that frigid night when the woman inside stopped feeling the cold or anything else.

when the husband returned from what he would later say was his ironclad alibi and called 911. 9:40 p.m. december 27th, 2011 whanch. >> what is the location of your emergency? i need you to take a couple of deep breaths so i can see what's going on. >> i just got home from a friend's house and my wife, my wife -- >> the man was hysterical. a real emotion most that heard it had come to believe but now a question. was it. >> what is her name? >> her name is betsy. >> betsy? >> yes. >> and the caller you can hear is her russell. >> russell, do you think she is beyond help right now.

>> i think she is dead. >> okay. >> oh, god. she's gone. >> betsy was dead and gone at 42 and yet early death for betsy as you will hear is not a surprise, that had been preordained sad to say. it was how it happened and why it happened and all that happened since in a small town near st. louis missouri. was russell innocent as his friends and family and an army of supporters insisted? or guilty as sin as both the state and betsy's family were so sure? and months ago a fresh investigation released startling allegations of sex, secrets and lies and recovered memories. as you'll see tonight the search for justice is a winding road full of jarring potholes and

unexpected detours. >> but first you need to know about betsy. she was one of four girls in her family. mary and julie were older sisters. >> betsy was the most outgoing and most social. >> gregarious. >> that's a great word for her. she was an individual. you couldn't tell her no. she did what she wanted to do and she started d.j.ing at the age of 18 or younger than that. >> wow. >> she could start up a party. she was in her element when she was out there. she could get anybody on the dance floor, whether they wanted to or not. >> betsy was a single mother of two daughters. leah and mariah when she met russ and he seemed perfect for her. funny, outgoing, big heart said his cousin mary anderson. >> he was a happy person. he was a jokester.

never saw him without him laughing. >> and she was the perfect woman for him. >> she encouraged me to go back to school and get my degree which lead to better job and more money and things like that which i probably wouldn't have done had she not come along. >> when he met betsy her daughters were very young. mariah still a tiny girl. >> we created a big bond and leah bonded with me as well. >> betsy and russ got married in january 2000 and like many couples they had good times and less good times. for more than a year they actually lived apart. >> we argued a lot and it's always darkest before the dawn they say. >> then betsy told him she found a church that meant a lot to her. maybe he'd like to come. >> the first week we went there they were starting a series on marriage. we kind of like an omen. >> that, said russ, is when their marriage got better again?

>> we refell in love with one another. >> but life will have it's way with a person. like it or not. betsy found out she had breast cancer. >> christmas of 2009 she told us that she thought she had it and it was diagnosed and that's when she had a mastectomy. and a lot of hard time but we kept our faith and we kept praying. >> she handled it with such grace. she just amazed the millions of people that she knows. betsy's doctor told her the cancer was in remission. they decided to celebrate and

organized a caribbean cruise and invited her friends and family to come along. >> she thinks she is free and clear and then the bomb gets dropped on her. >> the cancer was back and spread to her liver. >> it was inoperable. it was too far in her liver that they couldn't take it out. >> she had with luck, 3 to 5 years. perhaps less. so what did russ and betsy do? they went on that cruise anyway. took the whole gang with them. betsy got to swim with the dolphins. a dream she had for years. >> just seeing how happy she was made me happy. >> she told everybody that this was the second honeymoon for them. they had the best sex they could ever have while they were on this cruise. >> then a few weeks later, betty was dead but it certainly wasn't the cancer that killed her. how did betsy die? the cancer to that wasn't clear at all.

her husband who called 911 had one idea. >> my wife killed herself. >> but investigators had another. >> it's not typical for someone that is going to commit suicide to do it by the way that she done it and that's what concerns us. ! the new chase freedom unlimited card earns you unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you buy. the cash back is unlimited and you can spend it on anything. like, whatever the next ad is selling. get the new chase freedom unlimited card.

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i just got home from a friend's house and -- and my honey, okay?

i need you to calm down and take a couple of deep breaths. we're going to get somebody on the way there. >> there was the town of troy. about an hour from st. louis. he told the operator he returned home from a night out with friends to find his wife betsy dead on the living room floor and he said it looked like she had committed suicide. >> what did she do? do you know? >> she's got a knife in her neck and she's sliced her arms. >> now much later russ told us something clicked when he saw her lying there. >> well she had talked about it years before and actually tried it once or twice. >> and when you came in -- >> i saw slashes on her arms, you know, and that was the first thing that registered in my mind. >> early the next morning betsy's mother janet meyer got a knock on the door. officers standing on her doorstep. >> one of them just looked right at me and said betsy's dead and i said how come she was dead?

she was just here last night. >> officers also went to betsy's sister julie's house. >> they said it was a possible suicide. i looked at her and gave her a look like i don't think that sounds right. >> the thing is by the time police offered the suicide suggestion to betsy's family they already knew the death of betsy was no suicide. not even possible. first responders could tell right away and the medical examiner's office found betsy's body had been pierced many, many times including wounds most likely inflicted after she was already dead. surprising then that police might be casting around for suspects or that russ the husband the man that supposedly discovered the body had some explaining to do. but that night at the sheriff's department, getting him to if he cuss was not an easy thing. >> oh, god. >> i think you're the only one

that can help us with this right now. >> i don't know what to do. >> but investigators had a job to do. find betsy's killer. and they thought it might be russ. who was incredibly emotional. was this grief actually real? whatever it was russ was sticking to the suicide story. >> what do you think happened to betsy? >> it looked like she killed herself. >> but did he really not know about all the other stab wounds? and something else betsy's body was cold and stiff when the first responders survived. the blood was drying. based on that betsy had been dead for sometime when russ called 911. so detectived zeroed in on their movements. >> russ said she had a khemo appointment that afternoon and

planned to go to her mom's house afterwards and then russ would drive her home. or that was the arrangement. but when he called her after 5:00 p.m. >> i asked her if she needed a ride on my way home and she said no her friend was going to bring her home and i said okay. and she said she had something to talk to me about and she said is it good or bad? and she said well it's good don't worry. okay i'll see you at home later and i love you and that was the last time i talked to her. >> after that said russ, he ran sommer rands and then at 6:00 as he almost always did he arrived at a fraensd houiend's house wh small group gathered for game nights. >> we go on tuesday night and play games. >> but that particular night my friend had gotten a couple of movies so we decided to watch movies instead. >> he left at 9:00 he said. stopped for a couple of sandwiches at a local arby's drive-thru and drove the 30 minutes back to his house in

troy which would have put him there about 9:40 p.m.. he said he walked through the unlocked front door all unsuspecting and then -- >> i was taking my jacket off and calling for betsy and then i seen her there on the floor. >> will you ever forget what that was like? coming into the house and seeing that. >> i looked and i saw cuts on her arm and i saw a knife in her neck. >> and that said russ is all he saw. so it looked to him like she had done it herself deliberately. >> and if it's coming back that it's not a suicide, you don't have any idea who may have harmed betsy? >> no, everybody loved betsy. she was a positive soul. she always brought smiles to people. she made me smile all the time. she made me so proud. >> it's not typical for someone

that's going to commit suicide to do it by the way that she done it and that's what concerns us. >> so it did and it also made russ the prime suspect. >> russ and betsy's relationship. they recently enjoyed that romantic cruise but a friend of betsy's tells police things between them aren't that sunny. >> he plays a game of putting a pillow over her face. this is what it's going to feel like when you die and then act like he was kidding. and buy an iphone 6s and get another one free when you add a second line. plus, try us out for 30 days. if you're not satisfied, we'll refund your money.

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>> not long after he found his wife dead the police took him in for a long night of questions and a polygraph test the following afternoon. though when he saw the machine. >> i don't know if the thing was on or not. >> but after it, they told him he failed it. miserably. so he must have done it they said. time for him to confess. >> the fact of the matter is you stabbed betsy. >> no, i did not. >> no i found her like that when i came home. >> i did not do this. >> but investigators didn't buy it. and much of the reason for that is they were hearing from this woman.

pamela huff. she was a friend that drove betsy home from her mother's that evening. pam met betsy years earlier when they both worked in the insurance industry and she had a lot of things to say about russ including what sounded like a big, fat motive. money. >> he makes comments about how much money he'll have after she is gone because he's got -- this is what she said i'm not sure but the financials but like she has life insurance. >> pam huff told investigators she had been with betty the day she died and betsy told her about a proposal she was going to make to russ that the two of them move into their relative's house while they rented out their home in troy. she would be closer to friends. >> she goes okay but i'm telling you right now he's going to get very angry.

she said he's tired of moving. he is staying in his house and that's it. >> so she already approached him with the idea? >> she was going to approach him when he came home. >> could that have set russ off? investigators asked him about that. >> she never mentioned that to me. >> well that was the news she wanted to share with you when you got home. >> i never got a chance to hear it. the first time i heard about it was when you told me. >> investigators didn't believe that. especially when they heard the bombshell pam laid on them. a disturbing game pam said russ played with betsy. >> he would start playing this game of putting a pillow over her face to see what it would feel like -- i don't know if he said this is what it's going to feel like when you die or whatever and then act like he was kidding. she was very upset. >> that sounds scary. >> oh, yeah. >> so they took that accusation to russ too. >> why would her friends tell the police that you have done

that and that she was scared. >> she had no reason to be scared of me. she has never been scared of me. >> but it wasn't just the pam huff story that made russ a key suspect. no. so betsy was killed in her living room, crime scene investigators found her blood on the light switch in the bedroom. and on a pair of russ's slippers stashed in a bedroom closet. >> it's a sloppy crime scene. there's blood on your clothes in your residence n your bedroom. >> i didn't even go to my bedroom. >> and they confronted russ with the horrifying fact that betsy had been stabbed over and over again. many, many times. >> your wife was stabbed over 25 times russ. >> oh my god, no. >> over 25 times. >> they're still counting. >> oh my god. >> a burglar doesn't do that, russ. a stranger doesn't do that. somebody that loved that person does that.

somebody who goes into a blind rage does that. >> russ was going to have to come clean and confess. >> there's no one else that has any kind of a motive, monetary or crime of passion. >> i can't tell you what i don't know. i don't know. i said i can't confess to something i didn't do and i can't give details for something that i wasn't present for. >> they were never focused on anybody else. >> it was the day after the murder that she heard betsy was dead and russ was being questioned and that didn't make sense to her. she had seen betsy and russ just two days earlier. everything seemed fine then. >> they were laughing and happy. she was even saving him a spot on the couch. like here babe you can sit next to me. >> mary for sure russ would not and could not have killed betsy. and russ 48 hours after he was

first brought in for questions the story was all over the local media. >> boy this case has really been taking a lot of turns today. >> that was hard. i mean, they showed my picture on the news. >> they said you were the main suspect. >> yeah. that's what it appeared. and while i was watching it my family turned it off and said you didn't need to watch that. >> some friends began to wonder if they had known russ at all. his famous jokester humor and pranks didn't seem funny now. more like immature, crude. their church friends spent a lot of time with betsy and russ. >> no, respectful. doing it to his wife too. >> you wouldn't understand. it doesn't matter. you don't say that in front of other people to your spouse. >> betsy's mother though she said she was very close to russ also remembered a few things

that stuck out like a sore thumb. >> he told a friend of mine's husband that if he got into a fight with someone he would fight to kill. >> and betsy's sister, they weren't aware russ ever physically hurt betsy but when they thought about it there was rage in that man. >> he had a lot of built up anger. >> there was the time that mary went russ chased one of the daughter's boyfriends with a baseball bat. >> who chases after a boyfriend with a baseball bat. >> who told you about that? >> the girls. >> they were scared by it. >> so when officers told the family about all the stab wounds. >> when they said that i didn't have any doubt in my mind. i never thought it could be anybody else buttress when they told me that. >> that's what the investigators were thinking too but there were plenty of people in town that thought the idea that russ

killed his wife was utter hogwash. but there's a slam dunk alibi from late night buddies. >> we knew he could not have committed this crime. >> it's impossible. >> a man cannot be in two places at the same time.

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>> in the days after betsy died her husband russ was without a doubt suspect number one. but while police accused him of murder. >> all the evidence points to you. >> and betsy's family painted russ as an angry man, others in his world didn't believe a word of it. >> they were very happy and they were planning a trip to florida and it was going to be in marchand he was like if that's what you want to do, you plan it and we'll make it happen. >> after betsy's death cousin mary saw russ's grief up close. >> he was heart broken and he kept saying how bad it hurt because he lost his betsy. that was the most heart wrenching thing to see. >> russ.

>> he broke down just talking to her all by himself. just him at the casket and fell to the ground. he was a broken man. >> it was hard. it was very hard but it was really nice to see how many people betsy touched. >> and as for that story pam huff was telling about russ putting a pillow over betsy's face saying that's what death feels like. >> would russ have done such a thing? >> would he pull a cover over her head and say something like that yes but a pill loefr her face and do something like that no. >> one of their really good friends was russ's aunt. she said russ was the last person she would suspect of killing betsy. especially given how upset he was about her terminal cancer. >> the way that he had spoken about losing betsy, you knew how much he loved her. he was taking it really badly.

>> but the police didn't seem to want to hear any of that. >> they kept saying do you think it could have been russ? >> but of course most of what you heard was just opinion. russ's defenders had something much stronger in their corner. an alibi. remember that game night russ said he attended between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. the night betty was murdered? this is the michael corbin. the host of game night. a few of his friends had been coming by tuesday night for years. >> it's a way we can all get together and be sociable and not spend any money. >> that particular tuesday night mike said russ and the others watched movies together and everybody left at 9:00 p.m. as usual. then early the next day mike and his girlfriend angie got a surprise. >> we were up having our morning coffee and got a knock on the door which is instantly odd. about 6:00 or before. the police more or less invite themselves in and start asking

us a lot of questions about what happened last night? was russell here last night. was he drinking anything? was he acting strangely? >> the thing is police didn't tell them anything beyond the fact that something happened to betsy. they just asked a lot of questions about their game night the night before. then three days later there's another early morning knock at the door. >> they took angie in one car and me in another vehicle and questioned us separately or interrogated us. >> the two others were also picked up and questioned separately. they all said the very same thing. russ arrived around 6:00. they watched movies. >> we were all within 8 feet of each other the whole night. >> did he act the same as usual? >> yeah, you know, he dozed off at one point and i didn't think anything weird of this. >> it's simply the unsupported story of friends. a surveillance camera showed russ stopped for gas after 5:15 p.m..

more videos when he stopped to buy cigarettes and dog food. a couple of iced teas on the way to game night before 6:00 p.m.. russ's cell phone pinged in those areas too and all evening from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. near mike's house and the receipt from his trip to the arby's drive-thru was time stamped 9:09:00 p.m.. it would take about 35 or 40 minutes. putting him home just about the time he called 911. >> once we heard the time line we knew he could not have committed this crime. >> impossible. >> impossible. a man cannot be in two places at the same time. >> but detectives not persuaded. not at all. after all they had pam huff's story and what they said was russ's failed polygraph and her blood on his slippers and it wasn't long after betsy was

killed that russell was arrested for the murder of his wife. some say investigators may have blown it by focussing only on russ because it's somebody else that got the pay out from betty's $150,000 life insurance policy. >> she got the money. >> she got the money. ...and look at this... security camera lenses. oh, why don't you tell the homeowners how great sparkle works? sparkle. 'cause it's a messy world out there. school lunch can be difficult. cafeteria chaos. one little struggle... can lead to one monumental mishap. not with ziploc easy open tabs. because life needs ziploc.

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>> the case against russell went to trial in november 2013. almost two years after betsy's murder. >> i don't know what to do. >> prosecutors open their case with that frantic 911 call the night betsy died. >> do you think that she's beyond help right now. >> yeah. i think she's dead. >> the state said it sounded suspiciously hysterical.

like an act. betsy's mother said it sounded to her like howls of guilt. >> oh my god. oh my god. oh my god. oh what did i do. what did i do? >> well he loved her, didn't he? >> that's what causes these crimes of passion. >> if that wasn't suspicious enough said the state it was also russ's clearly bogus suggestion that betsy killed herself. an obvious lie they argued. after all as they pointed out, the medical examiner discovered she had actually been stabbed more than 50 times. members of betsy's family including her daughters testified that russ had a temper. the friend that drove betsy home that night, pam huff, told the jury what she told police. essentially that russ was a bad guy. the physical evidence also proved that russ committed the murder. that is betsy's blood on his slippers and her blood on the

bedroom light switch even though she was killed in the living room. and russ's semen was found in betsy showing he had sex with her before killing her. as the prosecutor put it to the jurors, he violates her one more time and as for russ's alibi it only made his movements that evening more suspicious. looked like he went out of his way to appear in front of cameras at multiple gas stations when he could have bought everything at one place and his alibi witnesses sounded suspiciously reversed. betsy's mother didn't think much of them either when they testified. >> they were all saying the exact same thing in the exact same monotone. it was unbelievable. >> and that was, in essence, the state's case against russ so which defense attorney joe schwartz said are you killing? >> in my opinion an innocent man got charged with murder and it snowballed from there.

for one thing he said the surveillance tapes, the receipts, the cell tower pings, the friends testimony created an alibi as airtight as any he had ever seen and what stood out stark and clear to him was that there were also some very curious unanswered questions. like, for example, questions about pam huff who bad mouthed russ to the police and the jury. pam had to be one of the last people, if not the last to see betsy alive. that would have been just after 7:00 p.m.. within the window of time betsy is thought to have died and when he read the police reports and listened to pam's interviews inconsistencies stood out. to him anyway. example, one report indicated betsy's mom said pam told her she didn't go into betsy's house when she dropped her off that evening but. >> told the police a different story. said she went inside for 10 to 15 minutes.

>> maybe more like 10 to 20 minutes? >> could be. i wasn't paying attention. i was just trying get out of there. >> another one. pam said when she left the house betsy was sitting on the couch. but in another interview that was video taped she said something different. >> she may have still been on the couch but today it makes sense that she walked to the door. >> and then there were the phone records beginning at 7:21 betsy did not answer phone calls including three for a daughter which just a short time earlier she had promised to answer. so was she dead by then? six minutes later -- >> at 7:27 there's a call from pam huff's cell phone to betsy's cell phone. >> that one also went unanswered. but here's what pam told the police about that 7:27 p.m. call. >> i called betsy to tell her i was home. >> home? >> impossible. pam lived a half hour's drive away.

but where was she based on the cell tower triangulation? >> it showed that she had not gotten more than at the very most about three miles from the house. at the very least she was still at the house. >> but the biggest question to schwartz was about insurance. it seemed very odd that just four days before the murder someone supposedly betsy, made pam the beneficiary of betsy's $150,000 life insurance policy. >> and she got the money. >> she got the money. >> pam told investigators she was one of betsy's best friends and betsy wanted her to get the money to make sure that her daughters got what they needed. >> she goes would you be my beneficiary on my life policy and make sure that my kids get it when they need it? and i said well i could. >> but to make this important change they went to a local library and had a young librarian, not a notary or any

insurance company employee, witness betsy's signature on the change of beneficiary form. the whole thing seemed very fishy. >> i believe that betsy was conned in some way shape or form into signing this policy without believing it would ever actually be sent to the insurance company. which is why she never told anybody including her own mother and her own sisters that she was very close with. >> but the lead detective told the insurance company pam was not a suspect. and so the company cut her the check. >> the husband always does it so this is the guy that did it and that cloud their judgment and their investigation. it's the only explanation in my eyes to explain what i consider to be a horrible deficient investigation. >> they warned her the defense would certainly bring up the issue. >> one of the concerns that i

have is again like i said you're one of the last people to see betsy. you get this money given to you. after all said the detective pam did benefit from betsy's death to the tune of $150,000. >> they're going to suggest that you may have had something to do with the planning or the conspiracy to commit that murder because of your financial wind fall. and not only that -- >> what you originally told investigators is she wanted you to try to make sure that the kids are taken care of because they're afraid of russ and she is afraid of russ. however, you know, i have this money and you have not turned any of this money over to the family or the kids. >> that's correct. >> that's a huge problem. >> to make it look like less of a problem she should set up a trust for betsy's daughters and soon. >> i told you that the first phone call. >> then the detective prepared pam for the key questions he

expected the defense to ask. >> did you have anything to do with betsy's murder? >> no, absolutely not. >> that's exactly what's going to be asked of you. >> in open court but outside the presence of that jury attorney schwartz told the judge he did intend to ask pam about all the things when she took the stand. but the judge said no. he could not ask about any of that because there was no direct connection between pam and the murder. >> in the 25 years i have been practicing law i have never -- a witness testifies you can cross examine the witness. they're bias. their interest. the fact that they're the last person with the victim. the fact that they just recently were given the victim's insurance under who knows what pretenses. the fact that they lied about going in the house. the fact that they lied about where they were when they called the victim after being in the house and i couldn't get into

any of that. i've never seen anything like it. meanwhile the case against russell wasn't quite finished. the allegations still to come. russ had helpers as he set about killing his wife. ♪ lemme get a mcpick2! for a limited time, choose any two mcdonald's classics for five bucks. like the 100% beef big mac, filet-o-fish made with sustainably sourced fish, or 10-piece chicken mcnuggets made with white meat! enjoy the choice! ♪ lemme get a mcpick2! find more delicious deals in our app.

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russ's defense attorney precluded from presenting any evidence to the jury about pam huff's inconsistencies and insurance wind fall made his last best case that his client

was an innocent man. russ wasn't pretending to be grieving when he made that 911 call. he was grieving. >> sounds like a man whose wife was dead and he was grieving tremendously however he was doing his best to answer the questions when asked in order to help the 911 operator and to help the police solve this. >> and russ told the police he thought it was suicide because that's what it looked like when he walked into the house and found her there. >> her wrist was slit deeply and the knife was in her neck. although there was 56 wounds those are the two visible to the naked eye. her shirt and pants covered every other stab wounds. i think the person calling this in as a suicide is not somebody that committed the crime but somebody that had no idea. the wounds are clearly not the result of a wild stabbing you'd see in a crime of passion. they appear to have been

methodically and deliberately made after betsy was dead to make it look like a crime of passion. >> there's no other explanation for the lack of blood and no other explanation for the deep cut on her wrist that's post more testimony. >> and the blood evidence on russ's slippers. >> there was no imprint of a shoe in the blood nor is there any footprint anywhere on the tile floor leading back to where the slippers were found. >> how would the blood get on the shoe? >> somebody attempted to stage this. >> dipped it in the blood? >> dipped it in the blood and hid it back in the closet. >> and for the accusation that russ had sex with betty before killing her. >> there were 8 sperm cells found inside of her during the autopsy the next day. >> totally consistent with what russ told the police. >> we were intimate sunday night. >> that is intimacy two days before the murder. and besides all of that said the defense given russ's alibi

there's no way he could have committed the crime but the state wasn't finished with the case. in her closing argument to the jury prosecutor proposed a complex theory of how the crime occurred. a theory for which she did not present evidence at the trial and it was big. russ's alibi was carefully staged for the precise intention of hiding a murder. and that russ's game night friends were in deep, co-conspirators that helped russ hatch the murder plan. waited for the right night to carry it out and then lied about it on the stand. an accusation mike wasn't in court to hear but later. >> we're innocent people there's no evidence that we did anything wrong that night. there never will be because it didn't happen. >> and despite what the prosecutor argued neither mike nor any of the others have ever

been charged with conspiracy nor have he they been connected in anyway. according to the prosecutor how did russ do it without get a single drop of blood on the clothes he wore that evening and that night when he talked to detectives afterward. here's how. knowing what he intended to do, russ ran errands so he would appear in front of the surveillance cameras. then drove to his friends house and dropped off his cell phone and drove the half hour home stripped naked had sex with betsy stabbed her more than 50 times. showered put on his slippers and began to step in the blood and caught himself an stopped and took those slippers off. at some point he went to the kitchen to get towels that he used to clean up and finally he put his clothes back on.

meanwhile to complete his alibi one of the game night buddies drove russ's phone back to his house picking up an arby's reseat for him on the way. only then said the prosecutor did russ call 911 as he tossed his bloody slippers into the closet. what did russ think of all of that? >> i thought she was making up some story. i had four credible people that i was with all evening. i don't know anybody that would lie for anybody when it comes to a crime like that. i wouldn't. not for my best friend. not for my mom. >> the more important question of course is what the jurors would think. they deliberated before arriving. >> something about going back up to the courtroom and seeing them come in. >> i was nervous. the rest of my life is on the line and depending on these 12 people, it's just trying to hold it all together, you know?

>> he had done everything he could to appear innocent but was he? >> i couldn't really read what they were thinking up until they spoke. >> the jury delivers it's verdict. but this case is the opposite of over. in our next hour, new witnesses, new evidence, and a new account of the night of the murder. >> she remembered seeing a car parked in an odd position down the street. and there were two guys in there. >> but first, a judge's almost unheard of ruling. >> it's incredibly rare having happened only three times previously in the state of missouri. >> ever. >> ever.

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courtroom. when a jury prepares to announce it's verdict. russ stood and searched their faces. but -- >> i couldn't really read what they were thinking, you know? up until they spoke. >> betsy's family stared and listened. >> and when you heard it? >> relief. huge relief. >> relief because the verdict was guilty. guilty of first-degree murder. he struggled to maintain his composure. >> it was devastating because i'm trying my best to hold it together. my family is behind me. >> the worst part of it was looking at russ's face. he was in shock. he couldn't believe it and i haven't lost sleep over a long time in this business and i lost sleep. >> he was convinced a terrible injustice just occurred but betsy's family did not agree. >> they wanted to blame somebody

and the police were telling them that it was me. >> which was exactly right said betsy's mother. all the more convinced that justice had been done no matter what any of russ's supporters might tell her. >> if somebody were to come to you with evidence, strong evidence, that it wasn't russ but it was some other person, is that something that you could accept? >> i would still think it was russ. 100%. >> a month after his trial just before christmas 2013, russ was sentenced to life in prison. he filed an appeal and sat in his cell unable to do much of anything except think. >> i can't imagine ever being mad enough to do anything like that to anybody let alone my wife who i love. i never stopped loving my wife. i did not kill her. >> what does it take to get used to the idea of being in here? >> a lot of prayer. a lot of faith.

>> faith that what? >> faith in god. faith in my attorney. >> that of course was joel schwartz that told us then that for him the case was not over. far from it. >> i know that russ didn't kill betsy and if russ didn't then a jury should hear all the information. >> so he submitted the usual paperwork and then he too was forced to wait. for how long? who knew. >> i never know if the response is truthly how long is a piece of string? it just depends. i'm hoping this is open and shut and we get this thing back in court soon. this man does not deserve to be in prison. so he got busy. for one thing he followed the money. remember betsy's life insurance pay out to pam huff? pam told detectives the money was for betsy's daughters and, in fact -- >> miss huff funded a trust in the name of the kids five days

prior to the commencement of the trial. >> but isn't this interesting. >> about ten days after trial had concluded the trust was defunded over 99.7% of what had been placed in there. >> wait a minute she funded the trust so that during the trial it would look like she had given all this money to the kids. >> that's exactly correct. >> then in july 2014 pam was questioned by lawyers representing betsy's daughters suing her over the insurance money. and that time pam said that the money was never intended for betsy's daughters. betsy wanted her to have the money. all for herself. >> did she mention to you that she wanted the money to be used for her daughters? >> absolutely not. >> she never said anything like that? >> absolutely not. no. >> did she tell you that she wanted you to get the money and to hold it for the benefit of her daughters until they were older?

>> absolutely not. >> i never doubter that that was her motive in the first place. so nothing surprised me. however that in and of itself is something that the court of appeals needed to hear about. >> the question, was key evidence from the state's star witness a lie? so in addition to the usual formal appeal, he filed a request for a special hearing to reconsider and perhaps throw out the guilty verdict based on what pam said about and did with the insurance money. >> we thought the likelihood of success was very small. however we had what i know to be an innocent man sitting in prison so i was willing to take any shot. >> what do you know, in february, 2015, his motion was approved. he would get his hearing. >> it's incredibly rare. having happened only three times previously in the state of missouri. >> ever. >> ever. >> a few months later a week

before that special hearing, prosecutor leah met with pam huff. their conversation was recorded. >> so what are our chances of making the judge believe us? >> she replied that she was confident. >> i feel comfortable. the law is on our side as far as next week goes. so i feel real comfortable with that. and the truth of the matter is why i don't want to have another trial, we got a good case, you know? and i'm a better lawyer today than i was three years ago. and pam huff agreed when she suggested that the bruised ego was the reason for the special hearing and it was a waste of her time and taxpayer money. >> i'd be happy to take him on again. i've also got another 3,000 cases that need my attention and when i spend all of my time just

because somebody has their feelings hurt because they lost. so that's really what it's about in my opinion that's what it's about so to me it's the taxpayers and citizens here. was she right? a week later on a june morning in 2015, a judge would decide. hurt feelings? or injustice? >> a new witness echos pam huff's claim that in at least one important way betsy did not trust russ. >> she asked if my husband and i would be beneficiaries on one of her life insurance policies. >> why should she do that?

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pam huff had shown herself not to be credible so the conviction should be thrown out. the prosecutor counted the case against russ was as strong as ever. arguments lasted less than an hour. they broke at 11:00. the judge said he would make a decision by 1:30 p.m.. but -- >> at 1:30 no judge. i started to get a little nervous and to write motion

granted doesn't take long. however if you're going to write a denial that's going to go to the court of appeals it could take quite awhile. so 1:45 i started to get a lot nervous and about 2:00 i talked to one of the sheriffs and i thought we're going to lose this thing. my confidence had faded and i asked what was going on if he knew and the sheriff told me that there was a printer problem. so at that point my spirits were lifted and i thought we still may win this and the judge came out moments later. >> i didn't know what he was going to say until he said it and it was a very nervous time but when he handed down his decision it was like finally something good in my favor. >> his guilty conviction was overturned. russ would get a new trial. >> it was very overwhelming. you just felt like you had a huge victory. the only thing we ever wanted was a fair chance. a fair trial. >> russ would remain in jail awaiting trial though until

someone could come up with bond money mary was determined to make that happen. >> we were supposed to come up with 50,000 plus property. >> to guarentee. >> that's not so easy to do. >> no, not at all and i didn't know if we could do it. >> but mary had been fighting for her cousin since the day he was charged. >> i got lucky. somebody set me up with a bondsman that knew the story. didn't believe an innocent man should be sitting there and he worked with me. >> mary put up her home as collateral. >> i'm that positive in his innocence and that he's not going anywhere. >> less than two weeks after the hearing mary and relatives and friends all piled into a bus provided by a generous supporter and showed up unannounced at the jail where russ had been behind bars for 3.5 years had no idea what was about to happen. >> the look on his face was priceless.

>> i was just trying to call you. >> it was very emotional. you almost feel like you can't breathe. >> who did you see first? >> my mother. that was incredible. and getting to hug and kiss as much as you want and be with all the people you love at the same time. >> russ moved in with his mom and resumed as much as he could the life he had missed behind bars like game night with his old friends. outings with family. independence day. concerts, fishing. ball games. life was sweet on the outside. but all the while the cloud drifted toward him. the second trial. the real possibility he could be convicted again and sent right back to prison and yet russ told us that despite the risk he was looking forward to a new trial. >> i wanted a fair trial the way that it should have been so that people can renew their faith in the justice system. >> except perhaps he didn't know

what the prosecution was finding out about him. a whole new investigation was opened. detectives dug up brand new material. the prosecutor declined to comment on her new evidence or anything else. so we learned what we could from some of the state's new witnesses. like betsy's long time friend rita wolf. >> we met freshman year in high school. and became friends immediately and had been friends ever since. our friendship never really stopped except for a couple of years when i went away to college. she had moved to florida and then we reconnected after that. >> it's rare to have a high school friend you are able to reconnect with and remain close to. >> oh yeah. picked up where we left off. >> betsy confided in her said rita. especially about her cancer. >> she came to my house once and i didn't even know she was upset at the moment. we talked about a few things and then she just broke down and she said i'm going to kill myself.

but then there would be days where you would never even know she had cancer. we would go play tennis out of the blue and i'd say are you feeling good? i feel great today. and her personality had changed for the moment. >> do you remember how you found out that she was dead? >> i was feeding both of my babies. they were in their high chairs and my oldest son said there's betty and i turned and looked and i had my tv muted and betsy's face was on the tv. that's how i found out. >> what is that like? >> i cried. i called my husband immediately and i said you're not going to believe this betsy is gone. betsy is dead. for a minute a thought oh crap did she really kill herself? >> but only for a minute. when she learned betsy had been stabbed many times she knew it was murder. during those first days of grieving, rita sought out betsy's family. >> i did ask specifically do you think guys think russ did this and they said oh god no. at that moment they didn't think

russ did it. >> but what changed it? >> you know, my opinion is that the more the prosecution's office shared information with their family, the more they believed oh my god he did this. and they would share with me. one of the sisters would text me and tell me you'll never believe this and then we would talk. and so as time went on, i started believing it. >> rita told prosecutor she knew intimately about one of the key pieces of evidence. life insurance. remember, russ's dense implied that pam huff somehow tricked betsy into signing it over to her. a $150,000 policy. but rita knew exactly what betsy wanted to do with that insurance. and it didn't look good for russ. >> she asked if my husband and i would be beneficiary on one of her life insurance policies. >> why would she do that? >> well, what she told me was that she really felt that russ would blow the money on toys and

fun and would not spend it on the girls and helping the girls start a life. she was really, really concerned about the girls getting the money to have for certain things in their life. >> and didn't think she was responsible enough to entrust him with it. >> i think russ will piss it away is what she told me. so we sat down and wrote out a mocked up version of a trust. >> so it sounded a lot like what pam huff had said. that betsy did not trust russ with her life insurance money but she did trust a friend. >> you agreed to do it? >> no, i did not agree to do it. i told betsy that i felt that because she had so many loving sisters i would have put one of her sisters on there. >> but if betsy wanted a friend to take charge of her money, maybe she went next to her friend pam huff. did rita's story mean russ had a motive to kill betsy? and how about this, pam huff, the state's prime witness in the

first trial had new evidence too which she could only call explosive. secrets until now for reasons which will perhaps be obvious. secrets the prosecutor told rita that would blow the case wide open. >> i told her if you think he still did it you have a whole lot more evidence than you had the first time and she said they did. >> but did she say i have a bombshell? i have something? >> she did. >> from out of the blue, a dramatic new claim about bet sis's personal life. >> spent a whole lot of time together, you know? and i did. >> had jealousy over an affair pushed russ to kill his wife?

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you could call this woman the witness for the prosecution. pam huff whose evidence was so central in russ's murder trial. pam went to talk to detectives soon after russ was released from jail. >> pam hupp from missouri. >> and told them a secret. something very surprising indeed. >> she revealed for the first time that she and betsy had had an intimate relationship.

>> robert patrick has been watching the case just as we have. he is a reporter for the st. louis post dispatch and he too was taken aback by pam's story of an affair with betsy. >> they became close friends when they worked together at an insurance company and as russ and betsy's relationship deteriorated pam took a surrogate role as partner. >> i knew everything about every member of her family about everything they'd done. >> here's pam telling the detectives. >> i knew the most intimate of intimate of family stuff from her. so our relationship started pretty soon, fast of i was a huge confidant of hers. i don't tell other people's business. i don't really care. so she knew that she could talk

to me about anything. and it didn't go any farther. >> if it wasn't intimate initially but after the cancer diagnosis pam thought that the least she could do for her friend was to sort of give into this intimacy that betsy wanted. >> we spent a whole lot of time together. i did. i replaced what a husband would be. it's a relationship with two women who really aren't attracted to women. i don't know how to explain that. i'm attracted to men. love everything about them. can't wait until magic mike xl comes out but she is the same way. it's not like she was a lesbian or anything. there was sufficient an evolution of emotional drama for her. >> because russ according to pam had become abusive but when he found out what betsy was up to -- >> what did russ think about this relationship according to pam?

>> according to pam even before they consummated it he was suspicious of their relationship and apparently he and betsy had arguments about it and she would throw her relationship with pam in russ's face. >> she talked about me all the time. >> and that angered him? >> because it wasn't just -- >> well bothers is one thing. >> but it wasn't even sex. he thought that was part of it because she likes sex but that's not true. >> well you're absolutely right. i don't think the sex would have bothered him as much, again -- >> he wouldn't have cared about that. >> as the emotional part. >> if we just went and banged in the closet once a week he wouldn't have cared. >> a agree. >> there's a lot of people like that because there was no threat. >> you were changing his whole dynamic. >> and then one day pam told the detectives russ confronted her and something truly ugly happened. >> pushed me up against the wall and he was all red faced. >> gritted teeth.

>> he was about this far away from my face. he was right there. i could feel his spit. nasty and he said you two [ bleep ], something to that effect, i ever catch you together again i'll bury you out in the backyard. >> just a few weeks prior to her being killed. >> yes. >> and said pam, on the night betsy was murdered she was going to tell russ she was leaving him. intended to file for divorce and betsy knew that russ would be furious, said pam. but neither of them understood how furious. >> i had guilt feelings. i'm leaving her with this [ bleep ] coming home. i know he's coming home. she knows he's coming home. we both know there's going to be a big thing going on and i left her there. >> right. >> and i felt guilty. but i didn't want to be there. >> then almost four months later just a few weeks before the new trial pam told detectives she started recalling some vague

images in her head from the night of the murder so on her own she went to the scene of the crime and standing there outside of the house she told those detectives an old memory returned to her. a crucial memory. >> she went back to the old house and took pictures and kind of looked down the street and she said he remembered seeing russ that night. she remembered seeing a car parked in an odd position down the street and there were two guys in there. >> and you think you recognized one of those guys. >> i do. >> who do you believe that person was? >> i believe it was russ. >> and there was another guy bigger in the passenger seat. when she drove by they appeared to be ducking down as if perhaps they lost something on the floor and at one point the passenger was gone. >> well, this is a fairly complicated return memory. >> it is and it potentially is a huge gift to the prosecutors.

like hey we have the russ on the scene at time when it would fit in with all of the evidence. he or someone else sneaks in and kills her and has time to be cold and stiff by the time ems arrives. >> an an eyewitness that said she saw it. >> right. >> then the prosecutor revealed she uncovered a true scandal. russ had a girlfriend said the prosecutor and was stepping out with her at the time of the murder. a girlfriend who it seemed was having his baby. >> here's another motive for russ to kill his wife because he wanted to be with his pregnant girlfriend. >> but the key piece of new evidence undiscovered until now was a letter found on betsy's laptop. a letter that spelled out her fears about russ. this was the smoking gun. >> the prosecutor called it

betsy's dying declaration. having a pillow put over her face and feeling threatened by russ. here's this bad guy motivated by all of these things to do my harm. >> it was the letter in which betsy asked pam to accept her life insurance money and use it to help betsy's daughters. it ended with the line that looking back could be considered prophesy. >> she says if anything happens to me give this to the police. >> the prosecutor was confident russ was about to be convicted of murder a second time. >> joel schwartz has a different take arguing that the prosecutor's new evidence will only help russ. >> the lies upon lies continue to at least in our view enhance our defense. from at&t.

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>> as he prepared for his new trial in early november 2015 he knew he could be going back to prison for the rest of his life. >> a lot of butterflies. especially the weekend before. >> and he knew the state was going to present new evidence against him. >> i wanted it to be over. >> security for the trial was very tight. no cell phones or recording devices were allowed in the courthouse and at the entrance

to the courtroom bags were inspected. police used wands to check for contraband or metal in people's pockets. but resentments festered. the treatment to some people didn't seem equal. >> betsy's side, they could cut in line. they didn't get patted down. they didn't use a wand. they didn't search their purses. pam hupp, got to go in through an employee's door. >> this was a very polarized room. the two sides didn't want much to do with each other, right? >> not at all. it was tense. >> the prosecutor presented the case again as a crime of passion. she reviewed all the old evidence. the 55 stab wounds. the bloody slippers, russ's alleged abusive and controlling behavior and so on. >> here's a bad guy. he's mean to his kids. he's mean to his dog. he's mean to his wife. there's blood in spots. maybe there was clean up in other spots. >> and then there was all the

new evidence. and one extra tidbit mentioned for the first time on day one of the trial. >> a sheriff's deputy said i remembered that i did see some water in the tub. >> meaning? >> well that would fit with the prosecution theory that russ had killed her and then cleaned up. >> so what did the defense attorneys think about this amped up evidence against russ? not much apparently. that last bit for example, the water drops in the bathtub with the allegation that russ killed betsy and then cleaned up in the tub? >> this officer coming up with this evidence three and a half years after the fact and allegedly remembering something as minute of a detail as water droplets in a tub is deeply troubling. there was never a report on it. >> it's a convenient recollection to have years later. >> what about pam hupp's story

about a intimate relationship with betsy. >> i don't believe it nor did anybody else that knows betsy and frankly the people we spoke to that knew pam hupp. nobody bought it. it was an excuse for betsy to have given her the money. >> the state's case didn't make any more sense now than it did the first time. >> it was still based on no evidence. >> but the wildest thing of all said the defense attorney was the tale, make that tales, told by pam hupp. >> pam's story became, let's call it super charged. as she continued to speak with detectives the stories became more outlandish. i think in their view their case got better. however the lies upon lies continued to at least in our view, enhance our defense number one and show that bases of their theory had no stability whatsoever.

>> but unless she was telling the truth. >> it's simply not possible based upon her answers hah she was telling the truth because the things that were stated by miss hupp are 180 degrees different from things stated by her previously. >> were they? well, yes. back in 2011 pam said she had only met russ a few times. >> he seems nice enough. i just don't know him that well. the last time i saw him was at her 40th birthday party he had for her. >> but in june 2015 she said she knew him all too well. saw him up close and personal just before the murder. when, she claimed, russ threatened to bury her in the backyard. >> just a few weeks prior to her being killed? >> yes. >> in july 2014, when pam was questioned by lawyers representing betsy's daughters, she denied any intimate relationship with betsy. >> no, we were not having an affair -- there was not an intimate relationship.

>> but when detectives met with pam a year later in 2015, pam was telling them they were very intimate indeed. >> i replaced what a husband would be. >> curious, also in the 2014 civil deposition pam said she had a good memory. >> do you have any memory problems? >> no. >> but in 2015 when she told detectives that she suddenly recalled seeing russ outside his house the night betsy was murdered she blamed her not remembering that before on her having a bad memory. >> so my brain has been almost like a boxer's brain. severe head injuries. three accidents in a row. >> but just as astonishing as her inconsistency says the defense attorney is where that story about seeing russ that night actually came from. one of the detectives. you can hear it for yourself. >> what we believe may have happened is that you were

present and russ was not there when you and betsy got there. and that prior to you leaving, somehow or another russ knew that you were there, either by phone call or just the sheer presence of your car or that he walked in and saw you there and that that was particularly motivating was him coming into the house. that is what we have discussed among ourselves. the detective asked pam straight out -- >> is any part of that correct and, in fact, did you see russ that night? >> no. >> you heard right. she said, no. until a few months later when she said yes. >> who do you believe that person was? >> i believe it was russ. >> the police in effort to enhance miss hupp's story as well as bolster their case

suggested a theory to miss hupp that she may have seen russell at the house that night. >> which she adopted. >> it's so brazen to be doing it on a recording. >> her theer risk were rampant. >> the story she would tell in a single interview would be inconsistent. >> then remember the state's allegation that russ was having an affair when betsy was murdered and the woman was possibly pregnant with his baby at the time? little fact checking might have been a good idea. the woman did have an affair with russ. it was way before betsy was murdered and well she once claimed she had russ's baby while he was in prison but that simply wasn't true as she herself admitted. >> what happened when she put this woman on the stand? >> the woman said what she always said. yes we had an affair. that affair ended a year and a

half before betsy died. i never had a baby. i don't know why i'm here. >> surprise. >> there was another one coming too. didn't look good for someone. >> from deep inside a computer, investigators are about to retrieve a critical piece of evidence. >> it is the smoking gun. >> and defense makes a risky move. >> i was going to either be the goat or the hero. something that makes me happy my name is roger zapata and i'm a usaa member for life. usaa. we know what it means to serve. get an insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life.

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>> it was a little like watching a tennis match. for observers at the murder retrial. the prosecution served hard and the defense responded in kind. >> every time her people went out he would come back and shoot them down. >> joel was having some success. cross-examining the witnesses like for example rita wolf who was called by the prosecution but -- >> the defense i talked to them as well and i really felt that the life insurance piece helped

them more than it helped the prosecution just because of who got it. >> it was pam hupp that got it. could 150,000 be a motive for murder? as pam herself told detectives. >> money makes people do crazy, crazy things. >> but the surprise, at the first trial an officer testified that a special test had possibly detected blood in the kitchen. he had taken photos to prove it but he told the court the pictures did not turn out. so jurors would have to take his word for it. >> the officer testified that nothing developed. all of the photographs were simply blackness because the camera malfunctioned. >> he din believe it. >> i have been insisting for the last 2.5 years on the black photos and i didn't buy it. >> and finally before the second trial his suspicions were confirmed. the photos did turn out. were there all along.

>> we got a cd that had 132 photos. not one of which didn't develop. >> wow. >> those pictures did not support the officer's testimony about the results of that special test. >> they didn't show what he wanted them to show which is why we didn't see them in the first trial. >> in fact, later testing found no blood at all in the kitchen. >> you used a very strong word about that testimony. >> perjury. >> yeah. >> strong word. strong allegation. it's not an inaccurate aelt allegation though. >> but you're talking about a police officer. >> yes i am. >> when we called the officer he rejected that allegation. he accused attorney scwartz of dealing in smoke and mirrors but the defense still had a big problem. the computer document the one addressed to pam found on betsy's laptop and never sent in which she asked pam to be

beneficiary of her life insurance and then expressed a fear about what russ might do to her. clearly said the state that was betsy's own very personal dying decla declaration. >> when you got it, what did you think? >> initial reaction is this is troubling. >> so it was because it appeared to back up pam hupp's version of events. in fact pam told detectives about the documents soon after the murder. >> i would like to see maybe if you guys can find that letter she was going to send me. >> but whether they looked for it or not they didn't find it. not then. not until just before the second trial. when a cyber crimes investigator finally cracked that computer. a copy of the document was turned over to the defense. >> it is a smoking gun but it's not a smoking gun that leads to russ. i had always said this letter would turn up only because miss hupp was so insistent that this letter was there. >> but this was curious. there was something different

about this particular document. different from any other document in betsy's computer. >> once we looked at the letter and had our computer expert analyze it, it turns out that it would be very difficult if not impossible for betsy to have written this the way it came up in her computer. >> why would you say that. >> it was the only one in the computer that said author unknown. >> meaning the document had been composed on a different computer all together. and then transferred to betsy's laptop says the defense without betsy's knowledge. >> miss hupp knew what computer it was in. where on the computer it was. the entire contents of the letter as well as when it was created. i find that suspicious at least. >> because the document was loaded on to betsy's laptop the day before pam was named the beneficiary of betsy's life insurance policy and just days before the murder. >> it's likely that person deliberated coolly as to what

they were going to do to betsy and when they would do it knowing where russ would be at the time. >> which if you're right means it's pretty carefully planned murder. >> i think you follow the dots as well as the money and that information should be carefully as well as thoroughly looked at. >> pam hupp whose story was the backbone of the state's case against russ was not called to testify. but thanks to her police interviews the shifting stories pam told were front and center at the trial. along with revelations like she kept the life insurance money and was the last person known to have seen betsy alive. >> the judge allowed us to go into those things. >> in the end, it wouldn't be a jury who would decide russ's fate. joel had already rolled the dice and elected trial by judge alone. too late to go back now.

>> a bench trial, a trial by judge alone and not jury. why in heaven's name would you do that when it can be risky? >> it was a gut instinct. i was going to either be the goat or the hero. >> he'd find out soon enough. >> the judge announces his ruling. >> that's a scary moment. >> it was a horrible moment. >> after four long years russ finally learns his fate. s evenly into three extra absorb channels. so it doesn't sag and stays drier. so wiggle it and jiggle it... in pampers cruisers. wishing you love, sleep and play... pampers. jane loves to treat herself. so she loves new light & fit crunch.

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the 5th day of the retrail when the judge, the sole person to decide the verdict started his deliberations. >> i was just milling around ouside of the courtroom with family and friends and they were all trying to keep my spirits up. >> then three excruciating hours later. >> as i was getting ready to come back in. >> i think i'm going to be sick. i reached over to his sister and she had the same exact feeling so we were sitting there holding each others hands thinking we can't go through this again. what happens? what if? what if he feels the same way the jurors did? what do we do then? we can't go through this. and he walks out and he starts talking. >> that's a scary moment. >> it was a horrible moment. >> i'm just standing there and i'm sure i was holding my breath. just standing as straight as i could and focused in on the judge and it seemed like an eternity. >> he's talking and you're thinking now i'm a little confused because where is he going with this. >> and then finally here it was.

the words. >> he says on the count of murder in the first degree i find you not guilty. on the count of criminal action i find you not guilty. just like a heavy weight lifted off my shoulders. >> and we all just busted up in tears. you felt the floor come out from under your feet and you're thinking did we hear it right? is it real? is he really coming home? >> he was. russ was a free and finally vindicated man. >> to see the tears of joy and to see the defense attorneys cry i was happy for russ and his family because he sat in prison long enough. >> there was a big celebration of course. many stuck by him and fought

hard. >> and also declined our request. and betsy's murder. >> pam has never been charged with any crime in connection with this case. a case the prosecutor considers closed. she told date line she still believes russ killed betsy. in fact, she gave us a written statement. there was probable cause to believe the defendant committed the crime. a jury was firmly convinced of his guilt. a judge was not. well, in fact, in open court, the judge said, the investigation into the facts and theories of this case by law enforcement is rather disturbing and frankly raised more questions than answers. >> i have represented a lot of people that i felt were innocent and i believed it. none more than russ.

>> a few weeks after russ was acquitted once and for all we joined him and his friends for game night. together again. good now. >> russ's game night buddy vowed at the second trial just as they at the first one that russ was with them when betsy was murdered. this was the alibi the prosecutor couldn't believe. in fact one of the friends revealed here that officers leaned on him unpleasantly. >> did you feel threatened? >> absolutely. >> before the second trial. >> trying to get you to flip on russ. >> well, i want you to look at this and he opens up the book and shows me the photos of the crime scene and, you know, she's laying there and i said i don't want to see those. i can't handle the blood and guts stuff and that's when they come in trying to office me immunity. and i'm like immunity for what. why would i need immunity. i didn't do anything. we all didn't do anything.

>> but now this strangest of cases was finally over and russ could contemplate some kind of life again though for now not with his step daughters who testified against him. they lost their lawsuit against pam hupp over the insurance money and filed an appeal. >> the only thing that i am planning on doing is moving forward. i could dwell on the past and be miserable for the rest of my life. dwell on what happened to me and dwell on my wife's death and dwell on the fact that i was locked up and maybe go through all of this and i'll be miserable forever or i can choose to look forward and make my own future. >> what would she think of all of this? >> she would be very disappointed in a lot of people. >> she meaning of course betsy. >> let me see your hand. you still wear your wedding ring. >> yeah. i still care about betsy. i think about her every day.

>> i'll be doing something and it will bring up the memory. she is still alive in my hrt. >> [ sighs ] oh, gene. i can't believe you're going to space for five years. what am i gonna do without you? >> hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. no tears. hey, you see -- you see that spot in the sky right there? >> uh-huh. >> well, whenever you miss me, you look up at that spot, because that's where i'll be, looking back at you. >> oh. here. >> what? >> so you always know what time it is at home.