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tv   Dateline NBC  NBC  October 24, 2015 8:00pm-10:00pm EDT

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>> somebody came out from behind the trees and he shot me. >> coincidence? >> what in the world is going on? >> that's what i wanted to know. >> her husband had an alibi, and something else, a lover. >> it was shocking. i never would have expected it. >> as the police got closer to the truth. >> he says, "i think i know who did it." >> the truth just got closer to home. >> he said, hold on, it is about to get a lot more crazy. you won't find mayberry rfd on the map, but if civility is something that you want, you
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ter that on the settle in grovetown, georgia. >> it is one of the best places. >> the army fort is down the road are and the city's 12,000 residents are active or military. crime stats can be measured in stolen bicycles. >> here s is a veteran investigator for the county. >> how big is the crime? >> hardly any crime. >> dozens of homicides would you say? >> maybe one a year. >> and they did a homicide in 2011 one that sent people scrambling for fresh ammo. >> you wondered what is going on. >> so many terrible things happened so quickly and so many taboos broke en n on a suburban street that the mind reeled.
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>> we were so much praying for the fam the family. >> the neighborhood was shocked. >> it began here with two best friends on a street called hot springs drive in grovetown. kay parsons had moved into the neighborhood in 2005. she was a devoted wife to her husband david who worked at fort gordon and an active mom cheering on her 12-year-old son derrick. tamara lived down the street. >> she was a sweetheart. you never saw her mad or upset. always smiling, and just a joy to be around. >> what kind of things did she like to do in. >> mostly anything to do with her son and her husband. she was very supportive and always being with them. >> next door to kay was becky sears, and she had her hands full, too, she and her husband tony had five kids, including two older sons from becky's previous marriage. >> she is one of the people who is outgoing and, hey, how you doing, type people.
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>> tamara got to know both, but she says that kay and becky hit it off. >> they were best friends and inseparable and together 24/7 almost. >> the two neighbors became peas in a pod, and they worked at the same physical therapy center called healing hands. >> jordan cowley was their boss. what did you see with them? >> they were always cutting up, and always telling story about their best friends because they played baseball together. >> and they even joined weight watchers together. >> who is up a pound and down a pound pound? >> yes, everyday. >> and one day many march of 2009 began like any other. kay, the little league mom got up to take derrick to school, and becky, the mother of five left a few minutes later before
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all very routine, until 8:30 a.m. when contractor mitch cozart showed up to do some work. sometell me what you found >> i saw that back door was broken into. >> did you peek the head out and look around? >> i stepped my head just inside enough to holler out for her, and i didn't get no response. >> he tried to call kay's phone and no answer there, either. he came back out front and noticed a young man sitting on a rock across the street. his name was michael, the oldest of kay's friend with becky's five kids. michael had overheard the contractor talking on the phone. >> i walked up to him, and i said, hey, did you say something about this house being broken into, and he said, yeah. and i said, well, mine has, too.
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>> and now, two broad daylight break-ins. >> and i carry a firearm in my vehicle, and so i actually went out to get one, in case, because somebody could run out or whatever. >> so he called 9111. >> yeah, the back door is broke up, and the neighbor's home is broke into it, and i called the neighbor, but she is not -- i dont 't know, i hollered into the door and i didn't get any response. >> yeah, i don't want you to go in. >> the contractor followed instructions and within minutes law enforcement responded to the scene, ready to investigate two potential burglaries right next to each other. police taped off the area, and now tamara's neighbors were calling her at work, including work. >> he asked me, have i spoke even to kay, and said, no, not today, i'm at work. and he said, okay, i'm trying to get in touch with kay, i'm in
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>> first responders at the scene contacteded the sheriff's office. >> it is very unusual to have two houses side by side hit at one time. that same way. >> you are thinking where is that guy going to go next? >> correct. i am thinking where is he at? >> as edmonds turned his attention to the break-ins at the two homes, then they discovered something terrible sblchlt this is a pool of blood sblchlt this not a simple burglary, but a violent attack with the bloody trail between two best friends and the female body lying in the garage. >> she was beaten so severely, you could hardly recognize her. >> what happened on hot springs drive? and whose sanctuary was about to be violated next? a badly injured victim in one house, and was something worse waiting for police at the next door. >> the point of entry there was
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>> reporter: march 25, 2009. just after 9:00 a.m. sheriff's deputies had rushed to this quiet residential street in
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investigate not one, but two burglaries. worried about her friends and neighbors kay and becky, tamara baldwin left work and headed home to what shockingly had become a crime scene. >> did you see lots of vehicles and uniforms and -- >> a lot of police cars, the entire corner was all taped off with crime tape. now you see two houses that i have to pass to get home, and you wonder what's goin' on. >> reporter: and what the responders found inside these homes would put this neighborhood into full-on panic mode. investigator jimmy edmunds entered the home of kay, the little league mom, through that shattered glass back door, the one the contractor first noticed. then edmunds saw it, a trail of blood. seein' spots of blood on the floor. i could see an empty coffee cup
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that had spilled right there on the floor from, from mcdonald's. there was a mcdonald's bag on -- food bag on the floor and a purse. and i started seein' signs of blood on -- on the sofa in the living room, on the -- on the carpet. and then you go into the foyer area, where there was a lot of blood on the walls, on the door, on the floor. >> so this is suggesting a moving struggle. >> definitely. it looks like the homeowner came home and surprised a burglar in her house, and a struggle ensued where she was beaten. >> reporter: the bloody path led edmunds further into the house, to a bloody hand print on the door out to the parsons' garage. >> and you can tell there was -- there was more beating goin' on in the garage. there was blood spatter on the walls. so she was already bleeding before she got into the garage. >> reporter: and that's where this apparent struggle had ended. the deputies found 41-year old kay parsons lying there on the floor. >> had you ever seen a scene like that? >> nothing -- nothing that drastic, no. she was beaten so severely in her head, it was pretty bad. >> reporter: but amazingly, kay was alive. emt's hurried her to the hospital, her life hanging by a thread. >> she still had a heartbeat. >> but she was in a very bad way. >> very, very bad way. >> reporter: investigator edmunds made the call to alert
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kay's husband. >> he was in los angeles for work. i was able to talk to him on the phone, let him know he needed to come back here as quick as possible. >> so how did he take that news? >> he was pretty devastated. i tried not to tell him on the phone. i tried to tell him, you know, "i need -- you need to come back. there's been an accident," you know? but he -- he guessed pretty much what was going on. >> reporter: kay's husband david booked a flight home, as investigators turned their attention to the house next door. that's where kay's friend becky the mother with five kids lived. could there be another victim there? >> the point of entry we could see was the backdoor also there, and we found spots of blood on the back door. >> reporter: inside, becky's place was ransacked, but, quick relief, as they looked around there were no new victims. the blood smears they'd noted appeared to be from the crime scene next door. >> that means you have somebody that is brave enough, or just -- or just cruel enough to just -- just beat this woman so severely, and then is going to go next door and commit another burglary? >> reporter: becky had been at
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work that morning with her 19-year old son christopher. the two of them raced home to the scene and met up with her older son michael. >> they're both there, so your mother and christopher are there? >> yeah, they pulled up together at the same time, with columbia county officer. we all walk around back to kay's house, and my mom, she sounds very distraught. she's -- she's screamin' kay's name. >> she shows up at her house while you were all in the backyard there? >> right. they show up on scene and -- and they're, wondering what's going on, and they're -- they're pretty -- pretty shaken up. >> reporter: everyone else in becky's family was accounted for, her husband tony, a long haul trucker, was away on the road, her three younger children were fine at school and day care. the investigator said becky's focus then turned to kay. >> understandably she was upset. you know, she didn't know what happened to her neighbor. she just knew her neighbor had -- had left in an ambulance. >> reporter: and in fact, edmunds says, becky was less concerned about that burglary in
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get to see her neighbor. michelle amerson is a longtime friend of becky who also lived nearby. her sister drove becky to the hospital. >> she got to the hospital, you know, she was demanding to get to see her friend. >> she go to bedside for kay, huh? >> yeah, she wanted to get there. >> i said, "what hospital did they go to?" >> reporter: news of the attack quickly spread to another close friend of kay's, suzanne frazier. >> i hung up the phone and i was shakin', and so, i called my boss and i said, "i gotta go, i gotta go." and i left. >> broke some -- broke some laws, huh? >> i ran red lights, i flew. i mean, i just went. >> reporter: tamara rushed to the hospital too. >> did you get to her bedside or -- >> no. >> be able to take a look in? >> i did not. i -- i just stayed in the waiting room. there were a whole lot of other people in the waiting room. >> but the prognosis was very bad, wasn't it? machines were -- >> yeah. >> --keeping her alive at that point even, huh? >> yes. >> reporter: the friends all kept an edgy vigil for news
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for her husband to get to her bedside. lives all changed in an instant. a home invasion and burglary in broad daylight. a woman fighting for her life. and now a perpetrator on the loose. >> you don't know whether you have a guy on the move who could be ready to bust into another house along here, right? >> exactly, exactly. we don't know if we had a mad man on the loose here, you know? >> you settin' up security on these streets? >> on every one of these streets, we're goin' to every one of these houses. we're stoppin' anything that comes in or comes out of this whole neighborhood, we're talking to everybody. >> it's your neighborhood. and -- >> yeah. >> there's somebody out there who's apparently a very violent person. >> yes. >> you gotta be terribly scared. >> i was. i'm thinking that there's someone who's walkin' around the neighborhood watching and seeing when people are leavin' and basically attacking or -- >> reporter: on hot springs drive, the investigators knew they had a serious crime on their hands, but as they learned more from that bloody scene, the shockwaves only kept rolling.
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>> he said, "oh god. no, no, kay." >> reporter: a husband returns home to tragedy and questions. >> i just got a weird feeling that something wasn't right. unately, many people who spread it may not know they have it. it's called whooping cough. and the cdc recommends everyone, including those around babies, make sure their whooping cough vaccination is up to date. understand the danger your new grandchild faces. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about you and your family getting a whooping cough vaccination today. think your heartburn pill works fast? take the zantac it challenge! zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. nexium can take 24 hours. when heartburn strikes, take zantac for faster relief than nexium or your money back. take the zantac it challenge. the kids are asleep. look what i got. oh my froot loops! [sniffs] let's do this? get up! get up! get up! get up!
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sound. the sound of the weekend. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop. >> reporter: friends and family
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gathered at the hospital keeping a vigil for kay parsons, a suburban mom who'd been brutally beaten that morning in a home invasion. and while her next-door neighbor becky's home had been burglarized too, becky didn't seem to care as much about that. good friend tamara says that for becky, it was all about getting to see kay. >> she continues to ask if "well, can we go in and see her? can we go in and see her?" they tell us no. >> reporter: eventually, one of kay's closest friends suzanne frazier did get back to her bedside. >> could you recognize her if you didn't know that it was her? >> not really, not really. >> all puffed up? >> very -- very -- face was very full. head wrapped. so i asked the nurse, said, "is she brain dead?" and she didn't answer me. >> reporter: kay was just clinging to life, some wrenching decisions had to be made. and doctors were waiting for guidance from her husband david, who arrived back from a business trip in california. >> how did david seem, the
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>> he seemed very distraught. he seemed very upset. >> you could hear him screamin' through the double doors. and he said, "oh, god, no, no, kay." >> reporter: investigator edmunds saw david too. and law enforcement tends to see things a little differently, especially with husbands. >> at the hospital, you meet him in person, you see him? >> right. his wife's on life support, you know. and he's pretty distraught. but i just, still, i just got a weird feeling. something wasn't right. i couldn't tell if it was, overboard or if it was just -- i couldn't put my finger on it but there was something that was bothering me. >> reporter: so even though the husband had an alibi, that out of state business trip. >> he's on your radar and you both know that? >> yes. so i'm watching him pretty, pretty close. >> reporter: by that point edmunds was trying to determine
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exactly what had happened on hot springs drive. he had his team take pictures of kay, collecting any physical evidence from that confrontation in the house. and they came up with something, a bit of human hair found under kay's fingernails. it just might be from her attacker. >> she had defense wounds to her -- to her arms, to her hands. she was -- you know, bruises everywhere, all over her body. >> reporter: all indicating something else, kay had fought back. and whoever assaulted her had been on the prowl for something. deputies shot video of the upstairs bedroom. it had been looted, with jewelry and other valuables missing. and they found what seemed like a similar m.o. in becky's house next door. >> the master bedroom in that residence had been ransacked. >> so both houses had been tossed. >> both houses. >> reporter: becky's most valuable necklace and rings, gone. and as edmunds kept examining that grisly scene in the parsons' garage, he determined how the burglar had assaulted kay, with a hammer, found underneath the car, and a
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>> so the way the weapons the appeared just describe a horrendous attack? >> yes, it appeared that this -- this hammer, you know, was used in -- in. there was so much blood, it -- it slipped outta the attacker's hand. and, you know, the baseball bat, which we were able to determine belonged at that house, was -- was a weapon of opportunity after he lost the first weapon. >> reporter: it looked like the little league mom was beaten with her own son derek's baseball bat. >> it really touched my soul knowing how much derek loved baseball. and i'm, like, "how in the world could someone take a baseball bat and, you know, beat her?" >> reporter: an old-fashioned dragnet remained drawn around the subdivision. find the attacker. >> you got a crazy guy on your hands. >> yeah, yeah. i mean, he -- he -- he beat that woman severely, and we need to find who it was and where he was and -- and get him off the street. >> reporter: some residents mentioned a mysterious figure they had seen recently. >> we heard about a guy that -- that -- supposedly a homeless guy that was livin' in the woods around there somewhere. >> reporter: so the investigator dispatched some deputies to check out the area just a few
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hundred feet from kay's house. >> we checked the woods. we didn't see any signs of anybody livin' there, anything of that nature. and we really couldn't prove or disprove there was anybody that was livin' in the woods there. >> reporter: so a potential lead, dashed. but investigators had another. unlikely as it may seem, tiny grovetown, georgia has a few 'usual suspects,' including a young man who lived just around the corner from kay parsons' home. >> we look at our neighborhood and see who's livin' around there. and we, you know, we had a frequent flyer in there that -- >> a who? >> a frequent flyer, you know. that -- that's somebody that we deal with all the time. you know, that -- that commit the same type of crimes, you know. we knew this guy. we -- we've arrested him several times for burglaries. and he lives close by in the area. >> so if a computer's missing or a piece of jewelry's gone astray? >> if there's cars broken into -- >> you go to your frequent flyer and ask him what he knows about it, huh? >> if he's close by, we -- we definitely talk to him. >> so in this case, on that day, you do that, huh?
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>> we do. but we were -- we were able to quickly rule him out. he -- he had an alibi. there was no way he could be there. >> reporter: then from the hospital, the news everyone feared and expected. doctors determined kay's injuries were too severe for her to make it. the family decided to take her off life support. kay parsons, devoted wife to david, loving mother to derek, was gone. >> and so then they let me know that she had passed away. >> you lost your friend, kay. yes. yep. >> a beating death, a break-in. >> yes. >> how horrible is this for you, suzanne? >> one of the worst days of my life. i didn't expect it. 41 years old. i mean, you can see somebody dying of cancer or, you know, in a car wreck or something like that, but to be beaten beyond anything. >> did you go back? >> yeah. yeah. >> you said goodbye to kay? >> as much as i could. >> reporter: now the stakes quickly became much higher for
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this investigation. kay parsons had been murdered. and edmunds started thinking this killer might just be someone who knew both women, becky and kay. someone who had been right there at the scene of the crime. police take a closer look at becky's son michael. >> he discovers his mother's house broken into. he's on the scene when we get there. that raised a lot of red flags. but why would michael murder his mother's best friend? at night, don't let it.
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>> reporter: investigators in grovetown, georgia now had a murder case on their hands. kay parsons had been assaulted and killed in a home invasion. and the house of her good friend becky next door had been ransacked too. is your door to door, your canvassing, coming up with anything? >> no. nobody -- nobody's seen anybody, you know, out of the ordinary in the neighborhood. >> reporter: so they turned to the first person in the neighborhood to notice something was wrong -- the contractor who'd alerted 911 -- first man on the scene. investigators had to wonder why he was really there.
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>> at this point -- everybody's a suspect, you know? first one. >> reporter: edmunds brought him down to the substation for questioning, and they went through the story he had told at the scene. >> it was an -- and i walked down to the hall and i said, "hey, is anybody in there?" nothin'. >> reporter: but you also have to ask him if that's really what happened. >> yes. >> reporter: i mean, he's the guy who discovers this violent criminal act, and you wonder if he knows more than he's saying. >> oh, definitely. >> reporter: they pressed him to find out more about just what work he was to do there, and whether he had worked for kay parsons before. >> did you have the key -- have the door open to the house? to do the work? >> well, we -- we -- was mostly outside. the only time that we was really on the inside is when she called me up and said, i need a little bit fixed on the inside. >> reporter: you had the bad luck of bein' the person to find this. >> yeah.
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yeah. yeah. >> reporter: so, that put you on the list also, mitch, of -- >> sure. sure, yeah -- >> reporter: people they want to get a full story from. >> exactly. >> reporter: maybe with some sharp questions, huh? >> yeah, exactly. i -- i knew better to walk in that house, you know? because i did not want anything -- my fingerprints anywhere in that house. because -- i just, you know, watched enough tv to know better. >> reporter: what'd you -- what'd you see in him in terms of demeanor? >> he seemed pretty genuine to me. he was pretty shaken up. >> reporter: so investigators knocked the contractor off their list but in his interview he helped point them to someone else that boy on the rock. >> then i seen that boy sittin' the next-door neighbor sittin' down on a rock across the street. and -- that made me kinda suspicious right there, 'cause i be -- i said -- i said, "i wonder if this guy's a lookout." right? i mean, he might be still -- you know, somethin' is goin' on here. >> reporter: michael, becky's 22 year old son from next door. remember, he was also on the scene that morning when deputies arrived. a neighbor and familiar face to kay, the victim. that got edmunds thinking. >> i thought, you know, if she came home and surprised this burglar and she knew who this burglar was, he couldn't let her get away.
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>> reporter: you can almost see that little movie play out, the motivation, what happened. >> exactly, exactly. so we started lookin' at michael pretty hard. >> reporter: michael told them he'd gotten there around 8;30 that morning only to find his house had been burglarized and he'd promptly called his mom. but he hadn't called the police, which seemed a bit strange to investigators. what's more -- >> there was no forced entry to that residence. >> reporter: there wasn't? >> there was no forced entry. >> reporter: that was odd too, and they were about to learn a lot more about michael. he was becky's oldest son. he and his brother chris were from a prior marriage. and michael came with a history of trouble, mostly drugs. so, that's gotta make your nose twitch a little bit. >> most definitely. he's on the scene when we get there. he's had a lot of problems in the past with drugs. so that raised a lot of red flags. >> reporter: opportunity to get quick cash? >> most definitely. >> drug habit? make a buy? >> you know, they gotta get money. and the best way to do that is -- is burglaries, you know? get the quick cash. >> reporter: did you have trouble with drugs at the time? >> i won't say trouble, but it was -- >> reporter: you were a regular customer, huh? >> i mean, it was a social thing.
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we'd be -- being dumb and young, that's all. >> reporter: smokin' weed, or harder stuff, michael? >> ah, smokin' weed and a little harder stuff, pills, things like that. >> reporter: this is methadone? >> yeah. uh-huh. yes, sir. >> reporter: with michael's now in the equation, edmunds' team brought him down to their substation for questioning. >> now, i'm going to be point-blank with ya, if you knew tell me right? >> absolutely. >> when was the last time you took some methadone? >> today. >> today? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: so michael had used methadone on the morning of kay parsons' murder. now investigators wanted to know more about where exactly he was when the assault happened. michael said his mom becky had dropped him off at a jobsite just before 7:00 a.m. to do some house painting. >> where did you tell your mom you had this paint job?
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were -- >> told her a little while ago. this morning. >> reporter: but here's the thing. he didn't do any house painting that day. and he initially lied to his mom and investigators about working. >> and the whole reason you lied to us was because you didn't want your mom to find out that you didn't really have a job? >> yes, sir. >> that just that blows my mind. >> reporter: and there was something else that really troubled investigators. if michael was the attacker, he had cleaned himself up before deputies got there. he had no blood on his clothes or visible wounds. but he did have something else. >> i asked him to let me see the bottom of his shoes. and as he lifted his shoes up, i saw small pieces of glass stuck in the bottom of his tennis shoes. and that glass was the same type of glass from the back door at kay parsons' house. >> reporter: in the interrogation room michael couldn't explain how the glass from the murder scene got there. >> as far as glass that was found in your shoes, how can you explain that? >> glass in my shoes? >> uh-huh. >> i guess -- i don't know. maybe -- i guess i don't know. i really don't know. >> reporter: so, what's he doin' with that glass under foot, huh?
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>> that's what i want to know. that's what i want to know. >> reporter: investigators talked to michael's brother chris the son who'd arrived at the scene later with their mother becky. chris seemed to have his life together in a way that michael didn't. he had a job, even his own house. that morning he was helping his mom at the therapy center where she worked. >> your mom picks you up about what time? >> i got up at 7:00, brushed my teeth. she -- she pulled up 7:10. >> then you go to work with her? >> yes. >> reporter: then they asked him about michael. chris said he knew his brother took drugs but he said michael wouldn't have killed anyone. >> do you think your brother did this? or do you think somebody? >> absolutely not. i don't think my brother has it in his heart. >> i just want to make sure that -- that -- that at this point, brotherly love is not outweighing common sense. >> well -- >> because i just saw some stuff in your brother just talking to
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i'm sitting there going, "what?" people get on methadone. they don't have any money. they are not working. >> well -- >> how they going to get money? >> i -- i -- i agree on that. >> well, out of everybody that your brother hangs around with -- >> who would be the most likely to do something -- >> yeah, uh-huh. yeah, yeah. >> like that? you might need to get a bigger piece of paper. because of those drugs, man. >> i'd go for seventeen hours. >> reporter: so michael's brother confirmed the troubled young man ran with a shady crowd. investigators were all ears. >> reporter: does his association with the house, his back story, make him a person of interest to you? >> he's definitely a person of interest. >> reporter: the deputies kept michael at the station for nearly three hours but they didn't hold him that day. he gave them a number for his alibi witness that friend he'd gone to see that morning. would he vouch for michael? coming up another mystery. >> we had some blank checks in one of our offices that disappeared.
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the more you save. that's just how we roll. blinds to go. blinds for life. >> reporter: sheriff's deputies were now zeroing in on michael bowers as a person of interest in the murder of kay parsons, his mother's best friend. >> with the glass in his shoe, him being the one showing up at the house, finding the burglary and his past history of drugs. and you know, drugs and burglaries go hand in hand. >> reporter: investigators believed that kay was beaten at her home in a narrow window of time between 7:10 and 7:20 that morning. but michael said he didn't arrive at the scene until 8:30. and said he had an alibi for the time before that. he'd been hanging out, he said, with a friend named anthony. >> reporter: what's the story he tells you about that day?
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>> we pull anthony in and we inte rview him. anthony's a character. he -- he's pretty lively. he's very talkative. >> he hadn't had time to talk to michael. we knew michael hadn't talked to him. >> reporter: so you got two unvarnished stories, this might work out. they haven't had a chance to compare notes. >> exactly. >> what time michael get to your house? >> 6:45 roughly. >> you awake, sleep, what? >> i was up. i was up. well, i was laying back down. i was laid down on the couch, getting ready to go back to sleep. i didn't expect him that early. but -- >> but you were expecting him? >> yeah. he said he was going to come over. >> how long was he there? >> till -- from when he got there, which was roughly 6:45 till 8:27 on the dot. >> they were pretty consistent. you know, anthony was -- his -- his time was pretty consistent with -- with michael's. but we still, you know, we -- we didn't know if they were in this together or -- or what. >> angel was on. that's what i watch in the morning. and some -- >> you watch -- you watch the
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episode of "angel" wednesday morning? that hour? tell me what you -- >> no, actually, i talked to michael for pretty much the entire hour. but "angel" was on the boob tube. >> reporter: as he sat in the interview room, investigators didn't know what to make of this talkative character. so they hooked anthony up to a polygraph machine. and asked him again where he and michael were that morning. >> you didn't even come close to passing that polygraph. >> i'm sorry. but i'm not lying about it. i told him i'd take another one. i mean i'm, if i was lying, why the hell would i have said i'd take it? the more important part is -- >> well, stranger things have happened. >> i'm sure. >> yeah. >> well, i'm telling the truth. so it is what it is. i mean i -- i don't know what to tell you, sir. but you can -- i'll give you whatever you want, you know, blood. they already took my mouth, so -- >> yeah. >> but i didn't do any of this, man. >> reporter: anthony repeated over and over that he had nothing to do with kay parsons' murder. didn't even know her. >> dude, i'm trying to be as straight up with you guys as possible. i mean -- >> well, and that -- and that's what i want. >> yes, sir. i'm -- i'm not going to lie about it. i want you to catch the guy. i just -- i don't want you
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looking at me like i did the [ bleep ]. 'cause i ain't -- dude, i ain't real cool with you. i don't think it's a really -- you know, if you or me or -- or some guy got hurt, that's one thing. you know? but not a lady. you know? not somebody's mom. >> reporter: and he started to put the finger more on michael. >> he knows something. well, i don't but i don't rightly know. >> what do you mean? what does he know? >> i don't know what he knows. dude, look, you're not catching me up in something. he knows something. >> what does he -- >> he saw something, he did something, one of the above. >> i would assume if michael or any of his people had something to do with it, it's for dope. they're going to have enough sense to [ bleep ] be able to beat, what, an entire team of investigators? i doubt it, dude. i doubt it. i figure, by the time everybody's d.n.a. comes back, 'cause i know i'm not the only swab you got, somebody'll get caught up. >> so you -- you -- you're completely confident your d.n.a. is not in that house anywhere? >> i know it's not. i know it's not. >> he -- he keeps saying, you know, "i -- i didn't do anything so i don't have anything to worry about." >> reporter: but was he in fact on your list at that point? >> oh, he -- he was, you know. he was, he put himself with michael. >> well, i think you know a little bit more than you're telling me. >> sir, i don't. i -- i -- i've -- i'm giving you pearls, man. i'm giving you all i got. i -- i've told you guys
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everything i know. i know that he came over. i know exactly when he left. i know i was at my house. that's all i know. >> reporter: for all his questions, investigator edmunds ultimately had nothing on anthony. a failed polygraph isn't evidence, and nothing connected him to the crime. but they were still looking at michael, and there was the inevitable question of motive. sure, michael was open about his drug use, but that didn't entirely explain why he would savagely beat his mom's best friend. >> my bookkeeper came to me and said "we've got some issues here." >> reporter: jurgen cowling has a story to tell about michael. becky and kay both worked for him at healing hands physical therapy center, and sometimes michael would do odd jobs at the office too. >> michael would come in and do some more, we had some flooring that'd be put in, some carpet. and then he would come in and assist. >> reporter: but after a while people in the office started to notice something. >> we had some blank checks in -- in one of our offices that disappeared.
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>> reporter: becky and kay's boss says the checks went missing while michael had been doing some cleaning in the office. >> so i -- i pull -- becky in. she said she sat down with michael and talked about it. and, of course, michael said, "yes, it was me." >> reporter: how much money was stolen in that incident? >> about 800 bucks. >> reporter: 800 bucks? >> yeah, three or four checks, about 800 bucks. >> reporter: and it was all michael. and he 'fessed up to it, huh? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: so becky must have been, what, em -- embarrassed? >> you could tell she was really distraught. >> reporter: the healing hands boss agreed with becky that he wouldn't report the incident to police, as long as michael never came back there. but had becky's friend and co-worker kay found out about the stolen check funny-business? could that have led to a conflict between michael and kay? but, here's the thing, the authorities wouldn't even learn about the "healing hands" theft for months to come. even without that story about the theft, michael was shaping up to be a prime suspect in the murder. >> it wasn't looking real good for him. things started -- started piling up.
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>> reporter: then something happened that would stand the investigation on its head more violence, more mayhem, with another sudden attack. >> who was the victim this time? was someone stalking women in this small town? >> somebody came out by the trees and he shot me. pc does whaaat?! (music begins. the song, danger zone by kenny loggins plays from the pc) pc does what?! hey, guy! pc does what?! shhhh pc does what no pc has done before. does yours? quiet! mom has a headache! had a headache! but now, i... don't. excedrin is fast. with 2 pain fighters, plus a booster, excedrin
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>> reporter: two neighbors. two break-ins. a gruesome murder and one son under the white hot spotlight of suspicion. but there was at least one person who stood squarely behind michael. becky's good friend, michelle amerson, knew all about michael's struggle with drugs. still, she wouldn't accept that he had anything to do with kay's murder. >> did you wonder, "well, i
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wond what's going on? is there something about this boy i didn't know? " >> no, i didn't really. because, knowing michael i didn't -- i knew that, you know, he wasn't --wouldn't do anything like that. >> reporter: then just 36 hours into the murder investigation another attack. this time a shooting. just ten miles from the crime scene on hot springs drive. >> 911 . >> somebody came out from behind the trees and he shot me. >> reporter: sergeant steven douglas was dispatched to the scene. >> my partner and i received a phone call from the road patrol division in reference to a woman who had apparently been the victim of an armed robbery as she was leaving work that evening. and had apparently been shot in the process. >> do you know where you're hit at? >> my legs. >> reporter: the location of the shooting sounded familiar. >> what's the name of your office? >> it's healing hands physical therapy. >> reporter: so did the name of the victim. >> what's your name? >> becky sears. >> reporter: becky sears, the
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best friend and co-worker of murder victim kay parsons. >> that is kind of a holy cow moment. this is the same woman next door to this house where there'd been a vicious beating. >> yes. it seemed an odd set of coincidences. >> so this is the back door of healing hands? >> this is the back door of the business that we got called to. >> reporter: as the sergeant pulled up to the scene, he learned becky had been working late on the company payroll. she was heading to her car when she was jumped. >> apparently when she had turned around, an unknown male subject wearing dark clothes and a white baseball cap rushed out of the bushes at her, with a firearm, demanding his money or next time it was going to be her face. >> reporter: that's when the assailant shot becky in the legs. >> the subject apparently didn't rob her, didn't take anything from her, but turned around and ran back into the bushes the way that he came. >> she's not known for doing the night deposits with cash. there's no cash here. >> exactly. not at this time of night. >> what's the target, what are
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has to be personal. >> one would think so. >> reporter: emts transported becky to the local hospital. it didn't take long for the troubling news to reach becky's friend michelle. >> did you talk to becky on the phone after she'd been shot? >> i did. i just asked her, was she ok? and she said "i am." she said, "you know, just tryin' to get through this." >> she's your friend, you're worried, huh? >> yes, worried about her. >> reporter: so was tamara baldwin. first kay now becky? >> it just, it did not make sense to me. >> what in the world was going on? >> that's what i wanted to know. >> reporter: sheriff's deputies immediately canvassed the neighborhood, looking for anyone matching becky's description of the suspect, and we were not able to find anything. >> the only forensic evidence that douglas could find in the
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parking lot was the .25 caliber slug that were still in becky's shoes. >> her shoes were still laying there. >> we found a spent shell casing, and then we had also found the actual projectile itself, right on the edge of the sidewalk. >> and you didn't find a tossed weapon in the vicinity? >> no, no weapons. >> reporter: the shooter had vanished without a trace. >> but you had more questions, didn't you? >> we did indeed. >> reporter: but those questions would be left for jimmy edmunds, whose investigation into kay parsons's murder had suddenly become a lot more complex. >> here i've got two neighbors, you know, one has been beaten to death and the other one has just gotten shot. and they both worked at healing hands. >> do you believe that the gunman who has wounded becky is also the person who's broken in and fatally beaten miss parsons? >> of course that comes to mind. i mean, of course it does. it's just too much of a coincidence. >> reporter: and nothing about this shooting took the heat off becky's son michael. >> what's the working theory? >> the working theory still is, michael's still pretty high up on the list. somebody's looking for some money. somebody owes somebody some money.
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>> reporter: edmunds had some tough, personal questions for becky about her son michael. thankfully the wounds to becky's legs were superficial. so edmunds grabbed his note pad, and his tape recorder, and headed to the hospital. >> becky, she's in the hospital bed. >> right. >> not too badly injured. >> not too badly injured. when i'm talkin' to her, she's, you know, she's really hurting. >> reporter: the investigator then asked becky for details about the shooting. >> what did he say to you? >> who? >> the guy that shot you? >> he wanted his money or next time it would be my face. >> what money is he talking about? >> i have no idea. we did not owe anybody any money. >> does michael? >> not that i know of. >> i don't want you dead next. >> i don't think michael knows. unless he owes money from the past, i don't think he owes any money now. >> reporter: to edmunds, becky sounded like a mom unwilling or unable to wrap her head around the possibility of her son's involvement in a murder.
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>> i think he's trying to stay away from all of that to get out -- to better himself. >> reporter: edmunds spun through the possibilities -- was becky in denial? was she covering up for her son? or was he heading down the wrong path with michael altogether. he decided to cast a wider net. >> is there some -- any relationships you're not telling us about? >> like? >> you haven't had any problems with anybody? >> no, nobody. >> family problems? >> reporter: that's when becky revealed an intimate detail from her recent past. she and her husband tony had gone through a rough patch in their marriage. >> i mean my husband and i were having some problems, which we were thankfully working out. >> do you have any relationships on the side? >> i did. >> how long has that been? >> how long has it been over? >> yeah. >> three months. >> reporter: suddenly, added to the mix of a brutal murder and a bizarre shooting was this admission of an extra marital
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romance. >> i mean it wasn't like it was a long lasting thing. it was just a couple of months long. >> reporter: edmunds didn't press becky any further about the affair. a hospital room immediately following a shooting was neither the time nor the place. but the investigator was intrigued. he left becky wondering who the "other man" was. >> i knew there was somethin' there. i just couldn't -- just couldn't figure out what yet. >> turned out there was? >> there was. yeah, there was. there was some secrets. >> reporter: in a love triangle, someone always ends up hurt, or worse. >> why would you cheat on someone that loved you so much and was always there for you, to be with someone or to just to have sex basically? why? e earning it twice. you can with the citi double cash card. it lets you earn cash back twice. once when you buy and again as you pay. it's cash back then cash back again. and that's a cash back win-win. the citi double cash card.
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>> reporter: the story of becky parsons and kay sears had become very complicated. one killed and the other shot outside of the office where they both worked. it was juicy enough to keep this usually sleepy town wide awake for the evening news. ashley campbell is an affiliate with the local tv station. after the shooting, she started working her contacts. >> i pressed one of the columbia county investigators, and what is the connection here and he said, hold on, because i can't tell you anything yet, but it is about to get a lot more crazy. >> reporter: the source was not kidding. at the hospital, becky revealed she was having an affair, but she didn't say the man's name and in the next morning in what could only be a lucky break,
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deputies got a close tip to someone close to family and the other man was david parson's, kay's husband. >> it was a shock. >> becky's friend michelle could not believe it. >> she and david had had an ongoing fling. >> david had carried on the affair with his wife close friend and neighbor with becky for six months prior to his wife's death. the revelation of a love triangle would send the investigation into the realm of soap op er era and raise all kinds onew questions. >> you the next door neighbors, best friend, and go g on ing on the trips together and behind the scenes, you have love leters written between rebecca sears and david parsons. >> reporter: notes like these later uncovered by the investigators showed that things were pretty steamy on hot springs drive. one said, rebeck car, i hope you
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like the picture frame. i wish i could have given it to you before i left for p.a. i love you, baby. and this one, even when you don't think that i am thinking about you, i am. i can't wait to see you. and becky wrote to david "being apart from you is very difficult, but being in love with you and knowing that you love with me makes all of the time that we are together bearable." it was a secret love that the two had kept hidden in a small town where gossip travels at warp speed. >> it was shocking more than anything. i never would have expected it. did you know anything about david philandering? >> no, not until i heard it on the cell phone that did you hear anything about becky having an affair with david. i said, no, no way. >> david was still seen az s the grieving husband.
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>> if i had known about the affair, i don't believe there would have been as much support for david at the funeral or the hospital. >> why would you cheat on somebody who loved you so much and was always there for you just to have sex basically. why? it wasn't worth it. >> tamara thought back to the be behavior of david after the days after the funeral. include and odd exchange between them. >> he comes up to me, and he hugs me very tight and he is boo-hoo crying, and he tell s s me, i am sorry, i never meant for that to >> that is a funny thing to say. "i didn't know this would happen." >> what did it meant?
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>> it could have meant i should haven't been in california, or a lot of things. >> and then he also asked about the phone call if he had asked me to talk to kay, and the thing is that he had never talked to me in the day, a skpd me if i had talked to kay. >> reporter: it was strange to her then and now perhaps stranger when this new revelation came outment people were whispering if david had something to do with the murder, and maybe a way to escape a expensive and ugly divorce. >> she said, if i knew that david was having an affair on me, i would take derek and get half oiz his retirement from the military and i would get what i could out of the account. >> did the community really turn on him? >> yes, they did after the affair. there is is more no the story. >> and nou w ju a lethal soap opera in the midst of it?
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>> and now you have to wonder what is going on with david, the husband. >> yes, i definitely do. is he involved in this and does he want his wife gone? we have to look at all of those angles. >> reporter: all predictable questions, but in an investigation that was never less than startling, more twists awaited around the bend. a tale from jail. >> he looks at me and he says, i think that i know who did it. i said, real areally? who? wh and this guy was not the ordinary jailhouse snitch. welcome to windows 10. the future starts now for all of us.
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>> reporter: by now, jimmy edmunds had no shortage of leads to work in the pair of crimes he was trying to solve, the murder of kay parsons, and the shooting of her neighbor becky. and then, another new lead. a big one. >> i get a phone call from our jail. they have an inmate that is requesting to speak to me. so i pull mr. jacobs, jerry jacobs, out of his cell and take him to an interview room. >> you're jerry, right? is that what you go by? >> yeah. >> reporter: jerry jacobs was serving time for a misdemeanor parole violation. >> what's his story? >> he was pretty upset. jerry tells me that as he was in the jail he saw the news and he
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saw what happened to kay parsons. and at the time he looks at me and he says, "i think i know who and i said, "really. tell me." he says, "i believe my sister had something to do with it." >> reporter: and who was jerry jacobs sister? well, becky sears. kay's best friend and neighbor. >> i think my jaw dropped right then. wasn't expecting that. he dropped a bombshell. >> reporter: becky's brother said he knew all about the affair between his sister and david. he told the investigator becky had once confided in him that david was trying to end it. >> she'd come and meet one day or there in the parking lot crying. and i was like, you know, "what's wrong?" and that's whenever she told me she was having the affair. >> he then goes on to say that becky was, had been pretty upset, crying because david won't leave kay. he wont leave his wife to be with her. >> reporter: jacobs then revealed his sister had no intention of giving up on david
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or letting him stay married to kay. >> she had asked me if i knew of anyone or if i knew a way that we could do this to kill kay and make it look like an accident, like cut her brake line on her car and make it look like an accident, or do something in that effect. >> reporter: jacobs said at first he thought becky was joking. >> i'd be like, "well becky, that's okay. you know, sometimes we all feel that way about people." you know, she's like, "no." she's like, "i really want her dead." she said, she said, "can we do this?" >> you say, i mean, she was serious? >> yes. >> wanting somebody to kill her? >> yes. she wanted me to, and i told her i wouldn't. >> so she's shopping around for someone that can do in kay? >> yes. >> reporter: it was a stunning revelation. a real doozy. a love sick woman plotting to kill her best friend and next door neighbor so she could have
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her friend's husband all to herself. >> you've got a wild story and a wild theory on your hands. >> most definitely. i mean this case has taken so many twists and turns it's unbelievable. >> forget about the smash and grab and go robbery, that's gone out the window. >> oh, yeah. oh oh, yeah. we are looking at some premeditation and planning here. >> reporter: but edmunds had to consider the source of the story. >> of course, jailhouse stories are always troublesome because they're trying to do themselves some good. >> definitely. >> reporter: one thing the brother said was easy to confirm, he didn't do the hit job. he was in jail at the time of the murder. so if becky was behind it all, who helped her? jacobs said there was another member of the family investigators should look at, becky's son chris. the young man with his own house. jerry had been staying there before he was behind bars, and said chris also knew about becky's affair and how desperate she was. >> would call christopher almost every night and cry and tell him stuff. and he would get off the phone. and i'm like, "is that your mom?" and like, "yeah." "what's wrong with her?"
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"you know what it is. you know what's wrong." i'm like, "yeah." i was like, "david again?" he's like, "yeah, david again." he's like, "she just needs kay out of her life bad." you know? stuff like that. >> reporter: now that was a shocker. investigators had had their eye on becky's other son michael from the get-go. >> i was surprised to hear it that way. i was expecting to hear that it was michael, really 'cause, you know, i've been learning so many things about michael and -- and his past and all of that. >> you haven't had any discussions with michael about -- like you've had with -- with christopher? >> not like with christopher, no. no. 'cause me and christopher are a little bit closer than me and michael. >> do you know if she ever talked to michael about it? >> no, i don't. >> have a seat right here. >> reporter: still, edmunds decided it was time to bring in michael for a second round of
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and this time, the investigator turned up the heat. >> michael, it's over, okay? i'm not playing games anymore. >> reporter: at first, michael said he didn't even know that becky and david were having an affair. >> i know about the affair with your mom and david. >> my mom and david? >> don't play stupid with me. don't play stupid with me. i'm telling you right now. it'll get ugly real quick, okay? this is your one and only chance to get yourself out of a whole load of trouble. >> it gets pretty hot and heavy in that interview room. >> listen to me. listen to me. i know what's going on, okay. i know your mom wanted kay dead, okay? do you want to go to prison for the rest of your life? >> no, sir. >> you need to start talking here and now. >> reporter: then edmunds moved on to the million dollar
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question: did becky ever ask michael to kill kay. >> she has asked you specifically if you would kill her. >> no, she has not. >> i know it's your mother and i know you want to protect your mother, all right? you're 22 years old, right? >> yes, sir. >> you might want to look out for number one right now, okay? >> she's never come to me and said, "would you kill kay for me?" she's never said, "would you kill someone for me?" >> reporter: even after a three hour grilling, michael never cracked. edmunds had to face the fact that michael was in all likelihood telling the truth. by then, they'd come to believe his albi was solid. and they'd figured out that the glass from the crime scene that had so suspiciously turned up on michael shoes, could be easily explained. michael had gone to look at the smashed in back door with the contractor just before police arrived. >> did you have anything to do with that day? >> if i did, i wouldn't be sitting here. >> did your mother ever ask you to kill kay? >> absolutely not. absolutely not. >> only thing she's ever done is just like anybody else, you know? riding in the road, somebody cut 'em off. "oh, i wish you'd drive off the
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that's the only 'ring i'd ever heard her saying about harming anybody. >> did you think that your mother could possibly have done the thing that they were accusing her of? >> no. and i don't think she could do it. >> reporter: jimmy edmunds wasn't so sure. and he still had to wrestle with the vexing problem of becky's shooting. who was behind that and why? it was time to go talk to the object of becky's affection, david, and find out what he knew. a guilty man? or just a worried one? >> we get up and briefly walk out of the interview and he starts talking to himself, you you know. >> oh, man. they're going to blame me. if you struggle with type 2 diabetes, you're certainly not alone. fortunately, many have found a different kind of medicine that lowers blood sugar. rimagine what it would be like to love your numbers.
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>> reporter: for investigators in grovetown, georgia, it had been one wild story after another another. fou they were hearing that becky had orchestrated kay's murder, a all for the love of kay's husband, david. the next question was the logical one what did the husband know? >> you've obviously got to talk to the husband.
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with the husband, the wife's dead. you know, you have to look at the husband as well. >> reporter: reporter ashley campbell said the community was thinking the same thing. and david being away in california at the time of kay's murder, didn't seem to absolve >> you know, "oh, how convenient. he's in california. and his wife is brutally >> i knew there was something there. figure out what yet. >> reporter: but after finding out about his affair with becky and hearing that becky could be behind the murder, edmunds called david in for his first formal interview and got it on tape. >> what i need you to do is tell me about your relationship with becky. >> okay. >> reporter: david came clean he admitted to being an unfaithful husband to kay and explained how it all began. >> we had been playing tennis working out, the four of us, and it would be peck ki and i gains
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against her and tony, and one day she said, you know, why i suck so bad at tennis is because you distract me so much out there. you know, kind of, you know, a little flirt thing goin' on. >> reporter: a flirty game of mixed doubles that turned into a hot and heavy affair between next door neighbors. >> you were intimate with her in your home? >> two times. >> twice. where would the other locations be? >> most of the time in one of our two vehicles. um, at her mom's house. >> reporter: but david insisted he'd decided to end the affair. he told becky it was over. >> i'm like, "look, this is getting too close. i don't want kay to find out. i'm, you know, i'm done with it. you know, i'm done with it. you know, i'm done with- done seeing each other. >> reporter: at least, that is, until his young son derek went off to college. >> i've told her multiple times that i did not, you know, want the situation to change at home. >> because of derek? >> right. >> reporter: right after david called it quits one month before
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the murder becky decided to confess to her husband tony sending aftershocks across the lawn to kay's house. >> she told tony everything? >> yes. >> and tony picked up the phone and called kay? >> yes. >> reporter: the secret was out. >> i know that hurt her so bad and i apologized to her so much. she said she'd forgive me and we'd work through it together we were just going to move away from that and put it behind us and move on. >> he said they're going to try to make it work. they're going to sell their house. they immediately put a for sale sign in front of the house and they're going to move and be away from becky. >> reporter: david told edmunds an icy chill fell on hot springs drive. kay quit the job at healing hands and quit talking to becky. but that didn't stop david and becky from continuing to communicate. >> they would still talk and they would still meet for five minutes here and there.
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was all above board. nothing physical. yeah, we did a little bit of e-mail and talked on the phone, but i was, you know, just checking to see how she was doing. and you know, et cetera. >> reporter: but as edmunds soon learned, that wasn't entirely true. as the interview continued, david revealed he called becky from california, the night before kay was killed. and it wasn't just to ask how she was doing. >> tuesday night we had a long conversation. >> about? >> nothing in particular. we just talked for a little while about what was going on, and then we got involved in, you know, phone sex over to the phone. >> this is the night before kay is killed? >> the night before kay is killed. >> reporter: then the next morning right around the time of kay's murder david called becky again. this time because he said was
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>> is it weird that the husband should be calling the mistress? >> oh, definitely to check on his wife. >> asking her to look in on his wife? >> you know, i -- >> what's up with that? >> that's what i'm thinking. i mean, is he calling to say, "hey, is it done," you know? >> you gotta wonder, right? >> oh, definitely. >> are these two in cahoots? >> most definitely. most definitely. >> you guys gotta believe me. this is the last thing so far from the last thing i wanted. to take her and all that away from my son. away from her family and all of her friends. >> reporter: throughout the interview, david repeatedly denied having any involvement in kay's murder, or being a part of some plot to have her killed. >> never once has there been any kind of insinuation, not even insinuating, that i would ever want anything to happen to her. >> reporter: as for those repeated calls from california the morning of the murder, david insisted he was genuinely concerned about kay. >> is it normal for you to call her that early in the morning, call kay, you know, 7:00 in the morning? >> always. i always call her 'cause i, like, talked to derek before he went to school. i started gettin' worried. i thought maybe she was in an accident or somethin' out on columbia road or somethin'. >> reporter: edmunds started thinking david was telling the truth. so he changed course and asked
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david whether he thought becky had it in her to mastermind kay's murder. >> deep down inside, do you think she could do this? >> i thought never. i never thought that she would be like orchestrator or set something up like this. i did not think that. >> desperate people do desperate things. >> how, see, desperate for what? she's -- >> you. you. >> to hurt my wife? kill my wife? to have my wife killed? i'm not i do not believe that. >> reporter: edmunds kept pushing. eventually david revealed that more than once he'd wondered just how desperate a housewife becky had become. he told edmunds a month before kay's murder, someone sent bizarre texts to her that hinted of the affair. david now suspected those texts came from becky. >> did it ever -- ever run across your mind at that time that maybe the text messages were coming in, because your timetable and becky's timetable weren't the same?
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because she thought that kay would leave. >> reporter: david's interview went on into the night. >> we get up and briefly walk out of the interview. and he's still there, still being recorded and then he starts talking to himself, you know, about "what have i done?" >> oh, man. they're going to blame me. this cannot be real. >> reporter: but david's interview wasn't over yet. he had more to share including a clue that would bring edmunds and his team of investigators one step closer to the truth. investigators learn more about another man in becky's life. >> it was a real, real strange mother/son relationship. >> when his mother called, he would drop anything and go to mom. whatever she wanted, he was there. nourished hair, better color ladies! and greys? 100% covered!
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>> reporter: after almost three and a half hours of questioning about his wife's murder, david parsons sat alone and wept. >> so sorry, derek. >> reporter: it wasn't the first time edmunds heard tears coming from his interview room. but to this veteran cop, david's emotions seemed real. and in the end, edmunds had no reason to believe that david played any role in a plot to kill kay. >> we had no evidence whatsoever to prove that he knew or was involved in any of this.
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come -- have to come back, you know? come back to you with something else that's comes out that you haven't told me. oh, well, you can ask me anything. i don't know what else you need to hear from me. >> reporter: before edmunds turned off his recorder, david did share one tidbit. something that linked up with what becky's brother had told edmunds earlier. it was the name of the other person becky had confided in about her affair with david. becky's son, chris. >> i asked her who knew. you know, who else knew. and she did tell me that christopher knew that she was with somebody else. i don't know if that means anything or not. >> reporter: sheriff's deputies spent a lot of their investigation looking at the relationships in becky's life. first her son michael. then david. but it was becky's relationship to her other son chris that would prove to be the most intriguing. >> it was a real, real strange mother/son relationship. when his mother called, he would drop everything and go to mom. whatever she wanted, he was there. >> reporter: becky, investigators discovered, doted
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on chris and showered him with extravagant gifts -- money, a motorcycle, a car. nothing was too expensive for chris. not even the house he lived in. >> it was a house purchased by his mother. >> 18-year-old kid with his own house. >> yeah. that is kind of strange. >> was he a mama's boy? >> well, i mean, i guess he was a mama's boy, you know. anything he needed, he got. >> reporter: but according to michael, becky's over-the-top generosity always seemed to come with strings attached. >> it was that, "hey, i'm going to need something from you. here's the keys to your new car." "hey, i'm going to need something from you. here's your house." "hey, i'm going to need something from you. here's an envelope full of money." >> reporter: and whatever becky asked for, chris would eagerly deliver. >> he said, "it may be very hard for you to understand, but i would do anything in this world for my -- for our mother." >> reporter: could "anything" have included killing his mother's romantic rival? michelle amerson, who knew the family well, says over the last
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several years chris had grown distant. she worried he was heading down a dark path. >> he had changed a lot. so we were -- we weren't around him a lot. >> when you say, "he changed a lot," michelle, what are you thinking about? >> i hate to say, but you know, he just appeared to be in a different type of crowd than we were hanging with, so he might have had some issues going on. >> remember, the investigators did interview chris right after the attack, and they were looking for dirt on his brother michael. >> do you think your brother did this? or do you think somebody -- >> absolutely not. but something about chris struck them as odd. >> right from the get go, we sit down with christopher and he is trembling. >> you're sitting here shaking like a dog trying to crap out per simmon seeds. i understand it's traumatic, but you're extremely over nervous. >> immediately we ask him, we said, "what's wrong? why are you shaking that bad?"
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>> honest to god, i think i have parkinson's. i've always shake like this. >> parkinson's disease? >> i was like, "christopher, you're 19 years old. that makes no sense." >> reporter: it was a bizarre little detail they tucked away while they focused on other suspects. and when they went back over that interview, something jumped out the only alibi chris had for the time of the murder, was becky. >> you and your mom are at her work, which is healing hands? >> healing hands therapy. >> christopher says that he didn't go to work at his regular job that morning, he was supposed to go to his mother's work. she picked him up. >> reporter: so a conspiracy that morning between becky and chris seemed plausible even if it didn't explain the later shooting at healing hands. now edmunds looked for a way to link chris to the murder scene. and he got another helpful call from becky's brother jerry jacobs in jail. they had shown jerry photos of the murder weapon before. >> does that look familiar to you? >> no. i mean it's brand new. >> reporter: then in a follow up interview jacobs came back and
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the hammer. he said it came from becky's garage, a place chris often went to borrow tools. >> i've seen the hammer in the toolbox in the garage. >> what toolbox? where are we talking about? >> in my sister's garage. >> reporter: sheriff's deputies found chris in front of the home becky had bought for him packing his truck for a weekend getaway. >> did he ask what was going on? >> no. didn't really say anything. put him in the car, we take him up to our office, and put him in the interview room. >> everything's not happened the way you said it happened, so i want you to really think long and hard and tell me -- you're a young man, right now. >> basically you just called me a liar. >> reporter: chris, no longer shaking, defiantly asked for a lawyer. >> i want to speak to a lawyer right now . >> as soon as we read him his rights, he clammed up. >> so he's lawyered up, chris. >> he's lawyered up. >> reporter: for investigator edmunds, the puzzle pieces had finally fallen into place --
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becky had the motive to kill kay and chris, with his devotion to his mother and access to the murder weapon, was her means. >> go ahead and stand up, place your hands behind your back. you're under arrest for murder. >> chris would do anything for his mom and she knew it. >> including kill the lady next door. >> and he did. >> reporter: and the woman behind it all? they arrested her and charged her with murder as well. >> where do you take down becky? >> she was staying at a hotel, at a holiday inn. we took her down in the hotel room. >> reporter: tamara baldwin could not begin to comprehend the news of their arrests. >> the becky with the murderous plot and the becky you knew from sports games and on your cruise and backyard get-togethers, how do you put those two halves of becky together? >> you can't put 'em together. it's like a square and a circle trying to fit together. i didn't see the square. all i saw was the circle. >> reporter: it didn't make sense to tamara and it didn't
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make sense to becky and chris's defense attorneys either. as they saw it, the state's case was riddled with reasonable doubt. >> what was the weakest part about it? >> the weakest part about it was the lack of physical evidence connecting them to the crime. >> putting them in that house. >> right. >> reporter: and they were just itching to get into the courtroom to try to tear apart the state's case. if -- as prosecutors allege -- becky plotted to kill kay then who shot becky? >> he was the guy in the bushes >> he was the guy in the bushes with the gun. i miss out on life's little moments. so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed latuda. there are many forms of depression. latuda is fda approved to treat bipolar depression, which is different from other types of depression. pin clinical studies, once-a-day latuda was proven effective p for many people struggling with bipolar depression.
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>> reporter: becky sears and her son chris had been charged with the murder of becky's neighbor and romantic rival kay parsons. and they'd hired a pair of veteran attorneys to prepare a vigorous defense. >> it was a tough situation. >> reporter: brothers vic and jacque hawk saw a prosecution case full of titillating soapy drama. but when they started looking at the actual evidence, they were unimpressed -- no forensics linked their clients to the murder. >> when you think about it, there were, they did all kinds of, um, csi type of testing within the house. nothing connected either becky
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>> reporter: no dna, no fingerprints, no eyewitnesses. and that one hair recovered from under kay's fingernails didn't match either one. the crime, they said, looked like a botched burglary, not a premeditated plot. >> you think about it. if you're going to go, commit a murder, you know, what are you going to pick. you're going to pick a gun, you're going to pick a knife. you're going to pick some sort of weapon that you can dispense with somebody fairly quickly. "okay, what are we going to do this murder with? let's get a hammer and a bat." that seems crazy. >> how did you feel about your case, jacque? >> oh, i felt great. i felt it was a winnable case. >> reporter: they did what lawyers do. they went through the case file, pestered the state to turn over evidence, and then they saw it. >> and it was devastating. >> it made it much more difficult, yes. >> reporter: the piece of evidence in the case file was a recorded interview with becky. a surprise to the defense. >> i mean, i was floored. because, i was under the impression that she hadn't made a statement. and then, we find out not only
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was it a statement, it was a five-hour statement, and with every kind of detail that -- that messed the case up. >> reporter: right after her arrest, becky had spoken, and what a story she had to tell. she began by insisting her relationship with kay's husband was over. >> david was going to make his marriage work and i was going to make my marriage work. i don't love him any more. i love my husband and my husband and i are trying to make our marriage work out. >> reporter: but she admitted she did talk with david on the night before kay's murder. >> what'd you talk about? >> we talked about ballgames, the kids, and sex over the phone. which is somethin' that, i mean, we had never done that before, and i don't even know how it ended up that way. but -- >> but you basically had phone sex? >> i guess that's what you'd call it. >> did you ask her bluntly, "did you kill kay, or did you cause her death?" >> we did.
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she denied it. >> reporter: but other details came spilling out when investigators challenged her. >> you have asked people, more than one person, on more than one occasion, to kill her. >> i have never asked anybody to kill her. the only thing i have ever done is say i -- well, i take that back. i did say to my brother one time, "i wish that she was just gone." >> so she admits to wanting to have kay gone. >> she does. but she -- she does -- >> but she doesn't say that she's the -- >> no. she says she -- >> --she's the person who does it. >> right. >> reporter: and as she kept talking, she admitted she wasn't quite so vague about her wishing ill on kay. her story started changing slightly. maybe she did talk to her brother about hiring a hit man. >> i was upset one day and my brother came over to my office and i was like, "you don't know anybody that'll take anybody--" and i didn't even say kay. i just said, "you don't know anybody that'll take anybody
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out, do ya?" >> but you were talking about kay? >> i was. >> reporter: then came another revelation, this one about her son. >> she startsle telling us that whatever she knew that whatever she was saying, that, that she wanted kay gone, and that crist christopher was listening, and that would make her happy. >> reporter: becky began pinning it all on chris. >> turning on her boy. >> her own son. >> reporter: she admitted that on the morning of the murder she picked up chris and drove him to her house on hot springs drive. she just hedged a bit on the reason. >> the implied reason was he was going to go next door. >> to kay's house, to do what? >> we didn't talk about it. it was an implied reason, he was going to go to kay's house to -- to -- >> --because he was going, in his mind, to do whatever it took to make me happy. >> and -- >> and that would be to get rid of kay. >> so she's the puppeteer, putting all of these things in place for him to be tempted and
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>> she's pulling all of the strings. >> "i'm not saying do this, but you and i both know what you're supposed to do here." >> yes. >> reporter: in her interview becky continued to insist she didn't know what happened in kay's house, that is, not until chris called her later that morning and asked for another ride. >> when he got in the vehicle, could you see blood on his clothes and stuff? >> i didn't see any blood on his clothes, but he had blood on his -- i think he had blood on his face. and i asked him, "what did you do?" i said, "oh my god, what did you do?" and that's when he said he beat the [ bleep ] out of her. and i said, "christopher, please tell me that she is okay. please tell me that you did not do this." >> and what did he say? >> he said, "i beat the [ bleep ] out of her." >> she's giving up her son as a killer here. >> she's -- she's throwin' him under the bus. >> this is extraordinary.
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>> do you realize how extraordinary it is as you're taking the story down? >> oh, yes. >> she's groomed him as her little killer. >> most definitely. he was -- he was her little monster. >> i messed up because i made christopher think that i wanted him to do something that was horrible, when i didn't want him to hurt anybody and i made him think that i did. and he was convinced that he was helping me. >> reporter: becky told investigators that chris got rid of his bloody clothes, stuffed them in his backpack. and she drove him back to her office. and then they later showed up together at the crime scene, pretending to know nothing, but alarmed that kay was still clinging to life. >> the next conversation that christopher and i had was at the hospital. when i talked to him and i was crying, and he said not to worry about it. that everything was going to be okay. and i told him i didn't know what to do to help him. he said i didn't need to do anything, that he was going to take care of everything. and i told him i was scared. >> reporter: after that, becky said she and chris worked together to throw investigators
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off the trail. which meant that shooting at healing hands was a total setup. >> it was christopher. >> he was the guy in the bushes. >> he was the guy in the bushes with the gun. >> reporter: chris had shot his own mother. a ruse to throw off the cops. and a bumbling one at that. becky said their plan was for chris to shoot and miss. >> he didn't mean to shoot me. he was just going to shoot at me to scare me, for me to say that somebody chased after me wanting money. >> your own son shot you? >> he didn't mean to. >> reporter: becky sears had told investigators quite a story in a version that showed her slightly less culpable than chris. the legal fight now had shifted to mother against son. and becky had one more card left to play. it's the question everyone was asking. >> who is this woman? >> evil. "squamous non-small cell", previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy, it's not every day something this big comes along.
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>> reporter: becky sears and her son chris were both facing the death penalty for conspiring to murder kay parsons. but their attorneys vic and jacque hawk suddenly had a colossal problem on their hands. >> i didn't want him to hurt anybody.
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confession" on tape. vic represented becky, and jacque represented chris. facing this tough new set of facts, the brothers decided to sever their cases. mother would now be pitted against son in two separate trials. >> i didn't have any question in my mind that his mom would testify against him if it benefited his mom. >> and chris is going to go to trial first here? >> yes. >> does that make a difference in the scheme of things? >> well, i think it puts pressure on her. because then that gives him some reason to maybe, if he is hit with a significant sentence, death penalty, whatever, a good bit of impetus to come and testify against his momma. >> reporter: the state still didn't have any physical evidence against chris, but that was about to change. >> i get a message that -- that a box of bloody clothes and shoes had been turned over. >> reporter: becky had an 11th hour reveal: she told authorities where to find the clothes chris wore during the murder.
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mother's attic. turning them over was a play to get herself a better deal. >> so she can do herself some good and get the death penalty off the table? >> i think that's the obvious. >> what'd you see when you >> i saw the backpack, black backpack just like she described. we found the jewelry taken from the parsons home. we found the jewelry taken from the sears home. it was all there. >> signed, sealed, and delivered. that was it. >> there was nothing else to do? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: there would be no trial now. instead, a plea agreement, in may 2012. becky sears and her son chris bowers pleaded guilty to murdering kay parsons. they were spared the death penalty, but in the end, becky didn't get a better deal than chris. the judge sentenced them both to life in prison without parole. becky appeared in court that day looking hardly like the well-put-together suburban mom from days past. >> do you remember seeing becky on the news when she came to
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court? >> i did. >> what did you think? >> i was like, wow, i understand why she was going to weight watchers, because she had gained so much weight. and you know, really no remorse either. >> reporter: even her defense attorney, who withdrew from the case before that plea deal, said he could not fathom the taboos broken in this case, the families ripped apart. >> she's turned the mother-son relationship upside down. no mother would do what she's done. no real mother. and to have turned on her own son, that says more than anything else about becky sears. >> reporter: and even as she headed off to prison this saga wasn't over yet. her old boss at healing hands says that while she was working for him, becky had her hands in the till. >> how much money, jurgen? >> about $250,000. >> was stolen by becky from your healing hands account?
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>> yeah. >> so nice, friendly, gregarious becky out front has been stealing from you with both hands. i'm guessing she was your best paid employee and you had no idea. >> and you would guess right. >> that's before you even get to the whole other thing of the business with kay. so who is this woman? >> evil. >> reporter: becky was never charged with the theft. the da says they had the evidence, but with her guilty plea and life sentence it all became a moot issue. and remember how michael was blamed for stealing checks from healing hands? he told us what really happened. >> it wasn't me. that was my mother. >> she blamed you and you took the heat, huh? well, yeah. she basically told me, hey, if i didn't do that for her, all the money she was making, she wouldn't -- she couldn't make no more. >> but you had nothing do with it? >> nope. sure didn't. >> reporter: it's been years since he spent all that time in the interrogation room taking the heat for his mother and
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brother's crimes. michael told us he still has nightmares about it all. >> i'm torn up inside. >> you're still part of the wreckage of this whole deal? >> yeah. >> have you talked to or seen your mother since? >> no. i sure haven't. sure haven't. >> do you want to? do you have questions for her? >> i do. i sure do. >> if she's sitting here, what do you ask her? >> i'd like to ask her what happened? what happened to the mother i had? you know. >> reporter: but michael is looking forward, with a new job and a new home. and his family friend michelle amerson says she's looking out for him. >> you're still kind of a second mom for michael? >> yes. >> how's he doing, in your opinion, michelle? >> michael's doing better. we have had a lot of heartache over his loss and what he has been through, but he is a trooper, and he has a lot of people standing be p behind him.
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>> reporter: becky sears and her husband tony are now divorced. and kay's husband david? he's remarried, still living in the house where it all happened. derek, just 12 years old when he lost his mom, is now serving in the marine corps. it's been six years since kay's death. for her friends it seems like yesterday. >> what were your last words to her? and you know they're never going to be the last words, but they were. >> i said i'm sorry. i said, "you know i love you, girl." and she says, "i know, i know." and i said, "i'll talk to you later." and that was it. >> reporter: today grovetown quietly bustles along, with few traces of the tragedy that happened on hot springs drive. but tamara says that for her, kay's spirit is still there, right down the street. >> do you offer up a little prayer to kay when you drive by
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her place?

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