mother of four, supposedly followeded home. gunned down. all because ofoad rage. her family destroyed by grief. but was the first story in the headlines the whole story? >> what happened? >> so much of the story has changed. >> tonight, "20/20" returns to where it all began, and ended. did you think there was going to be a shootout? >> no, until they started shooting. >> we're putting all the pieces together. an entire family, telng what you've never heard before. the victim, painted as a villain? >> people started to wonder, should i feel bad for her? >> there's the animal.

>> reporter: the suect, no stranger. he's their neighbor. and one of his best friends, who cracked the ca, talking only to "20/20." >> this tears me up. >> reporter: because after tonight, whatever happened in vegas doesn't stay in vegas. >> if this were a movie, it would almost be too unrealistic. >> we're like, what is the actual story here? >> reporter: a dangerous intersection. >> good evening. i'm david muir. >> and i'm elizabeth vargas. a honk o a horn turned a nig into a nightmare. >> for the first time, the people that were right there are now reling it for "20/20." but as we come up on thehe one-year anniversary, the question remains. was road rage really the cause? here's debra roberts. >> reporter: it's a cool

favorite adult playground, las vegas. and the strip is already jumping. but across town, near another playground,n a part of vegas where people actually live, a local momom is about t put tonight's mystery in gear. 44-year-old tammy myers is giving her daughter her first driving lesson. at 10:00 p.m. at night? >> i wanted to go at night, because there's no cars around you could hit. >> reporter: why did you pick that ar? >> it's close to home. >> reporter: so, they go to this empty parking lot at a nearby high school. tammy and husband bob have

>> we live in las vegas. it's a 24-hour town. >> reporter: b bobs on business in california, a traveling vendor, selling hats and t-shirts at fairs and sporting events. son robert jr. is with him. the others, back in vegas. the eldest, brandon, at home. here's how crystal says it played out. she takes the wheel, delicately maneuvering the car. then the lesson moves from the parking lot to the neighborhood's main streets. >> we stopped and she pulle over, and we switched seats. >> reporter: tammy takes the wheel. she's going at a snail's pace, when suddenly, an impatit driver appears. >> a silver car, he's riding our

>> reporter: that honk of thehe horn, something we've all done, would change everhing. you pull up here. >> she turns right. and right about here -- >> reporter: she says that silver car suddenly sideswipes them. who is this guy? >> i didn't recognize them. >> reporter: were you sced? >> yes, i was really scared. he gets out of the car. >> reporter: it's okay. take your time. >> he says i'm going to kill you and your daughter. >> reporter: in a panic, crystal says they flee the scene. but what happens next is a puzzle we piece together nighght. eryone agrees that sometime after 11:00 p.m., two cars go to the end of the c-de-sacc where the myers live. and a sedan, in hot pursuit with a gun.

>> reporter: did you know she had been hit? >> yeah, i was screaming, mom's been shot. >> reporter: brandon remembers running to his mother's side as the sedan leaves the scene. >> i was screaming, mom, please stay here. stay here. >> everybody was telling her to stay awake, because she was closing her eyes. >> reporr: she's hit in the head. brandon dials 911, and at 11:34, tammy is rushed to the hospital. did you have any idea who had shot your mom? >> no. all i saw was the gunfire. >> reporter: bob gets fragments from a distraught crystal. >> she said, there was blood everywhere, all over mom's head and face.

home. how fast are you driving? >> 100 miles an hour. >> reporter: every thought saturated with concern for his wife. it's not until the early morning hours of february 13th, when bob gets a call from police. >> he says, mr. myers, it started off as a road rage, they followed your wife home and shot her. >> reporter: he begins to call tv stations, asking for updates and granting intervrviews. >> i'm speechless. i'veve been with this woman 25 years. >> reporter: he's now the vocal spokesperson for the myers family. >> he called our station and says, hey, i'm angry about this. how could someone do this? >> i didn't want to freeze out

you can't find killers without the media's help. >> reporter: by daybreak, bob arrives and sees his wife's lifeless body. >> i see my wife. i said, i'm here, baby. and isaid, it't's goingo be okay. you know? >> reporter: but his optimism is quickly dashed. >> the main doctor says, she's not going to make it. i told my wife, no matter what it takes, i'll find out who did this to you. >> reporter: later this morning -- >> i'm right here. you know what you did. come here. >> reporter: he stands before cameras saying there was as many ashree killers in the car. by the end of the day's news cycle, here's the official naative.

nearly collided with her green buick. >> reporter: as the buick becomes a makeshift memorial, tammy looks to be just another victim in a string of road range incidents. most recently,y, in auin, texas, two men going at it with a baseball bat and a wooden pole. but a mom, cut down in her own driveway. but despite all the attention, no arrests. the next day, february 14th, a heartbreaking valentine's day. vegapolice release the security video of the sedan cruising the neighborhood, and

they say it's crystal's de description of one of the men. >> as far as we can tell, there was no prior contact, they're complete strangers. >> there's a manhunt, everyone is like, could this happen to me? >> reporter: that night, an agonizing moment for bob myers. at 7:05 p.m., he disconnects his beloved wife from the respirator. >> s'll never leave my heart, but she's gone. ii didt want my baby to suffer. but i didn't want her to go either. >> reporter: but you had to do it. >> had to. >> reporter: but before tammy

to be buried. >> tammy myers went looking for the drdriver. >> are you happy? >> reporter: as the story takes the first of what will be many sharp turns. was the innocent victim really all that innocent? >> maybe this isn't what i thought it was in the beginning. >> reporter: and a young woman with inside knowledge, to break the case, she must find the courage to turn in a friend. you called the police. what did you say? >> everything. >> reporter: when "20/20" continues. a thousand people win a thouousand doars every single day for a month. i will not lose. it's refund season.

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shootout, myers returned home, dropped off her daughter, and instead of dialing 911, picked up her son and went back on the road. >> she had her son come out and find who frightened them on the roadway. >> she got her 22-year-old son to get his weapon. people start to wonder, should i be feeling bad for her? >> when t the police held a press conference, saying myers went back out, they started to think, maybe thiswasn't what i thought it was. >> reporter: suddenly, the family is feeling the burn. on social mea, people began to

bob is suddenly doing damage control, insisting this isn't a vigil for a vigilante. >> my son is not an animal. he's a hero in my book. >> reporter: so, what's brendan's story? he says his mom was convinced the road rager was headed to the house to make good on his death that. >> i said, let's call 911. >> reporter: why did you grab the gun? >> just safety precautions. >> rorter: brandon takes me on a drive to relive that night with his frightenedd mom behind the wheel. >> her mouth was open. she was terrified.

spot where he says his mom and sister were sideswiped. so nobody is here. so, they decide to go home. but then, just as they make a right turn by the junior high school, he says they spot a silver car. >> it was really right here in front of us. >> reporter: things would escalate, leading to the shootout in the cul-de-sac, with brandon and the shooter exchanging more than 20 rounds. but the exact how and who of the incident still puzzles police. that is, until this woman picks up a phone. you called the police? >> i felt had to. >> reporter: were you conflicted? >> i still am. >> reporter: they interview this woman, caitlin christian. for the first time, she's sharing her story.

was going off the wall. >> reporter: she says it's her good friend erich nowsch. >> he said, i need to come over. something important. >> reporter: how did he sound? >> shaken up. >> reporter: she says he comes over, confessing to a shooting in the neighborhood, saying he may have shot a rival drug dealer. then he shows you something. >> he pulled out his gun and extra clips for the gun. >> reporter: extra clips. nowsch leaves. then d days late it hits caitlin, he may have been involved in the myers shooting. you heard there was aom of four that was killed. what goes through you at that moment? >> how could this happen?

before i got upp and called the police. >> rorter: she makes a wrenching decision to turn in her trusting friend. how did you feel? >> terrible, but there's always a right and wrong. >> reporter: the next day, s.w.a.t. teams surround nowsch's home. our affiliate is on the scene. >> we're in the tactical phase, trying to take the suspect into custody. >> a very confusing scene, everybody is arriving on-scene. >> reporter: one of those arriving, the suspect's mother, in obvious distress. >> please! turn your [ bleep ] phone off. >> reporter: but questions are multiplying. for one thing, erich doesn't drive, and bears little

my wife was the victim. she lost her life. and it was like, they were murdering her all over again, repeatedly, daily. >> reporter: finally, a shirtless nowsch surrenders. >> suspect has been taken into custody. >> reporter: police have questions, but nobody is prepared for the shocking answers. nowsch is about to spin a whole new version of the story. >> i freaked out.

>> reporter: stay with us. here in the city, parking is hard to find. seems like everyone drives. and those who do should switch to geico because you could save hundreds on car insurance. ah, perfect. valet parking. hello! here's the keys. and, uh, go easy on my ride, mate. hm, wouldn't mind some of that beef wellington... to see how much you could save on car insurance, go to geico.com. ah! (car alarm sounds) it's ok! your body was made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to a biologic, ask if xeljanz is right for you. xeljanz is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swelling in as little as two weeks, and help stop further joint damage. xeljanz can lower your ability fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections,

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churns the news of the arrest, he's alone with his thoughts, while others are thinking, just who is this kid? >> his instagram account is f full of pictures of drugs. >> reporter: he's a low-level drug dealer, known a as baby "g." all good? >> mm-hmm. >> good. >> reporter: his father committed suicide when he was 10, and lives with his mother. he may be in need of a fourather figure, and the detective is happy to oblige. after some friendly talk --

>> reporter: the cuffs are off. trust ilding. and very slowly,,he detective starts pulling the string. >> what's this about? >> you guys think i did something. >> reporter: nowsch says he's no killer. just a pot aheadhead that likes to ligh up at the park across the street from the school where myerers was giving the driving lesson. butt he says on the night of the murder, he was hanging out at this guy's house. a local rapper named young crane. then, talk of weapons. >> have you ever been in possession of a handguns, real guns? >> yeah. but i got rid of it. >> when?

>> reporter: much-needed protection, nowsch says, because rival drug dealers hahave been threening him and his family. an hour later, detectives finally reveal their hand, letting him know they've already blown up his alibi, because caitlin has already told them. >> i knew about that gun you were talking about, way before you ever told me. >> this is crazy, dude. >> it is. everybody is trying to see you do the right thing. but everybody realizes, you made a bad mistake that night. okay? and the fact that you sought out katie to talk to that night, that lets me know this was really bothering you. >> repeporter: h can no longer handle the weight.

tell me what happened okay? get thiss off your mind. >> i didn't mean to hit no mom and bros. >>so, tell me what happened. tell me from the beginning, erich. >> reporter: now, get ready for nowsch's story, beginningng just after 10:00 p.m. that night, he's in the parkrk, armed and paranoid when he notices the buick circling slowly in the parking lot. >> she was just following, everywhere i went, that car was there. >> reporter: he says he was sure someone was stalking him. so, he calls a friend so he can get ay. >> until i knew this car was out of sight. >> reporter: t the frien arrives in a silver audi sedan.

enemyies but then theheyind him again. he tells police something that surprises them, someone in the other car was brandishing a gun at him. >> so far, you're telling us that they were waving a gun. listen to me. nobody but you has said that. >> reporter: and reveals something else that thus far has gone unreported. he fires shots at tammy's car, even before the fatal shooting. >> i started shohooting them. >>orter: he says the cars parate, and he starts heading home. but as he turns on his street, suddenly, they're face-to-face. and nowsch follows that car into the cul-de-sac. >> i thought they were the guys that had been threatening me. >> what did you see when you pulled? >> i run up to the door. all i keep thinking, they're

i got sced. >> reporter: after unloading his gun, nowsch flees the scene, thinking he protected his family. only days later, he realizes he may have just deroyed one. what was his reaction whehen he realized? >> nauseating remorse. how did he go from punk kids looking for me to the life of a mother? >> reporter: hsaves his biggest surprise for last. saying he knows myers, has eaten dinner at her table. >> so you know the family? >> i know the whole family, man. >> anythining y want to tell the family? >> i thought they were going to harm my family out. not a family's mom. not tammy. >> reporter: the stunning relationship is confirmed for

addresses the press. >> we knew how b he was, but we didn't know this bad. >> repororter: claing his wife had mentored that troubled youth. >> she was really good to him. she fed him, gave him money. told him to pull his pants up. >> reporter: some saw it as odd that you didn't disclose that you knew him and then later on, you did. >> because i didn't know. i didn't know his last name. i just knew him as erich. >> reporter: detectives leave him alone in a room, to call his moer and say he won't be coming home. >> mom, i love you. i've already told them everything. the reason i confessed, they knew everything. >> reporter: but the case is far from closed. nowsch won't give up the driver

and claims no knowledge of a prior road rage incident. and was there a darker side to the relationship betwee theammy and her killer? >> she used to come to the park and try to purchase things off of him. >> reporter: stay with us. the bold nissan rogue,with intuitive all wheel drive. because winter needs a hero. now get a $199 per month lease on the 2016 nissan rogue. nissan. innovation that excites. when you make a pb&j with smucker's, that's the difference between ordinary everyday and exquisitely delicious in an everyday sort of way.

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in one way or antoher"- jack: more charges out today against the driver who caused a horrible crash, that left two family members dead and two severely injured stephanie: tonight, why the surviving family from this crash say they want "20/20" continues with a dangerous intersection. >> reporter: ten days after the shooting of tammy myers, a wide-eyed erich nowsch is ushered into a courtroom for the first time.

what do you see in this shot? >> just terrified. >> reporter: he looks the picture of a confused kid here, don't you think? >> yeah. >> r reporter:n court, nowsch is with his new defense team. they're known around town for their assertive advertising. and now, for an assertive defense. >> we're conducting our o information. and some appear to be bearing fruit. >> reporter: they want the confession tape to be tossed out. saying he had smoked pot, and was impaired while making the statements. >> he was high, and the police knew it. that compromises the result. >> reporter: and they claim the killing of myers was justified. >> the facts seem to point to self defense in this situation.

should go to prison as a murder? >> no. >> reporter: because she says for nths, erich was facing a barrage of threats from what he thinks were riv drug dealers. >> coming through phone calls, text messages, saying they were going to skin him, his baby sister, take care of his mom as well. >> reporter: you saw the text messages? >> absolutely. >> reporter: and he thought they had come for him the night of february 12th. >> in his mind, this was them coming at me, this is me protecting myself. >> reporter: and she believes nowsch's claim that he saw someone pointing a gun at him, and he began shooting. there's no doubt in your mind,

at him. >> no doubt, he felt threatened, it was him or them. >> reporter: b brandon says he didn't wave his gun. and local reporter jackie heinrich says she has trouble believing them. what was the true relationship between tam and nowsch? >> she would come to the park and try t to purchase things off of him. >> reporter: heinrich points out that they found a painkiller in myers' purse. nowsch never mentioned anything of the sort in his interrogation.

headlines that the shootout was about dirty drug dealing. >> the one thing we can positively say about this, it was not about road rage. >> reporter: and thebob says it was the defense trying to muddy the water. did anybody in your family ever buy drugs from him? >> definitely not. >> reporter: some question the fact that your wife had painkillers in her purse. >> she had a prescription for it for three years. >> how do you plead? >> not guilty. >> reporter: on march 12th, nowsch pleads not guilty.

the car, but cell phone records lead to his buddy, derrick andrews. now they're in a couroom with matchingump suits. >> this was an act of unprovoked use of force, with mr. nowsch, and mr. andrews being the driver reporter: could he be that mysterious man in the sketch? the fit alleged road rage incident that started it all? the procution thinks they figured it all out. but truth is stranger than fiction. >> turns out, everybody is wrong. >> reporter: don't go away. but don't worry, you'll always be comfortable.

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a dangerous intersection continues on "20/20." >> reporter: with arrests made, suspects in custody, and charges brought, finally, the prosecution's story, the version jurors will hear next month at trial. the d.a. thinks he can finally explain what happened. >> there's nothing to support that mrs. myers was doing anything other than giving her daughter some driving lessons. >> reporter: but what happened next is a series of bizarre, tragic coincidences. 10:10 p.m., tammy is offering that driving lesson to her daughter in the parking lot. by cocidence, nowsch is in a

he's carrying a handgun, and the weight of the world onis shoulders, after death threats fromrivalsls. he apparently misconstrues the movement of the car as a threat. >> just outor some driving lessons. >> reporter: 10:50 p.m., after the lesson, myers gets back behind the wheel and drives home. 10:56 p.m., a silver sedan passes them. her daughter slams on the horn. it's full-on road rage, as the silver car stops. the driver walks out, and says,

back for your daughter. back at the park, nowsch is picked up by friend, derrick andrews. coincidentally, driving a different sedan. meantime, myers drops off her daughter and picks up her sonon andon, who grabs his pistol. he happens to be a registered handgun owner. >> it's a mistake, but it is what it is. >> reporter: the search begins. mom and son take off looking for the road rager. then they locate him, so they think. >> it was right here in front of us. >> reporter: what does she see? >> those are the ones that

>> reporter: a fatal instant of mistaken identity. >> she thinks she's found the car here. and it's at that same moment that nowsch thinks he's being followed by this green car. so now, you have both of them mistakenenly pair mistakenly paranoid about the other. >> reporter: then the same exact green buick is spotted, nowsch surmises he's the one about to be attacked. moments later, shots fired. the first, but not the last time bullets would fly that night. >> at that point, the evidence shows that mr. nowowsch raised his weapon in a threatening manner. >> i said, mom, we're getting shot at. at that point, she's shaking. >> reporter: he says he didn't

>> this should have been the end of it. nowsch has now gotten t to threaten the drug dealers he thinks are behind him. they've learned their lesson. >> reporter: both cars speed off. each heading home, taking parallel streets. but remember, they only live a block apart. and in a cruel twist of fate, they wind up on the same street. the myers pull into the cul-de-sac. andrews follows them in. >> that's when they got out of the car. >> the minute he follows them into the cul--sac, he's now become a threat. >> reporter: what did you think was about to happen? did you think there was going to be a shootout? >> no, until they started shooting. everything was slow motion.

his .45 and reloads. >> thevidence shows mr. nowsch, for stupid reasons, chose to drive in a neighborhood he was familiar with, saw two people and opened fire. >> reporter: the sedan backs away, and brandon sees his mother on the ground. just seconds more and you would have both made itnto the house. >> yes. >> there's no evidenc to suggest that brandon or mrs. myers did anything to legally provoke and give mr. nowsch the legal right to use deadly force. >> if the prosecutors are right that he fired the first shot,avenue safer, it'll cost almost a quarter million dollars a year! stephanie: we'll tell you about how city officials, business owners, and law

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>> reporter: almost exactly a year after the tragedy, the myers family gathers for the last time on mt. shasta circle. they're moving. >> i catch m melf all the time calling her. i sit in my chair, go, hey, babe? nothing comes back. >> reporter: the qui cul-de-sac, once a safe and secure street fo the boys'

remembered for the woman they couldn't protect. the family has had a book written. bob will wait until after that to lay his wife's ashes to rest. >> everything that was said about my wife,hen i put her in the ground, i want all the truth out. and i think the only way that will happen is a trial. >> she w a nicee lady trying to help a troubled kid. that's what the evidence will show, and nothing more. >> reporter: jus this weweek, another incident in las vegas between the driver of this truck and a motorcyclist. but brandon didn't need this to giveeace a chance. in the wake of his mother's death, he surrendered his pistol. >> the cops have it.

back. they can keep it. >> reporter: for crystal, the youngest myers child, life has been difficult. the loss, the scorn, the guilt. you saw everything. >> yeah. i ask myself, what if we didn't go? what if i didn't want to go, if i had never honked the horn, it probably would have been different. >> reporter: crystal is coping through music. you say you've written a song? >> yeah, i did. >> reporter: do you mind singing a little bit? the angel fly and let the song go and oh she'll be all right, all these people judging us everywhere we go thepain will

>> a loving downtown des moines. and tonight the city says they have a new plan to help keep you safer on court avenue. local five news at 10 is next.