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>> announcer: "20/20" saturday continues with "sleeping with the enemy." here again john quinones. >> reporter: in the weeks before she was murdered, janet was keeping a secret from all but her closest family and friends. she was pregnant with her second child, a girl. she also died that night. >> i did not know that she was pregnant. she did not tell us. >> it wasn't just the issue of killing his wife, janet. there was the unborn child that he slaughtered, slaughtered and left there to die along with his wife, the mother of his child, the unborn child who never had a chance. why? >> reporter: cathy cheek says janet came to her for advice. >> she went to the doctor. she cried and said it wasn't going to be good, raven wasn't going to be happy that she was

pregnant because he didn't want a child at that time. >> reporter: the trail starts here. they draw a straight line from the abaroa's money problems to janet's pregnancy to that life insurance policy. >> he is used to living high on the hog. he is used to stealing, getting his money. he is not used to having to struggle for money. it's not just financial problems. it's called greed. "i need more greed." then you got insurance. he couldn't afford anything else, but he kept paying that. he was biding his time, he was waiting. problem with that is janet got pregnant again. >> i think that raven thought that the grass was going to be greener on the other side of the fence. and i think what raven saw is the ability to collect this money. >> reporter: next, the state presents evidence they believe shows raven carefully planned his alibi and crafted the home robbery story. janet's sister sonja says raven and kaiden stayed with her

shortly after janet's murder. she found his behavior strange. >> i felt like he wasn't fully cooperating with the detectives so i went through his belongings. >> reporter: remember raven reported his laptop stolen. sonja says when raven was out, she looked in his bag and found several computer disks. >> i looked at the disks on the computer, one of the disks appeared to be a backup of his hard drive. on the outside of the disks they were dated 4/25/05, which was the day before her murder. all the files had modified date, 4/25/05, which, like i said, was alarming to me because one of the things the detective first told us was they didn't believe it was a break-in because the only thing missing was his laptop and knives. >> he downloads, backs up all of his files off of his laptop onto disks just hours before his laptop is "stolen" and his wife is murdered by an "intruder." >> reporter: for the state, this

is yet another piece of the mosaic showing raven planning the murder 24 hours prior. >> that's how he spent his day, ladies and gentlemen, on april 25th, 2005, dropping and dragging so he could get everything on that disk. he knew what he was going to do. he knew what was going to happen. he knew what he was going to do the next day. he couldn't lose his computer stuff. so he backed up his computer stuff. >> reporter: the day of the murder raven says he took off from work. he spends the day watching kaiden and running errands. but before he left for his soccer game that night, he did something he never did before. he locks the two family guard dogs in the shed. >> do you know whether they stayed inside or outside? >> janet said they stayed inside. she said while raven was away at games she liked to keep him in the house because she felt protected. >> reporter: the dogs always spent the night here, in the

crates under the kitchen counter. it's another inconsistency in raven's behavior. >> the dogs. at night those dogs are inside in a kennel. why was this night so much different than the others? because he was going to murder her. >> reporter: raven told detective benny bradley, the first homicide investigator to work the case, that his soccer game started at 9:00 p.m. the field is a half-hour drive from his house. >> raven indicate he got to the game location with just enough time to warm up before the game started. he indicated the game lasted an hour. after the game he left the sports arena and only made one stop before he arriving home, and the purpose of the stop was to buy gatorade. >> reporter: detective bradley interviewed several players who said raven was at the game. he also pulled surveillance video from the convenience store that proves raven did stop to buy a drink. but detective sole thinks that video is more proof of raven's

planning. remember those phone conversations he had with raven? >> he tells me in a phone conversation, "well, you knew where i was at, you know, afterward because i went to the gas station, and it was video'd." and i am saying to myself, "well, where would you have known that?" again, i go back to the staging. he's a smart enough to know he has got to document where he is at. he can't have gaps from when he gets to the soccer game and when he leaves. that he has to account for this time so he is documenting that. >> reporter: but with all that planning, raven still made one huge mistake. when he first spoke to police, he said janet was dead when he found her. >> he said once he entered the residence he made his way down the hall toward the master bedroom and the office. he stated that he saw janet's eyes were open and her lips were blue. >> reporter: now, listen to what he told mike guzman, an advisor from the church who rushed to raven's side just hours after the murder. >> he said he came home and went

upstairs and found janet on the floor and he immediately grabbed her. i believe he said to me that she had asked him, "why do i hurt so bad?" and his response was, "i don't know." >> the jury, when they heard that, they were shocked. i mean, they were shocked. in a conversation, you know, five or six or eight hours afterwards, he tells guzman that janet says to him, "why does this hurt so much?" and it's like, how could janet say that, because you said when you found her, she was dead. i mean, you can't have it both ways. >> reporter: at this point, the prosecution feels it's done its job. they have proven their case against raven. but there is one more curveball team abaroa throws at them, a new possible suspect.

>> did anyone ask you to submit a dna sample or fingerprints or anything for exclusionary purposes? >> no, no. no one's asked. >> reporter: see what's next. >> announcer: what do you think, innocent or guilty? and do you think brand-new evidence -- yes, there's more -- could possibly change your mind? tweet us at #abc's 20/20. we'll be right back. a once-daily capsule for adults about linze- with ibs with constipation or chronic idiopathic constipation. linzess is thought to help calm pain-sensing nerves and accelerate bowel movements. it helps you proactively manage your symptoms. do not give linzess to children under 6, and it should not be given to children 6 to 17. it may harm them.

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>> announcer: "sleeping with the enemy continues" once again john quinones. who killed janet aboroa.

although this is rarely like cases you see in the movies this has a twist worthy of a screen play. the jury is about to get a surprise. >> reporter: the prosecution is about to rest in north carolina versus raven abaroa when the proceedings come to a screeching halt. someone in the d.a.'s office discovers a long-forgotten hard drive from janet's computer. >> as soon as the state became aware on thursday morning that these items did exist we immediately brought it to the court's attention, and it was turned over thursday afternoon. >> reporter: the drive is analyzed. among the many files are e-mails between janet and her ex from college, scott hall. >> mrs. abaroa and a former boyfriend of hers. they are e-mailing each other every single day, and they are trying to hide this. some of the e-mails are flirty, some are sexual in nature. >> janet dated him for a very long time. and she was always, i guess you would say flirtatious with scott.

and, you know, she still communicated with him, but when raven moved in she officially ended it with scott to start dating raven. >> reporter: the defense smells a rat. they immediately ask the judge to toss out the case, arguing the state purposely hid this side of janet to build there case against raven. >> withholding those e-mails has allowed the state, through its witnesses, to present a very dishonest portrait of mrs. abaroa, a dishonest portrait of my client and a dishonest portrait of their relationship. let's create a portrait of him as this dominating, controlling, awful person. by doing so that helps us convince the jury, well, no one else could have done it. it has to be him. >> reporter: the defense is passionate, but in the end -- >> the motion for mistrial in the court's discretion is denied.

>> reporter: the judge believes the state was guilty of nothing more than sloppy record keeping. but with the new evidence, the defense has a face for their intruder theory. was scott hall a jealous ex-lover? >> the defense tried to paint it to be as if she were in some type of relationship with an ex-boyfriend. and you know, could this guy have done this, you know, because that relationship wasn't moving forward. that was, i think, their presentation of a possible suspect. >> one of the things you talked about in these e-mails was other people not finding out about the e-mails, right? >> that's correct. >> and specifically you didn't want your wife to find out about them. >> of course not. >> let me ask you something mr. hall, is this the woman you dated for three years in high school, correct? >> that's correct. >> and these text messages are march 3rd, 2005. so less than 60 days later, she was murdered. is that right? >> yes.

>> did anyone ask you to submit a dna sample or fingerprints or anything for exclusionary purposes? >> no, but i'd be happy to do it. but no, no one's asked. >> nothing further. >> reporter: maybe no one asked scott for his dna because he was in virginia and nowhere near durham the night janet was murdered. >> where were you on april 26th, 2005? >> i was home. >> and why were you home? >> i had injured my back the weekend prior so i was pretty much bedridden. i couldn't walk. >> nothing further, your honor. >> reporter: the defense went on to argue that raven might have been a philanderer and a cad, but that doesn't make him a murderer. they continue to hammer away at the intruder theory, raising the unidentified bloody footprint. >> we do know that all of raven's shoes were tested that night, and there was no blood on the bottom of those shoes. that is a footprint that is not identified and has not yet been

identified. >> reporter: but the state shows the jury one crime scene photo in particular which may explain why a match for that footprint was never found. >> the defense told you they tested all the defendants shoes. none of these were tested. none of them. and what do you see right there? he had time to plan. he had time to act. he had time to clean up. >> reporter: but the defense isn't giving up. they say the state had it in for raven from the beginning, and they hold up janet's missing hard drive as exhibit "a." >> let's talk about what that hard drive represents because it symbolizes as much as anything the prosecution in this case. it shows a pattern of the way the state deals with information when it points away from raven abaroa. >> reporter: the defense went on picking the state's case apart bit by bit, blowing up the carefully constructed mosaic. >> without the presumption of

innocence everything is suspect. when you back up a computer disk that becomes suspect. leaving the dogs outside somehow that is suspect. lots of people have the kind of financial problems that they were having. lots of people when they have their first born buy life insurance. everything is suspect when you are presumed guilty. >> reporter: but the prosecution lands one more blow with the retelling of janet's last moments on earth. they say the killer was raven waiting on the second floor. >> he calls her upstairs. he's waiting for her with the knife. come up stairs, janet. bam. she never saw it coming. she clutches her chest she goes down to her knees at this point. what does he do? he comes up behind her. he's got to finish it. he's already started it, he's going for her neck. she is trying to block it. he stabs through her finger. it ends up making a little mark. she falls face down.

that's what this defendant did. >> reporter: they list the motives for raven wanting to kill his wife. an unhappy marriage with an unwanted baby on the way and a deep financial hole. did that $500,000 insurance policy he took out on janet offer a way out? they again drag out raven's bizarre video where he seems to be hoping for a payday. >> i need to win the lottery, you know, and if i were to win $3 million i would dedicate $2 million to fighting this. that's what i need, because this fight, you need money, you need -- you need power. >> reporter: both sides rest. >> it was a dramtic day of closing arguments. >> reporter: and after more than five weeks of testimony, the case is now in the hands of the jury. >> verdict watch happing now in the raven abaroa murder trial. >> reporter: when we come back,

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>> announcer: "20/20" saturday continues, once more. john quinones. >> reporter: trial day 34, the state of north carolina versus raven abaroa. behind closed doors, alex cromwell and his fellow jury members are hard at work. >> we were all pretty unanimous in that the defendant had done some fairly reprehensible things. it was just a matter of whether that was to the level of committing murder. >> reporter: after three days of deliberation raven's fate is finally being decided. janet's sister praying for

justice. but the 12 jurors in courtroom 7b deliver a shocking decision. >> i don't think additional time will change our final outcome. >> reporter: the verdict? there is none. the jury deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of guilty. >> we are a hung jury. >> reporter: the judge has no choice but to declare a mistrial. >> we can't make you reach a verdict. >> reporter: the outcome devastating. raven on the verge on tears, upset at the prospect of another lengthy trial. and behind him, his mother crying. and the other side overcome with emotion, too. janet's mother and sisters sobbing. even worse, the vote was 11 to 1 in favor of guilty. a single holdout could not be swayed. >> she decided that it was better to let a guilty man go free than it would be to send an innocent man to prison. i disagreed with his

interpretation of much of the evidence, but in the end, you know, i respected what she had concluded. >> a lot of times people, in general, think that there has to be this fancy forensic or dna or fingerprints. whereas, you know, the circumstantial evidence is not less effective than direct evidence. 11 to 1, to me, is huge. guilty, 11 to 1 is, it speaks volumes. >> reporter: janet's family, always certain of raven's guilt, is crushed. so when you hear we're going to have to retry the case, what goes through your mind? >> you pretty much collapse. >> dread. definitely dread. it's going to be another long six weeks. >> reporter: a new trial is set to begin in march of this year, but just days before it's about to start, raven pulls a clever legal maneuver.

>> do you plead guilty this morning pursuant to a plea bargain. >> yes. >> a coward's plea. . a high profile murder case is coming to an end tonight. >> reporter: in an about-face as dramatic as his appearance -- he was once a soccer stud, but now not quite the ladies' man. raven abaroa, who always maintained his innocence, took a deal, not for murder but a lesser charge. it's called the alford plea. >> it's when a defendant neither admits nor denies but accepts punishment on the crime. >> reporter: janet's family reluctantly accepted the deal because they did not want the risk of a not guilty verdict after another long trial. >> i believe that they did not want under any circumstance for raven abaroa to get away or escape justice. is it justice? it's a rough shot at justice. >> reporter: one by one janet's

family and friends speak out in court. this is her father. >> janet missed kaiden's first steps, missed out on kaiden's first words. she missed out on being called mommy. >> reporter: the family, hoping to persuade the judge to deliver the maximum sentence. >> any time that you serve will never be enough for the pain that you have inflicted on my family and all that who loved her. >> the defendant will receive an active sentence of 95 to 123 months. >> reporter: just eight to ten years, the harshest punishment allowed under what janet's family considered a very sweet deal for him. with time already served, raven could be out in less than four years. >> raven abaroa is going to be released from jail. he's going to walk free. in my mind, that makes every woman out there a target. >> reporter: raven abaroa did not testify at his trial, but now finally breaks his silence to explain why he agreed to the plea deal.

>> i would just like to state that i didn't receive a fair trial the first time. i don't think i'll receive a fair trial a second time, and the fact is i love my family very much, and i don't think it's worth risking the possibility of spending the rest of my life in prison for something i didn't do. i take this plea to ensure that doesn't happen. and that's the only reason. i didn't kill my wife. >> he then stood up in court and said he did not kill his wife. then why agree to voluntary manslaughter if you didn't do it? why not fight it? >> reporter: a slap on the wrist for him, but a slap in the face for them, janet's entire family. >> uh-huh. that was like he was stabbing us right in the heart. >> we've had an open wound. it hasn't been healing at all.

and him doing that, doesn't solve it. >> i'm angry for him taking her and him taking kaiden's mom away. i wish that he would have just left. he would've just divorced her and left her alone. he didn't leave her alone, just let her go. >> there is evil in the world. and i think he's an evil person. i think he's done very bad, evil things. >> reporter: janet's gone. he could be out in four to six years. >> correct. >> reporter: capable of doing it again? >> you know, you would hope not. but his record tells us different, doesn't it? >> reporter: raven's second wife, vanessa, also finds little comfort in the deal. were you surprised that he accepted the plea? >> i was shocked. but i was -- more than that, i was shocked at what the plea deal turned out to be. >> reporter: he could be out in four to six years, huh? >> that's not justice at all. it's not justice.

>> reporter: vanessa feels there's no justice because she can't shake the notion that like a bird at midnight raven will one day come tapping, tapping at another victim's chamber door. your advice to women who come in contact with him? >> please don't be drawn in. and please get away as fast, as fast as you can. don't walk, run, before you're caught in the trap. i was lucky enough to get out. janet was not. i've had a dirty little habit for years.

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was justice served? tonight, raven abaroa is in a north carolina prison where he will spend years and years but still insists he did not kill his wife janet. and both his family and janet's will be left with undeniable truth. there are only two people who will ever know what happened to janet, and one of them is >> up next police rescue a man for a delaware river. and former skip >> tonight the u.s. military

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