it was all surreal, still is. things like that don't happen to small town people. i was scared. i was worried i would be next. >> he was the friendly farmer about to make it big on reality tv. a hit show called "pitching in". >> he was going to be this famous person. he loved being on tv. >> a success to celebrate after so much loss. his first wife killed in an awful fire. >> i was devastated. this is my sister. she was just a sweet wonderful giving person. >> they called it a horrible accident, but here is the thing, accidents just seemed to keep

happening, deadly ones. >> thoughts kept coming up, intuition something wasn't right. >> wife number two had a growing suspicion and she also had a plan. >> i had actually watched an episode of ""dateline"" and i hear a revelation. >> a dangerous mission. was her own life at risk? >> this is a history novel that won't end. you couldn't write this story. i'm lester hold. this is "dateline." andrea canning with a tale of deadly deset. >> capturing a life that could have been. now all that's left are the burned out remanence of a life that's gone. >> i've seen the destruction to my family. i've seen my parents fall apart. >> i didn't think my life was going to turn out like this at

all. had this not come to ahead now, the mystery would have lived on. the carlson family would have always wondered what really happen happene happened. >> the story begins here around the finger lakes, a stunning part of upstate new york. this is where the carlson family put down its roots. >> all right. carl. >> and its here that carl carlson brought his bride christina to hemeet his family 1986. his brother took to her right away. >> small, tiny girl. not very tall at all. a very simple sweet heart of a kid. >> christina and carl had met in north carolina where carl was stationed in the air force. when he was discharged, they came to his home to make a life.

was she a good fit to the carlson family? >> she was. she would give it out as well as take it and laugh on the way. >> sit there. >> they were a cute couple, christina the little cheerleader from california, carl the rough and ready country boy. christina's sister collette liked the way carl made chris laugh. >> they would laugh and joke and this big barrel chested guy and 4'1 4'11". >> he got work and it wouldn't be long before he and christina had three kids, aaron, levee and katy. >> she would be on the floor, teaching them, instructing them or calling them and it wasn't just her kids, it was all of our kids. >> look at those two lovely people over there. >> christina seemed happy, but carl wanted more than a life working and christina's father offered a ticket out. a job with a future working in his heating and air conditioning company.

>> i said if you ever need a job, come on out to california and you'll have a job. you can work with me. >> so they moved all the way across the country to murphys. carl found them a ramshackle house at the top of this road. christina made it special. >> she went into home decorator mode. painting, curtains. i would go wow, this looks good. >> thank you. >> christina and carl celebrated christmas with the family in 1990 but a week later, their lives would change forever. it was new year's day 1991. >> i come outside and saw the okrom the house. i could see where the smoke was out there. >> carl and christina's house was on fire. carl said he had been in the garage, but he rushed to the house. he pulled the kids out of their bedroom windows where they were

napping, but christina was trapped in the bathroom. flames raging outside the bathroom door. the window was boarded shut from the inside. by the time art arrived, the paramedics were already on the scene. >> got in the ambulance and looked around and said, where is kris? they told me. one of the kids said she's with god or she's -- the angles take her, something like that. that's when i -- >> art could only imagine the terror of her last minutes on earth. he then placed one of the toughest calls he's made. >> i need to tell you something. there was a fire at kris' house, everybody got out by kris. i said are you kidding me? he said no. >> back in upstate new york, the carlson family got the terrible

news so mike and his sister-in-law fl sister-in-law flew to california. >> i'll help how i can. tell me what to do. and he was just numb. he was more of a zombie. he just said i don't know. >> are you thinking how in the world is my brother going to take care of these three little kids? >> i had no clue. >> carl spoke briefly with fire investigators. he said he wasn't sure how the fire started, but he knew why it moved so fast. the pets knocked over a container full of kerosene a day or two before. carl didn't share many other details with friends and family and mike sensed it was hard for carl to deal with anything important. so after awhile, mike pressed him a bit. >> what are we doing? if you stay in california, you need to arrange for an apartment. you need to get supplies, get the house settled. the kids need some form of

stability here. he said i just want to go home. >> so four days after the fire, carl packed up his three children and flew back to upstate new york. it was yet another blow for christina's grieving family. >> my sister and i made a commitment to each other, our kids would grow up knowing each other, and then it was stripped in five days. >> all christina's father had left of his beloved daughter was this box of charred photos he rescued from the house, reminders of her and the grandchildren he loves. >> after her death, i was probably more dead than alive. didn't pay attention to a lot of things that i should have, but i just muddled through. i didn't care. >> hobbled but grief, he felt maybe a helpless and pointless anger toward his son-in-law and

wondered why didn't carl do more to save christina that day. >> there was a pick laying off the tree. >> for the children, aaron, katy and levi, art would contain his anger and keep the family peace, but what happened on that little house on the hill would come back to haunt christina's family in the years to come. >> another painful loss is about to hit this family, one that none of them expected. when we come back. >> we just got home, and i don't think he's alive. >> you don't think he's alive? >> no. >> a new tragedy will launch a whole new round of questions. ♪ [ male announcer ] rocky had no idea why dawn was gone for so long... ...but he'd wait for her forever, and would always be there with the biggest welcome home. for a love this strong, dawn only feeds him iams. with 2x the meat of other leading brands...

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the finger lakes region of upstate new york was carl carlson's family home, and now he was back to stay. here in seneca county, he would rebuild his life along the farms, the fields, the vineyards and old friends. does everyone in this area know the carlson family? >> probably most of seneca county knows one or all of us. >> carl's wife was gone, but he still had his three little kids to think about. >> he went back to work at the stone place for awhile and saw an opportunity at a glass manufacturing plant that opened. >> was there concern for carl just having lost his wife? >> i think everyone realized this poor guy isn't going to do it on his own. >> so people helped out.

it's that kind of place. there is even some hollywood lure. seneca is said to be the model for bedford falls. remember where a troubled george bailee discovered after all, he really did have a wonderful life? >> please, please. >> here in seneca county, carl carlson was hoping for his own wonderful life. he was surrounded by a big, extended family in a place where the carlson name really meant somethg and it all seemed to come together for him when he met cindy best in a line dancing party in 1992. >> he told me he lost his wife in a fire, and he was a single dad raising three kids on his own. >> cindy got herself an instant family when she married carl in august of 1993. they bought a farm soon after that, and between the farm and the glass job, carl was

okay. are you with your son right now? >> he's not alive. >> is he breathing? >> no. >> he is not breathing? >> no. >> okay. >> another catastrophe had struck the carlsons. levee was trapped under a truck in the barn. >> his chest is crossed. >> he's probably been under there for hours. >> carl's brother mike rushed over. >> they were just bringing levi out on the stretcher and putting him in the ambulance when i got there. >> levi was taken to the hospital but the family knew it was hopeless. 17 years after his mother's terrible death, levi carlson ha

investigator could find no accidental ignition source. the conclusion, the fire was deliberately set and the coroner's report said christina died of smoke inhalation as opposed to burns, didn't carlson have time to save his wife. >> she's standing on the porch within a foot or two within this play wood covered window where christina is in dire need of his help. he doesn't even reach for one tool. >> arnold knew that christina's family had always wondered about that window and about some other things that happened after she died. collette told police something christina's little daughter erin said after the fire. >> she said i heard mommy calling for daddy but daddy just drove away, so within an hour, i'm hearing my niece tell me, mom was alive when he drove away. >> just four days after t