e freedom to try stuff out. i thick hanible was being free. there's people being careful. he was being honest. but it was taken without his permission. >> if that had been a white comedian, would it have gone as viral? here is the most arguably a living legend of african-american comedy is being accused by an african-american comedian. >> he is not a political comedian. he is -- his joke before that was probably about pickle juice and an applesauce joke and in the middle was bill cosby. because it came from an unlikely source, it gave it more power. if this guy i talking about it -- it's not black. >> let me go to something -- is your career harder in the comedian word? is there gender bias in comedy? >> people ask me that a lot.

i mean, i will say that there's many times i'm the only woman in the room. but i don't think about it. i think about what kind of personal jokes. structure whatever. i guess -- i think there's also -- there's more women -- i think it's reassuring, there's more women going into comedyd writing. >> self-fulfilling. for a while there weren't a lot of women going into comedy? >> i think it was a numbers game. people sort of hiring people who are like them and often times it's a white guy hiring a white guy. >> let's talk about race and comedy. norman leer admits when he was writing ground breaking comedies based on african-american families it was white writers. he said in hindsight he knows that was a mistake. at the time he didn't believe he was -- he didn't see what was wrong with that. >> i'm glad he admits that now.

yes, there's -- corporate america, the hollywood is not different than corporate america in that there's a predominance of white males who are running things, making decisions. whenever they bring black people in or minorities in it's part of a diversity initiative. usually it ends on the announcement of the initiative. i had a tv show on. it was important to get more than one woman in the room. turns out there's out races out there which aren't black people, which i learned recently. it was important to get different voices so it will push you out of your comfort zone. that's why people are hiring people like them and they hire people they want to hang out with, not people who are good comedy writers. >> do you think politics use comedy duck real interviews, which is my point of view? i'm going to close with that question? >> i think they do it to try to

look human to humanize themselves. what would help is if they really spent time -- this is something i believed for a long time. leadership training would be a great thing. >> for our leaders? >> get them to a camp. my brother had to do it when he was in high school. >> learn how to build a fire. >> with a backpack and short shorts and do a trust fall. >> the thing is that you still want them -- you want to feel like they're coming from somewhere -- >> you want to know what they're coming from. >> there's this thing that leaders have when they stand in front of you that is a voice that a lot use. that is bull. >> fair enough. >> bs if that's what you want to say. i will let you do that. it's sunday morning. >> it's bs. >> i think that -- i think it's intsing they use comedy venues as a way to issues more pal

atable and understanding. when obama went between two friends to talk about obamacare. that was a great way to reach a new audience that wasn't aware of the parts of obamacare that he wanted them to be aware of. i think that's -- it seems that that's why they go on it more than to humanize because they're trying to hide from -- >> it's not a hide. but it is becoming more of a comfortable place for them to go. >> yeah. >> i think that sometimes john stewart has done more hard hitting interviews with john mccain than journalists. comedians because we're barking. >> you can get away with something. i hope you had fun. i hope you haven't ruined your careers by going mainstream. this was great. it's more than the driver. it's more than the car. for lotus f1 team, the competitive edge is the cloud. powered by microsoft dynamics, azure, and office 365, the team can gain real time insights and

instantly share information around the globe. when every millisecond counts, staying competitive begins with the cloud. this is the microsoft cloud. the holiday season is here, which means it's time for the volkswagen sign-then-drive event. for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a german-engineered volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta... and the 2015 motor trend car of the year all-new golf. if you're wishing for a new volkswagen this season... just about all you need is a finely tuned... pen. hurry in to the sign then drive event and get a five-hundred dollar new year's bonus on select new volkswagen models. offer ends january 2nd. hey what are you doing? i was thinking about taking this speed test from comcast business. oh yeah? if they can't give us faster internet or save us money, they'll give us 150 bucks. sounds like a win win. guys! faster internet? i have never been on the internet

and i am doing pretty well. does he even work here? don't listen to the naysayer. take the comcast business speed test. get faster speeds or more savings, or we'll give you $150. comcast business. built for business. welcome back. on the program we have been looking ahead to what 2015 will bring. it's the time to look back and

remember those in washington politics and political culture that we lost over the last 12 months. >> i know firsthand the damage that guns can do. >> simply very simply with hope, good morning. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> senator robert francis kennedy died at 1:44 a.m. today. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> it must be remembered that

nixon got nixon. >> beam me up. i say it's time for congress to shove these illegal tactics right up the assets of the irs. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the mayor took a second puff. then fbi agents and police came bursting through an entrance from the room next door. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> for real peace, we are ready to make compromises. >> we will be back with "sunday today" and "meet the press." >> remembering those who lost this year including an important member of the family here. after the break, we will see how closely the panel was paying attention over the last year.

we will close the year with a trivia test from 20

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welcome back. it has been a year in politics.

was the panel paying attention? we boiled down 2014 to three numbers and a word. here they are. 86 1928, 30 and mark. amy, i will let you start. 86 and 1928 are related. let me show you here. this is the first time since 1928 that democrats have experienced this depression of election. >> it is true. >> lowest number of house seats. >> right. this was a drubbing at all levels. the legislative piece is more significant, because this is where the next crop of candidates come from, state house speakers. and when redistricting in 2020 which is what democrats hope is the answer, may not happen when control is all republican. >> luke russert, 30 is an important number because 30 is the number of seats democrats need to win back control of the

u.s. house in 2016 and 30 is now the number of control that republicans control chambers in 30 states both chambers in 30 states. luke nobody -- no democrats talk about winning back the house in 2016. >> that's impossible. i think it's funny when the poor person who has to lead the dccc who says we are fighting, we're keeping them comet did i. it's not going to happen. redistricting is the best shot. what's interesting is moving forward how to house democrats make themselves relevant? do they stop big deals like they did the last time with nancy pelosi and hold it up? is that what they do? how does that move forward? lastly, there is no democratic bench. >> all over. look at your home state of ohio. ohio is a 50/50 state, but you

don't know it by the election result. >> you know it not by the election results for president. but ohio is a very red state. >> all below -- democratic party has filed for -- >> absolutely. that's -- it does point to an issue. republicans have to stop acting as if they are a minority party. they're not. >> we pointed out they are a majority party on all levels of government. >> but they play small ball. that's a problem. >> the word mark. three of the up and coming senators. this was remarkable. mark it down. >> the other thing they have in common is they were democrats. very bad year for democrats. >> democrats named mark, republicans named scott.

>> but, look, it was a terrible year for the democrats. republicans on the other hand are going to be vexed by their success in the year to come. they're going to have to figure out what to do with this big majority in the house. they have to figure out how to behave as a party in control of both houses of congress. i don't think they know that yet. >> who is the face of the republican party? is it mcconnell or boehner? is it now mitch mcconnell. >> it has to get through the house. boehner has to figure out how to keep it from blowing up. >> he could pass a bill and say, mitch you do it. >> if he can pass the bill. right? it is clear from that vote, there are 35 or 40 republicans who will say no anything that leadership wants. >> do they become strengthened by the mid-term results and say we want to double down on holding the line? >> remember what can pass the

senate has changed. but not all that much. right? because -- >> what is the -- a huge issue. >> how soon -- the republican presidential race in some ways is starting. jeb bush is in. does that hurt mcconnell and boehner? >> i don't think so. one of the things you have to remember is that this is probably the closest speaker of the house and majority leader in terms of friendship that existed in a long time. >> all right. we shall see. that was fun. that's all we have for today. have a very happy new year. we will be back next week and next year because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." she really shined as a mother. everything was about her kids. i can't even describe to you the

feeling that came over me at that point. we were completely dumbfounded. i don't know how anyone could ever -- could ever do that. they met on the job. >> they were an office place love story. >> and that's where she met her end. >> the blood is right by her office door. >> there was a lot of blood, a lot of trauma. >> a mom of two, murdered at work. >> she wakes me up kisses me good-bye that's last of her. >> she got in extra early that morning, just a handful of co-workers in that building. was one of them her killer? >> i referred to this case as almost being like the game of clue. you have a very small group. we know it happens within the building. >> what secrets were inside that warehouse? >> there were pry marks on her office door. somebody moved her body. >> room to room, coworker to coworker suspect to suspect. >> the perpetrator could still be there. >> where was her husband? >> you're a suspect and so are

your friends. >> the detective asked me if there was any trouble in their marriage. >> who done it? >> sometimes desperate people do desperate things. i'm lester holt and this is "dateline." ♪ >> reporter: they call it the early shift for a reason. it was still an hour before dawn in this small town in northern kentucky. and in a few hours, a local warehouse would become an ant hill of activity as the first employees of the morning arrived. ♪ >> reporter: but who among them could predict that before the fi coffee break that day one of their co-workers would be dead? >> i just walked in her office and i think somebody killed somebody upstairs in her office. >> okay. what makes you think somebody killed somebody? >> she is laying there on the ground and there's blood all over. >> reporter: impossible to

believe in this tight-knit workplace where everyone knows everyone but there was michelle mockby 42 wife and mother face down in a pool of blood. the sheriff's department would launch an investigation. >> you know that your suspect is one of those people in the building. >> that's right. >> probing for clues in the victim's own private life. >> the detective asked me if there was any trouble in their marriage. >> reporter: eliminating suspect after suspect until there was one. >> he was never on our radar until we saw his truck leaving. ♪ >> reporter: if you give michelle mockby's siblings a chance to tell you about their sister they can't say enough good things about her. >> i don't think there's enough tape to talk about michelle. >> no. >> she was our big sister. >> uh-huh. >> our role model. >> michelle was just the most amazing sister that you could ever ask for.

very loving caring giving person. she would do anything for anyone. >> she always had a big smile and her laughter was contagious. >> reporter: michelle carried her positive spirit into the workplace. she was head of payroll at that warehouse owned by thermo fisher scientific a world-wide supplier of laboratory equipment. it was also where she met her husband, dan mockby. >> what was she like? what drew you to her? >> michelle was funny, attractive intelligent. >> reporter: i heard you say that pictures don't do her justice. >> no no. michelle was much more. there was a vibrantness to her. i mean she was beautiful. ♪ >> reporter: it was at a thermo fisher christmas party back in 1999 that dan first summoned the courage to ask her out. you've been thinking about michelle. >> oh, absolutely.

i've been working on her for years. >> reporter: he asked michelle to stick with him that night, and she did. and then everything went sideways. >> it was the worst date in the world. >> reporter: what went wrong? >> i don't know. i was totally off my game. i couldn't speak. and i thought, oh gosh i screwed this up totally. it was terrible. but then i asked her out again and she said yes. >> reporter: maybe you did something right. >> i must have. i don't know. or she felt sorry for me and gave me another chance. i don't know. >> reporter: michelle's family soon met him. >> next thing you know they're seeing each other and getting pretty serious. >> reporter: after she came along -- >> oh my gosh world just totally changed. i mean sun gotbrighter. it was just a totally different world. ♪ >> reporter: michelle and dan married in 2001 and continued to work together at thermo fisher. not long after along came two daughters. but even as busy parents, dan

and michelle always planned a date night every other monday, memorial day 2012 was no exception. >> reporter: how was she that night? happy? >> absolutely. >> normal? >> uh-huh. normal. >> reporter: the next morning michelle got up to go to thermo fisher earlier than usual to wrap things up before stay-cation time. >> she wakes me up kisses me good-bye says i love you and went to work. >> reporter: that was the last you saw of her. >> that's the last i saw of her. >> reporter: at 5:53 a.m. a security camera captured michelle's car as it arrived at the parking lot. she stopped by the warehouse's time clock and headed upstairs to her office. about an hour later a supervisor named ed yuska noticed a big

stain on the upstairs hallway carpet. he started looking around the area with help from a coworker the janitor david dooly. >> ed was out on the mezzanine just part of the ways and i was holding the door and there was just -- he said there's a dead body laying there. >> reporter: what did it look like? >> i just saw from the knees down. i didn't see the whole thing, but honestly i'm glad i didn't look. i had never been anything around that. it was frightening for me. >> reporter: someone inside thermo fisher had killed michelle mockby but who? and just as puzzling why? when we come back lockdown. the hunt for a killer begins. >> the perpetrator could still be there. >> in this giant warehouse a giant question, had someone carried out the perfect crime? >> there's actually industrial-strength bleach there, rubber gloves everywhere. if you needed it to commit a murder this place has it. ♪

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♪ tuesday morning after memorial day, deputies from the boone county sheriff's department responded to a call of a person down at the thermo fisher warehouse. they rolled up to the front door and were directed upstairs. deputy joe gregory was with them. >> we went over to the victim assessed that she was dead. there was plastic wrapped around her head. there was plastic wrapped around the back of her hands. >> reporter: the deputies did a tactical search of the area to secure it. >> you definitely have your guns

drawn because the perpetrator could still be there. >> reporter: there was no sign of anyone upstairs but the csi team that arrived soon after found hints of what what happened. a larger bloodstain showing smears when lit up as though someone attempted a cleanup. the body itself was found in an unused mezzanine area where someone had also stashed michelle's purse and bag holding employee time cards. >> obviously we felt like the body had been moved. >> reporter: putting the story together was now the job of lead investigators bruce mcvay and evert stall. >> reporter: tell me about the building where this takes place. >> thermo fisher scientific is a company that ships medical supplies kind of like an amazon for medical supplies. it's a large warehouse. >> reporter: how large? try the size of four football fields. that is ulcer-inducing acreage for an investigators searching

for clues. but on the plus side the warehouse was also a secure facility. detectives say it's pretty hard to get inside if you're not an employee. so you know that your suspect is one of those people in the building. >> that's right. >> reporter: the sheriff's department put thermo fisher on lockdown. no one allowed in or out. deputies took a head count. there were 13 workers on site. detectives began interviewing them one by one. >> i'm sitting actually closer than you and i are sitting to the people i'm interviewing and i can see with each person i talk to there's no blood, there's no evidence that they've been involved in anything. >> reporter: so if it's one of these people they're interviewing they disguised it well. >> they have. >> reporter: dan mockbee says he starts hearing about an incident at the warehouse. >> they weren't letting people in the building. they were toning them away. >> reporter: dan says he tried calling his wife and other coworkers but no one was picking

up. >> and that's when i started getting nervous. >> reporter: he drove over and was escorted inside by detective stall. >> evert stall sat me down an the table and started requesting me a few questions and i looked at him and i said excuse me officer, my wife works here. i really need to know that she's all right. and that's when he told me that she was deceased. >> his reaction was pretty excruciateing to watch. i still had to press on and i still had to move forward with my looking at him as a possible suspect. >> reporter: while dan mockbee was being questioned michelle's family was starting to get word from the scene. >> i think i threw the phone down and i'm just like no. no. this isn't happening. this isn't real. >> reporter: by dusk the lockdown at the warehouse was lifted. >> i had each person walk through their day and it seemed like a normal day for everybody.

nobody stood out. >> reporter: and then every thermo fisher employee was sent home. as investigators wrapped up their first major sweep of the building they were puzzled. >> there was really nothing out of place in this facility. after all the searching, the offices, the warehouse, there was just nothing. >> reporter: it didn't help that thermo fisher shelves seemed perfectly stocked for a criminal. >> this is a company that has tie vex suits which are what you would see in some murder invests the detectives wearing so they don't contaminate scenes. there's industrial strength bleach there. >> that's stronger than you can buy in a store. >> that's right. rubber gloves everywhere. plastic bags. i mean f you needed it to commit a murder this place has it. >> reporter: the only sign of anything amiss in the entire warehouse, michelle as head of payroll had a locked office and

it looked as though someone had tried to break into it. >> reporter: you could tell that because -- >> there were pry marks on her office door. >> reporter: what was in that office that anybody would want? >> that's the mystery. you know we talked about money but there was very little money, if any at all. >> reporter: the following morning, thermo fisher employees came back on the job. shell shocked about the death of their coworker. and jittery about possibly working alongside her killer. at a command center meeting in the sheriff's office detectives put their heads together and drew up a list of potential suspects. based on the last people to see michelle mockbee alive or the first to find her dead. ed yuska the supervisor. >> he was one of two that found the body. >> reporter: dave dooly the janitor. >> doug a temp employee and joe seager a warehouse worker.

>> doug ton gate and joe seager were the two that saw michelle when she came in. >> reporter: and dan mockbee. >> of course dan mockbee because he's the husband. >> reporter: a short list of potential suspects for prosecutor linda tally smith. >> i refer tost being like the game of clue because you have a very small group and it's a matter of accounting backwards and excluding people. >> reporter: so that's what faced investigators. in which room? with what weapon? and finally, who? coming up -- the questions begin. where was michelle's husband dan the morning of the murder? >> i was sleeping. what a great alibi, right? >> why did you sleep on the couch and she sleep in the bed?

♪ >> reporter: michelle mockbee's siblings remember her as the big sister who literally couldn't lose. >> she was the contest queen. she won every contest there was

for like a two-year run. >> yeah. you name it flat screen tvs, tickets to everything gift cards. >> super bowl parties. >> reporter: lucky. >> she loved it. it made her so happy and made it more happy to share her winnings with other people. >> reporter: now it was michelle's family who had lost so much. >> we were completely dumbfounded as to why anyone would want to hurt her. >> reporter: as investigators worked through their list as five initial suspects one by one, like the prosecutor's game of clue they started at the most obvious square one, the victim's husband. >> reporter: first couple of days police weren't letting you out of their sight. >> not at all. >> were you worried you would be put in jail. >> absolutely. you know you're as innocent as can be but always a possibility of something. >> reporter: dan was a suspect, almost from the get-go. were you guys aware of that? >> i was aware of it because the detectives they came to my house, asked me if there was any

trouble in their marriage to which i replied, no not at all. not for one second thought that dan would be responsible ever. i don't think any of us did, never. >> reporter: but detectives weren't so sure. they peppered dan with questions. including the big one -- when police ask you where you were at the time your wife was killed -- >> i was doing what most sensible people are doing at 6:00 a.m. in the morning if they don't have to get up and go to work i was sleeping. what a great alibi, right? i'm home in bed. it's not a very good alibi, but it's the only one i had. >> reporter: but exactly where he was sleeping that night raised a red flag for detective stall. dan volunteers he was downstairs on the couch. was that a sign of trouble in the marriage? >> i said well why did you sleep on the couch and she sleep in the bed? and he said well typically the girls sleep with her and i get off of my shift late. by the time i get home she's already in bed for the next day. so he had just made a habit to

sleep on the couch. it made us want to take a closer look at dan. >> reporter: detectives weren't the only ones interested in the husband. a cadaver dog named little joe had been called in to search outside the warehouse. the dog searched two cars with no success, but then he went up to a third vehicle, a silver mini van. >> the dog did have some interest in the back of that vehicle. >> detectives knew what was the dog handler didn't that the silver mini van belonged to dan mockbee. >> after the dog is up in the vehicle searching, he was finding nothing. there was no findings of human remains or blood. >> reporter: a disappointing dead end. >> investigators had been in and out of this place all day long. >> reporter: but the cadaver dog was sent over to the mockbee house to join a search in progress. one dan had consented to. >> whatever we asked of dan, he was willing to do. >> reporter: suggesting either that he wasn't guilty or that he was supremely confident he

wasn't going to get caught. >> that's right. >> reporter: while dan was feeling the heat detectives were pulling numbers off michelle's cell phone. and tracking down truckers who would deliver to thermo fisher. and of course stall and mcvay were taking a hard look at the other four names on their initial suspect list. two men who were the last known to see michelle mockbee alive, one a warehouse worker named joe seager had seemed unusually unemotional about michelle's death when he was first questioned. >> he was one of the ones that made it to the top of the list. >> joe presents himself as a loner. kind of a dry, dark sense of humor and personality. >> reporter: the other guy at the time clock that morning was doug tongate. doug was a temporary employee a newcomer to thermo fisher and an outsider. >> we started looking into his past. saw that he had a couple felonies and some alcohol issues so we thought, this might be a good guy to look at.

>> then there was david dooley, the janitor. he and his wife janet has cleaned at thermo fisher for years. david was one of the two to find michelle's body. >> detective mcvay interviewed him the day of the homicide and really nothing that put him to the forefront of anyone's mind. >>. >> reporter: and last there was ed yus ka he was the supervisor who called 911 after finding michelle. >> the blood is right by her office door. it looks like she never got in her office. >> reporter: detective stall found out that ed yuska had health issues. >> the thought that he could do this to michelle drag her down the hallway and get hoer to the mezzanine logically to us says that zed is not our guy. he physically probably couldn't have done that. >> reporter: which made detectives feel comfortable eliminating ed yuska from their suspect list and so then there were four. now how to rule out the next one

the c zirks team had collected some dna from michelle's body and belongings but detectives knew it would be months before a forensic lab could report whether any suspect was a match. meanwhile, investigators were starting to scan through a promising new piece of evidence. security video from the warehouse's parking lot. could the clue they needed be somewhere in those thousands of frames of footage? >> there it is. coming up -- >> it was nerve wracking. >> another elimination round, this time the lie detector test. and police soon detected something was up. >> he stops himself at the door and says no no no, i'm not doing this. want that one. yea, actually i do. it's mucinex fast-max night time and it's got a nasal decongestant. is that really a thing? it sounds made up. i can't sleep when i'm all stuffy. i take offense to that. i'm not going to argue with a talking ball of mucus. i think you're being a little hasty...

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♪ mother of two, michelle mockbee has been murdered at the

office. she had gone into work earlier than usual that morning to do the payroll. an hour and a half later, she was dead. police have no witnesses, no murder weapon no fingerprints. but they do have four lead suspects all coworkers. one of them michelle's husband, dan. here again, josh mankiewicz. ♪ >> reporter: michelle mockbee's funeral brought her brokenhearted family some small comfort. >> i remember how many people came to the funeral and just the endless line of people coming in. in your mind you're just like wow, she touched this many people's lives. >> reporter: soon red ribbons popped up throughout town in honor of michelle. but all the community support in the world still couldn't answer the family's questions -- >> i feel like we're kind of in limbo. we don't know really what to do how to move on just yet. >> we didn't know what this was all about. we didn't know if it was somebody after our family why

they would be we didn't know but we didn't know. >> reporter: early on the investigation has yielded frustratingly few clues on the four lead suspects but the detective kept up hope. >> i knew once we could get that one little bit of lead on this investigation, it would open many, many more doors. >> reporter: they were now hunting for that next lead. by scanning through hours of security footage of the thermo fisher parking lot. >> when we had several sets of eyes on this video. >> reporter: and meanwhile, stall and mcvay decided to turn up the heat on the four. starting with the husband, dan. >> we asked him, would you take a polygraph for us. >> reporter: you agreed to take the polygraph. >> yes, sir. that's a scary thing. >> reporter: because if it goes wrong, all of a sudden there's a case against you. >> right. it was nerve wracking. i mean i took a deep breath like this and the guy is like

hold on hold on. you can't do that. it's registering on the censers and you're like -- what if i took a deep breath at the wrong time. >> reporter: but dan told detectives he was eager to be put under the micro scope. please do all this stuff so you can figure out that i have nothing to do with this so you can go find whoever did this. dan mockbee passed the polygraph and this time the husband didn't do it. and so then there were three. and around that time major huff and his team spotted something they thought was unusual on the security footage. >> there it is. >> reporter: a vehicle in the parking lot, not entering but leaving around the back of the building. >> bright red, fire engine red, chevy pickup truck, two-door. that's not the normal route for any employee to take. >> detectives matched the truck to it owner, david dooley the janitor. >> dave dooley's truck is seen living parking lot at 6:31 that morning.

>> right after the murder. >> that's right. that's right. >> reporter: and detectives could tell from the security tape that dooley had returned to the warehouse around 7:00 a.m. in time to be with ed yuska when he discovered michelle's body. detectives went to the apartment david dooley shared with his wife janet to ask where he went during that half hour trip. >> they got there 6:30 in the evening and i kind of figured it would happe followup. >> he told me why he left the building that he was trying to call his wife. she wouldn't answer the phone. >> my wife does take ambien to help her sleep at night and i went home to check on her, make sure she was okay. >> reporter: his wife janet said her husband often worried about her health and would check in on her. >> he drives me crazy with janet, did you take your medicine? janet, did you take your vitamins today. that's the kind of person he is. he's a very sweet guy, loving guy. >> reporter: but detectives wondered did he really come home to check on his wife or to get rid of evidence? >> we started working on a

search warrant residence and the truck. >> reporter: you execute those search warrants and you find bloody clothing footprints? >> no. >> stuff taken from the crime scene that shouldn't be at his house? >> no. >> some kind of murder weapon? >> no. >> are you thinking now okay maybe this isn't the guy. >> while they're searching the house, they collected some clothing and then just some other odds and ends but nothing that directly tied michelle mockbee to him. >> reporter: so investigators kept working. they asked two other suspects joe, the warehouse worker and doug the temp employee to take polygraphs. both men agree, both passed. two more names scratched off the list. detectives had also asked david dooley to take a polygraph. >> and he said yeah i'll take one. >> reporter: but when they brought him down to head quarters -- >> we walk him in. and detective mcvay says this is our polygraph operator and he

stops himself at the door and says no no no, i didn't agree to this. i did not agree to this. he said i'm not doing this. >> there was no ask me to do it. it was sit down and do it. and i said well i want to do this with an attorney. >> reporter: dooley didn't take a polygraph at a later time either. but he says that wasn't his fault. >> i did offer to take the polygraph, and they said it's too late. >> reporter: over the next few months detectives focussed on dooley. significantly for detectives he was the only one they could ever identify who left the building around the time michelle mockbee was killed. after eliminating other suspects detectives now believed they had cracked the case. in september, 2012 the boone county sheriff's department arrested david dooley. >> just very glad he's behind bars. that's where he needs to be. as to why this happened we have no idea. >> reporter: and then there was one. >> i didn't know what to say. i didn't know what to do.

i was never going home. >> reporter: you want to stop a minute? >> it's fine. i knew i was never going home. and i was upset. >> reporter: did you tell them they had the wrong guy? >> yeah i did. >> reporter: didn't do any good? >> no. >> reporter: but then the long-awaited results from the dna found at the crime scene came back from the forensic lab. it turned out, david dooley was not a match. and in the local media, janet called for him to be freed. >> we've been telling everyone you know he didn't do this. nobody deserves to be accused of a crime of this magnitude without something to prove that he did it. >> reporter: but even without forensic evidence tying david dooley to the crime, prosecutor linda tally smith remained confident, deciding to move forward with the case. this past september, david dooley went on trial

good morning. breaking news coming up on "early today," new detailing in the search for the missing airasia passenger jet with 162 people on board. then hundreds of passengers await rescue from a heavily damaged ferry. all that and much more on this early december 29th "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm dara brown, rescue search efforts are once again under way for the missing airasia indonesia flight. officials believe the jet to be at the bottom of the sea. officials told reporters about the next step to find the plane. >> we hope with the