cottonwood in the shadow of mighty mt. shaft ofa. an anchor -- shasta. an anchor a constant just like people who knew casey would be in the stand. were they there? >> both there. >> reporter: always there? >> always there. never missed a game. >> reporter: his parents, mark and karen, dwanus. side by side by the dugout as always. >> they were together since they were what 17 years old. >> practically lived in each other's skin? >> exactly. >> his mother had brought the chocolate chip cookies she passed out to the players after every game. and for which she was of justly famous. his father had made sure he finished work in time for the opening pitch. what kind of parents were they? >> they were the best parents that you could ask for. >> reporter: this is jason could their eldest son. and here the photo of jason's graduation with his proud parents the day he became a fireman. >> they would do anything for

us, and they did. >> reporter: mark and karen were from big mormon families high school sweethearts, who married as teenagers and watched their own brood quickly expand all boys jason jacob, tyler, troy and casey. boys bursting with testosterone. >> it was of a rowdy house. we had football games inside the house. we were egged on by our parents, and they loved it. >> reporter: karen of a full-time mom and once the boys were old enough taught part time at shasta college. for decades, mark got up at 2:00 a.m. to drive for u.p.s. just because it freed him to coach his sons' teams come afternoon and to spare his wife middle of the night disruption. mark slept in a separate bedroom. had for years. >> my dad treated her better than anybody could treat their wife. my mom of the queen. >> they lived simply. they lived paycheck to paycheck. they never had a lot extra.

>> reporter: son tyler. for them it was all about family? >> always. >> reporter: they stayed as close as any family could be. when jason got married, he moved into the house right next door helped celebrate mark and karen's silver wedding anniversary as they all did. by 2012 they were grandparents many times over had been married nearly 33 years. >> one thing i always looked up to and loved about their relationship was that they still dated. >> reporter: tyler's wife tina. >> after that long sometimes you can lose that and i never saw them lose that. >> reporter: the change does come for everyone. and by 2012 in their early 50s, mark and chairmen-- mark and karen were making changes. karen went about school nursing school. this of the plan they talked about? >> it was the perfect situation. she got to stay home with the kids all growing up and now she was of ready to start her -- her

career. he was stay home, collect a pentagon, and she-- collect a pension, and she would start nursing. >> reporter:. so easy of course. nursing school is a you toughtough thing. her brother joe and his wife jackie. >> the commitments changed. having grandma there when you need her having mom there when you need her. she was of going to have to study. >> she felt she should be doing better. i remember a tech that said "i got back from the empare..r. got the chance to work with final finally. i love of it." she was on her way. >> reporter: that may 4th casey joined his parents at home after his ball game. it being friday he and a friend went to see a movie, "the avengers." >> started at 9:15.

and told my parent evers everything was fine. >> reporter: do you remember the last thing you said to your mom? >> shea handed me a 20 dollar bill. i thanked her and left. >> reporter: it was almost midnight casey immediately fell asleep. what do you remember next? >> put my head on the pillow, and two second later, door's open dad's at the door freaking out. >> reporter: and the seconds later -- >> 911. your emergency? >> reporter: the family of about to discover that a perfectly ordinary even human being ended d-- tragedy. >> blood everywhere. everywhere. >> reporter: when we return, a dad deaf stayed. is one tragedy about to become two? >> i remember him coming in the door and collapsing -- >> falling on the floor. that's why you need lysol. because when you use bleach, some stains are left behind. as this dye reveals.

lysol toilet bowl cleaner does more. it removes the tough stains that bleach doesn't and it also disinfects. so why just bleach? with lysol you can do more. that's healthing. and get max cleaning and freshness with every flush. try lysol no mess max. colourists know roots take colour one way, and previously coloured hair another. new vidal sassoon salonist. first, brush roots then, blend through lengths. our most advanced system outside the salon. it's more than colour. it's a work of art. that detergent was like half the price! and we'll have to use like double! maybe more! i'm going back to the store? yes you are. dish issues? get cascade complete. one pac cleans tough food better than 6 pacs of the bargain brand combined.

cascade. now that's clean. lipton fresh brewed ice tea is the naturally refreshing way to enjoy your meals. it's the flavour we all savour does any food a favor... you gotta be (ah) more (ah) tea! tea-riffic! lipton. be more tea. and now try iced tea in a squeeze. "ride away" (by roy orbison begins to play) ♪ i ride the highway... ♪ ♪ i'm going my way... ♪ ♪i leave a story untold... ♪ he just keeps sending more pictures... if you're a free-range chicken you roam free. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance you switch to geico. it's what you do. ♪ two wheels a turnin'... ♪

not all toothbrushes are created equal, oral-b toothbrushes are engineered with end rounded bristles so brushing doesn't scratch gums and angled perfectly to remove 90% of plaque for a healthier smile. trust the brand more dentists and hygienists use. oral-b. i found out the hard way... not all washes take care of intimate odor. vagisil odor block wash stops odor from happening for all day confidence. when you feel fresh all day you feel confident. vagisil. your intimate health experts. you get used to food odors in your car. you think it smells fine but your passengers smell this.. eliminate odors you've gone noseblind to for up to 30 days with the febreze car vent clip. smells nice... so you and your passengers can breathe happy.

now may 5th, 2012. casey duenas home from a movie and late dinner with friends opened the front door as usual and moved quietly down the little hallway toward his bedroom. had it not been so late he probably would have stopped to say good night. but the house of dark everybody asleeping or so it looked to an exhausted casey who fell into bed and almost would inimmediately into a deep sleep. and then 25 minutes later --

>> dad takes place door's at the door freaking out, go next door go get jason, something's happened to your mom. get jason. >> reporter: he did as he was told running to his brother's house. >> 911. emergency. >> reporter: his father, mark called for an ambulance. >> tell me what happened. >> she -- i came in the room, i heard her. and she's got blood everywhere. everywhere. i don't know -- i have no idea. >> you have no idea what happened? >> no. >> oup whereyou don't know where she's bleeding from? >> no. just blood everywhere. >> are you with her now? >> yes. oh, it's in her chest. there's a gash thisin her chest. >> reporter: jason woke up to the horror two ways at once. fire department alarm. brother alarm. >> i wasasleep. as a volunteer firefighter i have a pager. i could hear the pager going off. casey was ofsial yelling in a panic, "there's something wrong with mom. you you've got the to

". >> reporter: did you have any idea of what it was? >> i had no idea. >> reporter: it was a nightmare beyond dreaming. there was of his father in full-blown panic, and on the floor in a puddle of blood was his mother. the rookie firefighter for an instant to his eternal regret froze. >> if i would have come on that situation now, i would have immediately started cpr. there was a great deal of blood. so for somebody to live through that that much blood -- didn't think it was going to happen. i believe i you just missed her last couple of breaths. >> reporter: minutes later, emts arrived, and karen duenas was pronounced dead. the cause -- multiple stab wounds including a massive gash to her chest. . long after, the young detective arrived, logan stonehouse. a year under his belt as an investigator. but this would be his first big

homicide case as lead detective. and lo and behold -- >> i didn't know what i was of talking into until i you saw a picture on the wall and realized whose house i was in. >> reporter: you knew these people? >> i did. i went to high school with the second oldest son, jacob. >> reporter: here he found himself looking at the bloody body of jacob's mother, karen. the lady everybody loved who brought cookies to all the games at school. who could have done this? detective stonehouse had been on the force long enough to be aware that violent crime of up here. some said significantly. ever since california's overcrowded prisons nearby were forced to reduce populations and to had reduce potentially dangerous offender likes like drug addicts, possibly desperate for money like a fix. so was this a home invasion robbery gone wrong? the detective took a look around the house. he and fellow officers fanned out around the neighborhood.

there were footprints outside the property right? >> there was. there was a wood fence that surround that piece of the propertiment and -- property. and there's a back gate and trail that led to a canal area. >> reporter: the first patrolman told them he had seen a car speeding away as he raced toward the duenas house. neighbors reported seeing two stranger nearby that evening. and here in this crime scene voep taken the next day, a screen on the window in karen's bedroom that looked suspiciously like it had been cut open. had intrudersen er it entered here? was anything disturbed? >> no. the bedroom was intact. there wasn't drawers open like someone had burglarized the place. >> reporter: it didn't look like burglars had gone that way. detectives had questions for the only man known to have been in

the house all evening -- the husband, of course -- mark duenas. what was his story of what happened? >> he told us that he had been up with karen. they were watching a movie. and then once karen went to bed he tried to stay up longer to watch a giants game. he was falling asleep during it and decided to go to sleep himself. >> reporter: mark, in his room, karen already down the hall, he said in hers. the detective took mark to the major crimes unit where mark who'd been awake more than 24 hours by now, finished the story himself. >> i arkssleep, i hear crazy noise. you know you hear a cat sound like -- it wasn't cats. it was a weird scream -- >> talking? >> no. i just heard some weird screaming type stuff. >> what did you do? >> i ran -- i got up because i didn't want those -- whatever of going on to wake up my wife. i'm sensitive like that. and i went to the door by the

kitchen, opened it up and looked out there. i didn't see any cats. shut it. walked down the hallway, looked under, the lice were onghts were on. i figured she's up. that's when i found her. >> reporter: the doctors questioned him, had his change so they could keep his shorts and t-shirt for testing and sent him home. >> i remember him coming in the door and collapsing. >> falling on the floor. we were really worried about him because he kept saying his heart -- so we thought maybe he was having a heart attack. he was -- he was ofa mess. >> reporter: as the family planned a funeral, their big sentenced family including karen's brother joe and wife jackie descended on cottonwood. >> i've never seen a person more broken. >> reporter: what was your perception of how he took it? >> he's take ten incredibly

hard. still does. >> reporter: along with grief came anxiety. >> i lived next door. i'm worried for my family. i'm putting alarms on every door because somebody's out there. >> reporter: but the police did not seem to think that. in fact, within a day or two, one of the doctors announced no need to worry about some unknown killer stalking the town. now why would he say that? coming up, investigators were about to hear a strange tale from none other than karen's husband. >> sca

>> reporter: they measured time in units of pain in little cottonwood, california will during the surreal minutes and hours and days after karen

duenas was murdered. >> the best way i can explain my mom is she was of pure of heart is the best way to do -- to say it. >> reporter: the whole big family karen's family as well as mark's, parents, brothers sisters, gathered to support each other and mourn and struggle with the question that hung in the air -- who did this. but the word on the street was there was of no-- there was no question at all. >> we immediately heard outlandish rumors. you're going, i don't know where they're getting this. >> reporter: the boys heard them, too. rumors the detectives knew the killer was mark to which the family said -- >> ridiculous. i know there's no way possible he could have done it. >> my parents were best friends from as long as i could remember. >> reporter: but it that was true then why would detectives be so suspicious of a man married to his high school sweetheart for almost 33 years?

a man without so much as a track ticket on his record let alone a violent act? it's true that when wives are murdered husbands are frequently implicated, and mark did discover the body. but there was another reason. just minutes after mark sat down to talk to those detectives he volunteered information that sounded to them like a motive for murder. >> what was of going on in our life, and it scares me when i think about it -- >> reporter: it was an odd little story. one day at work toward the end of 2010, said morkark, a u.p.s. co-worker asked if he had ever gone on facebook. no said mark he happen. well asked the colleague, haven't you ever wondered what happened to people you used to know? facebook might tell you. mark thought about it and said well there was this girl he used to talk to back in high school -- wasn't a real

girlfriend or anything. but he was curious about whatever happened to her. sure enough the colleague found the woman on facebook. and pretty soon she and mark were texting and talking on the phone, catching up. >> we talked visited. kind of got carried away with a little texting here and there. >> reporter: carried away? well, that may be a little strong in this age of sexting and lurid electronic damn an-- dalliances. they did talk and text for several months, even said "i love you" a time or two. but was it some kind of affair? well judge for yourself. >> was of there ever any pictures sent or anything like that or of it just -- >> there's pictures of just maybe me or her, you know little innocent -- we're not into any of that nasty porn.

none of that. just what do you look like now. she had accept a picture of her, it's your turn. she does quilts she took a picture of her quilt. showed a picture to me. stuff -- innocent stuff. she had a public of her and her -- a picture of her and her grandkid. stuff like that. >> reporter: and not once did they try to see each other. in fact when an opportunity came up they decided no it wouldn't be fair to their respective you spouses of more than three decade our their kids or grandkids, so they didn't. but as mark told the detectives, karen out what he'd been doing when she went through a phone bill and had hurt her feelings. he promised to stop. except he didn't. >> mark bought a secret phone to continue that communication that karen wasn't aware of. >> reporter: it was the woman who put a stop to it. she said karen this letter postmarked just a little less than three months before the

murder asking for forgiveness, promising it would never happen again. karen told a couple her kids about it all. she was pretty upset for a while. how important was of that? >> i would definitely say everything together showed that karen of not happy in their relationship. >> reporter: mark told them otherwise, that it was a happy marriage the texting thing just a blip. but the detectives didn't believe it so they confronted mark. >> when did you find out that karen was going to leave you, mark? >> leave me? >> uh-huh. >> she was never going to leave me. never going to leave me. honestly. >> reporter: in fact investigators believe it backed up what they suspected from that very first night. here, just hours after the murder weather they firsthen they first ayoucused mark of killing her. >> i didn't do it. it's crazy. >> just like o.j. we need to be out finding the real killer right? lapd they didn't have to go find the real killers. >> i know you're doing your job, but i would never lay a hand on

-- i did not hurt her. i did not kill her. i walked in and found her in her condition. >> reporter: mark's family by the way, said he told them all about that texting relationship. they said didn't seem like such a big deal. >> it sounds to me that it was you just them confiding in each other about their marriages and their families and just an outlet. >> reporter: her young ever son -- for youngest son, casey, it explained why there had been tension for his parents a few monthses before the murder. >> there was a good swap where they didn't get along, but it was a while before. >> reporter: they seemed to be back together again? >> they seemed better than ever. >> reporter: and those claims by investigators about a pending divorce? not a chance said the boys. >> they never were going to give up. they taught us that. i'm sure a little bit of trust was lost. up, someone keeps something from you. you but it was something they

worked on and they got over. >> reporter: all that grief infected summer, a cloud darkened over the duenas family. when casey graduated from high school in june -- >> i remember walking to where we'd be seated and just seeing you know it's my dad along with other family members. you know of course it was -- >> reporter: five months went by that way, as if the early police suspicions had faded away. of course, we know better, don't we? coming up mark duenas is in for a bitter shock. >> he was upset. like, are you kidding me? >> what his family did next would surprise everyone. sort of thing hardly ever happens. >> yeah. like never. you are loved in so many different ways that's why you're wrapped in the comfort of pampers swaddlers with blanket-like softness and up to 12 hours of protection so all you feel

is love. wishing you love sleep and play. pampers you clean with soap and water, about a thousand times a day. but germs might still be there. new lysol tap top will change the way you clean. it kills 99.9% of germs without harshness, to help protect your family. lysol tap top. start healthing. imagine if razors could move up and down, and all around. hugging tight, swirling left and turning right. behold, new venus swirl. the only razor with five contour blades and a flexiball. to contour to your tricky places, bones, bends and all. smooth and steady, going this way and that. bumps and grooves, curvy and flat. for skin as flawless as flawless can be. new venus swirl, try it and see. i've just arrived in atlanta and i can't wait to start

telling people how switching to geico could save them hundreds of dollars on car insurance. but first, my luggage. ahh, there it is. uh, excuse me sir? i think you've got the wrong bag. >>sorry, they all look alike, you know? no worries. well, car's here, i can't save people money chatting at the baggage claim all day. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. there's only two of us... how much dirt can we manufacture? very little. more than you think. (doorbell) what's that? what's this? swiffer sweeper. i came in under the assumption that it was clean. i've been living in a fool's paradise!

returning to our story, karen duenas, a mom to five boys, has been murdered. her husband mark has done something unusual. he volunteered to police that months earlier he was carrying on a relationship by phone and by text with a woman who was once his teenage crush. mark insists it was innocent certainly not a motive to kill his wife. his sons believe him. but what about detectives? again, keith morrison. >> reporter: it was evening in cottonwood, california. october 5th 2012. five months to the day after the murder of karen duenas. her widower mark and son, casey, were watching tv. there was of a knock at the door. and when mark saw the detectives -- >> he was upset. couldn't believe it. like, are you kidding me? >> reporter: they were not. detectives had suspected mark all along, and now they had a warrant for his arrest.

mark duenas was charged with first-degree murder held on a million dollars bail to await trial. >> to see him in that situation is surreal. you hope the system works because there's an innocent man up there having to go through this. >> reporter: the whole extended clan including karen's family told anybody who would listen that the police made a huge mistake. >> i've never heard him call anybody a name. he just isn't that type of guy. >> i can't think of one time where he raised his voice to anybody. >> reporter: the family support what was persuaded an attorney 600 miles away in southern california to take the case. ron powell was his name. >> at first i'm not thinking i want to go up there. when i heard her family saying "can you help us," and us metropolitan mark, i thought you know -- >> the victim's family. the accused represented by you because they believe he's

independent? >> correct. >> that's a once in a while thing, sort of never happens. >> yeah never. >> reporter: but 14 months after the murder when mark went on trial, the family his, karen's, and theirs filled the galleries every day to support him. >> you were there because you know that person. >> reporter: the judge allowed camera in court but no audio. so he can't play you the testimony of that woman from idaho and decided to conceal her identity. that's the one he texted and phoned and hadn't seen in more than three decades. will still, was to be with her, said the state, that mark killed his wife. on the stand -- >> at one point she said mark had mentioned that if they were meant to be together something bad would have to happen. >> reporter: the woman didn't seem to know what mark meant by that. but the prosecution claimed he meant he'd have to kill karen. not just so he could be with the idaho woman but so that he wouldn't have to share his pension with karen. his wife of 33 years.

anyway, said the state, karen must have angry at mark and might have told him that night she intended to leave him, she wanted a divorce. >> the facts of the case showed that something happened that night between mark and karen. whether that be her discussing divorce or whatever the case may be, and he became upset and -- and murdered karen. >> reporter: the prosecution based that theory around a story told by some teenager two or three blocks away who said they heard a scream between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m. the pathologist testified karen could have been killed as early as 10:30 or as late as 2:30 a.m. but the state said it must have 10:30 after which mark must have washed his closings slashed the screen to make it look like an intruder came in then went to bed and wadeited for son, casey, to come home from the movie. >> one of the theories we did have is that he wanted casey to fine karen. >> reporter: he's sleeping peacefully is that the idea?

>> correct. >> reporter: then covered his tracks? >> correct. >> reporter: except, of course casey didn't discover the body. so said the state, about 1:00 a.m., mark had to make the 911 call him. when detectives listened to the call, they heard what sounded to them like an incriminating mistake. >> 911. your emergency? >> i've got -- my wife -- blood ever deswhere. >> reporter: what did he say? "i killed my wife," the state claims. then a sound they say is a well-known barnyard explosiveetive -- >> i've got the to -- i killed my wife -- blood everywhere. >> reporter: an unintended confession caught on tape or so said the prosecution. he got it all together and all planned and then blew it on the 911 call? >> i believe so. i'm sure if you just killed your wife, you'd be pretty stressed on the inside which would make thing come out that you didn't mean come out.

>> reporter: to the defense, it was quite simply bunk. >> i've listened to it -- i don't know -- 100 times now. i don't hear that. >> reporter: defense attorney ron powell told the jury mark found his wife just after someone attacked her and told 911 this -- >> 911. your emergency? >> i've got the a -- my wife -- >> reporter: "a found my wiv. " -- my wife." and the soup the state says was an explosive was what the defense said was "sick." listen again. >> i found my wife sick and blood everywhere. >> do you think if they heard it that clear that this guy says "i killed my wife," and he's the only one home, you don't think they're arresting this guy? if that happened -- what are they waiting for? they didn't arrest him until four months layerment. >> reporter: meanwhile, police failed to follow up on plenty of evidence that in a town plagued

by drug-related crime, intruders intent on theft could certainly have been surprised by karen, then killed her, then fled. there was an unidentified car parked nearby time of the murder. another car seen speeding from the neighborhood as the cops raced to the duenas house. the two strangers seen in the neighborhood and a trail of footprints leading away from the duenas back yard. and as for those screams heard by teenagers a couple of blocks away -- >> the entire block where mark lives hears nothing. the woman next door sleeps with her window open hears nothing. the person on the other side of the house is jason duenas who has his window open. he hears nothing. >> reporter: the defense put on a witness who said karen told her the week of the murder that she and mark were making plan for a bright future together. the idea that mark would kill karen so he could pursue a happily married woman from idaho he hadn't seen in more than 30 years was simply ridiculous said the defense.

>> it sounds like a great motive when you look at it from a distance. when you get to it it sounds like puppy love. >> reporter: the defense rested its case in a matter of hours. when it went to the jury, how did you feel about it? >> i was pretty confident. you could see in the jury's face that they weren't buying this. >> reporter: and something odd happened. the day the jury wouldn't out, a female juror overslept. rather than delay the case the judge replaced her with an alternate. and yes, on such tiny wheels fates turn. coming up, jurors get the case and report impressed. >> i thought the sheriff's department did a terrible job. >> reporter: really? terrible job? >> terrible job. well... did you know auctioneers make bad grocery store clerks? that'll be $23.50. now .75, 23.75, hold 'em. hey now do i hear 23.75? 24! hey 24 dollar, 24 and a quarter, quarter

now half, 24 and a half and .75! 25! now a quarter, hey 26 and a quarter, do you wanna pay now, you wanna do it, 25 and a quarter- -sold to the man in the khaki jacket! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. lipton fresh brewed ice tea is the naturally refreshing way to enjoy your meals. it's the flavour we all savour does any food a favor... you gotta be (ah) more (ah) tea! tea-riffic! lipton. be more tea. and now try iced tea in a squeeze. i'm jerry bell the second. and i'm jerry bell the third.

i'm like a big bear and he's my little cub. this little guy is non-stop. he's always hanging out with his friends. you've got to be prepared to sit at the edge of your seat and be ready to get up. there's no "deep couch sitting." definitely not good for my back. this is the part i really don't like right here. (doorbell) what's that? a package! it's a swiffer wetjet. it almost feels like it's moving itself. this is kind of fun. that comes from my floor? eww! this is deep couch sitting. [jerry bell iii] deep couch sitting!

you get used to stale odors in your mudroom. you think it smells fine, but your guests smell this... febreze air effects works instantly to eliminate odors you've gone noseblind to. smells like a field of awesome in here. so you and your guests can breathe happy. you wouldn't do half of your daily routine. so why treat your mouth any differently. brushing alone does less than half the job leaving behind millions of germs. comp kill up to 99 percent of germs. and prevent plaque, early gum disease and bad breath.

complete the job with listerine®. power to your mouth™. also try listerine® floss. its advanced technology removes more plaque. >> reporter: the jury in the duenas murder case was a little unusual. not just because of that last-minute switch of jurors but because several of them had spent careers dealing with the justice system. and they certainly knew what was at stake. >> this is something that we all had to take very serious. >> reporter: here are three members of the jury. this one is a retired chief probation officer and former cop. he was surprised by the case he said, and not in a good way.

>> i thought the sheriff's department did a terrible job. >> reporter: really? terrible job? >> terrible job in their investigation. >> reporter: in fact the jurors we spoke to said that feeling was pervasive in the jury room. and the 911 call that prosecutors claimed was a confession the jury couldn't decide what he said. >> we listened to it many many many times -- >> -- times at least. >> yeah. >> reporter: couldn't tell? >> no. >> reporter: they voted 10-2 for acquittal at one point. one juror in particular of ad mapt about his guilty -- of adamant about his guilty vote. which one? the alternate who replaced the woman who had overslept. >> that juror said "he's guilty, and he's going to have to prove that he's not guilty. "and i'm not going to change my mind. i'm going hang this jury." >> reporter: the judge declared a mistrial. what was of that like? >> it was of heartbreaking.

we thought my dad would be home that day. >> reporter: afterwards mark and karen's extended family publicly pleaded do not retry mark. let the it go. >> you see these people? this is love. this is belief in this human being. this is not a question in our hearts. please listen to us and know we love of this man. >> reporter: so was it over? oh, no. not even close. instead, shasta county's d.a. assigned a new prosecutor to the case stephanie bridgette. something to know about ms. bridgette, up to this moment she had never lost a case not one. her secret -- preparation, she said. she is very thorough. by the time you finished reading through it in your preparation, what did you think? >> i didn't have any doubt that mark was the one that killed his wife. >> reporter: one big change at trial number two -- the very first words out of the prosecutor's mouth were the

state's version of that 911 call "i killed my wife. blood everywhere." no jury she declared could doubt the content of that call. and prosecutors offered yet another possibly damning statement from mark himself during his first of three tape recorded interviews with detectives which again he willingly submitted to without the presence of an attorney. >> the only cut i saw. >> reporter: in his very first interview, claimed the state, mark slipped and made an admission while describing the wound he said he found on karen's chest. >> like the guy knew what he was doing or something. you because the way he cut her, that's the only cut i saw. and there was tons of blood. there was none there coming out when i -- whoever of did -- i don't -- >> reporter: what was of that again? listen carefully. >> there was none there coming out when i -- whoever did -- i

don't -- >> reporter: "when i found her" or "when i did it"? no way to know what he might have said. but the state claimed it amounted to another quasi-confession. the second prosecutor also presented evidence the first prosecutor chose not to use. . it, for example, from a criminalist who examined the clothes mark wore that night and found caper's blood, though not visible to the naked eye, all over. >> there was a big area on the front of his shirt that covered all the way down. there was of blood on the back of the shirt. there was blood all across the waistband, down the sides. different spots throughout the shores. even blood -- shorts. even blood on inside of the boxer shorts. >> reporter: which you don't think he could have gotten there by touching with his hands? like removing changing adjusting? >> absolutely not. not in all those locations. >> reporter: the prosecutor claimed mark must have washed

off some but not all the blood after the stabbing. had a shower in his clothes or something. and then she claimed she'd found the murder weapon -- or what could be the murder weapon. a knife found in the wrong slot in the kitchen butcher block. there was no blood on it but its handle was bearing a substance identified as either animal fat or some kind of cleaner. >> what it tells us is that he had something in the home available to him that could have caused that murder. >> reporter: so means, motive opportunity for premeditated murder. but would a second set of jurors agree. coming up, they would want evidence. but just how much was of

>> reporter: november, 2013. a chilly autumn wind played around the corners of that big courthouse in the middle of reading. inside defense attorney ron powellet frommed that ed thatmed that -- powell fretted, and there were new wrinkles. the blood on mark's clothes and the knife in the kitchen butcher block. >> remember, this is a retrial now. they felt this time that they needed to show a possible of a knife. they never said this of the knife. they were just showing this knife could have done it. >> reporter: in fact said powell, the you new evidence of no more persuasive than the old. no blood or animal fat found on the knife and some sort of soap? how about somebody used a knife to you cut a steak and then washed it? could you wipe all the dna off a

knife you put in the -- >> good question. i've learned after this trial that blood will never leave closings, but it will go right off a knife. >> reporter:a for the blood on mark's closings of course it was blood, said the defense. he handled her body. and police didn't see the blood at first because his shirt was red, and his shorts were black. and then there was the new prosecutor's insistence that karen of very unhappy in her marriage and wanted a divorce. was it true? >> no! there's nothing to support it. there's no faxcts to support it. no evidence to support it. >> reporter: this was of the issue that went to the heart of the prosecutor's case. and her contention that the state had developed a clear idea of just what happened the night karen was murdered. >> i believe that most likely karen confronted him with the information that she had about the affair he was having with the lady in idaho. she probably said that was it. she wasn't going to have it. she was going to get a divorce.

that's when he decided i'm going to get the knife. i'm going to go -- >> do you have any idea beyond your own fevered imagination that that's what happened? you don't have a you clue! >> well you know all evidence points to that. yes, i do think -- >> reporter: how does the evidence point to that? >> we have a person who has been in a relationship with a lady in another state -- >> let me stop you for a machine. first of all, you said "affair." the now you're saying being in a relationship. he was doing what millions. millions of americans have been doing since facebook came along. they happen seepn each other for 30 years. you can't really call that an affair can you? >> here's the difference -- it becomes an affair and crosses the line when you don't tell your spouse about it. >> reporter: you believe he was obsessed with this bottom? >> i believe he wanted more out of that relationship than she did. >> reporter: was it pure fiction, or what was it? >> what else could it be? i know she's got a law degree. i never saw a psychology degree. >> reporter: for mark and

karen's sons the prosecutor's psycho analysis of their mother amounted to an insult. >> the d.a. said things about my mom that were untrue. did they know my mom better than i know my mom? better than any of us? they act like they do. there's no evidence. >> reporter: what you do you say to people whose reaction is well, you know, of course they're going to feel that way, this is his family. they've just lost their mother. they don't want to lose their father, too. >> life is so much harder protecting my dad. we would be moved on. we would know what happened if we thought that was the truth. but we all know with our hearts that's not what happened. >> reporter: the jury in the first trial had been hopelessly deadlocked, came so close to acquitting mark and sending him home to his family. the second jury was back in less than a day, and their verdict was written on family faces in the gallery's first row.

>> i still hear the sounds of the boys right behind mark crying. i still hear that. very tough. >> reporter: guilty of first-degree murder. >> sick. i felt like throwing up to be honest. i was sick. >> i feel bad for the family members because the family members -- they're not going to be happy with the verdict. but in -- at the end of the day, it's karen who was killed and karen who that verdict was of for. >> reporter: what would you say to them? this big extended family out there that doesn't think it got justice at all. >> i would sell temperature that i'm -- i would telethem that i'm confidhaep the right person was convicted. >> reporter: mark name of sentenced to 25 years to life if prison. he's filed an appeal. his family will go on believing what they' may 4, 2012 unknown intruder probably drug adixdicts intent on theft, burst

in killed her, and realizing what they had done ran without taking a thing. jason and his growing family still live right next door to the home he grew up in, the place it happened. and casey, until just recently still went to bed every night across the hall from his mother's bedroom. >> i mean it was always cottonwood, small town. nothing happen here. then the worst you can imagine happened. >> reporter: casey and his brother, troy no longer play baseball for the local college. the days when they looked toward the bleachers where their parents always sat side by side are gone forever. >> that's alall for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. . >> this sunday one time middle east success story turns

disastrous. u.s. troops withdraw from yemen as the country descends into all out civil war. state of distrust. >> we have to evaluate what other options are available. >> benjamin netanyahu pulls to the right to win the israeli election. has he left the peace process in tatters and altered his country's relationship with the u.s. permanently? plus climate catastrophe. jerry brown the governor of drought stricken california on why there should no longer be a debate about climate. >> this has to be at the level of a crusade. >> find out which 2016 contender he thinks is unfit for office. >> such a level of ignorance. >> an end game is illinois the most corrupt state in the country? as aaron schock faces a federal investigation. why so many politicians from that state ended up in jail.