en saidlen -- evelyn said her son wasn't lazy. >> he got by. he wasn't motivated. >> if steven was serious about anything it was skating. >> we'd go skating on the beach. >> his friend missy queen skated too. not like steven. he took the bronze at national speed skating competition. >> he would encourage me to skate fast. he would be way ahead of me. >> reporter: when he wasn't skating he was happy to go wherever whenever. like when hipss mother evelyn a travel agent invited him to see the world. he was 30-something free and he loved his mom. so why not? >> he was adventurous. >> here i am. an elephant ride. >> reporter: what countries did you take him to? >> oh boy, we did most of asia. >> he can hear you. >> most of europe. south america. >> here we go. >> here goes mom. >> mom. >> we had a lot of interesting

experiences and had a lot of fun. >> i have not inhaled. >> she hasn't inhaled. >> no inhaling. >> reporter: eventually evelyn decided to retire to the jersey shore. she wanted steven off to come too. she needed his help. so her loyal son grabbed his skates and the rest of his stuff and jumped in his car. >> it was packed with every single thing that he owned was in that car. it was funny. ♪ >> reporter: he knocked around for a few years and then one day in 2006 he met kathleen dorsette. >> i knew she was a school teacher. she lived in jersey. he was in love with her. seemed like he found the one. >> reporter: if on silts attract, this match couldn't miss. kathleen dorsette seemed as grounded as it gets. she had her own house across the street from her folks. she was great with children. as friend noticed when steven

brought her out to california. >> they came down and stayed i think a week with us. she seemed really nice. they took my kids out. took them shopping. and bought some games for them and stuff like that. >> reporter: steven started taking life a little more seriously. he got a job at the local honda dealership and did really well according to his co-worker and friend lloyd mccracken. >> oh absolutely. absolute absolutely. more he was a team player. if you needed something, you can always depend on him. >> reporter: kathleen was eager to start a family of her own. so a year after they met she and steven got married. >> you couldn't believe this was happening. he was so happy. >> so there he was. steven moore solid citizen, with a steady job. the wife and the nice in-laws across the street. >> you know he said i am finally settling down. i got a family. beside taking care of his mother he had somebody else he could actually take care of. >> reporter: and kids couldn't

come fast enough. elizabeth was born about a year and a half after the wedding. do you remember the day sunny was born? >> oh my god, yeah. i can remember standing at the nursery. he stood there with his arms around me crying both of us looking at her. >> reporter: kathleen seemed born to beep a mother. and steven? >> awful all of a sudden it came together for him. his daughter made a man out of him. >> reporter: that should have been the beginning of a happy ending for steven and his wife kathleen. but in 2010 on a monday morning in august, steven just didn't show up for work. the guys at honda called kathleen. she hadn't seen him since early morning. >> i knew something was wrong. he is there before me. he didn't show up. i started calling his phone. kempt kept going to voice mail. >> reporter: his mom evelyn was take a vacation in maine. main he had blown off work to join her.

>> when i got ahold of her. i said do you know where your son is. she said no. she started panicking. >> i called him. he didn't answer. >> reporter: honda folks waited a couple hours then called the police. detective al vega handled the missing person's investigation. >> noon august 16th we received a call from employer of steven expressing that he didn't show up for work. >> reporter: police learned steven had loaned evelyn his own car to make the long drive to maine because it was newer and safer. he was driving his mom's car until she got back. >> maybe he drove some where and has a bad car crash, nobody knows where he is at. >> reporter: where was steven moore? as police followed his trail they caught a tantalizing glimpse of where he had been. but the question remains, where did he go? >> when we come back -- the first clues to steven's sudden disappearance. a text from kathleen -- >> where are you? everyone is looking for you? >> a stop at the store. >> a transaction, local quick

check. >> where would they lead? even investigators could not imagined that. >> never had a case with so many twists and turns.

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>> reporter: as the day wore on steven's work friend grew worried. a no-show at the dealership.

he wasn't answering his phone. detectives looking for him needed a crash course in steven's live. they started with the family he had married into. there was kathleen of course, dedicated teacher, attentive mother. the kind who made her own baby food and fretted over every detail of her daughter's care. did you check into their standing in the community? >> i knew what and who they were. to the fact that sunny was ahe was a teacher where they resided. >> the detective learned steven's father-in-law adored his granddaughter and got along with his neighbors. >> stories of thomas shoveling sidewalks, driveways, if there was mechanical failure on air conditioner or something like that simple phone call. thomas would be there. >> reporter: steven's mother-in-law, lesslie, nearly everyone saw her campaign ad for the school board. >> today i want to introduce myself and tell you why i am

qualified to serve you. >> reporter: the dorsets, often hosted pool parties on the little block. steven's friend cam came for a visit. >> her parents lived on the corner right there. just like right across the street. >> reporter: when investigators talked to kathleen and her parents about where steven might be they weren't much help. because as it turns out, steven didn't live there anymore. for steven and kathleen wedded bliss didn't last very long. detectives learned the marriage went downhill after the baby was born. kathleen always driven was a super mom. and friend say she made steven feel like he couldn't do anything right. >> he wasn't holding the baby right. he wasn't changing the diapers right. he he wasn't putting her down for a naps at the right time. >> you know just very protective of the child. which is sometimes, mother's -- are like that at the beginning.

>> reporter: so in love with her baby friend told police how kathleen hovered over her care. >> so like hey, it's hormones and everything going on with her. and blah, blah, blah just relax. and just just kind of go with it a little bit and see what happens. >> reporter: steven complained it didn't get better. >> she wasn't showing him any love anymore. and no intimacy everything was gone. >> reporter: and there was another problem for steven. the cozy life across the street from the in-laws, had gotten a little too cozy. police learned that the doting grandparents couldn't stay away. >> they would just pop in unannounced not even knock just walk in the house at any time. he felt that was kind of weird. >> reporter: investigators learned that steven felt so smothered that when elizabeth was ten months old he walked out on his wife and in-laws and moved back in with his mom. the divorce became final just a

few months before steven disappeared. cam had to wonder maybe steven just needed to get away. >> it did cross my mind. going through the things. sometimes you want to disappear a little bit. and not, not talk to anybody. get your thoughts together. find out exactly what is going on. >> but that's not the vibe investigators were getting. his mother said steven didn't sound like he wanted to get away. in fact he sounded pretty happy. the night before he disappeared. he was enjoying an overnight visit with 20-month-old elizabeth. >> he called me. he said we're in our jamies watching cartoons. i said sleep tight. i will talk to you tomorrow. >> reporter: the next morning, he left the baby with kathleen. >> steven shoepdwed up at 7:45 a.m. with their daughter. he drops her off. >> kathleen told investigators she hadn't heard from him since even when she sent a text. >> what was the text message she sent? >> she showed him the phone.

where are you? everyone is looking for you? >> reporter: investigators ran through all the possibilities. >> reporter: did he have a girlfriend? >> no. not that we were aware of. >> reporter: into anything bad, into drugs, anything that would get him into trouble? >> no not that we are aware of. >> reporter: financial issues? >> no. >> reporter: when police looked at his checking account. it showed something. two debit charges posted monday afternoon. >> i found out there was a transaction at a local quick check on that date for $9. and then another transact later on that day at a chipotle in the same town he works in. >> reporter: after he dropped off his daughter at kathleen's? >> correct. craig. >> reporter: so whatever happened to steven could well happened later monday. another day went by. no steven. on the early morning hours of wednesday, august 18 a 911 call came into dispatch. >> 911, what's your emergency. >> there's a fire right outside

of my house, my apartment. >> reporter: a car fire erupted in a lenly lyonely sects of long branch new jersey not far from the dorsette's tiny peaceful street. the question where was steven moore was about to be answered. >> coming up -- >> i had intuition it is going to be bad. it was. >> a whole new mystery begins as police uncover a secret diary. >> this whole thing is is just getting absurd. >> recorded by steven hi

♪ >> the call went out just after 4:00 in the morning. a car had erupted in flames in long branch new jersey. by the time detective al vega arrived on the scene he had gotten word. the car was evelyn moors. the same one her son steven was driving when we case peered. detective vega had a bad feeling. >> i'm like gosh, here we go. you know it was like the new, i had that intuition, it was going to be bad.

and then the was. during fire suppression efforts they found unidentifiable human remains in a trunk. >> it was the body of a man burned beyond recognition. but investigators could make out a tattoo that was identical to stevens. the missing person's case had just taken a tragic turn. steven moore devoted father and loving son was dead. the detective took charge. >> the vehicle was parked here and this is when we picked up the homicide investigation. >> reporter: then it took on a whole new direction? >> it did. >> reporter: did you have any theories as to what might have happened? >> no at that point in time we did not. >> reporter: one thing was clear, who ever torched the car had started with the trunk where the victim was. >> the rear bumper just completely melted off the rear of the vehicle. >> reporter: could you tell how the fire was started?

>> once you open the trunk. once the body was removed there definitely was an obvious odor of gasoline. >> reporter: now he had gone from missing person to murder victim investigators had to look at everything in steven any life. >> we spent some time looking into seven'steven's background. a competitive speed skater. >> reporter: his life as a skater turned up nothing. >> whouzhow was he doing at work? really well at work. >> reporter: investigators took a look at the brief marriage to kathleen and learned how bad it really got. friend like missy queen thought katrina len had kathleen had gone mad with motherhood. like the time that steven tried to feed elizabeth the smidgen of sauerkraut. >> she screamed at him, "you don't feed a baby sauerkraut." you know "that's not baby food." >> steven's divorce attorney veronica davis said she had

never seen anything like it. >> she had a list. so she gave him a schedule a written schedule an outline. she wanted him to fill in the blanks. what did she eat? when did she nap? when did she go to the bathroom? how long did she sleep? she would call. if he had her for three hours. she would call four times. what is she doing? very disconcerting it? was fis donedysfunctional. >> reporter: the dysfunction was seeping into steven's life at work. lloyd mccracken told the police how she'd was bring the baby to humiliate him in front of co-workers. >> out of spite. bring the baby in. he would try to peck upick up the baby. she would take the baby out of his arms. turn into a yelling match. she would storm out. >> i just feel like that's all she wanted out of me just the baby. he was basically a sperm donor, basically. yeah that's huh he felt. >> reporter: investigators learned that even though the divorce was final the custody

battle was never ending. steven fault for more time with his daughter. to his mom, it looked like an uphill battle. he couldn't afford the endless litigation. >> her parents had more money than i did to help him. so he didn't -- he didn't stand a chance. >> reporter: but his divorce attorney saw him toughen up, decideing when enough was enough. >> she was issuing edicts. he cam toe to me paniced. we went into court immediately. >> reporter: steven was pushing back. investigators looking at this case took note. steven's friend and family believed kathleen thought she married a passive, go along guy. but ended up with a man who wouldn't roll over. >> he had overnight vizsits. stuff like that. she did not like that at all. because she could not control what was happening. >> reporter: the detective heard

plenty about the custody battle from friends and family but then discovered evidence that was both powerful and unique. steven had kemptpt an audio diary. >> he was documenting all the issues going on with he and kathleen. >> reporter: steven made this recording three weeks before his murder. >> i'm getting very tired of katy calling me and questioning every move i make. i'm able to take care of our child just as well as she can. >> of one of the few homicide cases that when you really want to get into the victim's head and know exactly what is going on steven left it for us. it's always bs. and it's her way or no way. i just want to be able to spend time with my daughter with no bull.

>> reporter: investigators also heard steven standing up for his rights. he recorded one exchange with kathleen as he was picking up the baby for a short visit. kathleen was planning to take elizabeth for a weekend trip out of state against his wishes. >> are you still planning on going to florida? >> yeah. >> okay i would like an itinerary. i would look to know what airline you are flying on. >> why? >> why? because it's my right. >> okay. >> and times. >> okay we'll see, yeah sure. i'll get them to you. >> and when are you leaving? >> thursday like i told you. >> okay i'm not right, this is still not right. >> good for you that it's not right. >> investigators could hear kathleen digging at stephen in front of their daughter. >> i know you don't want to go. but it is what it is. it is what it is my princess. >> reporter: and what it was, ugly and builter. but a lot of custody fights are like that. they don't end in murder.

the mystery of who killed stephen moore was still a puzzle but the pieces were about to come together. >> coming up -- police pay another visit to kathleen. small talk in the kitchen. >> she offered us food a drink. >> reporter: and a big discovery in the bushes. >> make sure the entire crime scene unit gets here as quick as possible. 'm so awake? did you know your brain has two systems? one helps keep you awake- the other helps you sleep. science suggests when you have insomnia, the wake system in your brain may be too strong and your neurotransmitters remain too active as you try to sleep, which could be leading to your insomnia. ohh...maybe that's what's preventing me from getting the sleep i need! talk to your doctor about ways to manage your insomnia.

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>> reporter: kathleen and stephen seemed to be at war over the custody of their baby. the detectives learned that the couple agreed on something a couple months before stephen's disappearance. >> they were planning a move together. were they moving soon? >> they were. schedule ahead of schedule and moving in the next couple weeks. >> the plan came together after

kathleen announced they were moving to florida. instead of fighting it. stephen worked to iron out an agreement. the dorsets could take her to florida if they took stephen too. they would get him an apartment. he would pay $600 a month toward the rent. and close proximity to where they lived. and that they would actually give him financial support until he got a job. >> reporter: with this agreement did stephen think that things were turning around. was he okay with it? >> he was hopeful. he was willing to move to florida. >> reporter: stephen's friend cam thought it was a bad idea. >> i told him, no. no don't do it. i wouldn't trust them. >> reporter: in fact investigators learned the florida wasn't solving the problems between kathleen and stephen. his friend said kathleen was criticizing him more than ever. so stephen stopped answering his phone so she could save kathleen any voice mails just keeping a record in case he needed it some day. >> i'm going to till you for the

last time. we are following the schedule we're. >> investigators heard the hostile relationship reaching the boiling point. >> stephen left it for the investigative team. leading up ten days prior to his death. he had his voice recording diary goechlgt going. it was very helpful. >> reporter: as police kid the awful problems between kathleen and stephen, another key piece of information came to light. those debit charges that hit stephen's account after he dropped the baby off, well another check with the bank revealed that stephen made those charges a few days before. here he is at a chipotle a few days before he disappeared. the charge he made didn't show of until monday. >> once we realized it brought us back to the fact that stephen was last seen alive in front of kathleen dorsette's house that monday morning. >> so with all of that information, investigators made

a beeline back to kathleen dorsette and the cozy cul-de-sac. detective wilbert began with an update from the medical examiner. >> the medical examiner ruled it as a homicide. draw mat traumatic blunt force trauma was the kau. do you have any questions? how am i supposed to respond to this? >> reporter: so calm. it still wasn't clear where this line of questioning would lead. until another investigator pulled detective wilbert aside. he had been talking to the neighbors and they had a story to tell. >> on the morning of august 16th they were both awoke from their sleep after hearing screams. and in fact one of the neighbors actually looked out her window bedroom window and -- she saw kathleen toward the back of the house. and the neighbor she inquired are you okay what's going on?

and kathleen said -- close the window. >> reporter: screams on the morning stephen disappeared. later kathleen told the neighbors it was the dog having a seizure. the detective thought he may be standing at a crime scene. he asked kathleen if they could search the property. with no hesitation. she said that's fine. the detective was struck with the nonchalant response. >> make sure the entire crime scene unit gets here as quick as possible. while we were waiting for the crime scene unitight show to show up. offered us food a drink, the bathroom. eating grapes in her kitchen. like everything was normal. kathleen talked about the gardening efforts. put in mulch to spruce up the yard for the upcoming open house, she said. it was odd. and an area of interest. it seemed like he was trying to make small talk.

when the crime scene investigators showed up it was one of the first placed they checked. >> one of the forensic detectives put on pro tktive glovestktive -- protective gloves. put his hand into the mulch. in fact came up with blood on the protected glove. not a few smatterings, lots of blood. it tested human. >> coming up the ex-wife makes a trip to the station. >> do you wish to -- >> then a stunner on surveillance tape. >> looks like a tarp a rope a 4 x 4. >> everything you might need for a murder. >> yes, exactly. >> someone is caught on camera. and it is definitely not kathleen. when "dateline" continues.

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>> reporter: some home improvement changed the landscape of the stephen moore murder investigation in ways no one saw coming. crime scene investigators found human blood around new mulch at the home of kathleen dorsette. detective wilbert brought kathleen down to the station and the chathty woman serving him grapes refused to talk. prosecutor mark lemue had the blood along with the reports of screaming the morning stephen disappeared and the bad history between kathleen and stephen.

but he wanted to nail down the details of the case. so he let her leave the station. >> we do not charge her yet. and the reason for that is that we wanted to sit back and figure out was there more to this story? >> reporter: two days later they made a decision. with police cameras rolling the investigation team went back to kathleen's home. >> i remember walking to the door. knocking on the door. thomas answered it. and, invited me in. i told kathleen that she was under arrest for the murder of stephen moore. she was handcuff and quickly escorted from the residence. >> the neighbors watched, flabbergasted as kathleen dorsette teacher devoted mother and daughter of a nice respectable couple was arrested for the murder of stephen moore. her father still standing in her house was clearly devastated. who knows what triggered his next move. but very early the next morning, thomas dorsette drove to his

attorney's office. he parked there. and looked like he was taking a nap. >> reporter: was he really taking a nap? >> no. his attorney arrived shortly after 8:00 a.m. he pulled in. parked his vehicle next to thomas dorsette's vehicle. then awful apanic set in. >> thomas had a tube hooked to a re canister. >> reporter: police busted his window. and pulled him out. rushed to the hospital in a coma. >> reporter: suicide attempt? >> that's what it was. >> reporter: the daughter's arrest may have pushed him to the edge. police suspected something other than despair caused thomas to kill himself. they took a closer look. one thing they knew. thomas shared his daughter's over the top devegs tootion to little elizabeth. something detective wilbert noticed when they first met. i said i noticed looks like a

picture in your pocket. like a deck of cards he laid out 17 photographs of his daughter and his granddaughter. >> reporter: family members say he carried those photos with him all the time. they were there on the dashboard when he tried to kill himself. investigators also heard from lloyd mccracken that thomas shared his daughter's rage at stephen. lloyd remembers the calls stephen used to got at work from thomas. >> pretty much every day. you would hear everything all yelling, screaming, the threats. >> reporter: and during katrina lain's arrest thomas did something the investigators all noticed. >> as soon as we entered into the residence, thomas dorsette removed his wallet from his back pocket as if he was going to turn it over. like let me get rid of my property right now. >> reporter: he was going to get arrested what it looked like. >> right. >> reporter: more than anything the prosecutor focused on the cause of stephen's death. blunt force trauma and strangulation.

>> reporter: what was significance of the injuries? >> the significance of that led us to clearly know that this was something more than just kathleen being involved. >> reporter: police still didn't have any hard evidence off to connect thomas to the crime until. >> there was a phone call from a restaurant owner in long branch. >> reporter: this restaurant owner had videotape he said that might be of interest to the investigators. >> we left the scene where thomas tried to commit suicide and we immediately responded to the restaurant in long branch. >> reporter: there they found this security video recorded monday august 16th. the morning of stephen moore's disappearance. it shows two cars arriving. one after another. the first car, grabbed their attention, it was evelyn moore's, the car steven was driving before his death. and there behind the wheel, we saw thomas dorsette driving evelyn moore's vehicle and kathleen dorsette following thomas in her vehicle.

>> this is such a moment for you? >> breaking moment. >> reporter: evelyn moore's car what was thomas doing with it? the investigators were sure at the moment the video was taken, stephen's body had to be in the trunk of that car. an hour later, thomas returned to the dumpster. this time in his white van. >> it got better. thomas dorsette pulls back into the parking lot area. thomas is seen wearing protective gloves and discarding a number of items into the dumpster to include, a garbage can filled with items. a tarp. a rope. 4 x 4. >> everything you might need for a murder. >> yes, exactly. >> reporter: to investigators that put thomas as well as kathleen in the thick of the crime. >> reporter: thomas is now in a coma. are you just waiting and waiting for him to weak up so you can get the show on the road? >> we didn't care if he woke up or notch we charged him that

day. we had officers surrounding his bed. he was never going anywhere again but to a jail cell. >> reporter: that's indeed what happened when thomas woke up. he was transferred to the monmouth county jail. >> reporter: what do you think happened that morning in the driveway? >> on monday morning a plan was made for katrinahleen to have steven to give down the driveway to go get some tools from a basement. and as he came down thomas was standing behind a bush next to the driveway. an down hestruck right in thell face. bleeding into the bushes. and we know that thomas takes a rope he throws out later, he uses that rope to extinguish any ounce of life that stephen had left. >> reporter: with kathleen and her father in jail, a court decided that kathleen any mother leslie wasn't a fit guardian.

so grandma evelyn, stephen any mother got the baby. in the end, the investigators believed kathleen and thomas killed stephen because they wanted him away from the baby and out of their lives. if they had ever made it to florida did they have a backup plan for stephen? >> someone that got close with kathleen after the murder had told her that one of their plans was to feed stephen to the alligators down in florida. >> reporter: like it keeps getting take tine a whole new level. >> exactly. >> reporter: it seemed look a slam dunk case. but as kathleen sat in jail awaiting trial. she didn't sound like a woman facing hard time. on the phone with her mother. she sounded oddly breezy. almost cheerful. >> how was dinner? >> very nice. we want to the place where luigi's funeral was. >> oh, okay. >> reporter: just the beginning of a conversation that got stranger and stranger. there is another crime brewing,

a whole new chapter in the tale of kathleen dorsette and her family. >> coming up. >> how much can you come up with in cash? >> an underhanded plot. an under cover sting. >> they want to make it look like some type of medication overdose. >> mother and daughter were in for a

>> four months after the death of stephen moore, katrina lain and her father were in jail awaiting trial for his murder. the baby at the center of the tragedy, elizabeth, was no longer living on the friendly street their the dorsets once threw barbecues and christmas parties. she was with stephen's mother evelyn. >> i just want her to be happy and able to live the way she wants to. >> reporter: so kathleen dorsette lost the thing she cared about the most. her baby. given all that you would think that kathleen would have been wallowing in despair while sitting in jail. that's not how she sounded when she called her mother. >> how was the party? how was everybody? >> wonderful time. everybody sent you their regard. laura, specifically. oh really?,??

oh good. >> they talked about the weather. and the cats. >> you know that those bratty cats knocked down elizabeth's strawberry shortcake plate and broke it. >> oh no. those little. >> and i didn't thing it would be broken. >> and gas sipped edgossiped about a friend any kids. and they also talked about money. kathleen an inmate suddenly needed a lot of cash. >> how much can you come up with in cash? >> i told you. >> just $1,000. that's it. >> yes that's all i have left. >> reporter: mother and daughter metten person after that. then came this cagey call. >> what we discussed at the viz it? >> yeah. >> it's kind of already in motion. you need to do your part. >> something was brewing. >> remember natural? write that. the word diabetic. that's it.

and the original amount i told you in money $1,000. that's it. >> okay. >> seal it. someone will meet you there. it's not even going to be some one you know. >> reporter: that someone was this man. >> i'm sammy, the guy, kathleen dorsette hired to kill evelyn moore. >> reporter: evelyn moore the grandmother who had custody of baby elizabeth. >> kathleen dorsette set up i would meet the mother at target in ocean township. >> reporter: on the appointed day, elizabeth's grandmother, leslie dorsette arrived at the target with an envelope of cash and evelyn moore's address ready to put the hit on the other grandmother. there she is. looking for sammy. >> hello? what's happening? >> hi. >> reporter: did she have the $1,000. >> provided a white envelope with $1,000 cash. >> how much is in here? >> $1,000. >> cash. >> cash. >> 100, 2003.

>> they also provided evelyn moore's address on the envelope. how do you want this done? >> natural. >> as possible. >> they wanted the murder to look like it was natural. >> reporter: natural, any suggestions. >> poisoning. >> so like a poisoning or you tell me? >> she's a diabetic. >> they told me evelyn moore was a diabetic. they wanted to make it look like she died in her sleep, some type of medication overdose. certainly didn't want a brutal murder where it would bring attention back to them. >> reporter: you asked for a photo was that provided? >> it was not. she said kathleen did not tell her to bring the photo. >> i told you to have one. >> i did. >> i told you to write on the back of the picture. >> nope. >> never. >> yes, i did. yes, i did. yes, i did, mother. awe mauts she did as she was told. got the picture of evelyn. got back in her car.

to mail the photo to the hit man. >> reporter: this hilt was not going to happen? why not? >> i'm a detective. >> not hit man, sammy, but detective scott samous. the cellmate tipped him off. the cellmate said kathleen was so angry, evelyn had custody, she wanted to have evelyn killed. so the cops were on to them from the start. lots of people don't like their mother-in-law. but murder? >> it was highly disturbing to know and see what happened here. >> reporter: leslie was arrested with evelyn's picture in an envelope on the passenger seat. and now katrina len, already charged with murder was also charged with attempted murder. how shocking was it? how did you even find out that this plan was in motion? >> to kill me? jeff will tell you. >> i said leslie has been arrested for a conspiracy to commit murder. she said on who?

i said on you. leslie and kathleen had plotted to kill you. >> reporter: with the murder-for-hire plot revealed the case against the dorsets cam together. three years after stephen was killed. >> after stephen was -- the dorsets had a family reunion of sorts in monmouth superior court. kathleen dorsette former school teacher, pleaded guilty to murder attempted murder. thomas dorsette doting grandfather, good neighbor pleaded guilty to murder and arson for hire. and leslie dorsette pleaded guilty to second degree conspiracy to commit murder. >> the goal was to kill evelyn. leslie sentenced to seven years in prison. thomas, 45. and kathleen got 58. thomas wrote a letter to

"dateline" to say stephen's murder was not mravenltd itplanned. it was the first fight of my life. katie was not involved. he also wrote that he and kathleen took the pleas to save my wife's life. kathleen will not be allowed to see her daughter. elizabeth can decide for herself when she comes of age. the crazy thing about this all centered around a child. she wanted to have the child. >> she never thought about. at the end of the day sunny was eliminating her own ability to be a mom. >> did it feel though like kathleen was the ring leader of everything that happened in this family? >> absolutely. definitely. she was running the show. it was her world. and everybody else was just living in it. >> reporter: evelyn tries not to think about the dorsette. so grateful to the prosecution team who solved her son's murder and saved her life. >> and scott had my back literally. >> reporter: what's your

nickname for him? >> he is my hit man. my own private hit man. detective jeff wilbert has a special place in her heart. >> jeff i couldn't love him more if he was my son. that's really the way i feel. >> reporter: mostly she wants to give her youngest son the credit she feels he deserves. what do you tell your granddaughter about your her father? what's the most important thing that she knows as she grows up? >> that he loved her. that he is in heaven and he is looking down. and he will always be there. loving her. >> how you doing, big girl? hi, there. daddy loves you. daddy loves you. yes, he does. >> that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thank you for

this sunday, our 2016 campaign special. the threat to hillary. is it time to take this man more seriously? >> we are going to build a movement of millions of americans. >> why bernie sanders may be a much bigger threat than anyone imagines. >> i'll be joined by john kasich and rick santorum. >> i'm running for president of the united states. plus the story that stunned official washington. those bombshell charges against the former speaker of the house dennis hastert. >> patriot games. the big fight in washington this sunday over your personal information. i'm chuck todd. joining me for inside analysis on this busy sunday morning are msnbc chris math he's.