sit down. i'm like oh no, this is never a good thing. your dad was shot. i collapsed to the floor. none of it made sense to me. i had to hear the whole story. >> fences make good neighbors, they say. this one made for a fight. >> private property. >> big sky country shrunk small by one man. >> neighbors thought he was a bully. >> this man refused to be fenced in. >> praise the lord for this country. >> a showdown, a shooting, and one man dying. the shooter says it was kill or be killed. what was the truth?

>> he was murdered. >> pure and simple? >> yes. >> the man who shot first told his story. >> i shot him. >> he said he came at me with a gun and i didn't have a choice. >> did the dead man's body tell a different story? >> looking at it, he was looking the other direction, was shot in the back. >> only two men were there, and one of them is dead. now his daughter wants the truth. >> who is this guy that can just kill such a beautiful soul from this world. >> i'm lester holt, this is "dateline." here is keith morrison with "the feud." >> there's still places in america so peaceful. god must have been smiling. like this place in montana, the bob marshall wilderness. more than a million natural

to humans, a small pale stain on the fringes of paradise. strange that a person up here would feel so tense. >> always knew that something was going to happen. >> but there was no question about it. sue de la rose a was a worried woman. >> we didn't know who would be on the receiving end of it. >> yes, it was trouble, big trouble. sue and her husband dan could feel it in their bones. this has been such a happy place. nearly a century, people have been coming here to hunt and fish, ride the trails, summer, winter, whenever. families like this bought small lots, built cabins downhill from the public land. around an old dude ranch, the diamond bar x. >> it was a place to get away from your daily grind, go up on weekends, let your hair down, have fun.

>> that's exactly right. >> community was the rule. in 2001, sue and dan were married here by everybody's favorite waterfall. >> we invited everybody. it was a fun place to be. everybody was family there. >> oh, how they loved it. >> praise the lord for this country. >> tim newman loved it, too. >> my dad was a mountain man, loved to be in nature, sleeping under the stars without a tent. that's what made him happy. >> sam and his wife jackie were fixing a cabin of their own here. >> he moved fast, running around, had to hammer things, saws. >> he and jackie were each other's second chance at love, when they bowled each other over in 2004, got married. >> i felt so blessed. we were blessed.

it was that business about the land that started it. the neighbors used the land and trails like everybody else, managed to buy up hundreds of acres for himself smack dab between the cottages and vast public wilderness on the mountain. then refused to allow anybody to use the generations old trails connecting their cottages to the forest. this is him. his name is joe campbell. what did you think about that? >> not happy. >> not good. like they were taking something away that was mine all along. help violate it, like really why would you do that. >> deputy responded often. what was the main thing you were called for? >> people trying to access public land through private land and the owners of the private land blocking the access. >> any one particular name you began to hear about more than rs

>> yeah, mr. campbell. >> what was the neighbors' feeling about him? >> the neighbors felt he was a bully. >> not only the neighbors, mind you. >> private property. >> we are? >> this is 2008. joe campbell confronting a visiting hunting property. >> you're on our property. about three quarters of a [bleep] mile. >> joe was wielding a high powered shotgun called a street sweeper, developed for riot control and combat. >> the weapon you're carrying, are you threatened? >> bird gun. >> that ain't a bird gun. >> i thought he is going to run into the wrong person that isn't going to put up with him. i thought either he would be shot by someone like that or he was going to shoot somebody. >> then there was the time joe barged into a della rossa reunion, claiming one of the cars was blocking the road. >> screaming, yelling profanity, being an absolute jerk.

county attorney, asking him to do something about joe before somebody got hurt. they were advised the property disputes were a civil matter. then some of the family sudan years later made a deal with joe that gave them the right to cross his land. joe put up signs listing the people granted access. thing was, not everybody could afford to join the lawsuit. tim newman, for example. >> it was hard for him to swallow that. he wasn't accepting of that at all. >> there's dan there leading the way. >> anyway, he figured his god given right to use the trails superseded any lawsuit. yes, tim newman was convinced he had a natural right to cross campbell's land on long used traditional trails into the very

>> campbell lived over there, we're not going that way. >> by late 2013, tension was, well, tense. tim challenging joe, joe increasingly angry. threats flying back and forth. then it was hunting season. and here, a brief call, avoiding the land. >> here we are cutting trails. hunting season, 2013. she's getting perty. >> tim left a voice mail for his daughter christie. >> told me about a bear he had just gotten. he had wanting to get a bear a long time, finally got the bear. >> what's the old saying? sometimes you get the bear, sometimes, well, you know the rest. oh, by the way, everybody but the bear lived that day.

>> 911. what is your emergency. >> there were shots fired. >> a shooting on the mountain. who was the victim and who was the shooter? when we return. >> she's like christie, you need to sit down. i'm like oh, no, this is never a good thing. >> and a puzzle for the sheriff. two guns, one angry man. >> it was just plain i thought he was going to shoot me so i shot first. (burke) and we covered it, october twenty-seventh, 2014. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ for early bird savings

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♪ (música) ♪ october, 2013, a sheriff's deputy raced from 20 miles from augusta, montana to the edge of the wilderness. there had been a 911 call, reports of shots fired, a man down. when the deputies got there, found joe campbell standing behind the gate to block the trail to public land. ten feet away, sprawled in the dirt there was tim newman. the deputy ripped open newman's shirt, saw a gunshot wound to the test, said it was too late. >> the phone rang, she's like christie, you need to sit down. >> tim's daughter got a call from her aunt. >> i'm like oh no, this is never a good thing. i immediately said no. no. i don't want you to tell me what you're about to tell me, no, like no. she's li'm

was shot and is dead. >> tim newman was 53 when he died beneath the big sky he loved. >> i was floored, i was stunned. >> always knew with the guns beinpulled that something was going to happen. we just didn't know who was going to be on the receiving end of it. >> it is beautiful area. as you're driving there, you think how could anybody that lives in such splendor be so angry. >> the sheriff responded to the scene just after his deputy and found joe campbell in the back of a patrol vehicle. >> hi there. >> we had to take his story at face value because nothing else seemed to mix. >> what was that story? >> just plain i thought he was going to shoot me so i shot first. >> makes sense. tim newman's .357 magnum was found on the ground not far from his right hand.

the sheriff knew that tim newman had been baiting bears, fighting joe's rules of who could and could not cross the land. carried a video camera with him. >> this is what you have to go through. >> tim had been cutting padlocks that joe campbell used to lock his gates. >> when i first talked to mr. newman about this, he admitted to cutting locks and said he was going to continue to do that. i said well, i guess if that's the case, me and you will be good friends because i'll see you quite often. >> did you charge tim newman? >> i did, i did. >> you wrote up tickets for him? >> i did for criminal mischief to locks and gates that he was cutting and destroying. >> saw a mountain lion. >> tim thought the charges would go before the judge where he would have a chance to set the record straight and preserve what he thought to be his natural right to use trails across joe's land to the very public national forest.

shooting the county attorney dismissed all charges against tim, saying it was not a criminal matter but a civil one, which tim newman took as classic permission to keep cutting the locks. >> judge said tim, this is not a good way to go. >> yeah, he did. >> you go out, cut somebody's locks, they're not going to be a happy camper. >> yes. >> leads back to the gate where tim newman now lays dead and joe campbell was telling sheriff's deputies a story. he and his wife were walking up the trail toward their property, said joe, when tim started following him on his atv. they were frightened, they hurried to the gate, looked through it, and sent his wife to call the sheriff. said tim got out of the atv and approached the gate with bolt cutters. then tim leaned down to the padlock on the gate, noticed joe

>> you're armed and puts both hands on his gun coming up, that's when i drew my gun. i shot. i thought i hit him, wasn't sure. he still had the gun in his hands and he was going down. i shot him again in the back. and then he dropped the gun. then he got up on his elbow, said you shouldn't have done that, joe. >> that was joe campbell's story. he was threatened, so he shot tim newman twice. first in the chest, then in the back. >> we didn't arrest him because he asserted self defense. montana now has a law that you don't have any duty to run. if you feel threatened, you can protect yourself with deadly force. >> essentially shoot first, figure is it out later. >> yes. >> and figuring out would take time

>> i can walk home. >> so joe campbell was sent home that very day and tim newman's body was taken away for autopsy. but of course science would enter the story. science glorious as all outdoors, battling human vanity. coming up, this all came down to what the body told you. >> absolutely. >> but tim's neighbors had already decided. >> why isn't he in jail, he shot a person, why didn't we do something. >> when "dateline" continues.

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in the days after tim ne

was shot dead, joe campbell went back. like many neighbors, dissuaded by visiting cobb ins. not the della rossa. >> if nobody comes to the mountain, he won. he has the whole place to himself which is what he wanted originally. said we're going. >> this is our paradise, even though it was shattered, we weren't willing to walk away. >> many neighbors vented to the sheriff about joe campbell. >> they were why isn't he in jail, he shot a person. why didn't we do something about it. >> yeah. >> but there's a montana law that guides our behavior. >> the question became one of intent. >> yes. >> if you intend to defend yourself, you're within the law. intend to kill somebody because he's a pain in the ass, against the law. >> yes. you don't need to shoot people for that. >> but which was it in this

case, self defense or murder? remember, joe campbell claimed tim newman leveled a gun at him. so campbell was within his rights to fire first. the second shot in the back, half reflex, half fear, make sure he got the guy before he got him. >> i shot in the back part or something, maybe the lower back or something. >> except this is curious. tim was left-handed, but his gun was found lying on the ground near his right hand. and tim's gun hadn't been fired. if he had to draw on joe as campbell said he did, how did joe get a shot off before tim could pull the trigger? the puzzle landed on the desk of the deputy attorney general. >> i think mary and i feel that we have absolute right to defend ourselves.

the challenge is to try to ferret out when there's justifiable homicide versus a situation where they wanted to commit murder and used justifiable use of force to get away with murder. >> the two prosecutors had to decide which applied in this case. >> look threatened. >> they heard joe campbell's side of the story. the only story tim newman would tell would come from his autopsy. >> this really all came down to what the body told you, what the wounds told you, right? >> absolutely. from that autopsy we learned that there were two shots to tim newman. one shot was to the back, severed his spine, would have paralyzed him from mid chest down. the other shot hit his hand first and skimmed his chest, and went past his head. >> they suggested the first shot

could have been in tim newman's back. >> it told us that the story joe campbell told law enforcement that he had shot into tim newman as tim newman was rising up with his own gun physically didn't work out from a common sense level. >> this is your miranda warning. >> they called joe in for a second interview when again he said tim was the agrgressor. >> i said maybe you should go home and call the sheriff. she didn't want to do that. >> she did, said joe, and that's when tim came again. all of a sudden i pulled the gun. i stopped for a second. said i had one question. >> you're saying that you're really fearful, i understand why you stay and don't take off.

>> well, it is on my own property. i was hoping he wouldn't do anything. >> instead, said joe, tim walked up to the gate and him. then joe campbell's story changed. right after it happened, joe quoted tim as saying oh, you're armed? now he claims tim pointed a gun right at him. >> shoot him first. >> certainly the statement shoot first or cut the locks, he is trying to show that tim newman verbally told him that he was going to shoot him and before that there was nothing. >> and about the angle of the shot suggesting the first shot was a shot in the back? no, no, said joe. didn't happen. not long after they sent joe home again, and wondered what was the truth and what wasn't. they reaco

>> in the end we needed shooting reconstructionists, reconstruct the shooting at the scene. >> but the reconstruction would have to wait for one of those only in montana reasons. >> right after tim newman was shot, there was a big snowstorm and the crime scene had been under snow the whole winter, we had to wait until may to get him up to the crime scene to do his work. >> so once again it was string time in montana. and the answer, pure and mindless as the first tiny blossom rose up from the greening soil. >> murder. >> pure and simple. >> yes. >> how did they know eight months after the fact? how would they prove it to a jury? coming up, in the old west it was tow

could do. >> he shot him in the back in cold blood. >> he admits he shot him in the back. >> and if that was the first shot, then this was murder. >> he said the next time i see tim newman, i'm going to push him down, going to put him down, lamont. those were his words.

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♪ joe campbell, 70 years old, was charged with murder. deliberate homicide they call it here. accused of killing tim newman in cold blood. >> just made me wonder how it had gotten to this point where someone died. >> worse, breaking the unwritten code of the west. >> you're accusings

doing probably the lowest thing you can do in western mythology, shoot a man in the back. is that what he did, shot him in the back in cold blood? >> he admits he shot him in the back. >> was it campbell's first shot or his second? that could make the difference between murder and self defense. >> this was not a just fied killing and the state of montana will ask you find joe campbell guilty of deliberate homicide. >> remember the crime scene expert that had to wait for the snow to melt to make his calculations? this is him. >> my job was to independently investigate what could have happened at this particular crime scene. >> welcome sneck, forensic scientist. he tried with an consistent helping to re-enact events as joe campbell claimed they happened. lining up body positioning, track of bullets, that sort of thing. >> were you able to reconstruct th

>> no, i was not able to do that for either shot. >> but guess what did, the shots in the opposite order campbell claimed. >> my opinion is mr. campbell shoots mr. newman in the back as he is running from the gate. at that point he falls to the ground on his back. at that time mr. campbell takes a second shot, glazing shot over the hand and across the chest, missing the head. >> with the first bullet in the back, the second one grazes his vest, nicks his hand, zips past his head. the only way it could have happened. was he right? why not call a legend to confirm it. legendary expert, that is. >> state called dr. warner spits. >> he wrote the book literally

brought the book to court. >> i can only tell you if weight has a meaning for quality, this is nine pounds and a quarter. >> all right. >> 89 years old when he took the stand. he investigated the assassination of president kennedy and dr. martin luther king and many, many more. he testified more recently in phil specter and casey anthony trial. what did dr. spits say about this case. >> just to be clear, doctor, your opinion is mr. newman was shot in the back as he turned away from the gate, some ten feet from the gate. >> yes, that's correct. >> and fell to the ground on his back. >> that's correct. >> and then he was shot a second time, landing in this position, the wounds to the hand line up perfectly. >> line up perfectly. >> the big mystery then according to prosecutors is why,

shot tim newman in cold blood? well, remember the video of campbell taken by a hunting party in 2008. >> private property. >> we are? >> prosecutors played it to the jury to show campbell wasn't afraid to confront and chase off anybody who dared cross his property, even when he was outnumbered. >> you can see on the video he was not scared of those hunters and to accept his story that he was terrified of tim newman, a man, a neighbor of his he had known isn't even plausible. >> was that an isolated incident? >> the relationship with mr. campbell, how would you describe that relationship? >> one word, miserable. >> and he looked up at me and said i don't know who the [bleep] you are, mister, but you're trespassing and i don't ever want to see you again. >> this woman was an army colonel on leave for iraq, out on a ride with her father when

>> he's like hey, sweetheart, who are you. my dad and i told him to put the gun down, we were trying to go on a horseback ride. i said i have to go back to iraq tomorrow, he refused to put down the shotgun. he was waving, this is my property and this is my property and you can't be on my property. >> prosecutors argue that the clearest proof that joe campbell intended and planned to kill tim newman, his own words. like what he said to the deputy county attorney who declined to prosecute tim for cutting locks, days before the shooting. >> he told me if i wasn't going to take care of mr. newman that he would. >> and this one. >> he did refer to tim leaving the top of the mountain in a body bag. >> joe's words to a contractor two days before the shooting. >> he cleared his jacket back from his pistol and touched his side like that and stated that the next timse

i'm going to put him down, going to put him down, lamont. those were his words. >> he said he was going to kill him and then he killed him. it was murder. >> the rule in montana is clear as day. you can defend your castle if you're threatened. absent a threat, then murder is what it is. and what could joe campbell possibly say about that. well, as it turned out, lots. coming up. >> i shot him. i did. >> dramatic testimony from the accused. but would a jury believe him? >> all these people came into court, took an oath and lied in front of the jury, is that right? >> objection, your honor. >> a court room showdown when "dateline" continues.

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point of view can change everything, can't it? perspective. even in the crisp, clear montana air where here inside the grand old courtroom the view was about

to get decidedly hazier. >> it is about self defense. >> this is joe campbell's attorney, greg jackson who wanted the jury to see justifiable shooting by a terrified man in fear for his life. >> he was faced with a decision at that point. try to stay alive or die. >> all that fancy forensic testimony by dr. westerner s ee werner spitz, and then vincent dimaio. >> you have to have description of where the shooter is, then you can say this is consistent or it is not consistent at all.

>> in this case dr. da my oh came to a different conclusion. >> there's nothing to disprove mr. campbell's story. >> he offered his own theory, tim could have been jumping or falling backwards when the first bullet hit his hand and chest and the second shot hit him in the back. duelling experts maybe cancel each other. if joe campbell was walking out of the courtroom a free man, the defense had to hope the jury perceived him and her in a favorable way. >> joe campbell is my huand. >> here was his wife. >> how long have you two been married? >> 23 years. >> the only other survivor of the confrontation on the hill. so far you heard joe campbell was a bully. >> isn't any right of way through here. >> he was a threatening, mean, dangerous old man, unafraid and aggressive.

weeks before the shooting it was tim newman driving a pickup that confronted them as they walked to their horse pasture. >> he said joe and tani, finally found you. joe just said tim, we've given you notice you're not welcome at our place, please don't harass us. >> were you afraid of him when you were next to the road? >> i was startled, joe just said let's go, and he just hollered out his window come on, let's just get it over with right now. and then he did drive off. >> that's why she said she and joe were afraid of tim. and why on october 18th as she and joe walked toward home they were alarmed to see tim coming up behind them. >> what were the things that made you believe he was going to physically harm you? >> he was just wanting to cut the lock, why would he chase us up the hill? wh

we were watching him. he was on his atv and he was off his atv and grabbing bolt cutters. he was unpredictable, highly agitated. >> what do you and joe decide to do next? >> joe just kept saying you need to try to get out of here, get safe, go home, call the sheriff. i didn't want to leave joe. >> but she did leave, she says, and on the way to calling 911 heard gunshots, placed the call, rushed back, and -- >> i saw joe standing at the gate, he said he came at me with the gun and i didn't have a choice. and i saw mr. newman lying on the ground. >> and in the sometimes tense cross examination, prosecutors point out not so gently that elements of her or

also from previous interviews. but altered or not, her story was emotional as was joe campbell's. >> call joe campbell to the stand. >> so sometimes frightened grandfather of seven or neighborhood bully that brandished his weapon at neighbors and strangers. the defense sat out changing perceptions. the neighbors, the hunters. >> did you threaten them with a shotgun, anything of that nature? >> no. they were trespassing, i asked them to leave. >> the army colonel and her father. >> ever point a shotgun at us? >> no, sir. >> no getting around the fact he told the deputy da he was going to take care of tim newman himself. could be more than one way to perceive that, could there? >> we were going to take legal

action, we were really frustrated. i was really frustrated. >> legal action, he was just a peaceful, frustrated man and was terrified when tim chased them up the hill in a rage that day in october, 2013. man had murder in his eyes, said joe. >> hard to stand up here and say in front of everybody but i am trng to stay alive. i wanted to. thinking about tani, my kids, my grandkids. if you were me, and i shot him, i did. >> had joe campbell succeeded in changing the jury's perception? before mr. campbell could leave the witness stand, the prosecutor got a chance to cross examine him and again present the bully of the mountain, the neighbors said they knew too well.

>> lamont mole tray says two, three days before you shot and killed mr. newman that you told him i'm going to put him down. did you say that to mr. mole tray? >> i did not. >> so all these people came into court, took an oath and lied in front of the jury, is that right? >> objection, your honor. >> ultimately the prosecutor said joe campbell could have avoided a confrontation, could have, but did not because he wanted it. >> all you have to do to save your wife, save yourself, is to turn downhill and walk, jog, run-doru run down the hill. >> i looked at the options, it is a hell of a lot harder on the hill side when somebody is threatening you than to be here in the courtroom two-and-a-half years later. >> if you were a juror, what

and the gun play on the mountain? was it murder or self defense? coming up. waiting for the jury. >> there's so much anxiousness. >> hoping for justice. >> who is this guy can steal such a beautiful soul from this world. l from this world. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ buy an eligible galaxy device and get a free gear virtual reality headset. ♪ 4 by 4 by day 4 by 4 by night 4 by 4 the summer and for doing it right 4 by 4 more hours o' summer light

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on the 3rd of march, 2016, in the supreme court chamber of montana's state capital building, the question went to the jury. did joe campbell have a right to shoot tim newman? was it self defense? or was it cold-blooded murder. neighbors dan and sue della rossa waited. >> i believe he murdered him. >> murder, absolutely. >> they knew full well since montana passed a new law legalizing certain kinds of self defense, it was hard to know what a jury might decide. >> find him not guilty, there will be for sale signs for everywhere up there. >> nervous hours around the old courtroom which turned into a whole day and then a second. >> there's so much anxiousness just waiting for the jury to come back.

>> and then just after noon, day two, the jury sent the judge a note. >> please be seated. >> everybody was summoned to the courtroom. >> i am told that you folks are hopelessly deadlocked and that even if given more time you couldn't reasonably expect to reach a decision. is that your understanding of events? >> yes, your honor. >> i am going to declare a mistrial. >> a mistrial, three weeks of testimony for naught. >> the state may or may not bring the case again. thank you. >> i couldn't believe it. it was a complete shock for the family that he could just leave that courtroom, not have a guilty or not guilty and like nothing happened. like nothing happened. >> what was the state to do? well, this case said the prosecutors, the decision was obvious.

they offered joe campbell a plea deal and scheduled a retrial because. >> it is a dangerous situation and i'm concerned it will be repeated and somebody else will be killed. >> joe campbell remained out on bail with the proviso he remain ten miles from his property on the mountain. but less than three months later, may, 2016 joe campbell elected not to face a second trial. instead he walked into a courtroom and waived his claim that the shooting was legal. >> how do you plead to the charge of negligent homicide? >> no contest, your honor. >> a plea of no contest, meaning campbell neither admitted nor denied the charge that he committed negligent homicide. reduced charge from the original allegation of intentional homicide, montana's parlance for firth degree murder. >> i believe it is in the best interest of myself and my

>> in a case like this, said prosecutors, you take what you can get. >> focusing on community protection, think it is probably the best agreement we could reach and have a guaranteed resolution of this case. >> before the judge pronounced sentence, tim newman's wife jackie went to the podium. >> just because you are callous have effected our lives in a horrendous way. >> tim's daughter, christie, also sent a statement, unable to be present because she just had a baby, a granddaughter tim never got to see. >> my dad died a hero. what will you die? >> it makes me very angry, yeah, very upset, very sad. like who is this guy that can just steal such a beautiful soul from this world. >> the judge offered joe a chance to explain or apologize.

>> no, your honor. >> he also declined a chance to explain on "dateline." his lawyer released a statement saying the plea agreement allowed mr. campbell and his wife and family to go forward with certainty of freedom and removal of constant stress and anxiety, while still allowing him to maintain his innocence and continue to maintain he acted necessarily in self defense. >> for your plea of -- >> the sentence was of course part of the deal with the state, 20 years. but not in any prison. all of it suspended sentence. >> no fines or restitution imposed. >> as neighbors listened, the judge told joe he'll have to abide by some very important conditions. he'll never again be allowed to possess a firearm and 20 years, even if he manages to live that long, he cannot return to the mountain he once called home. he will neag

his house, his forest, his trail, his precious property. >> ironic, isn't it, you care so much about your property that you never get to see it again. >> yeah. >> yeah. it is very ironic. you know, before he owned all the big property, he recreated like all of us. and he walked down those trails across everyone else's property and hunted and enjoyed it, and life was good. when he decided he needed to take control is when it all changed. >> like a fable, isn't it? >> yes. >> aesop could have written it. >> as if tim newman were on a cloud somewhere for his daughter christie, he'd be telling her, she knows exactly what he would say. >> i'm sorry, sorry, darling.

sorry for going up to that gate, i'm sorry i am not there to meet my granddaughter. i'm sorry we can't go on another hike together. i love you, you know. >> that's all for now. we'll see you again sunday at 7:00, 6:00 central for "on assignment." and thursday at 8:00, 7:00 central for a special edition of "dateline." i am lester holt, for all of us at nbc news, good night.

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