christina had a fear her whole life that she would be taken. her absolute worst fear is exactly what happened to her. >> they sensed danger from the start. >> i can't even explain the emotions and the pain. >> we immediately knew this girl was in trouble. >> kristina, the 23-year-old fashionista, went out on a friday night and vanished. >> they found her car. she never got in it. >> what happened that night, nobody knew police questioned everyone. the friends she was with -- >> i was the last one to talk to her on the phone that night the ex-model boyfriend. >> this guy is

trum -- trembling. >> someone was lying, but who? >> that security video made a big difference. >> absolutely. >> my whole world was turned upside down. >> where is she?! >> she was home with the kids. her husband out with friends when it happened. >> he said something about his kids telling him there was a robber. >> all they told us was there was an intruder. their home so deep in the woods now shrouded in a mystery even deeper. >> this is a real whodunit. >> very much so. >> police had suspects. >> i remember kelley not wanting to be home alone. >> they also had a problem. >> why would this guy go up and kill this woman, her family had questions of their own. >> something is not right here. something is wrong. >> and then someone remembered a phone call and a fib. >> i pulled up my

killer living two lives --" >> reporter: a young mother living on borrowed time. >> i'm lester holt and this is dateline. here's andrea canning with "the house in the woods." >> reporter: he wasn't exactly sure where the house was or what had happened there. but he knew it was bad. >> yeah, these ones are not fun to do. >> reporter: finally he found it, down a secluded driveway. a man on the front lawn waving him in. >> what's going on? >> hey. i'm the neighbor. >> reporter: inside the deputy could see signs of a struggle. blood on the floor. >> you got blood on the wall. blood on the steps. >> reporter: a broken wall. he searched the house. >> okay. kids' rooms. this one's clear. let me check this last room. clear. >> reporter: the trail led to this, to someonen

beyond the stairs beyond all hope now. >> my god! >> yeah. >> reporter: the house in the woods was home to tom and kelley clayton and their two adorable children. he'd been a local star of sorts, a hockey player. and kelley? she was a hometown girl raised right here in the finger lakes region of new york state. >> you grow up here. it actually took for me to move away and go to college before i came back and really appreciated how pretty it is. >> reporter: andrea spirawk is kelley's best friend. they grew up together near elmira, new york. she says it was as if the land had bred a sweetness into kelley. maybe a little tartness too. after all, mark twain also lived here. how did you see kelley's sense of humor? >> she was very goofy, always happy, always trying to have fun. she loved to laugh. >> she was sarcastic. >> witty. >> she always made things fun. ep

beautiful. they couldn't keep a girl like that in a small town forever. after college, kelley broke some news to her big sister kim. >> she was enticed by some bright lights out west. >> absolutely. and she's like, "i'm moving to vegas." >> what did you think when you heard that? >> i was sad. but i was sad, but i was, "oh my god, go! you're so brave. do it now! >> did you see her off? >> absolutely. and i remember she had parked, you know, at her mom's house. and i just remember running down the street. >> did you have any parting words or advice for her when she left? >> i actually have a photo of us hugging. and it was, like, it's such a sad photo to me. it was, like, the saddest day of my life. >> reporter: kelley came home to visit often enough, including christmas of 2003. by then, elmira had a new attraction, a minor league hockey team. >> my mom, my sister, and i were at a hockey game, an elmira jackals hockey game. and this player gets

into the boards and his helmet comes off. and all three of us were like -- "wow, he's pretty cute." >> reporter: kelley's mom liz. >> we enjoyed watching him skate. he was fun. he was fun. he -- he really was. >> reporter: "he" was tom clayton. he served as the jackal's "instigator," the guy who starts fights. when he and kelley locked eyes, it was game over. >> she met him that weekend. she met him that weekend and -- >> she met the bad boy. >> yes, she did. >> was it instant for them? >> yes. it was. >> reporter: they were married about two years later. and a few after that came the kids. >> reporter: a girl and a boy. tom traded in his hockey skates for work boots to run a home restoration business. now andrea had her best friend back home, plus tom. >> what did you love about him? >> he was very generous. he would shower her with things. we had a mutual friend, who he and his wife passed away in a car accident. and he -- tom

men -- me and was like, "we've got to do this. let's do this fundraiser." we did, you know. and he was like a brother. >> reporter: almost ten years into the marriage, kelley still gushed about her tom. >> and she was just talking about he's the greatest guy. i hit the jackpot with him. >> did that make you happy hearing that? >> yeah. it really did. it was like, "wow, there's really somebody out there like that." >> reporter: greg and linda miller got to know the claytons well over the years. they hosted poker games with tom as a frequent guest. they affectionately called the former skater "hockey puck." but there was one thing the millers didn't envy about the claytons, where they lived. >> because it's out in the middle of nowhere. we both said, see, we could never live out in the woods like that. i mean that's what she said. i mean, just being out in the woods is scary enough sometimes. you know what i mean? >> reporter: no one remembers kelley feeling uncomfortable. even at night, even alone. except for one evening in late september 2015. andrea was chatting on th

happy self. >> she was like, "alright, i'm tired. good night. all right, leave me alone, pretty much. >> why was it odd that she might want to go to bed early one night? >> i think she was really stressed out. but she didn't -- she was a night owl. she stayed up. her kids stay up late, you know? it wasn't normal. >> reporter: neither, of course, was what followed. >> sir, you need to calm down so i can help you, okay? >> yes. >> what's your name? >> my name's tom. >> reporter: tom clayton was on the phone to 911. something about his wife. she wasn't breathing. >> how long has she been down? >> i don't know. i don't know. i just got home. >> reporter: the clayton home tucked down a pocket of a long dark road. it would never be home again. >> what had happened? when we come back -- >> i felt there was something wrong here. >> that maybe this ist medical. >> there was something more to it. >> there certainly

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>> reporter: car accidents, drug overdoses. those are the kinds of emergency calls deputy dean swan of the steuben county sheriff's office responds to. the one he and his partner got after midnight on september 29, 2015, that was a first. >> how long has she been down? >> i don't know. i don't know. i just got home. >> we received a dispatch from our 911 center. unknown possible medical situation. i responded. to be honest with you, en route i did not feel -- i felt there was something wrong here. just -- >> reporter: why? >> cop intuition i guess is -- >> reporter: that -- >> -- what it was. >> reporter: that maybe this isn't medical. >> that yeah, there was something more to it. it just seemed that way. >> reporter: his instinct proved right. still, he didn't expect what came next inside the home of tom and kelley clayton. this is footage from the body camera swan was wearing that night. he arrived to find a man outside coming towards him.

it was a neighbor. >> hi, how you doing? >> i'm okay. >> what's going on? >> tom just came. i'm the neighbor. tom just came over and got me out of bed. >> why? >> there's -- he's right in the house. he's -- >> okay, what happened though? >> his wife is in there. >> i went in, located mr. clayton. and he was kind of down on his knees. kind of bobbing up and down, visibly upset and in the hallway between the hallway and the transition area between the hallway and the dining room. >> anybody else in the house, tom? just you? >> oh, my god the kids are at the neighbor's house. >> i say, "where's your wife?" and he pointed to the kitchen area. and that is when i walked around and i located the victim on the kitchen floor. >> oh, oh. okay. >> reporter: it was tom's wife kelley. right away the deputy knew she'd been murdered. what did you see? >> the victim. there was blood, blood spatter on walls, ceiling. victim had blood pooling around her head. >> tom, where were you when this all went down?

my buddies. >> reporter: tom said he had just come home from a poker game to find kelley dead on the floor and his 7-year-old daughter, charlie, saying something about a break-in. >> i came home and my daughter said there was a robber in the house and she saw them. >> okay. come on out here, man. comeut here. i want you to have a seat. you don't need to see that any more okay? >> reporter: his kids were home? >> kids were home when this occurred. >> reporter: where were they? >> when i got on scene, he had taken them to the neighbor. so i never saw the kids. >> reporter: what did you think about the person capable of doing this to this mother with her children at home? >> this -- it was -- it's -- there's no way to describe a person like that. they're not a person. >> reporter: the officer led tom to his patrol car. >> alright, come on. >> can i get that water? >> yeah. we'll get you a water. take it easy, bud. take it easy. come on over here, tom. i'm just going to -- you're not in trouble. i'm just going to have you take a seat so we can talk to you, alright? take it easy. you're not in bl

just sit right down. i'm going to leave the door open. just sit right there and relax. >> reporter: then the deputy and his partner went back inside the house to make sure the killer wasn't still hiding inside. >> ok. kid's room. this one's clear! >> reporter: as they searched, guns drawn, it became clear how the crime unfolded. >> there's blood all over up here. >> from what i could see, the attack started in the main bedroom, went out into the main hallway. a fight ensued. looked like there were pictured knocked off the wall. there was a landing. the stairs go straight down. and then there's a left turn landing. and there was a big hole in the wall, like where a body part of some kind had gone into the wall and broke the wall. i knew that just from my experience, training

that, "okay, this started up here and worked its way down there." >> reporter: and she was fighting. >> she was fighting. yes, she was fighting. >> reporter: next they searched the basement and the rest of the house. >> i don't see any blood down here at all. nothing there. >> reporter: were you able to clear the house? did you find a robber? did you find -- >> nope. >> reporter: -- an intruder or any evidence of an intruder? >> yeah, we cleared the house. and we found no -- nobody in the house. >> reporter: and no sign of forced entry. but when they went into the garage they realized how the killer might have gotten in and out. >> side door to the garage was open with the inner door open that goes into a laundry room. that door from the laundry room into the kitchen was also open. >> reporter: by then, more officers had arrived. and tom clayton, outside by a police car, was still a mess. >> come on over here and sit down. >> i can't, i can't. i'm shaking. >> well, that's what i'm saying. you want to sit down somewhere. sit down. >> i keep doing it. i keep sitting down and getting back up. >> i say calm him down and say, "calm down. sit down. relax." and just tell him, "hey we just need you to stick around because we have to talk to you, try to find out what happened here." >> repr:

have to go to another house where one of the county's top lawmen was about to perform one of the most difficult interviews of his career. >> it took me, personally, a long time to get to work through in my own mind. it stayed with me quite awhile. coming up -- a child witness. >> she observed mommy fighting with what she termed as "the robber." >> reporter: and a chilling suspicion. >> i just remember corey walking up and down the road the whole time, something's not right. something is not right. >> when "dateline" continues. specifically designed to provide advanced cleaning and lasting freshness every time you brush. introducing new sensodyne deep clean. used twice daily, the formula with foam-boost technology leaves your mouth feeling clean and fresh. while the active ingredient provides long-lasting protection against sensitivity pain. get a fresh, clean mouth feeling you want with clinically - proven sensitivity relief and protection. try new sensodyne deep clean. this has been medifacts for sensodyne.

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>> reporter: kelley's la hermana de kelly, kim, llegó had been hurt badly. >> so it's pitch black. and all you see are new york state trooper cars, sheriff cars, corning police cars. i see ambulances. all these lights. >> oh, god, where's my sister? >> i first run to the ambulance, because i think they're going to be working on my sister. i'm like, "where's my sister? where is she?" >> reporter: police explained the awful truth, kelley was dead. >> we were screaming, wailing. i mean, i was throwing up on the side of the road. >> you can't believe she's dead. i mean, it's, like, it's inconceivable that she could be dead. >> they wouldn't let you see kelley either, right?

>> no. they just kept saying, "kim, you don't want to see her." >> was your first instinct that maybe there was some kind of a home invasion? >> yes, it was. >> some stranger. >> yes, it was. >> reporter: kelley's best friend got a call from kim's husband corey. >> and my dad drove me there. and by the time i got there, everyone was there. >> i just remember corey clenching, keep clenching his fists, and walking up and down the road the whole time. something's not right. something's is not right. something doesn't add up. and we were all just so confused. they wouldn't tell us anything. >> nothing, you knew nothing. >> nothing. >> can one of you stay with him? that's the husband. >> reporter: one comfort, officers told the family that kelley's children were safe at a neighbor's house. they didn't mention what the eldest, charlie, had been through. >> she saw everything. and she saw it happen. >> reporter: steuben county sheriff jim allard

he was astonished by her poise and bravery as she gave him the details of what had happened. >> her story begins that she was in her room playing on her tablet, and she said she heard, mommy, yelling run, charlie run, repeatedly screaming it. run, charlie, run. mommy got to her door and got the door closed. then she heard more commotion. she opened, went into the hallway, followed the commotion down the hallway to the steps and to the kitchen and observed mommy fighting with what she termed as "the robber." she got up and pantomimed for me of a person standing over another person with an object in their hand, striking that person that was on the ground.

object as a cylinder that the robber, as she kept calling him, used. >> reporter: she went on to give the sheriff a detailed description of the so-called "robber's" appearance. >> she described the person to me as a male wearing jeans and a dark shirt and a mask. and i officially asked her, you keep saying it's a man. how do you know it's a man? and she told me, "because of his eyes." and i said, well, what about his eyes let you know it's a man? she said, his eyes are just like daddy's. so then i stood up and i said, how tal was the guy? was he taller than me or was he shorter than me? she said, "he was same height as daddy." and i said, okay.

much did he weigh? does he -- was he heavier than me? was he thinner than me? he was the same as daddy. and she says, "and the mask he had on is just like daddy's mask that he wears hunting." >> reporter: after the robber left charlie said she rushed to hug her mother and then knew there was one more thing to do, she had to go upstairs and take care of her 3-year-old brother. >> reporter: to the sheriff, the 7-year-old's story was both chilling and heartbreaking. >> it was a memory i'll have with me the rest of my life. it's one of those that takes a little part of you with them or with it. here's a little girl who does remind me very much of my own daughter. and she's working through, "i just watched mommy brutally attacked. it could be daddy. where am i? where does this leave me?

it be true? did she really just see her father kill her mother? this had been a very bloody murder. and deputy dean swan had looked tom clayton over carefully. >> did tom have any blood on him? >> i did not see any on him. no. nope. i actually checked him for any injuries, or any blood, or anything on him. and he had nothing. >> reporter: tom had told the deputy he'd only just come in the door to find his wife dead. he'd been gone all night at his friends' house, the millers, playing poker. so that's where investigators went. >> i heard the banging on the door and ringing of the doorbell. and i woke him up. i'm like, somebody's banging at the door. >> what time is this? >> this is, like, 6:00 in the morning. >> 6:00. >> right. >> that's pretty early to get a knock on the door. >> "nothing good happens from answering the door--" >> right. >> at 6:00 in the morning. >> reporter: when greg realized it was the police at his door, his first thought was that his daughters had been in a car accident. >> the investigator told me, "no, nothing is wrong with your daughters. did a guy named hockey puck, as you know him, or tom, play poker here last night?" >> hockey puck is tom's nickname? >> correct. and i said, "yes, he did." he s

home he found his wife murdered last night." >> wow. >> and instantly it was, like, we're looking at each other and it was like we're in a state of shock. and i said, "obviously you probably want to come in." >> reporter: greg gave the officers the details of the previous night. tom had been in his basement playing poker until around midnight. >> and normally what time did the game wrap up? >> usually the games would go at 1:30. but we kit at 12:00, and by the time everybody got out of there it was about 12:10. >> reporter: it sounded like tom was telling investigators the truth about where he'd been at poker night. they later determined the murder happened before the game wrapped up. >> this is a real whodunit? >> yeah. very much so. >> come on over here, tom. you're not in trouble, okay? i'm just going to have you have a seat so we can talk to you. >> reporter: so despite what the little girl thought she saw, the investigation was far from over. authorities were asking, who on earth would want kelley clayton dead? coming up -- >> i remember kelley, you know, not wanting to be home alone if he was there. a suspect who's no surprise to some. and a second suspect who is. i

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>> reporter: investigators were trying to figure out what had happened in the murder of kelley clayton. they were looking to the family for leads. >> they were like, "listen, like, do you guys know of anyone that possibly, like, could of done this?" >> reporter: kelley's niece molly had an idea. >> i kind of, like, looked at my mom. and i was like, "yeah." >> reporter: molly, only 16 at the time, told police she'd spent the summer working for her uncle at his restoration business, servpro. and there she met one

michael beard. tom told her to keep her distance. >> he never really wanted me around michael beard. he didn't want me, like, working with him. >> reporter: michael beard was no stranger to the family. >> he actually had done work at my sister's home. my sister would give his daughter charlie's hand-me-downs, clothes, toys. my sister would make lunch for him when he was there working at her home. >> reporter: while kelley was kind to beard, she told her sister she didn't always feel comfortable around him. >> i remember kelley, you know, not wanting to be home alone if he was there. you know, he -- he was civil. he was nice. but i'd -- i don't think she wanted to be left home alone. >> reporter: now, molly told investigators that her uncle tom had recently fired beard. >> michael beard was fired september 17th. and then kelley was murdered the, like, night of the 28th, 29th. so it wasn't long at all. >> reporter: was it possible that beard was angry about losing s

kelley's murder was some kind of revenge? molly went through her cell phone and her facebook contacts and gave investigators beard's address. >> i gave that to them. and they were just like, "okay, thank you." >> reporter: the steuben county sheriff's office needed all hands on deck and called in the new york state police for assistance. >> i was contacted by investigators the day of the homicide. >> reporter: investigator matt lambert was assigned to run down the michael beard lead. >> reporter: what did you know about michael beard's background? >> he actually was a pretty well-respected employee until september 17th, when -- when tom had fired him. >> reporter: why did tom fire him? >> stealing from jobs and drinking, i think, on the job and that he fired him on the 17th because there's maybe some complaints from other employees at servpro. >> reporter: so there's some issues there? >> right. >> reporter: but beard was polite and cooperative when the investigator knocked on his door. >> we said, "hey, can you, you know, take a ride with us up to the barracks."

wife know." >> reporter: and he already knew what it was about? >> we told him that we want to talk to him about the -- the homicide of kelley clayton. >> reporter: the investigator asked beard where he was the night of kelley's murder. he said he was home except for a beer run. >> he actually kind of alibied himself at that point saying that he was at that store the night before, and that same clerk working she could prove that he was in the store the night before. >> reporter: did -- did he express that he knew anything about kelley's murder? >> no, he didn't say that he knew a thing about the murder. >> reporter: is he telling you anything about tom clayton? >> no. just that he had worked for him. >> reporter: and beard denied any hard feelings toward his former boss, said he and tom were still friends. in fact he told the investigator it was tom's partner who fired him, not tom. and tom was even trying to help beard find another job. >> reporter: are you getting any bad feeling from him? are you suspicious of him? >> not at all. >> reporter: so you're thinking this is going to be something that we're going to cross off the list? >> yes. i didnxp

>> reporter: to the investigator and those close to kelley, michael beard didn't seem like a good suspect after all. >> reporter: did you think it was -- it was possible that he's a disgruntled employee? he was, you know, taking revenge? >> i didn't. because if you're disgruntled, why wouldn't you kill the person that you're disgruntled against? i mean, "i'm -- i'm angry at you, so i'm going to go kill your wife." >> reporter: but as a matter of procedure, the investigator asked beard for a dna swab and permission to look through his cell phone. >> he was very, very forthcoming. very willing, no problems. just very cooperative. >> reporter: while the state investigator was checking out the not-so-promising michael beard tip, sheriff's investigators had tom down at the station. detective donnie lewis said they still had questions. >> reporter: for the most part, it looks pretty good for tom. >> correct. >> reporter: this alibi is pretty strong. >> absolutely. i mean, the witnesses that see him at the poker game, we know where he was all night. >> reporter: that's not the end of the story, though. >> that is not the end of the story. >> reporter: not the end of the story because there was me

investigators just couldn't get around, the daughter's story. her description of the killer, it was powerful evidence they couldn't ignore. and so just hours after the murder -- >> defendant was remanded in steuben county jail without bail. >> reporter: they arrested kelley's husband tom clayton and charged him with murder. >> reporter: how can you arrest him? what are you arresting him based on? >> there -- there's a lot of suspicion. there's a lot of -- and basically we have to have probable cause to make an arrest. >> reporter: what was the probable cause? >> the biggest thing, the oldest child had made comments that it looked like daddy, it had daddy's eyes. >> and as of the end of today -- >> reporter: tanner jubenville covered the story for nbc affiliate wetm-tv. >> i don't know how they charged him honestly. i don't know how they charged him so quickly. >> reporter: he says the arrest had everyone in the newsroom scratching their heads. >> thomas had a great alibi. i mean, he was at a poker game 15 minutes away. even hours after they

really know what grounds they had as far as actual evidence connected him to the death. >> reporter: if tom was killer, then there had to be a hole in that rock solid alibi. or maybe the authorities, thinking the husband always does it, had acted too fast. >> it doesn't feel like a slam dunk here, arresting this man. >> no, it does not. coming up, the mystery of the missing phone call. >> i pulled up my phone and i'm like, see if there was a number there. and there was nothing. and i'm like, "that's strange." >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. and rich belgian chocolate.

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>> reporter: steuben county sheriff's investigators had made a quick arrest in kelley clayton's murder, her husband, tom. to many, including kelley's best friend andrea, it didn't make sense. >> i loved him. she loved him. he was part of our family. we were part of theirs. >> reporter: the millers were also confused. they knew tom couldn't have killed kelley because he was at their house when she was murdered. >> was this a normal night, just like any other monday? >> absolutely, just like any other monday, yes. >> reporter: but now the millers wondered, had they missed something? they started thinking like detectives. >> i'm, like, going over everything in my head. and i'm like, "what the heck? why?" you know, all this stuff. "who could it be? what's going on?" >> reporter: then linda miller remembered tom at the

>> i was doing dishes, and he came into the kitchen and said, "hey, can i borrow your phone for a second?" he says, "i left mine out in my car. i have to call work." i said, "oh, okay. sure." i said, "oh, it's on charge. just a second." and he followed me into the bedroom. and i unplugged it, and i handed it to him. and he said, "thanks." and it seemed like just a couple of minutes later he was back and like, thank you. and he put it on the table. >> reporter: it wasn't odd at the time, but now the phone call around 11:00 p.m. seemed important. whom had tom called? >> i pulled up my phone and i'm, like -- see if there was a number there. and there was nothing. >> so there should be a number if -- >> should be a number he called -- >> he called somebody on the phone. >> right, and i'm like, "that's strange." and i said, "greg, can you look at my phone?" >> i says, "there's -- there's -- there's nothing." >> is part of you thinking, "oh, maybe he just decided not to

make the call"? >> no, because i heard him talking. you'd hear the -- like, the mumbling, just a voice speaking of sorts, but nothing intelligible. >> reporter: as the millers struggled to make sense of that, they called the other men who'd been to their house that night. the poker players recalled the same detail. tom's phone was always with him. >> he had his phone at the poker table? >> that's what poker players are saying. yes. it was -- it was there. yes. yes. >> so he has his phone at the poker table, but he's telling you he's left his phone in the car? >> uh-huh. that's what he told me. >> reporter: more than a little suspicious, the millers kept digging. they went online to check linda's phone records. and there it was, the number tom dialed about an hour before the murder, a number they didn't recognize. investigator donnie lewis took it from there. >> so what i did was i

got the number and put it into actually facebook on my phone, and as soon as i put that phone number in there the profile that pops up is michael beard. >> reporter: michael beard, the ex-employee who'd been so cooperative with investigators. suddenly, he didn't seem so innocent. now police had to reconsider their theory of the crime. maybe it wasn't tom who'd beaten kelley to death. maybe his daughter's description of the killer was wrong. maybe it was michael beard she saw. >> this phone call, this is, like, the key. this is it. >> that's the first real connection that we had that put beard anything to do with the murder. that kind of just alerted us right off the bat as we need to go talk to michael beard again. >> he denied any type of involvement. he even denied receiving the phone call. they never talked. >> did that seem odd to you? >> that did seem odd. he denied having any type of conversation. he said he didn't even remember receiving it, and he wouldn't have

answered a call that wasn't -- that he didn't know the number. >> reporter: and when investigators looked at beard's phone, there was no sign of a call from linda miller's cell. >> it had been, uh, erased. he explained that away by saying that he, the night before, had to recycle his minutes on his phone. it was a little bit suspicious to me. >> did you start to come down really hard on him? like, i don't -- we're not buying your story? >> it wasn't hard. it was more like i was trying to say, "let the truth out," because he was having physical -- like, his stomach was rolling. and i was saying, "mike, just let the truth come out. let it come out. it wants to come out. let the truth come out. it's not adding up. you got to stop. you hear your body right now. your body's telling you that you're not telling the truth. just get it out." >> reporter: while investigator lambert was speaking with beard, he was interrupted by a colleague who had been grilling beard's wife. she mentioned a dramatic piece of information, something about a big payment beard was expecting to get from tom. $10,000. the investigators

was just defeated. >> i looked at him and said, "$10,000, is that why you killed kelley?" and he looked at me and said, "yes." >> this was your big moment? >> that was the -- that was the win. >> reporter: michael beard was arrested for murder. and tom, already in custody, was now accused of orchestrating the crime. but tom's newly-hired defense attorney wasn't having it. >> he wants to be reunited with his children. he frankly is grieving the loss of his wife. >> reporter: investigators had quickly arrested tom based largely on a child's description, which turned out to be wrong. now his attorney said they seized on a confession that was anything but true. who would be believed? >> this is every innocent person's nightmare. coming up, a secret revealed. >> he told me that he was sleeping with other women. >> reporter: was that enough of a motive for a jury to convict tom of murder? >> i have never been in a room that was filled with so much anxiety.

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>> reporter: tom clayton stood accused of hiring a hitman to kill his wife, and kelley's family and friends who once loved tom like a son and brother were trying to process the idea that he might be a killer. >> the betrayal and the confusion. you don't know what to think. the fear, just because nothing is making sense and you try to make sense of something that's not logical. >> this has been such a betrayal of someone that's been in our lives for a number of years. >> were you trying to

of the doubt at all? >> i want to say there was no looking back. you know? i believe he was involved. >> reporter: if kelley's sister had any doubt about tom's guilt, it was erased when she saw him in court for the first time. >> i was there at his bail hearing. he had a bullet proof vest on, shackles, no emotion. he doesn't look. he doesn't cry. and he gets out on $250,000 cash bail. >> that's pretty low. >> and he's been out ever since. >> reporter: and he seemed determined to profess his innocence to anyone who'd listen. >> he said, i'd like to tell you my side of the story. i said, i really don't want to hear it. i don't want to get any more involved. and he's, like, partially crying and

i wouldn't do that. >> reporter: months went by as the state prepared the case against each man. michael beard was the first to go to trial. in court, he recanted his confession and changed his account of the murder. but prosecutor weeden wetmore said evidence put beard at the crime scene. >> his dna was found where she had fled after being struck in the head with the murder weapon. >> reporter: it took jurors only seven hours to convict him. >> a jury finds michael beard guilty of what the prosecution is calling a murder for hire scheme. >> reporter: if beard's case had been a slam-dunk for investigators, tom clayton's would be anything but. the prosecutor knew he couldn't use beard to testify against tom. >> even if he came forward and said, "i want to testify now," he had lied so many times. he had lied at his own trial. >> beard had changed his story so much at his own trial that he wouldn't have been a credible witness. >> reporter: tom and his lawyer pounced on that, telling reporters that beard acted on his own. >> this is purely mr. beard's doing, what we dono

death of his wife. >> reporter: and tom's lawyer didn't stop at michael beard. he went after the investigators. he said they had tunnel vision when it came to his client. >> he said, "you'll hear it. you'll hear it from the body cam video." >> she's beat the [ bleep ] she's beat up. >> you got a suspect? >> the husband. >> the husband? reporter: the lawyer believed everything that followed in the investigation had been poisoned. >> he was simply just being wrongfully accused and police just rushed to judgment and that therefore led to an incomplete investigation. >> reporter: and in fact, investigators never found evidence that tom paid beard for a hit. >> reporter: as far as tom clayton, there was no conversation overheard. there was no money exchanging hands. you couldn't even use the confession from michael beard. so, there were a lot of things you didn't

have. >> right, but if you look at thomas clayton's conduct, he never mentioned michael beard. everybody says, "michael beard should be an immediate suspect." he never mentioned michael beard to the police. to me, that's -- there's a reason for that. >> reporter: as they prepared for trial, investigators kept digging. they discovered a flurry of calls and texts in the weeks leading up to the crime. >> clayton was contacting beard, saying, "hey, we have to meet. he was getting him a bicyc bicycle, so he was having these clan december ti clandestine meetings. >> reporter: investigators also pulled surveillance footage from outside tom's business. they believed this was video proof of a conspiracy. that's beard, they say, in a red truck that tom loaned him just hours before the murder. and that's tom following in his green servpro truck. >> also know that during that time period beard turned his phone off, turned it on, turned it off again. >> why do you think he did that? >> well, the inference

to be drawn from that is that he has guys are not naive. they know that there's a possibility of being tracked with their phones. >> reporter: then, after the murder, the video shows what looks like beard returning to tom's business to drop off the truck. there are its headlights entering the lot. and investigators believe that's beard getting on the bike tom gave him, pedaling away under the cover of darkness. >> the trial for thomas clayton is now set to begin. >> reporter: the courtroom was packed as tom's trial began >> i have never been in such a tense, anxious atmosphere. the courtroom was typically tense throughout the entire trial, but as far as anxiety was concerned, i have never been in a room that was filled with so much anxiety. >> reporter: the only one who didn't seem tense to the reporter was the defendant himself. he saw tom clayton smiling and kidding around with family members. his lawyer, though, was on the attack. he told the jury how investigators had immediately labeled tom a killer on the night of the murder. >> i think he attacked her.

defense said investigators refused to change their minds even after it was clear michael beard was the one who beat kelley to death. >> the defense had basically alluded to the fact that there was a psychosis in michael beard. and that he out of just hate and revenge against thomas and his other bosses went to the house that night with the intent of stealing and taking money and killed kelley in the process. >> reporter: the prosecution said that was nonsense. michael beard had no reason to murder kelley unless he was sent there by the defendant, tom clayton. the state called linda miller to testify. she recounted how tom borrowed her phone and then deleted the number he'd dialed, never dreaming she'd do her own detective work. >> you really connected the dots. to get the police to this moment. >> yeah.

>> if you can call it good. >> reporter: finally, the prosecutor said he knew why tom wanted his wife dead. he called kelley's niece mollie to the stand. >> he just told me a lot of stuff about their relationship. >> reporter: molly told the jury about the summer she worked for her uncle tom. she said he talked a lot about his marriage. >> that he wasn't in love with her anymore, that kelley was very lazy. and he told me about him trying to sleep with other women and that he was sleeping with other women. and he told me that he also was getting close to a divorce. he just wanted to be done. >> reporter: the prosecutor told the jury this was tom's motive. he wanted to get rid of his wife but keep everything else. >> i think he was concerned that his wife, if they went through a divorce, that she probably would get everything and this was an opportunity just to start anew. >> reporter: the millers listened and wondered how they could be so wrong about their old friend

tom clayton. >> we didn't obviously know until the trial of the affairs and stuff. >> you really didn't know tom at all? >> no. >> correct. correct. >> that's the scary part. >> reporter: after seven weeks the case went to the jury. kelley's sister and the prosecutor braced themselves. >> now we wait. >> reporter: but not for long. it took jurors just six hours to make their decision. as they filed back into the courtroom, the reporter noticed a change in tom clayton. >> that was really the first time that i saw on his face that you got the sense of this guy final knew that, oh, god, i could go to frizz fprison for life, depending on what they're about to say. >> reporter: and then they said it. "guilty of first

outside the courthouse there were tears. lots of them. >> thank you. i believe justice was done here today. i do. >> reporter: tom clayton is awaiting sentencing. michael beard has already begun serving a life sentence. it seems so many in town want to honor kelley, even tom's old hockey team. the elmira jackals just held a tribute for her and victims of domestic violence. kelley's children dropped the ceremonial first puck to start the game. >> i'm telling you, kelley is with me. and i have a very strong faith. i hear her days, saying, get up. let's go. we have got to do this. and i do. i have her beautiful babies and my own. you know, you have to keep on keeping on. and now our second hour of dateline. >> can't even explain the emotions and the

for this mother. people don't randomly disappear. >> she was a design original, christina, the fashionista. it was news nationwide when she vanished. >> we realized this was real. >> who was the last to see her? and where was her ex-model boyfriend? >> he doesn't call when she's missing and he wouldn't say where he was. >> he thought he was getting away with it. >> she was fighting for her life. >> alls i can do is pray with all that i have. >> here's josh mankiewicz with "frantic." >>or

morris was afraid of the dark. >> up through even, like, you know, grade school. you know, she woke up in the middle of the night. we knew about it because she was in our bed. >> yeah, you could hear the feet coming down the hallway. >> she was scared of the boogeyman. you know, boogeyman was going to get her one day. >> reporter: it was something she never really got over. >> 23 years old and she was still sleeping with a night light. >> always the bathroom light on. >> yeah. >> reporter: and it wasn't just the dark that scared christina. it was what might happen in the dark. >> christina had a fear her whole life that she would be taken. >> reporter: taken? abducted? >> yes. >> reporter: where'd this come from? >> i don't know. but her absolute worst fear is exactly what happened to her. how many people actually live their worst nightmare? >> reporter: from early childhood, christina morris' fears didn't slow her down. >> she's not one to sit in front of the tv and watch tv. she always has to be taking pictures or

working on the computer. she just always had to be going. >> reporter: christina's parents divorced when she was a baby. she grew up in suburban dallas with her dad, mark, her step-mom, anna, and a brother and sister. but she remained close to her mom, jonni mcelroy. >> she's the love of my life, the apple of my eye, my heartbeat. she's my everything. >> reporter: it was almost like christina had two moms, and later when jonni married ronnie, two dads. and lots of friends. sydney robertson has known christina since they were 3 years old. >> her personality was definitely ten times bigger than she was. and she'd get so small but she gives the biggest hugs. and she will not let you go. >> reporter: kelly lange met christina just after high school. >> she was this animated, smart,

she was quirky, and it drew people in no matter who you were. >> reporter: and all her life, christina was drawn to two boys. >> she knew these two guys, logan and hunter, since third grade. >> reporter: hunter foster, logan prendergast and christina. >> the three musketeers. you know, and they knew everything about her. >> reporter: logan and christina went from buddies to high school sweethearts. >> moving day. >> reporter: the relationship continued through college. christina earned a degree in marketing, and later moved in with logan. when they broke up in 2013, christina rebounded right into the waiting arms of hunter foster, the third musketeer. almost as if, like, what, there were no other guys in the world? >> right. >> yeah. >> reporter: hunter's always been in love with christina. always. >> it was easy and comfortable for her to be with hunter since she knew him and his fa

>> reporter: hunter was a skateboarder and had pursued a modeling career in new york. successful at first, it hadn't worked out, and he was back in town without a job, but with plenty of free time. christina's mom could see why her daughter was so connected to hunter. >> he was a great skater and a dirt bike rider and good looking in her eyes. and he lived life on the edge and took chances. that was her excitement, too. >> reporter: by the summer of 2014, 23-year old christina was living with hunter about an hour away from family and friends. she was working in marketing at a dating service and had just earned a promotion. christina was moving up. >> she was very driven. she liked designing things. she loved photography. she was making a business for her boyfriend at the time. >> reporter: hunter

had an idea to start his own clothing line. >> he had a dream of, you know, starting a business with skater gear and stuff like that. >> reporter: he may have had the dream, but hunter didn't have the ambition or the money, relying on christina to help him with his business and with the bills. >> she worked a full-time job and was a manager. her boyfriend didn't do anything. she supported him. >> reporter: so she had a mom and a dad who worked, correct? >> uh-huh. >> right. >> reporter: where did she get this idea that it's, like, okay to be with a guy who didn't do anything? >> well, because that's our world, not her world. >> reporter: okay. >> i -- i know, i'm the same way. trust me. it bugged the heck out of me. >> reporter: on the friday of labor day weekend, hunter decided to drive to dallas and hang out with his friends and not with christina. she went back to her old neighborhood to see some high school pals. steven nickerson, another of her childhood buddies, was surpse

>> it was good, because i hadn't seen her in probably, like, six to eight months. and we caught up. >> reporter: the group met up at an apartment. >> and then around 11:00 or 11:30 we went down to the bars. >> reporter: the bars were in an upscale shopping mall in the town of plano. it was hopping. the group headed to a bar called henry's tavern, then closed down another called scruffy duffy's. at about 2 am, christina, steven, and a few others went back to the apartment where they'd started. >> reporter: how drunk was everybody? >> i mean, we were all pretty drunk. it was myself, i probably had ten to 12 shots and a couple beers when i was out. >> reporter: too drunk to drive, steven wanted to crash on the couch and sober up. but christina hadn't had much to drink at all and she just wanted to get home. it was now about 3:30 saturday morning. >> she wanted me to take her home. >> reporter: she wanted you to take her

i've had too much to drink. why don't you stick around? >> yeah. >> reporter: and she says, "no, i want to go. i'm going to go." >> yeah, she's stubborn. i'm not going to force her to stay there. >> reporter: steven says christina decided to drive herself home. >> i told her if she felt like when she got to her car that she couldn't drive to call me and i'd walk back and get her and we'd walk back and you know sleep there, sleep it off or leave in a few hours and i'd take her to her place in fort worth. >> reporter: she left the party, and just like that christina morris vanished. >> the first clue to the mystery. >> they found christina's car. she never got in it. >> people don't randomly disappear. that just doesn't happen. >> where is she? ♪

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>> reporter: it was about 3:30 in the morning on the saturday of labor day weekend 2014. the party was over. christina morris, who didn't like the dark, was walking to her car. another guy at the party had offered to walk with her. her buddy steven nickerson called her to be sure she was okay. >> i said, "hey, have you made it to your car yet?" and she said, "no, almost there." >> reporter: a few minutes later, steven texted christina, but the messages were coming up green on his screen. which means her phone is not on? >> or out of service, yes. >> reporter: steven slept it off, and drove home late saturday morning. >> i shot her a text and say,ou

let me know if -- when you get home, whenever your phone charges or whatever it is. >> reporter: three days later on tuesday afternoon, christina's mom, jonni, now living up in tulsa, oklahoma, got a text from one of christina's friends. >> asking me have i heard from christina. and i said, "no. why?" and she sent me back a message. she goes, "her boss called me and said she never showed up for work." >> reporter: she hadn't shown for her shifts on saturday or tuesday. >> i immediately got a feeling in my stomach that i've never had before. i knew something was wrong. i sent christina a message on her phone. and i sent hunter a message. >> reporter: hunter, christina's live-in boyfriend. >> and he never called me back. >> reporter: jonni called christina's dad. >> i asked her father if he has heard from her. he said, "no." and anna had not heard from her. and i said, "something's wrong." >> reporter: mark, his wife, anna, and christina's sister sarah all started calling friends including hunter. >> reporter: so your -- your oldest daughter ends up

getting ahold of sarah? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: and she says to hunter, "have you seen christina"? and he's like, "well no, i haven't since -- since friday." >> right. he figured she was with us or with her mom. >> reporter: hunter, who's living with her, doesn't say anything, doesn't call you? doesn't sound the alarm and call anybody? >> don't get me started. >> reporter: mark and anna continued to work the phones. eventually reaching christina's pal, steven nickerson. >> her dad had asked me if he had seen -- if i had seen christina or heard from christina. and i said, "no, and the last time i talked to her was, you know, saturday morning." and he asked me, like "who'd she leave with, and i told him it was enrique. >> and i'm like, "who's enrique?" >> yeah, because we didn't know enrique. >> reporter: enrique arochi was a guy christina had known in school. he was the one who left the party at the same time and had offered to walk with her. >> how well did you know enrique? >> i graduated high school with him but i wasn't -

i didn't really ever talk to him. >> and that was pretty much christina's relationship with him, too, right? >> yeah. >> reporter: steven chased down enrique's number from other friends, and anna called him. >> he told me "we did leave together, but we went separate ways." and i said, "you telling me you did not see her get into her car?" and he said, "no." and i told him, i said "well, no one has heard from her. i cannot find her. we're about to call the police." >> reporter: mark couldn't dial fast enough. >> communications, how may i help you? >> i'm trying to report a missing person, uh, my daughter. she hasn't shown up from work. i'm just finding out about this. everybody's freaking out. >> does she own a vehicle? >> yes. a 2001 toyota celica. silver. >> reporter: about 30 minutes later, mark got a call back. >> an officer called me and said they found christina's car. it was still parked in the parking garage. it never left. >> reporter: just after midnight, mark and anna raco

>> i opened the door, i looked inside, you know, the car was locked -- >> and it was just a mess. >> and it was a mess, just like she keeps it. >> reporter: but it's always a mess? >> it's always a mess. >> reporter: but no bag, no wallet, no cell phone. >> the car was locked. and she never got in it. >> reporter: now, police had to play catch up. >> the plano police department had a disadvantage with the four-day delay start. >> reporter: zeke fortenberry was a prosecutor in the collin county district attorney's office. >> plano police department knew that it was four days she'd been missing already. and so that kind of raises a red flag that something serious might be going on. >> there is still no sign of a missing ft. worth woman who vanished from a plano parking garage. >> reporter: by this time a lot of people in north texas were hearing about christina morris. lorraine caceras covered the story for telemundo dallas. >> people don't randomly disappear from shopping centers in plano. that just doesn't happen. and the fact that

could be a random act. and if it is a random act -- >> reporter: then it's really scary. >> it's very scary. am i the next victim? and the unanswered question, "where is she?" coming up, questions for the friend who left the party with christina. >> you don't mind if i look in your car? >> no, it's no problem. >> very cooperative. police were very adamant that this guy was not a suspect. >> if he weren't a suspect, then who was? >> that's like wearing a sandwich board saying be suspicious of me. >> when "dateline" continues.

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>> reporter: the stars at night were big and bright. but by dawn, deep in the heart of texas there was no trace of christina morris. >> i didn't sleep for 24 hours. i stayed up all night. >> reporter: by wednesday morning, four days after christina vanished from the fancy shopping center, her mom jonni was growing frantic. >> i called every police department. i called every hospital because you never know. >> reporter: the calls led nowhere, and jonni

oklahoma, so she and her husband packed their bags and drove the four hours down to plano. straight to the parking garage where christina's car had been found. >> you came straight here. >> yes. >> even though this was the one place in dallas where you can pretty much guarantee police had searched pretty thoroughly. >> yes. >> but you're searching. you're walking all over the place. >> yes. as a mom, i just couldn't believe that there's no way that -- there's no evidence that she didn't come out of this parking garage, that she had to still be here. >> reporter: jonni didn't find anything but she hoped maybe someone in the neighboring apartments heard or saw something. >> how many doors you knock on total do you think? >> oh gosh. 50, 100. >> reporter: christina's friends were searching the shopping center too. >> we walked to restaurants. we talked to people. we walked the path that she possibly could've walked that

>> reporter: and plano police were also hitting the streets. >> they began to contact all of the -- the friends who were at the party that night, who had been at the bars and drinking with christina. >> reporter: including enrique arochi -- the guy who left the party with christina. the detective reached him at this sprint store, where he worked as a manger. >> hello? >> hi, enrique, this is detective cathy stamm of plano police department. >> reporter: enrique was more than willing to help. >> you said that you were leaving at the same time -- same time as christina, and you guys walked over to where your vehicles were parked, is that right? >> yeah. yeah, we walked separate ways. we walked until the end of the apartment complex, and after that we just split up because i went to a different parking lot than she was. >> reporter: that afternoon enrique arochi drove down to plano pd for an interview. >> if you don't mind, i'm just going to -- >> reporter: he never asked for an attorney and sw

mind if i look in your car, that's great. and then i can say i did. >> yup. >> and i hope you understand. and thank you for being cooperative. >> no, it's no problem. whatever i can do to help. >> reporter: police took photos of enrique's black camaro and sent him on his way. lorraine caceres says reporters got wind of enrique's visit to plano pd. >> the police were very adamant about the fact that this guy was not a suspect, that he was not involved. he was very cooperative, very helpful with the investigation. >> reporter: police also wanted to learn more about christina's boyfriend, hunter foster. her parents told police that relationship was rocky. >> she was planning on leaving him. i do know that for sure. >> she was home alone a lot by herself because he'd go out partying with his friends. and she was lonely. she was sad. >> reporter: and when police talked with christina's friend steven, he told them she'd been texting hunter that night asking him to pick her up from the shopping center. >> she had texted him

he stopped texting her back, and then she tried calling him and he didn't answer. >> reporter: as a result, steven said, christina became more and more upset as the night wore on. >> i mean, yeah, they were in a fight. >> they were definitely fighting that last night? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: police asked hunter to come down to the station. former prosecutor zeke fortenberry. >> what's he say about that fight that he and christina were having? >> hunter says he wasn't really aware of the fight. he said that he was out drinking, partying. he wasn't paying attention to his phone. >> and yet it's the opinion of all her friends who heard her side of that conversation that they were? >> oh, yeah. the friends said she was upset to the point of even crying sometimes. she was so upset with hunter that she was tearful and upset. >> reporter: hunter told police he was out with friends in downtown dallas the night christina disappeared and 20 miles away from that mall in plano. but when cops pressed him for details, he

and there was one more thing. hunter would not give up his cell phone. >> that's like wearing a sandwich board saying, "be suspicious of me." >> so it's friday night, but they're not going out together. and he doesn't call when she's missing. and he won't let you download his phone. is that about right? >> that's all true. >> reporter: christina's mom also found hunter's behavior very odd. and she confronted him about it. >> i need to know why you didn't call, why you didn't check on her? yeah. i flipped out. >> i got little anxiety right now. >> reporter: jonni kept pressing hunter for details about that night. >> you kept in touch with him. you stayed in contact. >>yes. if he was responsible, i'm going to keep that enemy closer, so i wasn't going to let him out of my sight. >> reporter: jonni wasn't giving up. neither was christina's stepmom anna. >> somebody's seen her. something is somewhere. we just need that little bit of information so we can bring her home. >> reporter: there

few leads but attention grew. plano police were leading larger and larger search parties, scouring the countryside. >> there was a lot of people from the community that didn't know the family, that had no connection to christina, and they were coming to support. and dozens and dozens of people in these searches just trying to find this girl. >> reporter: days went by with no sign of christina or her belongings. more resources arrived like a mounted search team and drones. christina's family and friends were a constant presence. >> we were told to look for her items, for a phone, for a ring, for a hat, for a bando, for anything at all because anything could be something. >> reporter: however, one person very close to christina never showed, hunter foster. >> the only person missing in this entire process

boyfriend, her live-in boyfriend that she shared a roof with. >> not searching? >> no. >> not out there? >> no. so that was our next question. who is this guy? coming up -- hunter foster goes public. >> so nervous. >> if i would have been there, none of this would have happened. >> he gets up, takes off his mike, i can't do this anymore. pampers. unlike ordinary diapers with two layers, pampers have three absorbent layers to stay up to three times drier, so babies can sleep soundly all night. wishing you love, sleep and play. pampers. school lunch can be difficult. cafeteria chaos.

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>> reporter: reporters can smell a story, and soon they were all over this one. christina morris' face was everywhere, including on dateline's own missing in america series. tips were pouring in. >> everybody thinks they saw something. i seen this girl at walmart. you start getting these calls all the time. then you have psychics that call you. >> reporter: and some of these pe

people who genuinely want to help. >> there are. >> right. >> reporter: and some of them are just crazy. >> right. >> reporter: but no matter how crazy plano police checked out every tip every sighting. and they didn't find anything? >> no. >> reporter: reporters wanted to hear from christina's boyfriend hunter, who hadn't shown up for any of the searches. >> why can't we ask him just a routine sound byte? how do you feel? what is your hope? and to much insistence, he decides to come down and be interviewed. >> reporter: but when he sat down with nbc 5 dallas, he was a wreck. >> pretty clear that i'm not emotionally or mentally stable at all. barely enough to do this right now. i just want her to come home and be alive and safe. >> his body is trembling in a way i've never seen anybody shake before. his voice breaking up. so nervous. >> if i would have been there, none of this would have happened. and this -- this is --

want -- this is -- i can't do this. i just -- i'm done. i don't -- >> and maybe two questions into the interview, he gets up and takes off his mike. i can't do this anymore. >> reporter: was he traumatized because his girlfriend was missing? or could it be something else? so hunter walks out of there basically having done himself probably no good. >> no favor at all. >> reporter: at the same time, investigators were pulling security footage to document christina's movements that night. >> plano police department were able to piece together videos and kind of create a timeline. >> reporter: cameras captured the group of friends heading to henry's tavern. that's christina walking in front of the group. then early saturday morning an atm camera caught christina and enrique heading toward their cars. remember they'd left the party together. the videos are blurry, but then police found this one. a clear shot of

>> neither of them appear to be intoxicated. they're walking normally. and it appears to be friendly. >> reporter: but that video was a big red flag for police. it shows christina and enrique walking into the same parking garage where her car was found. that contradicted what enrique had told police previously that they had parted ways long before that. he had also said he'd parked in a different garage. so they invited him back down to the plano pd and showed him a frame of that video. >> possibly, i could have gone that way and then to the other parking garage. >> so you're thinking it -- it might be a possibility that y'all could have walked through this garage? >> possibly. but, i mean, i'm -- i was -- i wasn't sober at the time. >> okay. >> he says he must have walked through that parking garage, and he just was mistaken. but he continues to insist he didn't park

[001:33:59;00] garage as christina. >> reporter: plausible. except police had another video. just three minutes after christina and enrique are seen entering that garage, this black car leaves. >> is that your car? >> yeah. >> something's wrong, enrique. >> what do you mean? >> this picture is in that garage. that picture was taken of you walking in that garage with christina. and that's your car coming out of that same garage. >> i'm -- i guess i parked there. i went to my car and she went her way. i mean, that's all i can tell you. i don't really pay attention to where people go usually. >> did you stand there and watch where she went? >> yeah, i should have done that. >> reporter: poor manners maybe, but not criminal. detectives kept pressing.

>> was she in your car at all that night? >> uh-huh. >> give her a ride like when you guys moved the car to park? has she ever been in your car? >> uh-huh. >> not at all? >> never. >> reporter: later police enhanced the video of enrique's car. can you tell if anybody's in it? >> no. the windows are tinted. there's reflection on them. you can't tell who's driving the car. and you can't tell if anyone's in the passenger seat. >> reporter: police searched his car again. they used a special forensic light on the inside of the camaro, looking for bodily fluids. but they found nothing and no blood, no hair, fibers or fingerprints. >> it was very clean. the detectives note they could see vacuum marks in the floorboard. >> reporter: sometimes a spotless car can seem suspicious. but if the driver is enrique, maybe not. mr. arochi's one of these guys who spends a lot of time with his car. >> he was a car guy. everyone said that he loved his car. he washed his car, cleaned his car. his car was his prized possession. >> reporter:

investigators turned their sights back to christina's boyfriend, hunter. a week after she disappeared, hunter finally brought his phone into plano pd. but when forensic experts went through it, the questions for hunter did not fade away. >> some things had been erased. text messages, conversations, things like that have been erased. >> reporter: could you tell what he'd erased? >> we know he erased part of the conversation with him and christina, that that conversation was gone. >> reporter: police knew little for sure, but they strongly believed one or maybe both of these men was lying. the question was about what? coming up, a new piece of evidence, a new piece of video, and a new crime miles away that just might help police crack this case. >> we didn't know there was something there that might be connected to christina. >> when "dateline"

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for your health for years to come. >> reporter: 23-year-old christina morris had somehow

stepped out of this family wasn't giving up, hoping to find her alive. her mother was forbidding herself to think the worst. >> i don't want -- you know, i don't want her to be out in those fields so this will let us know. i believe that she's not outside. >> what are those searches like? >> they're -- they're rough. you never know what you're going to come across. i now can understand the difference between human bones and animal bones. still scares the hell out of you. >> reporter: christina's boyfriend hunter told police he was in dallas with friends the night she disappeared but he'd been stingy with the details. he had erased conversations on his phone between himself and christina. investigators were

also trying to check enrique's story -- that he al garage early that saturday morning. >> so you -- you know what we're working on, right? what we're trying to is a -- and you're being very help fful with -- >> yeah. >> is being able to figure out, you know, the last place she's seen. because that way we can focus our efforts -- >> right. >> -- searching in this area. >> reporter: though his memory seemed fuzzy, enrique had been cooperative, speaking with detectives down at headquarters without an attorney. and police found no trace of christina inside his car. but since enrique was the last person seen with christina, police kept digging, even digging through the trash outside of enrique's home. >> what'd they get out of that? >> they saw several cleaning bottles that were empty, odor removing chemicals, bottles of that were

empty. >> which could've used by him on his car or somebody in the house. >> yeah. they're normal household cleaners, but the timing might be a bit suspicious. >> reporter: the trash runs continued. then in late september more than three weeks after christina disappeared, they found this. >> a post-it note written in spanish that's in the trash can. >> what's on the post-it note? >> the post-it note is a list of three or four things. it says in spanish, "a black shirt, text messages from august 29th, and bank and cellphone bills." >> reporter: august 29th was the night christina went missing. police thought this might be a list of things to get rid of. >> enrique was wearing a black shirt that night? >> the video clearly shows him wearing a black shirt the whole night. >> and bank and cellphone records might explain where he was, what he was doing? >> right. >> reporter: plano detectives were

alrelo enrique's cell phone records. now they took a close look at his bank records. and they found this transaction at saturday morning, about six hours after christina was last seen on the garage camera. >> what'd he buy the morning that she went missing? >> he got gas at a local grocery store with a gas station attached to it. >> reporter: this video from the gas pumps shows enrique filling up his camaro. >> reporter: and while he was getting gas, he washes the back of his car where the trunk is at. >> okay, he's washing the back of his car. he's a car guy. >> it's a bit odd. it's the -- the squeegee you would use on your windshield. and he's washing the trunk area where the license plate's at. >> reporter: remember, police had already searched the interior of enrique's camaro. now, they thought he might inadvertently be pointing them in a new direction. police obtained a search warrant, and brought the car down to the crime lab garage. and they showed that gas station video to the csi techs. >> and one of the c.s.i. investigators thought to herself -- >> where is a likely place that would have d.n.a., that's hard to clean, and she said that her gut told her to swab the weather

stripping, the rubber portion of the trunk at the seal. >> reporter: it's that black rubber gasket that lines the opening of the trunk. >> they swab it, and send it off to the laboratory for confirmatory tests. >> reporter: as you can imagine, detectives weren't saying much about the case, not even to christin christina's parents. >> they're not giving you a play by play? >> no, no. >> right. and we understand they can't. but you know, we -- we had to ask questions. we couldn't just sit and wait. >> reporter: they also had questions for enrique. maybe he knew more than he was telling. from the beginning, they'd been suspicious of his story. and given christina's fear of being taken, anna and mark thought their daughter would

never have let him leave her alone on the walk to the car. >> she would have because she -- >> grabbed ahold of his leg and screamed bloody murder or she would have run back into that apartment. >> right back upstairs. >> and got steven. >> she would not have walked to her car alone. >> never. >> at 3:00 in the morning? >> never, never. >> reporter: now, christina's family wanted to speak with enrique. he refused, so they began protesting in front of his house. for maximum impact, they gathered in the evenings when most people were home from work. >> you wanted to be sure the neighbors saw this. >> absolutely. >> i needed his neighbors to know what they were living next

to. >> and it worked. he didn't like it. >> reporter: enrique started talking, make the interview rounds. this one with telemundo dallas. >> what do you think about the actions of the family against you and your family? >> i feel like they're very wrong. they're accusing me of something. they're pressuring me to say something i don't know personally. they've put my name out there so much that people are starting to see me as a monster when i'm really one of the nicest per -- people you can ever meet. >> are you afraid for your life? >> i am afraid for my life because of all the threats. >> enrique, do you have anything to do with christina's disappearance? >> no, i do not. i have nothing to do with her disappearance. >> did you harm her in any way? >> no, i didn't. i wouldn't harm anything. not even an animal, a fly. nothing. >> what happened? >> i have no idea. i wish i knew. >> reporter: denials from enrique. and no concrete evidence that he, hunter foster -- or anyone else -- was responsible for christina's disappearance. her family was losing hope. but in early december, about three months after christina disappeared -- >> breaking news, late

tonight, we learned that chrna drug bust. >> reporter: officially, dallas police said hunter foster's arrest was not related to christina's disappearance. >> anything concerning the missing person case is obviously a plano case and so we are certainly here to help them in any way we possibly can. >> reporter: still, reporters wondered if police were telling the whole story. >> we didn't know if he was being maybe arrested for that federal drug charge and there was something there that might be connected to christina. >> just to get him into custody. >> just to get him into custody? we had no clue. >> reporter: by early december 2014, christina morris had been missing for three months. police had arrested her boyfriend, hunter foster on drug charges. investigators had thought he might have something to do with christina's disappearance. . but when they looked at cell tower and tollway records they realized hunter's alibi was rock solid. >> his cell phone is down in dallas. his toll tag shows that he c no, no no no no... seresto® kills and repels fleas and ticks for 8 continuous months - for effective protection in an easy-to-use, non-greasy collar. 8-month seresto®. from bayer. starting at $12.99, at olive garden. come for an irresistible meal here, and leave with a great meal too.

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her boyfriend, hunter foster, on drug charges. investigators had thought he might have something to do with christina's disappearance. but when they looked at cell tower and tollway records, they realized hunter's alibi was rock solid. >> his cell phone is down in dallas. his toll tag shows that he came back to dallas that evening. everything indicates he's in dallas. >> which is not anywhere near where she was getting into her car? >> 20, 25 miles away. >> reporter: and the reason hunter was so reluctant to give up his phone? well, it had nothing to do with christina. hunter was dealing drugs that night. and the proof? one of his customers was a narc. >> hunter foster actually dealt to an undercover agent. >> so on the night christina vanishes, hunter is selling drugs to an undercover officer? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: then, less than a week after hunter's arrest, police had something

else to announce. enrique arochi was under arrest for morris, though police believed he had murdered her. >> i can't even explain the emotions and the pain. my whole world was turned upside down. >> you knew she was gone then? >> yeah. >> reporter: in september of 2016, almost two years to the day since christina had vanished, enrique arochi went on trial at the collin county courthouse charged with aggravated kidnapping. zeke fortenberry was the lead prosecutor. >> why not prosecute him for murder? >> we thought about that, and i believe he did murder her. the problem is we didn't have a body to show that and we didn't have a crime scene to show murder. it's probably the most difficult case i've ever tried. >> i'm here to give you the facts. and to tell you that on aug. 30th this defendant kidnapped christina morris. and that's what the facts say. >> reporter: the prosecutor showed the jury those interviews enrique gave police and pointed out his changing stories.

>> why did he lie again and again and again? the jury that even though she can't be seen here, christina was probably in the passenger seat of enrique's car. >> so why did christina get in the car? my guess is he lied to her. maybe he told her, "i'll take you home to fort worth." >> reporter: fortenberry pointed to records from cell phone towers that he said proved she was in the car. he said christina's phone battery was almost drained as she and enrique approached the garage that night. not surprisingly their phones were pinging near each other. then, it gets a bit murky. >> reporter: the prosecutor explained that after the camaro left the garage, it passed through a toll station heading north on the highway. but about ten minutes later, christina's phone pinged off a tower back near the shopping mall and then so did enrique's, almost as if they'd made a u-turn. >> and i think something changed. i think maybe he put

the moves on her and starma and she was not okay with that. >> and then maybe is when the altercation began. >> reporter: detectives testified they'd seen injuries on enrique's arms and hands. >> because as detective busby said, there was a fight. it was between enrique and christina and she was fighting for her life. >> reporter: then, he told the jury, christina's cell phone went completely dead. enrique's phone continued to ping, eventually near his house about 35 minutes later. finally, the state presented its strongest evidence. csi techs testified they did find christina's dna, a lot of it, in that rubber gasket lining the trunk of enrique's camaro. what they found was probably blood, said experts, but they weren't 100% sure. they were sure that it belonged to christina.

and that's not all. >> we also found two ot trunk mat that also came back with christina's dna. >> where is christina morris? i told you at the beginning of this case i wouldn't be able to answer that question. where was christina morris? in the defendant's trunk. >> you think she was alive when she was in the trunk? >> i think she was dying or dead. >> tell the defendant you got your day in court and you're guilty. >> reporter: but enrique arochi had maintained his innocence throughout the investigation. now his defense attorney keith gore was going to try to pick apart the case against him. >> the only thing that matters in a criminal case is can the prosecution prove the words in the indictment. >> reporter: lorraine caceres covered the trial. >> the defense concentrated on the fact there was no body. they concentrated on the fact there was no video of christina getting into the suspect's car. >> reporter: gore told the jury enrique had been cooperative, and as for the injuries on

his arms and hands, ene working on his car. >> when the tire landed on me because i took it off. and it was too heavy, so just landed right on -- >> oh. oh, okay, okay. it makes sense -- >> it landed where all of this -- yeah. >> okay, that makes sense. >> reporter: then the defense went after the cell phone data. >> what do you have? cell data hits. >> they brought in their own experts saying that these cell phone towers and these pings are not reliable. >> reporter: and christina's dna in the trunk? gore pointed out enrique's camaro and christina's toyota were both processed at the same police garage. >> this is a one bay, one garage and you've got all these cars coming in and out. nobody needs to tell you this. this is how cross contamination occurs. the evidence is not there beyond a reasonable doubt, and

i would ask for your verdic n >> reporter: enrique did not testify, and the jury got the case. deliberations dragged on for two days. and then a verdict. >> we, the jury, find the defendant guilty of aggravated kidnapping as charged in the indictment. >> they saw that evidence. the right thing was done that day. >> reporter: the judge gave enrique the maximum, life in prison. >> she put her trust in you to walk her to her car. >> reporter: christina's family finally got to confront enrique in court. >> how can you sit there and not tell us what happened to our girl? >> i will make sure till i take my last dying breath that she is remembered with digni -- dignity, respect, integrity. everything you are not enrique. >> reporter: christina's family and friends are not giving up. >> i just want christina to know that

she's so loved, that she has an incredible group of people, an -- an army behind her. and we won't stop until she's found. >> we still don't have her. we're still looking every weekend. we're still missing her every day. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." we'll see you again next friday at 9:00/8:00 central. of course, i'll see

you each weeknight for n brks krrks niebc night right now at 11:00, an embarrassing defeat for republicans who failed to repeal and replace the affordable care act. the battle lines are drawn, but is the gop ready for another fight?