. one of the investigators brought somebody over to me saying, "this is our violent crime advocate." i was steeling myself for it already because of the massive police presence. they said that they believed that he had been murdered. >> craig rideout, dad of seven, cared deeply about his kids. >> he was a loving man. a provider. warm. >> so it was puzzling and alarming when he vanished. >> she said, craig's not here. i said, that's weird. >> didn't know what was happening. >> i know something is wrong. i don't know how wrong. >> a disturbing discover ne the basement. >> blood particles were found on the walls. >> it appeared that there was some kind of ambush. >> revelations

>> craig didn't want to believe there was a romantic relationship between them. it became painfully obvious that there was. >> and in the park, two young men acting strangely. >> they identify colin rideout and alexander rideout. >> the victim's two sons? >> the victim's two sons. >> finally, a string of security videos would lay bare the bone-chilling truth. >> a diabolical plan is forming here. >> it appears that way. >> i was stunned, absolutely stunned. >> i remember just holding him, crying. >> this is a family divided like no other. >> yeah. >> i'm lester holt. and this is "dateline." tonight, the depths of evil revealed at a place they call "devil's bathtub." here's andrea canning. >> reporter: this is devil's bathtub, a deep,k

formed by glaciers milenan ya a. it's hidden and secluded. but beyond the tangle and the weeds, a secret was about to be discovered. >> we weren't ready for this. >> the sirens in my head, red lights going off in my head. >> reporter: the discovery would tell the tale of an all-american family torn apart and a twisted loyalty hard to comprehend. >> it was like hitting a brick wall and life just stopped. >> reporter: this is the ultimate story of betrayal? >> yes. >> reporter: pittsford, new york. a pretty suburb of rochester. big houses, big families and top-ranked schools that make the people who move here want to stick around. >> in this community, you grow up in a bubble. this is -- the community's a bubble. >> reporter: the rideout family lived in that happy bubble.

chelsea noyer dated the oldest rideout boy, colin. >> i remember one of the first times i went over to his house in high school. he was cooking me dinner. and he was -- i was like, oh, man, cooking dinner, that's pretty cool. >> reporter: very responsible? >> oh, yeah. that's one of the reasons why i fell in love with him. he loved his family. >> >> reporter: and it was a big one. three girls, four boys. the rideout household was always bustling, family dinners, holidays. colin's parents, craig and laura embraced the chaos. this is craig's sister, robbyn drew. clearly they liked being parents. they were enjoying this. >> right. >> reporter: seven kids? >> seven kids. >> reporter: dad craig worked as a computer programmer and spent time mentoring kids at his church. >> craig is a outwardly personable person. you meet craig rideout, you'll like him. >> reporter: paul tucci, better known as "pj", was craig rit'

>> laura is compassionate. she's also really intelligent. i mean, she double majored in physics and english 4.0. >> reporter: as for the rideout kids, they were smart like their parents, hard working, articulate. but while they thrived, family life took a toll on craig and laura's marriage. laura had been on bed rest for some of her pregnancies, and money was tight. >> it circles back, i believe, to some financial hardships. >> reporter: it's understandable, seven children, bills. >> yeah. >> reporter: these are real life. >> real life issues. >> reporter: -- problems. craig and laura separated in 2014. craig took it really hard. >> he sent an e-mail to me saying, well, it looks like i'm getting divorced because i don't think i can talk about it without crying. >> reporter: p.j. says he wasn't surprised to see the marriage dissolve. >> sometimes you get a get feeling.

of that relationship but there's also a lot of negatives. >> reporter: oldest son colin was away at maritime college when his parents split. >> i asked him if he was going to be okay. his first thought is i'm going to be okay. i have you. but i'm more concerned about making sure my siblings are okay. >> reporter: he decided to put family first and help out his mother. he moved back to rochester and put aside college and his goal of becoming a navy s.e.a.l. >> he left kind of his dream to put his siblings first. >> reporter: what is going to be the custody arrangements? >> the older kids were froe ee make their own choice. custody got sticky with the two youngest kids. >> reporter: the divorce still wasn't final in the summer of 2016. and robbyn says there was tension over the shared custody of the 6 and 12-year-old kids, though craig told her he was trying to make the best of a di

>> one of the phrases that he used most recently was that he saw light at the end of the tunnel, but it was stressing him out. >> reporter: and on top of that, something weird happened to craig that summer. someone broke into the townhouse where he had recently moved. he thought it was no big deal, maybe one of his sons playing a prank. but his sister was worried, and she urged him to report it to police. >> my name's craig rideout. >> what happened? >> i wake up at midnight with a sharp pain in my arm. i jump up. this will sound crazy. a hooded black figure -- not a black man -- was running out of the room. the reason i have to file a police report is my blackberry, which was taken that night. >> reporter: robbyn made a point to talk to her brother every day. july 19th, just a few days after the break-in was so exception. >> he said i'll call you in the moin

>> reporter: but morning came and craig wasn't returning robbyn's calls. >> if he had been in a meeting and felt his phone go off, he would have sent a response in a meeting, call you later. >> reporter: concerned, robbyn decided to pay a visit to craig's townhouse. and inside that house, the beginning of a dark family drama that could never be unwritten. >> i know something is wrong. i don't know how wrong. >> what was going on with craig rideout? when we come back, a discovery in the basement was about to provide an ominous clue. >> we found what appeared to be blood spatter on the walls. >> what they found next would change everything. >> this is a big moment in this case. >> it is.

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ralpand i sponsoredralph northam, canthis adfor governor narrator: ed gillespie says dr. ralph northam doesn't show up? dr. ralph northam was an army doctor and a volunteer medical director at a children's hospice. he passed the virginia law requiring concussion standards for school sports. the smoking ban in restaurants. and dr. northam is working to connect veterans to good paying jobs in virginia. ed gillespie is a washington dc corporate lobbyist. he shows up for whoever pays him. robbyn drew couldn't imagine where her brother craig was. it was a warm summer morning,

you can't reach him. >> no. >> reporter: at work. you can't reach him at home? >> right. i'm getting no response. >> reporter: that break-in was fresh in robbyn's mind when she decided to leave work at lunch and head to craig's townhouse. his soon-to-be ex-wife lawyer wa was there. she couldn't find him either. >> she says, oh, i figured it wouldn't be long before someone came looking for him. i don't know where he is. >> reporter: laura told robbyn it had been craig's night with the two youngest children. but that morning laura said the kids texted her to say dad wasn't there when they woke up. she sent colin over to get them. >> colin was always picking up his siblings. he would drive them places. >> reporter: robbyn decided to look around her brother's house. she went upstairs to his bedroom. the door was locked. >> and i thought that's really odd. >> reporter: did you worry that he might be in the bedroom? >> i was worried that he might have -- >> reporter: that something happened to him? >> yes. >> reporter: exactly what, she didn't know. she called 911. >> my brother has not been

answering texts or cell phone calls or e-mails. and i could be making a mountain out of a mole hill. >> reporter: deputies from the monroe county sheriff's office arrived at craig's, but they stayed outside, told robbyn they'd need a warrant to search the house. after all, her brother was a grown man and this was his private property. investigator dave bolton spoke to robbyn briefly. >> she called a number of times, and this made her nervous, not being able to get hold of him on e-mail or text. >> reporter: laura had gone home but came back to the townhouse with the two young kids to see what was going on. does she express she has any idea where craig might be? >> she didn't. she said that she had no idea where he might be. >> reporter: laura told the deputies craig was home when the kids were dropped off the night before. >> obviously, you're a little bit concerned about him, i guess. >> i don't know where he is. his personality wouldn't be one where he would be hurt. >> reporter: then the investigator asked the kids some questions.

>> was he there when you woke up? >> no. that's when we woke up and dad was gone. >> reporter: last time you saw your dad was when, honey? >> yesterday. he was playing rid joe games on the computer. he went to the bathroom, then he went downstairs. and then that night he was downstairs and then he disappeared in the morning. >> reporter: the 12-year-old son told the same story. >> when was the last time you saw him? >> hm, 11:30 last night when he was going to bed. >> then what happened this morning? >> he wasn't there. so i was just guessing he went to work. >> reporter: no one could find craig. laura texted p.j. tucci. >> she said craig's not here. i said that's weird. >> reporter: colin called chelsea. were you concerned just for him? >> i was concerned. nobody wants to hear somebody went missing from their family. and i just assumed he had to step outside or go on a quick tr

>> reporter: late that night, investigators finally had their search warrant. you go inside. >> we go inside. >> reporter: what do you find? >> an initial walk-through, the house is very neat, very well put together. it doesn't appear to be any forced entry. >> reporter: the investigators unlock the master bedroom. it was undisturbed. no craig. they looked around, found nothing, then headed to the basement. what do you find? >> there's boxes on the shelves all neatly stacked. everything is kind of in its home. and on the other side it's kind of disheveled. >> reporter: it was messy but nothing seemed out of the ordinary for a basement until they notice something alarming wee mother closely examine the area and found what appear to be blood spatter on the walls and the shelving unit. >> reporter: crime seen techs sprayed the basement floor with luminol and found even more blood, blood that someone tried to wipe away. then a discovery inside a garbage bag.

>> we find what appears to be a garrote. it's two handles with some cord knotted so you could hold on to both handles and use it as a ligature. >> reporter: a weapon used for strangulation. the evidence was telling them a story, one that wouldn't end well for craig rideout. >> we were pretty sure we had our murder scene. >> reporter: this is a big moment in this case. >> it is. coming up -- a bombshell about craig rideout's soon-to-be ex-wife. >> craig didn't want to believe that there was a romantic relationship between them. i think over time it became painfully obvious that there was. >> and then just off a country road, a passer-by sees something that will transform the case. >> in the woods, there's a body under a tarp.

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july 20th, 2016. craig rideout, father of seven, had been missing since early that morning. investigators had discovered a horrid scene in craig's basement. a scene that told them he wasn't coming home. >> we're starting to find more and more items with a lot of blood on them. >> reporter: craig's sister robbyn was waiting outside, watching the police action unfold in front of her brother's townhouse. >> and then one of the monroe county investigators brought somebody over to me saying this is our violent crime advocate. >> reporter: did your heart sink when -- >> it did. and they told me that they believed that he had been murdered. >> reporter: murdered in his own home? investigators surmised it happened overnight while his young children slept. who would do such a thing? craig's sister told investigator bolton about that break-in at craig's home a few days earlier. >> i wake up at midnight with a sharp pain in my arm.

>> he says that he was upstairs sleeping in his bed when, in the middle of the night, he was awoken by somebody pulling a hair from his arm. the male ran out of the bedroom and ultimately out of the house. >> reporter: craig told his sister he thought it was a prank. he didn't know what the make of it, nor did robbyn, but she had some other information for the investigator. details about her brother's marriage. how long had craig rideout and laura rideout been separated for? >> about two years. >> reporter: and it hadn't been a good separation? >> it hadn't been. >> reporter: the reason? laura had a new man in her life, and it was, well, awkward would be an understatement. her boyfriend was craig's old buddy p.j. tucci. paul tucci goes from being craig rideout's best friend to now being craig rideout's estranged wife's boyfriend? >> yes. >> reporter: so that doesn't always work out so well for a relationships. >> certainly not between the two of them. >>

been close friends with p.j. and his wife jennifer for many years. >> all of the kids, the tucci and the rideout kids, really grew up together. they would go out together. they had parties together. >> reporter: but around the same time that laura and craig's marriage was falling apart, p.j.'s wife died from liver disease. p.j. says he leaned on laura for support and laura began confiding in p.j. his best friend. >> his former best friend, yes. >> reporter: in a romantic relationship now? >> at first craig didn't want to believe that there was a romantic relationship going on between them, and i think over time it became painfully obvious that there was. >> i didn't know i was going to fall in love with laura. but that happened over time. >> reporter: does craig know about this? >> craig sent me an e-mail. >> reporter: what did it say? >> it says -- he says, i don't know if you found yourself in a damsel in distress situation and you'reus

romantic feelings towards laura, either way i'm happy. >> reporter: that's big of him. >> i thought it was an interesting -- i don't know what he was trying to elicit. >> reporter: it was certainly interesting to the homicide detective, but before investigator bolton could run down that juicy lead, he got some news. two counties over a shovel had been left by the side of the road and 50 feet into the woods a man's body was discovered. >> 911. >> we discovered in the woods a body under a tarp. >> it is near your home? >> itses sit's down the road. >> reporter: could it be craig? the victim's identity wasn't obvious right away. his killer or killers had used some kind of acid to intentionally disfigure his face. that sounds like someone had a major grudge with this person. >> it certainly seemed like they weren't interested in him being found. >> reporter: but even though the victim was unrecognizable, deputies were able to i.d. him

the answer was found in his pocket. when the body was found, the victim's phone was ringing. the person popping up on the caller i.d.? it was robbyn drew, craig's sister. >> as i was trying to reach him, the cell phone was ringing in his pocket. >> reporter: you're calling and the phone's ringing in yeats county and your brother is -- >> and my brother is dead. yeah. >> reporter: sounds like some really dumb criminals to leave the cell phone in the pocket when they have gone to these great lengths of pouring possibly acid on this man. >> it does seem that they overlooked a pretty obvious thing. >> reporter: they had a crime scene, a body and a marriage with a soap opera ending. and the next bit of evidence would lead this story to an even darker place, a place called devil's bathtub. a million things must be going through your mind. >> and it gets stranger, quick. >> coming up --

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the case of the missing dad was now a murder investigation. investigator dave bolton had been up for 36 hours working two critical crime scenes. the basement where craig was likely killed and the woods where his body was found. and now the investigator was about to be called to another location, that place called devil's bathtub. it's a secluded pond set deep in a 25-acre park. what is going on here? why are you called to the scene? >> there's some walkers in the park that saw something they thought was suspicious. they saw a couple of males in the park and a car parked up in the parking lot and they saw what they believe was garbage bags getting thrown out. >> reporter: and why was a homicideec

call about a case of suspicious littering? when deputies on the scene detained the two young men, they recognized their last name -- rideout. the same name as the murder victim in the case being worked by investigator bolton. >> they identified colin rideout and alexander rideout. >> reporter: the victim's two sons? >> the victim's two sons. >> reporter: colin was in the park with his 19-year-old brother alex who had just graduated from high school. investigator bolton pulled out his iphone, pressed record and he and another investigator began to ask the brothers some questions. younger brother alex was first. >> what's going on in you and your brother out for a walk? >> basically that's -- i mean we were just like out. and suddenly people show up and it's like -- i've never really encountered police before. so it was like -- >> you never ran into trouble before, right? >> no, i don't really do drugs or drink or really party.

i'm 19. i'm doing college. >> reporter: investigator bolton's radar was up. he knew craig thought one of his sons might be behind that weird break-in. now here were his sons acting suspiciously in a secluded park. the investigator decided to ask what they thought happened to their dad but without telling the boys that craig had already been found brutally murdered. >> he'd always brag i could just disappear. i figured he was on the next flight to mexico. >> reporter: colin said he didn't know where his dad was either. >> have su heard anything from your dad? >> well, i e-mailed him last night. i didn't hear from him. i heard from him monday. and he picked up my brother and sister, i think, tuesday. >> reporter: the investigator wanted to keep colin talking, and he did. so what is colin opening up to you about? >> colin starts to talk about the family dynamic and how he believes his father might be having some sort of mental issues or some sort of breakdown. >> like i've been kind of

out. >> reporter: then the investigator asks him directly, what was in the garbage bags they were trying to get rid of. >> i'm worried about what's in that bag. and if you tell me what's in that bag before i see what's in that bag, it lot be better for you. >> i don't know what's in the bag. >> reporter: investigators didn't think colin was being honest. >> did you love your dad? >> i did, yeah. >> we seek truth. i'm hoping you can be part of the truth. >> reporter: all that talk about truth worked. the boys admitted something big. they'd been at their dad's house the day before. and listen to this. >> anything you want to tell me about? >> well, there was a lot of blood in the basement. you know, and i was -- i was worried that, you know, something had happened. >> there's a lot of blood in the basement? >> yeah. >> reporter: they just placed themselves at the scene of the crime.

and when the investigator opened up those garbage bags. >> blooding clothing, there's a bloody sneaker. there's some work gloves that have some blood on them. what would appear to be evidence o a murder. >> reporter: colin, the would-be navy s.e.a.l. who always put family first and his book-smart brother alex with plans to go to college were taken down to the sheriff's office and arrested. they weren't charged with murder but with tampering with evidence, something to hold the boys while the investigation continued. how do you process that? >> to be honest, shellshocked would be the best word for it. >> reporter: colin called chelsea from jail. >> hey, hi. >> colin. oh, my god. what -- what? >> i was arrested. my lawyer says that i'm not supposed to talk about anything. >> reporter: what was his state of mind like? >> he's confused. he loves his family. he was like hitting a brake wall and life just stopped. >> reporter: was there any part of you that said maybe i don't

>> he's just the guy that had everything ahead of him. he wouldn't have thrown it away for nothing. >> reporter: did you wonder how he ended up with the garbage bagsbag s, with that evidence? >> i think it would give anyone a pause to think about it and question. but we also know him. and we know the man he is. >> reporter: investigator bolton didn't know the rideout kids, but he knew there had to be more to the story than two nice boys deciding to kill their dad. his investigation turned to their mom, laura rideout, the woman who had been married to craig for more than 20 years and who had raised those sons. robbyn had been telling investigators about the divorce, and it wasn't pretty. >> there's a contentious separation and custody battle going on where they're really not supposed to see each other even at drop-off. >> reporter: at the same time laura and her new sign

friend, p.j. tucci, were preparing for a big change. >> their intention was to move as a family down to north carolina, and that move was supposed to happen within a couple of days. >> reporter: but craig had primary custody of the two youngest and wouldn't let laura take them out of state. so then how's laura rideout moving to north carolina? >> that's a good question. >> reporter: robbyn was suspicious of laura from the moment she arrived at her brother's townhouse. remember, the day craig went missing, laura was there and she was inside tidying up. >> when i get in and i open the sliding glass door it's laura standing in his kitchen cleaning. >> reporter: that would be odd. >> it was odd. in my head i'm thinking what are you doing here? >> reporter: cleaning up a crime scene. that's what investigator bolton suspected. in fact, the boys admitted it was their mother who gave them the bags of bloody clothes. >> it was just something my mom

told me, like, hey. >> when did your mom tell you to do that? >> just this morning. >> did she give you the bag? >> yeah. >> reporter: just hours after arresting the two sons, investigator bolton headed to the home that laura shared with p.j. tucci. >> i was stunned. i was absolutely stunned. coming up -- security video from days before craig rideout's murder leads to a sickening revelation. >> diabolical plan is forming here. >> it appears that way. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira has been clinically studied for over 20 years.

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laura rideout wasn't expecting sheriff's deputies to show up at the front door that evening. wasn't dressed for a trip to the county jail. but that's where she was going. >> told her to get shoes. and laura loves to wear heels. they say you need a different kind of shoe. so she throws on a pair of nike golf shoes. and they came down, and then i watched them arrest her. scariest thing i've ever seen. and her kids are there. her kids are sitting there watching their mother get arrested. >> reporter: did she say anything? >> she said what for?

the arresting officer said you had to have been expecting this. and she was like no, what? she said, if i were expecting this, i would have had makeup on. >> reporter: boyfriend p.j. says he thought there had to be some sort of misunderstanding, a terrible mistake. had laura ever said, i just wish craig was out of our lives? >> no. she wanted craig to have a relationship with the kids. she didn't have animosity towards craig. >> reporter: but when deputies searched the home where laura lived, there were clues everywhere. inside the master bedroom, a key fob to unlock craig's car. in another bedroom blue tape identical to the tape used to make that garrote found in craig's basement. bits of incriminating evidence in the home where p.j. also lived. when craig was killed, where were you? >> we were at home. >> reporter: you were with laura at home? >> i was with laura. >> reporter: the investigator believed he was with laura, but not innocently at home.

murder p.j. tucci was under arrest, too. >> i can tell you this. i've never been in the guy's house. i know where it is, drop the kids off. i've never been in there. >> reporter: were you part of the overall plan to cover it up? >> there's no plan. >> reporter: four people were under arrest and all four let out on bail. >> colin, alex, do you have any comment? >> reporter: they were only charged with evidence tampering while investigators tried to figure out exactly who did what. no one was talking anymore. >> laura, anything to say? >> reporter: all four lawyered up and presented a united front. >> no comment. >> reporter: investigators still didn't know if this was a crime of passion or a conspiracy. and if it had been planned, who was the ringleader? investigator bolton says the answer to some of those questions came after analyzing items found on or around craig's body dumped in the woods. >> we found the bungee cords, then we also have a tarp. and from backtracking the receipts, we're able to find

stores, particularly the walmart. >> reporter: when investigators pulled security video from walmart, they saw what appeared to them to be a murder plot in the making. july 18th, two days before the murder, laura, colin and one of the younger kids go shopping to buy drain cleaner, drain cleaner which investigators believe was used to disfigure craig rideout's face. the next day, just a few hours before the murder, laura and p.j. are at a different walmart buying a large tarp, bungee cord and more drain cleaner. >> the tarp and the bungees matched up to the ones found on craig's body. >> reporter: and the day of the murder, here's colin buying a shovel, a shovel identical to the one left by the side of the road near where craig's body was found. diabolical plan is forming here. >> it appears that way. >> reporter: over a number of days? >> yes. >> reporter: there was laura on tape looking completely relaxed.

a wife, a mother and now investigators believed a killer. craig's sister saw a woman who had somehow turned two sons against their own father. >> honest to god, i don't know how that happened. what was said that could have turned the kids against him? >> reporter: this is the ultimate story of betrayal. >> yes. >> reporter: what do you believe happened that night? >> my belief is that the two younger children are brought over to craig rideout's house that evening. laura or paul go up to craig's room to maybe talk about this move to north carolina. i think laura's the one that gets him to come down into the basement. >> reporter: it was in the basement where investigators believe members of craig's own family and even his one-time best friend were there to do the unthinkable. >> i think the intense was to murder him with no blood at all. i think that the victim started to fight. and i think one of the suspects hit him in the head during that

of him. >> is there anything you'd like to say? >> reporter: when the charges came down, all four, including colin, who had just proposed to his girlfriend chelsea, were charged with murder. >> that was a surprise. >> reporter: you have to have a million questions? >> oh, yeah, a million and one. >> reporter: and as the investigation unfolded, authorities had more questions, too. including a big one about p.j. tucci. it had to do with his first wife jennifer who died from liver disease. monroe county sheriff patrick o flynn thought it was a suspicious coincidence that her death coincided with his new relationship with laura. >> we spoke with the district attorney's office because we said this needs to be investigated. >> reporter: you learned that it would be possible to poison someone and it could look like cirrhosis of the liver. >> from talking with different people, that is a potential. >> reporter: did you think about that, maybe paul tucci poisoned his wife? >> without a doubt.

to exhume her body, but the medical examiner was satisfied with the original autopsy. >> the medical examiner wrote on the death certificate what happened. stop bringing her into this. she had nothing to do with it. >> reporter: the questions about jennifer tucci's death went nowhere. the prosecutor didn't pursue it. then as the summer of 2017 ray -- approached, the craig rideout trial was set to go to trial. >> this doesn't happen in our bubble. we weren't ready for this. >> reporter: and no one was ready for what would happen in court. the family's united front was about to implode. coming up -- four defense teams about to throw each other's clients under the bus. >> they wanted to start pointing fingers at each other. >> and then ju

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they all had big plans. colin rideout was looking forward to getting married. his younger brother alex was planning to go to college. and laura and p.j. were preparing for a fresh start in north carolina. but instead, in the summer of 2017, they were all going to court to stand trial for second-degree murder. and in a highly unusual ruling, the judge decided all four would be tried together, four trials in one. it's just bizarre that this family would be on trial together. >> i don't think i've ever seen anything like that. >> reporter: each had his or her own attorney who sat down with us. colin's attorney. >> there obviously was no motive. >> reporter: alex's attorney. >> this was a lack of evidence case. >> reporter: p.j. tucci's attorney. >> there was absolutely no proof whatsoever. >> reporter: and two attorneys for laura. >> it was a circumstantial case. >> reporter: they were all prepared to argue that the prosecution had no idea what

basement. does anyone know who the real killer is? >> the real killer knows. it could have been one of many people. >> reporter: this is a classic whodunit. district attorney sandra doorley and assistant d.a. tim prosperi admitted that they didn't know who drivered the final blow. but that didn't stop them from saying all four defendants were responsible for craig rideout's death. so you can charge them all with murder even if one of them didn't actually provide the final blow to craig rideout? >> exactly. >> an example would be a bank robbery. the driver is just as criminally responsible as the person that goes into the bank. >> reporter: the prosecution showed the jury those walmart security videos and told them about the purchase of items like the tarp, acidic drain cleaner and a shovel. the jury learned about the garbage bags full of bloody clothing at devil's bathtub. the prec

laura's jeans had the most amount of blood putting them squarely in the basement at the time of the murder, but dna from all four defendants was found on items in those bags at devil's bathtub. so you had dna from all four defendants on either the gloves or the clothes and craig rideout's blood? >> exactly. >> yes. >> reporter: and the motive behind it all? the prosecution said it was simple and obvious. >> we believe the motive was to allow the mother to take the younger children out of the state and start off a new life with her boyfriend p.j. tucci. >> reporter: it's just so hard to understand, though, why the sons would want to do this for their mother? >> perhaps there was some underlying agreement between the son and the mother that we weren't aware of. >> reporter: it was now time for all those defense attorneys to have their say. >> who killed craig rideout? who did it? >> reporter: the defense said the walmart videos didn't reveal a murder conspiracy. the tarp, the bungee cord, the drain cleaner all were purchased

in preparation for that big move to north carolina. that's what p.j. told us. >> we got the trucks coming, and we've got the fooseball table we've got to deal with, so i'm going to need something to strap that -- these wood things on the side of the u-haul. i said i need something big to cover the floor because i'm going to do the ceiling painting. >> reporter: what did you need the drain cleaner for? >> we have girls that have long hair. and they clog up shower drains and sinks all over the place. laura said this stuff works really well. so great. >> reporter: then the family on trial together sitting around that defense table went on the attack against one another. colin's attorney started pointing fingers. >> who is getting divorced? colin's not getting divorced. >> reporter: that united front that held the family together came crashing down. >> we pointed the finger at that person that was closest to us in terms of items of evidence. whis

colin's not. colin's not moving there. laura rideout, paul tucci, they're moving to north carolina. >> reporter: laura's attorney fought back. >> you can't get around the incriminating evidence against colin rideout. >> reporter: so you're kind of pointing the finger at laura on behalf of colin. is anyone else pointing the finger at anyone else? >> everybody else at me. >> reporter: you're pointing the finger at colin on behalf of laura. >> that affects the family dynamic at trial. >> reporter: we have mother and son. then paul. >> i never said it was colin, we never said it was laura, we never said it was alex. >> reporter: i think you need a football diagram. >> yeah. >> reporter: all the relationship relationships. >> and we had to. >> reporter: after a month of testimony, the case went to the jury. colin's fiancee remained his biggest support to the till. the way you described him as being this protector of the

family, do you think that's ultimately what might have got him in trouble? >> he's a smart guy, so, no, i don't think he would ever put himself in a situation. he had a life ahead of him. he had no need. >> reporter: after five days of deliberations, the jury reached a verdict. >> we said a prayer. >> hearts racing, game face on. >> reporter: tensions were high for everyone as the crowd filed back into the courtroom. the verdicts were read one by one. >> alexander rideout. >> reporter: beginning with the sons. first younger son alex. >> you've been found not guilty of murder in the second degree. >> reporter: alex was acquitted of the murder charge. but found guilty of tampering with evidence. colin rideout. then the oldest son colin. >> the jury has found you guilty of murder in the second degree. >> i hear those words and i was just set back. i just blacked out. >> reporter: deputies led colin away in handcuffs. ch w

left the courtroom surrounded by fami. it was the grown-ups' turn to hear their verdicts. the victim's former be f >> mr. tucci, you've been found not guilty of murder in the second degree and tampering with physical evidence. >> reporter: p.j. tucci was acquitted on all counts. >> i had to check the verdict sheet to make sure i heard it right. >> reporter: but what about the mother at the center of it all. >> the jury has convicted you of murder in the second degree. >> laura rideout guilty of murder. not surprised at all. >> reporter: what's that emotion like? >> relief. and justification. >> mr. tucci, do you have anything to say? >> reporter: p.j. tucci walked out of court a free man. prosecutor hs no physical evidence to prove that he was ever in craig's house. did paul tucci get away with murder? >> i believe he did. >> reporter: there will be people who will say he definitely had something to do wi t

going to think one thing. you can't change people's beliefs that way. and half the people are going to think the other way. i'm not here to change your mind. it's a sad story. a murder did occur. but i don't think that the whole story's out there. and i don't think the jury necessarily got it right. >> reporter: p.j. tucci was free but now alone, a widower who once planned to make a new life with laura. and now she was behind bars for what could be the rest of her life. does she want you to find love again? >> she always wants you to find love. sure. the question is, she set a really high standard. >> reporter: but she's been convicted of murder. >> but i know in my later she didn't do it. >> reporter: craig's sister robbyn is left trying to make sense of it all, the darkness that destroyed that big family, a family that once had so much

ambition and promise. >> it's just heartbreaking. nobody wins. nobody wins in this. >> reporter: this is a family divided like no other. >> yeah. that's all for this edition of "dateline." we'll see you again next friday for our two-hour season premiere at 9:00, 8:00 central. and of course i'll see you each weeknight for nbc "nightly news." i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, good night. ralph northam: i'm ralph northam, candidate for governor, and i sponsored this ad. they're studying for 21st century jobs. but ed gillespie supports donald trump's plan to take money out of virginia public schools and give it to private schools. as a washington dc lobbyist, ed gillespie worked for lenders trying to keep student loan rates high. and ed gillespie's plan to cut taxes for the wealthy

ed doesn't stand for education. . now at 11:00, the crushing weight of water puts pressure on a failing dam in puerto rico. maryland first responders trying to get thousands