now back to "dateline." ♪ ♪ >>> chris hall was charged in the drowning death of his wife christy. g to lay out their case, hall's daughters stood by him proclaiming his innocence. would anything change their minds about their dad? here again is keith morrison. >> he is a hard charging man. ex-member in good standing of the san francisco d.a.'s office now senior deputy d.a. in riverside. that takes skill, persuasive powers. he would need them in the murder case against the former police chief and family man chris hall. >> mr. hall, on the surface, looks like a loving family man. he looks like a good father, was somebody that had the support of his family. >> so he did. he wasn't buying the loving father and family man bit. no, when he heard about chris hall's very obvious grief, the whaling that went on after the so-called accident, the phrase that crossed his mind was, it's an act. >> i think it was a wonderful performance by the defendant of acting like a bereaved husband. when you look at his actions, how little he did to save his wife. >> who tried harder to save christy? not ch

at winchester‘s great hall in march of 1948 that one of the 20th century's most sensational murder trials took place. it had everything you would expect to find in an agatha christieovel. a dashing steward, a beautiful actress, a death on the high seas. but no body. the steward was charged with murdering the 21—year—old actress and pushing her out of the porthole. no trace of her body was ever found. and now, for the first time, we have unprecedented access to the actual case files for the investigation. and we can reveal evidence unheard at the trial.

at winchester‘s great hall in march of 1948 that one of the 20th century's most sensational murder trials took place. it had everything you would expect to find in an agatha christieg steward, a beautiful actress, a death on the high seas. but no body. the steward was charged with murdering the 21—year—old actress and pushing her out of the porthole. no trace of her body was ever found. and now, for the first time, we have unprecedented access to the actual case files for the investigation. and we can reveal evidence unheard at the trial. a trial that ended with the judge donning his black cap and passing the death sentence. james camb... the sentence of the court upon you is that you be taken from hence to a lawful prison and thence to a place of execution and that you there be hanged by the neck until you be dead. this is the story of a murder without a body. is james camb guilty or is he not guilty? we are rewriting history. i still can't make up my mind whether he did or didn't. i was in a terrible state. i said i could have saved his life. because i don't know that he did it. there must always be a question mark. when you have to rely, essentially, on circums