it was declared an accident and forgotten for nearly 20 years. >> reporter: detective charlie mccormick death was accidental. >> if you're a police man and you're trying to investigate a crime and all of a sudden the coroner, who really has jurisdiction overall, says it's an accident, you're a little bit cut off at the pass. two days after a death like this, to call it an accident, it's unfortunate. all the facts would indicate this was, i think, a rush to judgment. >> reporter: the former coroner says there was no rush to judgment. he didn't remember the case, but he with read the coroner's report at "dateline's" request. and says, quote, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but at the time everything fit. there were no suspicions raised and no reason to drag our feet. >>> nevertheless, after toni's death and mccormick's review, the then douglas county coroner changed the manner of lynn's death from accidental to undetermined. still, harold henthorn hadn't been charged with anything, not in toni's death or his first wife lynn's. so sheriff's detectives called on lynn's old friend kim. >>> w