he acknowledges pushing david shepard to do that.ant david shepard to harm joseph sonnier physically. >> reporter: but if mike wasn't guilty of murder, why did he delete all his text messages, even going so far as to submerge his phone in a pool? i think this is a problem people watching will have is i wouldn't do that. if i had nothing to hide, i wouldn't start destroying all this evidence and jumping into the pool with my phone. >> they could say they wouldn't do it until they were in that same situation. >> he's being wrapped up in a murder that he had nothing to do with in the sense that he never wanted dr. sonnier dead. >> reporter: andrew dixon, mike's son. >> he was naive almost in his sense of people. you know? he was studying all the time, and working hard, and i think those things left him naive to the -- the way people are sometimes in the real world. >> reporter: but would jurors buy that? on november 18th, after deliberating for a scant two hours, they returned with a verdict. >> they kept saying, guilty, guilty, guilty.

david lee? >> shepard, as you so rightly point out, the white house talking points memo is very critical of the media. the talking points say that the media reacted with an "hysteria" at the very thought that some of the counter protesters were armed with clubs and spoiling for a fight. meanwhile, the vice president, mike pence, is now on a tour of latin america. he addressed recent events in charlottesville while in santiago, chile. the vice president echoed the sentiments of mr. trump. >> what happened in charlottesville was a tragedy. and the president has been clear on this tragedy and so have i. i spoke at length about this heart breaking situation sunday night in columbia. i stand with the president. >> in another development, mass resignations led to president to disband his strategic and policy forum as well as the manufacturing advisory council. on monday, the ceo of merck pharmaceuticals called it quits over the president's remarks in charlottesville. that's when executives started running for th

sam shepard was 73. david wright, abc news, new york. >> died at a relatively young age, >>> politics takes a break from the beltway. >> why political movers and shakers and 10,000 of their biggest fans converged on california. that's next. ♪ tired of wrestling with seemingly impossible cleaning tasks? using wipes in the kitchen, and sprays in the bathroom can be ineffective. try mr. clean magic eraser. simply add water, and use in your kitchen for burnt on food, in your bathroom to remove soap scum, and on walls to remove scuffs and marks. it erases 4x more permanent marker per swipe. for an effective, multi-surface clean, use mr. clean magic eraser. brand power. helping you buy better. ♪ ♪ >>> okay. so we've heard of conventions like comic-con. but now there's a different sort of one that's popular. people who are politicos and those who love politics. >> for those people, there's pliticon. it gives the west coast an opportunity to experience a bit of the beltway first hand. we're up all nightline with nick

yeah, you damn right it is. >> reporter: sam shepard was 73. david wright, abc news, new york. >> david, thank you. >>> overseas tonight, and late today, the u.s. imposed financial sanctions on venezuela after an election that gave its president almost unlimited powers. president nicolas maduro celebrated his victory as a mandate from the people, but the u.s. calls him dictator. there has been chaos under his leadership as we have been reporting here. at least ten people killed in riots just during yesterday's voting. >>> and back here at home and to the white house today, president trump honoring a vietnam war hero, an army medic who ran into danger, saving his comrades, even after he was injured himself. >> in those 48 hours, jim rescued ten american soldiers, and tended to countless others. he was 1 of 32 men who fought until the end. they held their ground against more than 2,000 enemy troops. >> there for the emotional ceremony, aside from his family, ten men who fought alongside him, and five of those men, he saved. >>> there is much more ahead

shepard passing away. >> he was one of the most influential artists of his generation and always proving he had the right stuff. abc's davide rugged characters he created. on stage and on screen, sam shepard had hidden depths. as chuck jaeger in "the right stuff." he was the unsung hero. aviator proudly going his own way, and he was nominated for an oscar. shepard had the leading man looks and the soul of a poe yet. he won a pulitzer prize as a playwright for "barry child" and was nominated two more times. >> i took her out for dinner once. >> you're a liar. >> okay, twice. >> reporter: he starred in the film version. a critic once called him the poet laureate. in america's emotional bad land. >> you cause a lot of trouble, you know? >> i'm causin' trouble? you're a pain in the butt. >> reporter: his partner for 30 year was actress jessica lange. notoriously private, he never announced his battle with lou gehrig's disease. he died at home in kentucky, remembered by friends and fans as a hero. sam shepard was 73. david wright, abc news, new york. >> died at a relatively young age, 73. but packed a whole lot during those yea