soon realized the rhoads had been killed by something other than smoke and flames. >> dyke and karen rhoads been stabbed numerous times. what they had on their hands was a murder that attempted to be concealed by arson. >> yesterday, authorities were suspicious. today they are certain. 28 year old dyke rhoads and his 25-year-old wife karen were murdered. edgar county state attorney says they are dealing with more than just a fire. >> this was a horrific crime. it seemed to be a crime of great anger and great passion. >> why dyke and karen rhoads? they're both very clean cut. they both had jobs. there was talk in town that dyke was a bit of a partier, but he wasn't involved in any really bad stuff. >> with no clear motive, police struggled throughout the summer to come up with any leads or suspects. >> there was really no break in this case at all for about 2 1/2 months, but in september, the town drunk, darrell herrington, was at the police station. he blurts out, just don't ask me about the murder. and of course, they ask him about the murders. >> darrell herrington told police that on the

been accepting campaign money from bob morgan, karen rhoads' former boss and a suspect in the case. mike callahan was soon transferred back to patrol, a humiliation for someone who had been a commander of investigations. >> he goes, i guess i just tried to tell the truth. and he said, diane carper removed me from this case. that was a hard time. it was one of those fight or flight things where we just had to fight. >> by 2001, the illinois courts had repeatedly declined to give randy a new trial. randy's last chance at freedom would now come at the federal level. >> it is the court of last resort. after 15 years of state court findings, most federal judges assume that those state court findings are correct. >> judge mike mccuskey would oversee the case, a veteran of