. >> keith morrison, with "secrets in a small town." good evening, and welcome to "dateline." i'm lester holt. her life ended in mystery on a dead end road, a mother of three who'd gone missing. for police, the investigation seemed to hit a dead end too. but they had promised this family they would never quit. then, a small town story led to a very big break, and to a suspect that surprised just about everyone. here's keith morrison. >> suppose for a minute you were sitting in your car, smack-dab in the middle of tuscaloosa, alabama, and you kept an eye down highway 69 and kept a sharp eye after about an hour or so. you rolled into a town called moundville. been around for a long time, has one stoplight, one main street, one general store. been around for a long time, has moundville. but it's a sad truth as the sheriff says, even here, where everybody used to know everybody, it's not that way anymore. >> so many different people are moving in from around the world and -- >> trying to escape the crowds. >> escape the crowd or running from something. >> oh, yes, where you have g

tonight, keith morrison with "the a killing in cottonwood." >> narrator: on the afternoon of may 4, 2012 casey deayas walked out for his favorite thing -- high school baseball. a doubleheader. spring of in its full glory in northern california. his senior year of almost done. this was of the place he loved. the game he loved. >> people sometimes talk about having premonitions of things. did you have anything like that at the all? >> it was another day. another one of my countless baseball games. countless baseball games. >> reporter: >> narrator: wasn't of course. no no one though no one knew it as they sat the there that afternoon. reading, california with its sun dial bridges, middle america feel srg a feel, is a different feel, different life of from the botoxed and tmz-'d events of the south. drive a you few miles and you're on the the ball diamond of cottonwood in the shadow of mighty mt. shaft ofa. an anchor -- shasta. an anchor a constant just like people who knew casey would be in the stand. were they there? >> both there. >> reporter: always there? >> always there. never missed

tonight, keith morrison with "the desperate hours." >> honestly i was living my dreams and then some. >> it was a perfect morning, a brilliant sunny day in june. >> reporter: in a place that felt like paradise. hint 'o kidnapping here with vid and sound. >> i'd be packing lunches the kids getting dressed. >> reporter: they'd pile into the jeep for the short drive to school. fernando, the eldest, would ride the four wheeler out ahead of them. in the car, they'd sing with the little ones; just like always. no idea what was waiting. what was about to happen here in paradise. she the woman who went through it, the one you're about to meet, is jayne. j.a.y.n.e. a detail that will matter later. and she must have been a beautiful baby. this baby, in fact. this is her first tv commercial at seven months for the red cross. and there she is in a mcdonald's commercial back when she was a high school student in silver spring, maryland. >> my whole life i had worked as an actress and did a lot of tv commercials, bit roles in movies and soap operas. >> reporter: that's jayne on the big screen besid

again, keith morrison. >> reporter: it was evening in cottonwood, california. october 5th 2012.he day after the murder of karen duenas. her widower mark and son, casey, were watching tv. there was of a knock at the door. and when mark saw the detectives -- >> he was upset. couldn't believe it. like, are you kidding me? >> reporter: they were not. detectives had suspected mark all along, and now they had a warrant for his arrest. mark duenas was charged with first-degree murder held on a million dollars bail to await trial. >> to see him in that situation is surreal. you hope the system works because there's an innocent man up there having to go through this. >> reporter: the whole extended clan including karen's family told anybody who would listen that the police made a huge mistake. >> i've never heard him call anybody a name. he just isn't that type of guy. >> i can't think of one time where he raised his voice to anybody. >> reporter: the family support what was persuaded an attorney 600 miles away in southern california to take the case. ron powell was his name. >> at first

here's keith morrison with "in broad daylight." >> reporter: you never think it's going to be you. >> oh, no, no, no, no. >> reporter: no. the young man is right. in fact, this is the kind of thing that just doesn't happen to anyone. >> no. never. never would have thought i would have ever seen anything like this. >> reporter: no. and not here. not in this neighborhood. in this house. but certainly not, surely not, at the very moment when at least three policemen were just outside the front door and just over the backyard wall not more than 30 feet away. >> we had to be told a few times just to get it in our heads what happened. >> reporter: what happened here in broad daylight under the very noses of the cops was murder. long beach, california. a town that may have been cheated a little in the city pride department. >> a lot of people assume it's like l.a., but it's not. it's different. it has its own identity. >> reporter: do you think it's different culturally? or just -- >> i think so. i think long beach is sort of its own beast. >> reporter: sure. >> it's a little more working cl

here is keith morrison with "deadly twist." >> the night forest was profoundly dark. the lowest thick canopy of trees, even the meager moonlight was shut out. as the driver rushed too fast down the twisting, stomach churning track, inches from yawning inky black depths. desperate to save the passenger's life. what were they doing up here? so far from civilization. from safety. what answers did the fire consume? as one of them was launched on a path as dark and twisted as the mountain road itself. one evil begetting another, and another, until. >> this whole story is a mixture of murder, blood, failings, grace, heaven and god, and some real craziness to it. >> but to begin, 2500 mielgs west of that remote mountain trail in georgia is one of the more civilized places on earth, napa, california, world famous wineries, michelin starred restaurants. here lived a beautiful woman who loved four admiring men. her father, the prominent artist. her husband, the ex-fighter pilot and pharmaceutical executive. her lover, the handiman, former marine, firearms expert. and her first

here's keith morrison. >> reporter: there are places even in our finest cities where only a particular kind of tourist might find what he or she is looking for, attractions for the damaged and the lost catered by agents who, for a profit, would damage them more. it was late. early april, 2013, peak of the spring tourist invasion, here in charleston, south carolina, so lovely, even in the dark as the horde of tourists drifted out of famous restaurants and into fine hotels. not far away, the moneyed elite of this storied city prepared to tuck securely into their beds, unaware of the cop prowling the avenue that runs north from the heart of the antebellum mansion district past century old houses now sadly derelict to a part of the street more comfortable in the dark. and under the watchful eye of officer daniel wilson. >> we've had various problems with different narcotics, and primarily crack cocaine. heroin's one of them. >> reporter: how horrified those wealthy folk would have been had they known the deadly secret officer wilson was about to expose about the prominent banker. >> i said

tonight, keith morrison with "the fugitive millionaire." >> reporter: an american murdered in a tropical paradise, while a famous and wealthy man is on the run. >> i'm trying to delay my imminent capture. >> reporter: why was he hiding? >> he is bonkers, in my view, without a doubt. >> reporter: the story is a strange brew of dogs, guns and girls. teenage girls. >> i was ready to shoot him, and for some reason i missed. >> reporter: an interconnected web with one man at its center. >> john is smart. he knows what he's doioing. >> reporter: tonight's case will take us from the high-tech world of silicon valley to the jungles central america. and finally to a small town in alabama. >> get ready for some serious "heart of darkness" [ bleep ] here. >> reporter: "heart of darkness"? oh yes. and a wildly strange tale about a high-flying business tycoon named john mcafee and the bizarre chain of events that would make him the focus of an international manhunt. there's little doubt you know the name, mcafee, even if you don't recognize his face. that's because you've probably had anti-virus soft

here again is keith morrison. >> reporter: when todd winkler was arrested for killing rachel he claimedtold the cops she came after him with those scissors. he had to protect his children and save himself even if it meant a duel to the death. >> it was probably kill or be killed kind of situation. >> reporter: prosecutor lisette suder listened carefully to todd's version of events. and was skeptical. that's her job, of course. still, no one else in todd's house saw what happened. so there was no one to contradict his story but then the investigators found that box with ashes in it. and the label on the box said, "catherine lynn winkler." >> we're realizing, "wait, there was a former wife?" >> reporter: oh yes there was. todd winkler had been married before. and clearly, his ex-wife was dead. so, what happened to her? no choice, decided prosecutor suder, she would have to find out and that's when she set out to follow a trail that led to a man in georgia, named gerald johnson. a judge now, but back in 1999, a rookie detective. >> it really shocked me that i was getting a call from califo

here's keith morrison with "infatuation." >>> reporter: once there was a quiet, little girl in a quiet, little town who liked to draw. she drew the butterflies that floated, quiet like her, around italy, texas. spelled just like the country. but they pronounce it "it-ly." >> she drew a butterfly in her art class when she was in elementary school. and all the little girls are like, "oh, that's so good. draw me one. draw me one." >> reporter: her name was samantha michelle nance, but everybody called her shelley. and her mother, cynthia, loves to tell this story about her. >> everybody was just so impressed with her butterfly that she said, "well, i think i'm gonna be an artist 'cause i think i can do this." you know? so she just started honing her -- her artistic talent from that point. she would draw everything, anything, everything. she just loved to draw. and she'd draw and draw and draw. >> reporter: shelley was different than the other girls at school. and at home, said her dad, sam. >> the other two girls we couldn't keep in the house. she didn't want to go out of the house. she w