here's keith morrison. ♪ the game is called mouse trap, the ball on the track, most everything worksn unison. how often things go wrong no allow the mice to get away. so far what really happened could come down to a children's game? these are the people that happened to the jesse clan of orange county california. they vacationed together. >> i'm tired. i'm ready to go home. >> shared birthdays. >> this one's for bev. >> even got together for a monthly game of ten pins. but what these grainy home videos don't show is what is yet to come, which is murder, conspira conspiracy, one branch of the family against the other, a game so twisted, mice so clever, that crafting a trap to catch the plotters just might be impossible. to begin with, it was 1998, shakespeare in love won the osc oscar. monica lewinski was freshly famous. it was the hottest night of the year when sheryl got a call from her dad, jack jesse. >> i was greating ready for bed, and my phone rings, it was my dad. >> what time was it? >> 20 after 9:00. >> she was worried about sandra, his wife, she was missing. >> she ran to a

here's keith morrison. >> the game is called mouse trap. the little ball on its track, the tiny mice which unless every lever works in unison will not be caught, and how often things go wrong to allow the mice to get away. so awed that what really happened could so eerily mimic a children's game. >> oh, how nice. >> these are the people it happened to. the jessee clan of orange county, california. they vacationed together. >> i'm tired. i'm ready to go home. >> shared birthdays. even got together for a monthly game of ten pin. but what these grainy home videos don't show is what is yet to come. which is murder, conspiracy. one branch of the family against the other. a game so twisted, mice so clever, that crafting a trap to catch the plotters just might be impossible. to begin with, it was 1998. "shakespeare in love" won the oscar. monica lewinsky was freshly famous. it was a sweltering august night, hottest of the year, when cheryl got a strange call from her dad jack jesse. >> i was getting ready for bed and my phone rings, and it's my da

here's keith morrison. >> reporter: there had been so much promise in the air that spring of 2006. second act of a radio man, all that fun on the radio was over, yes, but now he was all set to sail the world, live a dream, and then he winds up floating facedown seven miles off the coast of california's catalina island, a bullet hole in the back of his head. but who wanted him dead, and why? detectives ken clark and robert martindale started by asking his friends. >> what did you find out about him? >> the thing i noticed about this case, and i give the credit to his friends, was he was surrounded by a group of very close friends that knew a lot about him. these are lifelong friends. >> he was just a great soundingboard, somebody i would call if i was angry, if i was frustrated, if i needed advice. >> he could talk you down or talk you up? >> he could do both, usually at the same time. >> reporter: and recently steven had found a soundingboard of his own, a new friend named harvey morrow. >> he's just a quiet, easy going guy. he came up to him and said oh, my gosh, i'm such a huge f

here is keith morrison. >> we know the truth.nd we know everything that happened. >> how do we know what we know? >> it's emotionally unsatisfying not to have that answer. >> though it is, even if we've seen something, or if we think we have. and thus the question at the heart of the whole puzzle. is this woman right? >> i know what i saw. and i know the conclusion of my story. >> of course she does. of course she does. so why does this other woman think this? >> she doesn't know for sure what she saw. >> a question, we say, on which all the rest will turn. why don't we begin here. calimesa, california, riverside county. historic missions. sprawling suburbing creeping out to the rim of mountains around the eastern flank of los angeles. here is where chris and cristi hall had come to live out their golden years, though they were far from old when it happened. just experienced, with life and each other. >> as far back as i can remember, it's always been chris and cristi. they were never thought of as separate. they were a unit. >>

here's keith morrison. ♪ >> they kept him here.p inside the multiple walls and the armed doors, the rolls and rolls of razor wire, the confessed stabber, convicted killer that stabbed a sweet woman all those years ago. lucky to be alive, probably, given the nature of the crime and the appeal from the girl's mother for the death sentence which made what he said later on very puzzling indeed. >> it's the only thing his mother has. it's her only child, let him go. >> that's carol dodge, and the amazing story she told us began on the worst day of her life. it was a thursday, june 13th, scene of this accident. mid-morning. she placed a call to a beauty salon to talk to her daughter, angie. >> i dialled angie's number at work, and a lady answered, and i said, this is carol dodge, angie's mom, and she said, angie's been found dead. i remember saying, god, no, please, no. this can't be real. >> it happened, turned out, the night before in the tiny second floor walkup where the independent 18-year-old just started to live her life, stabbed

. >>> and what is "dateline's" keith morrison doing investigating ellen?in. >>> first, what we're learning about selena gomez's battle peninsula trail? you won't find that on a map. i'll take you there. take thi if you listen real hard you can hear the whales. you hear (vo) our subaru outback lets us see the world. sometimes in ways we never imagined. and your eyes have theal. power to speak volumes. with voluminous original mascara from l'oreal. now in deep burgundy. the original brush separates every lash. builds 5x the volume. america's number 1 mascara. voluminous original. from l'oreal paris. is important to me so father being diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer made me think of all the things that i wanted to teach my kids. (avo) another tru story with keytruda. (roger) my doctor said i could start on keytruda so i did.ngs just got b. (avo) in a clinical study, keytruda offered patients a longer life than chemotherapy. and it could be your first treatment. keytruda is for adults with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread... ...who

once again, here's keith morrison with manson. >> nearly 24 hours after this truly horrific crime withl.a. in deep shock the police were baffled. >> anything at this point would be mere speculation. >> and then, it happened again. >> the bodies of a man and his wife found in their home. both stabbed to death. repeated stab wounds. >> did you know the people in this home? >> oh, i've known these people were 30 years. >> what's their name? >> rosemary's children found the scene every bit as awful as the one ten miles away. his hands tied with a leather cord. his face covered with a pillow case. rosemary had a lamp cord around her neck. he had been stabbed 26 times. rosemary 41. overkill would be an understatement. and again just as it was at sharon state's house, the murder scene seemed almost art directed to elicit fore. >> a fork was jabbed into her and and was sticking there. painted in blood on one wall was the word rise. and another death to pigs. and on the refrigerator helt heltor skeltor from the beetles white album. >> these are brutal killings. >> she has written about the case

here is keith morrison of silence witness. >> there is an art to criminal defense.ke a true artist to repaint the prosecution. what could the defense attorney may point to? he told the jury he agreed with the prosecution. jason young was not a good husband. >> he acted as times like an immature jerk but that did not make a killer. that jewelry box in the bedroom it was dnaed 'ed on it, it did match michelle and jason. the suspicious activities at the hotel, there was a fingerprint on that camera and it was not jason young's. there was not any evidence that tied jason to the crime scene. there is no blood in his car and not a scratch on him >> ladies and gentlemen, jason lee young, did not murder his wife. he did not murder their unborn son and this case had not been solved. >> who better to make that argument than jason young himself. he had never said a word to anyone about that november 9th and almost five years silent. >> it is always a big decision for defen defense attorney to w or not call their clients. >> this is a case that begs for jason young to testify.

here's keith morrison with dark valley. >> reporter: there is a kind of peace here, here in her own chosen exile the vast pacific for company. how else to live with what's impoble to understand? or forget? what began that sunny afternoon, far away in southern california san fernando valley, early may, 2012. >> something was really wrong, but a lot were wrong than i could imagine. >> reporter: it was the boy who knew at first, knew something was wrong. his dad was supposed to take him to school that morning. but after school -- >> i was to go to school and pick him up after basketball practice. when i showed up, he said, daddy didn't pick me up this morning. i said, what? he said, daddy didn't pick me up this morning. >> reporter: busy family, the boy got to school some other way around the corner. >> he said he got a ride by someone else. >> the situation sounded too crazy, love affairs, drug dealers, too outlandish. >> reporter: once those stable loving piece versus blown apart, how do they come towing again in. >> somebody is going to walk away from this who maybe you wish wasn't going t

here is keith morrison with the women and dirty john. >> in the beginning was design, natural, human desire for connection, for love. so she aimed her arrow at that online ocean of intimate strangers and found him. >> police, fire or paramedics? >> hi. i need an ambulance right away and the police. >> it was summertime when the awful climax came. a late afternoon, a marmalade sun beaming down on the apartment complex in newport beach, california. that's when they heard it. >> this woman is just screaming. >> the whole complex must have heard it, terrified, howling, desperate. >> is she okay? >> there was a man down there. he had a knife. he was stabbing the woman. no one was helping her. >> it's really bad. >> i understand. we have officers on the way. >> too late. too late. >> they're doing cpr on somebody. >> the bloody ending. but the story, the whole terrible tale, is much deeper than that one thing, dreadful though it was. a story christopher gawford of the los angeles times spent months unraveling, strand by disturbing strand. >> it's a story about trust and betrayal, it's a st

. >> who doesn't love keith morrison? ellen shares a wild story with the help of nbc's keith morrison. also stopping by, ken jeong froh "crazy r asians." be sure to stick around for news 4 at 4:00. ith us. i'm jennifer wexton, and i approve this message. seen barbara comstock's fake ad? jennifer wexton backed a deal leading to massive tolls on 66. nonsense. and let's call this plan fowhat it is,lls on 66. the way that it's been rolled out. it's highway robbery. rere's also healthcabery. barbara comstock voted to sabotage the healthcare market, hiking premiums up to 64%. everything that's wrong in washington. >>> 5:25 now. if you use uber or lyft to get around, you know that you can rate your driver. >> but did you know they can rate you back? consumer reporter susan hogan is working for you with ways to improve your rating and why it matters. >> reporter: well, here's why it matters, because the higher your e rating, the more likely driver is to actually want to pick you up. so here are four ways to improve your score. be

here's keith morrison with "black friday." >> it was only money. no one got hurt. not that time anyway. the story begins here in ft. worth, texas. turned out to be the perfect growing up place for ashlea harris. >> i was around 10 when she was born, so perfect age to pretend she was my baby. she marched to the beat of a different drum. she would wear things that did not match. her hair didn't seem combed. >> she was never the little princess. >> no, no. >> there were three girls in the family. ashlea was the baby. their mom remembers how she loved sports and music and art. >> she'd get all excited. >> by the time she got to high school, ashlea had lots of friends, even a boyfriend. and she was devoted to her two dads, both retired police officers. >> didn't she talk at one point about getting into your line of work? >> she was interested in policing. >> after high school she ended up working for a short time at blockbuster video. that's where she met a customer named laura love. >> i walked around the store for a little bit and just kept looking at her because she

once again, keith morrison. >> reporter: in september of 2006, doug johnson was walking an the beach,nd of 30 years, the murdered one-time dj, steven b. williams. >> and i see this light on the beach, and i thought, now, what could that be? had i dropped my cell phone? it landed face up, the panel lit up, i walked to it and it it was ken clark calling to say they arrested harvey. it was a sense of relief, undescribable. >> reporter: which is, perhaps, where the movie version of this story would end. real life is not quite like that. for all the suspicion of steven's friends, the murder case against harvey marrow was rather week. no evidence sufficient to prove that harvey shot steven and dumped his body in the ocean. >> we were looking for steven's dna on the boat, knowing that his death was caused by a gunshot wound. it was pretty obvious that there should be something that said, this is where it was. >> reporter: but there wasn't. no blood. no gun. no significant fingerprints. what they needed was something to put them on the far side of catalina island where the current would have

here's keith morrison with "suspicion." >> reporter: 7:00 a.m., november 15th, 2007. dawn in salt lake city, utah. he pulled into the restaurant parking lot, turned off his engine. the sky beginning to brighten, sun not quite up. and then there they were. the voices, the terror. the nightmare beginning. >> i immediately ducked down in my car after the first shot was fired. i laid there thinking, okay, this is how it's going to end for me. >> 911. what is your emergency? >> somebody just shot a man lying dead in front of the village inn. >> reporter: it stands in stark contrast to much of the rest of salt lake city, this old chocolate factory, this grand stage for our story. it was converted to loft apartments in those boom years before the bust. and the style of living and location drew a distinct crowd. outliers of a sort, iconoclasts in this famously mormon city. >> i loved this building. >> reporter: bianca pearman-brooks, born into privilege in england, raised in ireland and africa. she came here in 2006 to visit a friend. >> i came on holiday and i met christophe

ellens a wild story with the help of nbc's keith morrison. no one lik him. stopping by, ken jeong from "crazy rich asians 37" be sure to stick around for news 4 at 4:00. for the ross fall dress event is finally here. so you can find a party dress that actually makes you want to celebrate. yes. or find a new dress that's perfect for work. perfect! ow or one that you exact. yeah? yeah. that's yes for less. get to the ross fall dress event where you can find the latest styles and trends for every occasion. the ross fall dress event is on now, and it feels even better when you find it for less-at ross. yes for less. with every meal, there's a dish. but what happens to all that grease?ur it flows into ishwasher, gumming up its performance. cl add finish dishwasher eaner withour detergent to help dissolve this grease so you're. new finish dishwasher cleaner clean dishwasher. clean dishes. >>> what was once the largest retailer in the world could now be facing bankruptcy. cnbc reports that sears has recently contacted banks to arrange the financing necessary to fil

. >> and later today ellen shares wild story with the help of nbc's keith morrison. don't you love his >>> welcome back. we're in storm team 4 weather alert mode today as heavy rain moves in. tomorrow as michael and a cold front pull out of the area, not only is it breezy on your friday, but is much cooler, temperatures only in the 60s after a high aodayund 80. it's cool for the weekend. light rainur showers on sy morning and maybe some wet snowflakes back in the mountains at the highest elevations. more of that on my facebook and twitte pages. right now we're at re80 d and we're going to stay around 80. steady . is whether the rain moves in, especially as we head towards 7, 8 p.m. the heaviest rain falling east of i-95 wherela a food watch is in effect. our average high now about 70 degrees. we're well above average today, tomorrow we're in the 60s, saturday near 60 degrees. we're not going to have that transition. we'r going from hot out here to chilly. we're tracking areas of rain moving through the area. l take ak back to the west, back to the tiuntains. the pink

here's keith morrison with "good and evil." >> reporter: how do you measure a mother's love or gauge the veracity of her impulse to protect? >> i loved her as much as i could. >> reporter: how to measure love as visceral as the beating heart in her own body? >> she was my first born. she was my best friend. >> reporter: how to understand the four mothers you will meet tonight and their connection, one that not one of them would ever have thought possible, not in a million years. anymore they would have expected to meet her, their guardian angel. >> if i don't bring her home, who will? >> reporter: it's a rare mystery that's truly a confrontation of good and evil. >> you have to go to the dark places in order to find answers. >> reporter: a rare mystery that needed an urgent answer before the evil struck again. it was march 14th, 2014, early morning. an army of garbage trucks made their growling clamnking way ina anaheim, california. their destination a landfill that is also a literal found u mountain of garbage, 3500 feet high. then mid-morning, an attendant separating debris on a co

here is keith morrison. tonight, secrets in the snow. >> it was cold the night it happened. so very cold. a night to be inside by a fireplace, tucked under a quilt. not outside in the frigid dark, not way up here, 9,000 feet up in the colorado mountains, snow thick already that late november night. and with the windchill, 24 below. >> i don't know enough to know what happened. still trying to figure it out. >> what in god's name was his wife doing, walking out into the brutal cold? more to the point, what happened to her? middle class married mother of three, where did she go? without a word to him or her friends. >> you can't imagine that this is happening to you and to your friend. >> she was just plain missing. >> yes, she was. it was terrifying. dreadful in the end. as events were about to prove, a shocking lesson on what can dwell hidden beneath a person's public skin. >> this is really a secret thing, as far as you know? >> a lot of it, sure. >> everybody has secrets, of course. stephanie roller-bruner's secrets lived as she did. >> dale bruner was taking and selling p

here's keith morrison. >> it's a strange thing that happens among the bogs and marshes here in coastal florida. things have a way of coming up. things buried in the ground, in the past. or both. it was july 2003. it was inland in a town called pembroke pines where donna velasquez, a rookie really, had just put a sign on a brand new cold case union. >>> the sergeant came into the office and dropped a box of papers right on my desk and said, here, see what you can do with this. and i began to wonder, is this a test to see, could she really do this? >> the case was a challenge was an understatement. now all but forgotten mystery. the disappearance 15 years earlier. of a young man named david jackson and the file offered no hints, no pointers, nothing beyond the basic bio. to unearth the truth, even the rookie cop knew she would have to learn about the victim. she began with something easy, his mother, judy carlson. it was his mom who called his mom. >> are you sitting? yes. he says, they reopened david's case. >> the detective and the mother talked about david for hours. it wasn't a probl

keith morrison was in it as well. follow kris on twitter @krisnbc. >>> welcome back everyone. it is 5:24. continuing coverage this morning. no real end in sight yet to the bitter hotel strike involving bay area marriott hotel workers. you might have spotted them protesting. workers first walked off the job about six days ago. the union is vowing to stay away until a new labor deal is reached. locally, the strike is affecting more than a half a dozen marriott owned hotels in san francisco, san jose and oakland. the union says workers in seven other cities are also striking, and that the strike has expanded to hawaii. >>> happening today, friends and families remember a san francisco woman considered a pioneer in the city street food movement. >> to many, she'll forever be remembered as the tamale lady. mourner also hold a vigil for virginia ramos. for decades she served tamales across the mission, castro neighborhoods and she was an institution for late night crowds at local night spots. she was 65, reportedly about to open a new mission district restaurant. >>> if you struggle