so they all were charged with the murder of the boy's father and rick chavis would be the first to go. >> this is a very unusual set of circumstances. >> unusual because the boys would be tried as adults on that same charge as soon as rick's trial was over. >> i think for a prosecutor to try two cases this way is absolutely unheard of. >> watching from the sidelines back then, as mystified as everyone else was a stranger named kathryn medico. she was a journalism professor who had heard about the case from a former student, now a reporter. >> i called her and i said, this needs looking into a little. so we began as a team, just to try to solve the mystery. it led to the writing of a book. >> for her research kathryn medico had begun writing the brothers, talking by phone. her daughters had gone to the same school as the boys and were about the same age. they took an interest as well. >> they felt a connection early on and they began talking on the phone for hours and hours. >> when rick chavis' trial began, kathryn medico brought her daughters to court. it was august 2002 with defenda