and the goal is the insurance money. >> reporter: robert bessey testified that he moved out after hers marriage, who he had adopted, made their married life difficult. >> michael bessey. can you identify him? >> reporter: maybe the most damning piece of physical evidence was a text message the defendant's brother allegedly sent to his sister. "i love it when a plan comes together." >> six hours before robert was shot in the head. >> seems in a lot of cases they look to a degenerate relative, saying hey, you've been in prison, will you help? >> they go to somebody who bumbles it. but they always talk to people. they text. they send e-mails. they get caught in a cell phone conversation. and so it's almost like hansel and gretel. they leave this trail of crumbs from the crime scene to themselves. >> reporter: today courtney smith, a former friend of amy bessey, testified that amy had tried something else first. asking her to kill robert bessey. >> she made the comment he was worth more dead than alive. >> after the shooting, smith said, amy blamed her brother for botching the job. >> she

. >> did you ever ask anybody to murder robert bessey? sey is accused of planning to kill her husband of 18 years in a botched november 2012 drive-by shooting, carried out by her brother and son. the motive, according to the prosecution, their divorce was less than a month away from being finalized. and robert had not yet removed her as the beneficiary of his $250,000 life insurance policy. >> did you believe that you would still get robert's life insurance money at that point? >> no. >> why not? >> i was divorced. >> reporter: amy bessey has pleaded not guilty to all seven felony charges in the shooting that wounded but didn't kill robert bessey. >> i felt a hot sensation here. and towards the back of my neck. >> reporter: the 43-year-old las vegas woman described her then-estranged husband as a violent man. he admitted on the stand that things got physical between the two of them. so physical, she also suggested if she'd wanted to kill him, she could have. >> well, he took his fist to my face. he took his knees to my ribs. and got my pur

that, ladies and gentlemen, the text message sent approximately six hours prior to robert bessey beinger: all three family members have pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. if convicted, amy bessey could face 91 years behind bars. for "good morning america," abbie boudreau, abc news, los angeles. >>> let's talk to dan abrams about all this. what a trail of evidence. >> and it started because of that gold suv. meaning, it's a somewhat unusual color. and the authorities put out a notice, we believe there was a gold suv, because mr. bessey remembered -- the one thing he could remember, was it was a gold suv that was next to him. that tip led them to the gas station. the gas station led them back, et cetera. and now, they've got what they believe is a whole trove of evidence, including cell phone records, recorded conversations, et cetera. >> and the fact he survived and can testify, makes it huge. >> changes everything. if he hadn't survived, we'd be having this trial, likely. he's the one that said gold suv. the fact that he survived allowed them to figure out who was behind this. and

it was just a year ago that robert bessey was driving to work on a desolate stretch of highway 15 earlymorning when a gold s.u.v. pulled up next to him and somebody inside opened fire. he was hit in the neck but he survived. now prosecutors say his estranged wife, her son and her brother, an ex-convict, planned to kill the husband before the divorce to catch in on a quarter million dollar life insurance policy. talk about it today with our legal panel. both are criminal defense attorneys. amy is charged here along with her son michael and her brother richard. her defense time fought to get them tried separately from her. why? >> they had to because in order for amy to even think about being acquitted of these charges, she has to throw her son and her brother right under the bus and say, look. i had nothing to do with this plot. they were just trying to protect me. they did it. i had nothing to do with it. go ahead and convict them but i'm innocent. that's the only way she gets off and frankly, that's such a long shot that it's fairly worth it. jon: is that a strategy she has to employ t

the father, robert vessey, says -- which the son is his adopted son but the natural son of amy bessey having an inappropriate relationship and from jail michael bessey sent his mom a note saying that he missed touching her. and a fellow inmate claims that michael bessey told him that he, his mom, and his uncle planned to kill his father and they were shocked that he survived. again, the defense is claiming that the inmate is only testifying so he can strike a deal with the prosecutors and get out of jail early. >> wow. amazing story. thank you so much. >>> if you e-mailed, facebooked or tweeted us today, guess what, it's time for your comments. they could be next. ♪ [ male announcer ] this december, experience the gift of exacting precision and some of the best offers of the year [ ding! ] at the lexus december to remember sas event. this is the pursuit of perfection. yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! and our gi