she thought i would be someone older, she said. >> after waiting seven, long years, russell douglas' suspected killers were in jail, but russel's wife? not so much. >> and i called brenna, and it was kind of a stunned silence for a little bit and then it was, like, oh, well good, but it was not the ecstatic thank god something that i was really wanting to hear. >> in july 2011 when russel douglas' family gathered in solidarity for jim huden's first court appearance, russel's widow was conspicuously absent. >> i asked her, are you going to go? why would i go? it doesn't concern me. it just didn't quite seem right. >> it would take another year before jim huden and the wife of the man he was accused of killing sat in the same courtroom, and when they did, all eyes would be on her. >>> coming up, brenna douglas, could she have anything to do with the plot to kill her husband? >> he had a lot of issues, throwing furniture around and different things. how he treated the kids and i, it wasn't okay. >> when you and russ went through a separation, that kind of thing that you told peggy about

explained that she was a friend of brenna and russel douglas. >> peggy douglas told the detectives she'dn visiting friends over the holidays and explained that she had simply contacted russel in order to pass along a present for brenna. >> she answered all of my questions to my satisfaction. there was nothing about that phone call that made me include her in the suspect list. >> but then again, the detective's suspect list was essentially a blank page. there were no names on it from florida or nevada or new mexico or any of the other places this investigation would eventually lead him, at least not yet. >>> coming up -- the investigation begins close to home. with the dead man's on again/off again wife. >> i said, is he hurting you? is he hitting you? she said, no, he didn't physical. just emotional and verbal. but i hit him a couple times. yu don't want to believe the mother of your grandkids is a suspect. >> but a wife as a person of interest is just the beginning in this cross country tale of love gone wrong. when "dateline" continues. what ? -not this. ♪ -oh, what am i into? mostly p

for the murder of russell douglas. >> who is bill hill? >> he's a friend of mine who lives here. bass player. >> does that surprise you that i brought up that name? >> yes. >> why? >> uh, because you're from -- whidbey island? >> would it surprise you that i've been talking to him almost daily for the last week and a half? >> yeah, it would surprise me. >> i just wanted to see a reaction. up until that point he was playing it pretty cool, and i think i got the reaction i was hoping for. it kind of deflated him a little bit. >> it's truth or dare time, jim. you know what you told bill. he's your best friend in the whole world.