shannon crawley had been charged with murdering denita smith. she shared a new version of events, claiming jermeir stroud was the real killer. authorities were intrigued but skeptical. so, shannon captured a series of recordings that she was sure proved her innocence. what would investigators make of this tale of the tape? here's josh mankiewicz. >>> it is rare for women to murder. more often they convince their men to do it for them, a kind of homicidal honey-do list. that was exactly what investigators were debating in june 2007. it had been six months since denita smith's murder. and sitting on the desk of assistant d.a. david saacks was a series of phone recordings that shannon crawley and her family insisted were jermeir stroud copping to the crime and trying to cover it up. >> i got away with it once. i'll get away with it again. just keep your [ bleep ] mouth shut. >> this is wrong. i didn't do anything. >> you know i'll find you. >> reporter: police were not present when shannon recorded the calls, but they were able to trace where they

shannon crawley. and one more thing. like jamere, she also worked in law enforcement. >> he met shannon back in 2000 when he was in the police academy. shannon was a 9-1-1 communicator and she was one of the people that was in the training session. >> shannon was 21 then. tall, striking, and single. raising two kids. and this is her family. brother keith, jr., and her parents anne and keith crawley. >> she was determined to give the kids a good life, a nice home, and a good education. very caring and -- and loving mother. >> and if you ask her, she say i'm just a mom. and that's how -- i'm just a mom. >> now, at the durham police department, detectives wanted to know more about shannon's relationship with jamere stroud. so they interviewed jamere, who was cooperative but guarded. >> he said, yeah, she caught my eye. i mean, she's 5'10". long, pretty hair. thin. we spoke for a short time. that was in 2000. around 2004, they bumped in again through work. and he asked her for her number. >> and at this point, he's involved w