. >> reporter: lars' attorneys, david phillips and tamara cochran-may, believed their client and thoughtis was simply a terrible accident. >> when i first met lars, i could see his remorse. and after speaking with him, i said, this man didn't do anything on purpose. >> reporter: the prosecution started off in dramatic fashion. they played lars' 911 call for the jury. >> reporter: as the tape rolled, lars shook and sobbed with his entire body. once again, the prosecution wondered, was it real remorse? >> i have small children. i have seen that face before. and it usually involves, just before a dirty diaper. >> reporter: now, that's a first on "dateline." >> he had that expression of bearing down. and he was kinda turning red. and you never saw a tear. >> reporter: next up, the first officer on the scene that night, he testified that lars didn't look like a man who'd been doing cpr on his mortally wounded wife. >> he was clean. >> what do you mean by clean? >> he didn't have any blood on his body. once i saw him doing cpr, then he had blood on his hands. >> reporter: detectives told the j