i'm tamron hall. thank you for watching. >>> i felt guilty. i couldn't live with that. i said, i know something, and it's terrible. i'm the only other person that knows the truth. i had to do something. >> he swept her right off her feet. >> i was drawn to him right away. he was handsome. he was super athletic. >> a dreamy, single dad, wealthy, charming, smitten. >> i had never been spoiled like that. i remember thinking i was like julia roberts in "pretty woman." >> he had been through so much. a mysterious accident at sea. >> he went under and when he came up, he said he no longer saw his wife. >> he was just hysterical. >> they were never able to find her. >> it was a heart-wrenching story. so why then were so many people so suspicious? >> no one knows exactly what happened on that boat. >> an accident? a disappearance. >> you thought what, she faked her death? >> maybe murder. >> there's no way. absolutely no way. >> i felt like the police were just trying to frame an innocent man. >> now she woul

i'm tamron hall. it seemed like charlie tan had the whole world ahead of him, but then charlie's father was killed in the tan home, and everything changed. police were being told one story, but the evidence was telling them another. and there were also three 911 calls. did one of them hold the clue that would unlock what really happened on that wintry night? here's dennis murphy with "house of secrets." >> cayuga. that's cayuga lake in ithaca, new york. where you'll find one of the most prestigious universities in the nation. cornell, the ivy league. more than 13,000 undergrads here working towards degrees will with good fortune take their places in medicine, the law, the arts. there's no doubt a cornell education can be a gold-plated entrance to adult life. and only the best need apply, students like charlie tan. he was so kind, his classmate featured him in a video, random acts of kindness. giving gifts to complete strangers. >> not just a great kid but the greatest of great kids. >> reporter: charl

i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. \s >>> it was tough. >>> it was tough. it was tough to think that anybody could do that to someone. to look at the pictures of what they did to her and hear details of how it was carried out, it's just, it's devastating. >> reporter: shauna tiaffay, loving mom by day, vegas cocktail waitress by night. >> i was at one of the bars and i saw her walk by. every single head turned. >> it was after her shift that they found her, the victim of a ruthless attack. >> i mean, your heart just drops to your stomach. >> reporter: potential suspects? how about a casino's worth of customers? >> shauna was very beautiful. is it someone that saw her at work and followed her home? >> we didn't know if there was some psycho was watching us girls washing at the palms. work at the palms. >> reporter: or, did the answers lie in the dead woman's past? >> shauna started thinking, i have got to get out of this situation. >> reporter: from out of the blue, a tip. >> he had some information

i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. >>> he said he couldn't handle talking about it. i was angry at him. if you're not going to tell me what happened, then you're going to dance around the issue and tell three different stories, what are you hiding? >> it started as a teen romance. >> two of my girlfriends are like, there's this guy, and you need to meet him. >> i was in love, yes. >> it ended in one of the strangest love stories you'll ever hear. >> i felt like i got hit by a bus. >> right before their wedding, her mother and his father got married. >> they told us, we ran off, we eloped. who does that? >> two families in a small town left stunned. but it was nothing compared to what happened next. >> he looks like he's been shot. he said someone broke in last night. >> a deadly attack in the dark of the night. her mother murdered. >> i realized that last conversation i had with her, that was it. >> his father bruised and bewildered. >> i don't remember anything else, other than waking up in the mo

i'm tamron hall. shauna tiaffay hit the jackpot in las vegas. a handsome husband, an adorable daughter and a good job. but there is a dark side to sin city. sadly, the beautiful cocktail waitress became its victim. in cases like this one, the husband is often a suspect but the crime scene was telling investigators something else. and they got a hot tip. but like so many things in vegas, nothing was as it seemed. here's keith morrison with "under a full moon." >> reporter: she was finished now. tired, wrung out. must have been as she walked away from the incessantly ' chirping machinery and the bleary eyes of the gamblers on holiday from real life who'd called out for her again and again and again. outside in the night, a full moon bathed the great houses of delight and sin in an unaccustomed shade of pale. it was september 29, 2012. at precisely 3:00 in the morning, in a back room of the palms casino, the cocktail waitress named shauna tiaffay inserted her time card in the stamping machine, and set ou

i'm tamron hall. thank you for watching. >>> i learned that he was arrested. i was shocked. i was just so confused. i didn't think it was real, i didn't think it was possible. >> in the rarified world of the ivy league, he was the star student. >> he was one of the nicest guys ever. >> no one could ever understand how a weekend to his parents house ended in gun fire. >> who is already there? >> charlie told the officers outside, he was going to kill my mom, i had to do it. >> a brave son protecting his mom, a harrowing story, but was it true? >> he's seated behind the desk, defenseless here row. >> the defendant sends an e-mail to his fraternity brothers called show time. >> or was the truth something completely different. >> one of the things that was always a question, was charlie covering up for somebody else. >> a trial where nothing went by the book. >> three of the jurors were crying really hard. >> they were turning around in their seats, they're getting emotional. they see what's coming, he's

i'm tamron hall. thank you for watching. ♪ >>> he was definitely charismatic. he lived every single day. he knew that it was dangerous, but no one ever knew that someone would die over it. >> he was the new kid in town, super popular. all about adventure. >> this kid was like, awesome. >> he just jumped right into the culture. >> kind of liked to show off a little bit to the girls. >> they were neighbors just down the block. a family in fear. >> they had had their vehicles broken into. >> she was scared. >> someone had been sneaking into their home, and no someone was in their garage. >> i'm sitting there panicking. like, he's coming at me. >> in a flash, it was over. that charismatic kid, dead on the floor. >> it was terrible. i think i screamed for hours. >> what had happened in that garage that night? >> it was just, like, the last person that would come to my mind. >> a neighbor protecting his home, or preparing a trap? >> makes the statement, "it's showtime." >> it's showtime? >> exactly. >> a te

i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. ♪ ♪ >>> when i saw her, i lost concept of time. i reached in, pulled her out, and started screaming help. >> please! honey, wake-up! wake up! >> it was the worst seconds in my life. >> how was it possible? >> i would give anything if she were alive today. >> such a sweet young wife and mom. such a shattering death. >> i cried all night long. >> he was downstairs with the kids. she was upstairs in the bath. then it happened. >> how long has she been in here? >> i don't know. she was taking a bath. >> we didn't know if it was a tragic accident or something else. >> questions quickly swirled about a wife's secret. >> what did you do today? >> she did have an addiction to prescription pills. >> and a husband's story. >> she just flopped on the floor. >> was it an accident, or maybe murder? >> she said, i'm scared of him. >> the whispering started almost immediately, you're a murderer. >> when you're innocent, you don't think it can happen. >> shut up! >> just wait unt

i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. >>> we, the jury, find the defendant guilty. >> you actually think they read the wrong verdict. >> you feel so wrong and hopeless. >> it's like a shot in the chest. >> despair to hope. darkness to light. a fight for freedom. >> what happened to this teenager could happen to any one of our children. everyone should stand up and take notice. >> at 18, he was arrested for murder. adamant he was innocent. >> there was no physical evidence to tie him to the crime. >> i had nothing to do with this. i swear to god. >> what could lead to this? >> you stabbed her, didn't you? >> why would he confess to something he didn't do? >> what really happened during that police interrogation? >> i can't lie about the evidence. >> i can't lie to you about this but the officer is lying about lying. >> an extraordinary look inside the interview room. >> i was scared. i was shaken. >> this was one of the most intense interrogations i have ever seen. >> welcome to "date line extra." i'm

i'm tamron hall.e came to america as an adventurous exchange student, but deren dede took one risk too many, and it cost him his life. the events that unfolded ignited a heated international debate. was his death a case of someone acting in self-defense, a homeowner protecting his family and property, or something far more deliberate? here's josh mankiewicz with "deadly exchange." >> reporter: it's a dilemma that confronts every teenager. how to simultaneously fit in with your friends and rebel against everyone else. that two-step is made a little easier by the knowledge, maybe the certainty, that you're going to live forever. >> kids do dumb stuff all the time. >> reporter: and so sneaking out of the house in the dead of night to meet other teenagers to drink, party or just hang out well, that's nothing new. usually teens sneak back home safely. this wasn't one of those times. >> i thought it was some kind of, like, joke. i just couldn't believe it, really. >> i was just freaking out. like, it can't

i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. >>> i told myself, the worst part about dying is being afraid of dying. if i'm not afraid, it won't be so bad. i just couldn't believe this was the way it was going to happen. >> she was a college student found on a lonely road in texas. >> we figured she had been sexually assaulted and dumped here. >> tough questions for her boyfriend. >> where was i the night before? what had i been doing? when had i last seen her? >> i really thought he could be her killer. >> but while police try to prove it, another attack. >> he's got me by the throat and he's shaking me and yelling at me telling me not to say a word. >> you're a prisoner in this apartment now. >> yes. >> her body had been plopped up on to the bed. >> even law enforcement, they thought, what do we have on our hands here? >> there's growing danger because police are looking in the wrong place. >> i lived to tell, and nobody believed me. >> this monster is walking free while they're wasting their time on me. >

i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. >>> it's never good news when the phone rings at 5:00 in the morning. i knew something wasn't right. he just began sobbing and saying no, no, something horrible must have happened. >> it was just before midnight when the shooting started. >> shot multiple times. he was on the ground face down. >> a man was dead, but not just any man. >> how do you kill superman? how is superman dead? >> he was an olympian, and a father, killed, his wife says, but an intruder in his own backyard. >> but if her husband was dead outside, why was the gun found hidden inside? and what other secrets were hidden away? >> sometimes she would say things like, i'd be better off if dave wasn't around. >> was her husband defending his family or was she -- >> she rose that night. >> the mystery may not be who did it, but why. >> the truth will come out and justice will be served. i have to believe that. >> welcome to "dateline extra." i'm tamron hall. dave lout was an elite athlete who reached

i'm tamron hall. thank you for watching. >>> she had missed a meeting and then not to hear from her, this isn't right. it would have been impossible to get up every day knowing that she was gone. i had to believe we would find her alive. >> text her, she always got right back. >> i've seen her step out of the shower to answer her phone. >> then one day she didn't. >> immediately my spidey senses were high. >> where was nailah? >> i sent her an e-mail all caps, "are you alive?" >> there was no sign of her. and such a confusing trail of clues, even the calls to 911 were silent. >> no voice, no struggles could be heard. >> this could be kind of eerie. >> yes, it is. >> in my heart, i knew she's not coming back. >> one of the suspects had an alibi, until a camera caught him in a lie. >> he lived a life of a lot of smoke and mirrors. >> and the strangest clue of all. there in an empty parking lot. >> six perfectly stacked cardboard boxes. >> why were they there? what was in them? >> it was right adjacent t

i'm tamron hall. it started as a love story in a small town, a beautiful woman from a well-to-do family thought she had found her prince charming. but their story turned out to be anything but a fairytale. love, children, and a nice house turned into a fight against addiction, rumors, and an accusation of murder. here's josh mankiewicz with "the quiet one." >> sometimes, the fresh air of a small town can hide a lot of dirty laundry. >> my worst fear was all of a sudden true. >> sometimes sudden death can lay bare every secret. >> she had felt like she was abusing it. >> what happened in this small town that would tear apart a marriage, and at the same time separate two families that were once united by love. boone, iowa, on flat land just north of des moines is a company town. headquarters for one of the largest grocery chains in the midwest. fairway. it's a family-owned company, and rick beckwith is a third generation ceo. he and his wife cindy raised a family of five here. their youngest daughter em

i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. >>> she was a married mother two >> there was nothing about her life that would raise any red flags. >> she amazed them all. her whole group of girlfriends at the gym. >> she was totally dedicated. >> heather, turn around. you've gotten smaller. >> a stunning 200-pound weight loss. and a whole new life came with it. >> you could see that transformation. you could see the confidence in her. >> then, she was gone. missing at school. >> i called all the girlfriends. >> we're going to find you one way or the other. >> the clues. an e-mail to her husband. and a secret she was reluctant to share. >> kind of a bombshell. heather was possibly seeing another man. >> what was really behind her sudden disappearance? that would be the most mind-blowing twist of all. >> do you think that heather would still be alive if she hadn't gone through this transformation? >> gosh -- >>> hello and welcome to "dateline extra." i'm tamron hall. heather jones' friends called her the butter

i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. >>> they surrounded me like a pack of wolves. they said, go get those crime scene photos of our mama and daddy. i was trying to cover my face. and he was pulling my hands off of my face. he said, you did this. you. and i said, i did not. >> a sprawling southern family with a pair of church going grandparents at its heart. >> they're definitely the most loving individuals i have ever met in my life. >> there was no way it was supposed to end like this. >> she took me by the hand and said, sugar and charlie have been murdered. >> the former church deacon and his wife. who on earth would want them dead? >> it doesn't make sense. they were loved by everyone. >> everyone maybe, but their daughter who admitted to a bitter simmering dispute. >> it's been a long, like, family feud. >> needed the stepfather and mom dead to get the property back. >> pointed to the boyfriend as an accomplice he was there. >> was he? >> no hair, no fingerprint, no dna? >> nothing. >> a once l

i'm tamron hall.azzino was dead and investigators wanted to know how and why. the secret of emily's addiction had been exposed. was this a suicide, an accident, or maybe even murder? evidence that pointed the investigation in a new direction was about to be discovered. more accusations and more suspicions. here again is josh mankiewicz with "the quiet one." >>> alex fazzino had lost his wife emily. despite his grief, he still had to be strong for his children. >> what did you tell your kids? >> i remember hugging them, i remember just telling them that mommy went to heaven and that she can't come back. >> as two families mourned and said goodbye, alex had to come to grips with the fact that he was now a single dad with three kids under the age of 7. >> it's sickening to know that if emily would have got the help she needed, she could still be here for my kids, and probably for me. >> while emily's family tried to cope with their loss, state investigator don senaker was operating on the assumption that

i'm tamron hall. how could you confess to a crime you didn't commit? it seems to defy logic and common sense but advocates say far more often than any of us realize. here's keith morrison with the interrogation. >> a freak snowstorm. just before 9:00 a.m. winter or no, virginia was used to. the white blanket, a piercing sound. fire alarm. it was the last thing on his mind. >> possibly trapped inside. ramps everything up to full force. >> the alarm was on a street with starter homes. >> a lot of kids in the neighborhood. you are running a lot of things through your mind. who are the occupants that you're going to have to rescue? >> the fire, ann charles and her three children. thick black smoke poured in. part of the roof burned away. >> we were concentrating getting up to steps and getting to the rooms that we were pretty sure we had victims. >> neighbors crowded in behind police and an 18-year-old lived up the street with a single mom. an awkward sort of kid. a bit immature for his age. he had strep throat that morning, was taking antibiotics but noth

i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. >>> i am freaking out. i walk in and my sister's not there. her door is open, her lights are on, her bed's undone. everything was horrible. and i felt it. >> she had been fearless on the front lines in iraq. >> pretty amazing. i saw her as like a really strong soldier. >> but something had her terrified at home. >> i'm scared. i don't feel safe. >> a desperate call to police. and then she vanished. >> something made her pretty scared. >> yes. >> no way to say what that was. >> right. >> what had happened to this beautiful army sergeant? the question would launch a spellbinding mystery. >> you've got a roommate, a boyfriend who she's maybe about to dump. you've got an ex-boyfriend who's suddenly back in her life. >> there were a number of potential suspects, absolutely. >> was a killer out there? >> she was in danger. >> could police catch him? they hatched a plan of virtual genius. >> one of the detectives said, you're not going to believe this. >> hello, and welc

i'm tamron hall. nique leili was a mother of three juggling family life and a thriving career when suddenly she vanished. friends and family quickly organized a search team. meanwhile, detectives turned to those closest to nique for information, including her husband, who had a lot to say, and an astonishing discovery. nique's last months had been caught on camera. could the recordings lead detectives to nique? here is dennis murphy with "the house on sidney's cove." >> there is never a good day to search for a missing woman. but this rainy, muggy saturday in the heat of july made an unhappy task all but unbearable. they decided, the friends and family, that they would all wear red shirts. they got themselves organized in the parking lot of a walmart in lawrenceville, georgia, an hour outside of atlanta, and then set out to find any trace of a petite corporate executive named nique leili. >> been missing for a week now. she has three kids who would love to see her home. >> amy robinson told reporters

i'm tamron hall. thanks for watching. >>> there's this pile of leaves, and it's where everything else is clear and flat. my heart is racing a million miles an hour. i was using my boots to move leaves, and that's when i screamed this blood-curdling scream. >> nique leili, a corporate executive who made time for romance and her three daughters. >> she was the best mom. >> then she disappeared. dozens joins the search. >> we need nique to come home. >> then, they found her. [ screaming ] >> you can't! >> launching a mystery that would divide this family. >> i suspected him from the beginning. >> one daughter thought her stepdad, matt, did it. the others said no way. and matt, he had a theory all his own. >> this is not the first time she has run away. okay. >> had nique taken off and found trouble? >> now you're thinking someone gave her a date rape drug. >> that's a possibility. >> the trail would lead to this house of cameras. >> there is a big server tower indicating a large amount of data being stor

i'm tamron hall.was a feud of epic proportions, a daughter battling her demons and her mother and stepfather for a control of a $1 million property that had been in the family for generations. after both parents were murdered, police began to wonder just how far bambi bennett would go to get what was hers. they followed a bloody trail of evidence leading them deep inside the family's dispute, exposing ugly secrets and suspicions. but unmasking the murderer would prove far more complicated. here's dennis murphy with "the deed." >> the old barn is a shambles now. the fields back in the day so lush and productive. gone to seed. the farmhouse empty. time was the farmland in the county was some of south carolina's finest. bambi bennett's granddad owned a big spread and created a legacy for the generations to come. >> that barn used to be a tobacco barn. my granddaddy built that. >> it was tobacco property? >> yeah, he did farming and tobacco. >> bambi's roots here are as deep as the old oak tree draped in

i'm tamron hall. july griffith was a loving wife and doting mother. when a blaze ripped through her home, it robbed her life and robbed her family of their matriarch. was it a robbery gone wrong, or was it something else entirely. here's dennis murphy with "consumed." >> the canterbury hill subdivision in paducah, kentucky, is a good place to raise kids. tidy homes kept up by neighbors living ordered lives. as the front porch lights went down on just another day, what happened one cold january night in the wee hours was especially alarming. orange flames were licking the tree tops. a roaring all-consuming fire was devouring one of the nice homes. >> it was awful. half of the house was gone. >> what would rise from those ashes was far more than the far marshal's investigation into cause. there would be a probe into the deepest roots of a treachery beyond most people's comprehension. >> that's not true. no way. >> what had they all missed? >> a monster, a liar, a cheater. >> he's destroyed my entire fam

. >> welcome to "dateline extra", i'm tamron hall. how could you confess to a crime you didn't commit? it seems to defy logic and common sense about the it does happen. but advocates say it happens far more often than any of us realize. here's keith morrison with the interrogation. >> a freak snowstorm. like an o men, smothered the town in the blue ridge mountains. february 19th, just before 9:00 a.m., winter or no, virginia was unused to this. the white blanket, a piercing sound. fire alarm. now the snowstorm was the last thing on fire chief's mind. >> it went off for a house fire with occupants possibly trapped inside. that ramps everything up to full force. >> the alarm was on a street with starter homes. >> a lot of kids in the neighborhood. you are running a lot of things through your mind. who are the occupants that you're going to have to rescue? >> the fire trucks raced to the home of the recently separated woman, ann charles and her three children. thick black smoke poured in. part of the roof burned away. >> we were concentr