1 00:00:03,870 --> 00:00:05,090 - Harlan, over here. 2 00:00:05,130 --> 00:00:07,130 - Ladies and gentlemen, Harlan Coben. 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:10,740 - He's the greatest thriller writer. 4 00:00:10,830 --> 00:00:11,790 - Oh, come on. 5 00:00:13,660 --> 00:00:16,320 - Coben's written over 30 "New York Times" Best Sellers. 6 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,100 - With over a dozen hit TV shows and movies. 7 00:00:21,540 --> 00:00:23,710 - In all our stories, the same question-- 8 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,280 what made the killer cross that line? 9 00:00:35,330 --> 00:00:37,420 I'm Harlan Coben. 10 00:00:37,510 --> 00:00:40,300 The best twists aren't the ones that come out of nowhere. 11 00:00:40,340 --> 00:00:42,650 They're the ones hiding in plain sight, 12 00:00:42,730 --> 00:00:45,560 the ones you could have seen from page one. 13 00:00:45,690 --> 00:00:47,910 I thought about that when I stumbled across the case 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,130 of a man murdered in his bed, sleeping next to his wife, 15 00:00:52,220 --> 00:00:55,140 with his daughter just down the hall. 16 00:00:55,180 --> 00:00:56,960 No one heard a thing. 17 00:00:57,100 --> 00:00:59,400 No one even woke up. 18 00:00:59,490 --> 00:01:02,840 And that's where our mystery begins. 19 00:01:05,190 --> 00:01:08,280 - My dad and I were best friends. 20 00:01:08,410 --> 00:01:11,980 My dad, Ben, made everyone that he loved happy 21 00:01:12,070 --> 00:01:15,160 and especially me. I was a daddy's girl, for sure. 22 00:01:16,810 --> 00:01:19,070 My dad introduced me to Melissa, 23 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:24,300 and I was super mean to her because I didn't know her. 24 00:01:24,380 --> 00:01:26,520 But she grew on me pretty quickly. 25 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:28,210 - Oh, wow. 26 00:01:28,300 --> 00:01:31,090 - For the wedding dress and everything. 27 00:01:32,570 --> 00:01:34,090 - Aww. 28 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,010 - Looking good. Looking good. 29 00:01:41,270 --> 00:01:44,010 - The wedding was in Tahoe, on the beach. 30 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:47,410 I just loved getting dressed up 31 00:01:47,540 --> 00:01:48,800 and being with everyone, 32 00:01:48,890 --> 00:01:51,410 and I felt really pretty. 33 00:01:51,540 --> 00:01:53,370 - Friends and family, may we all please rise 34 00:01:53,460 --> 00:01:55,500 for our beautiful bride? 35 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:58,850 - But I also think I liked 36 00:01:58,900 --> 00:02:01,420 that my dad and Melissa were gonna be together. 37 00:02:06,030 --> 00:02:08,340 - She gave me a bracelet to be a part of the wedding 38 00:02:08,430 --> 00:02:10,910 so that I knew that I was family too. 39 00:02:18,570 --> 00:02:20,090 - Just look at each other and go, 40 00:02:20,180 --> 00:02:21,440 what the hell have we just did? 41 00:02:24,100 --> 00:02:27,270 - I loved every second of it. 42 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,620 But then I don't know if I ever really understood 43 00:02:30,710 --> 00:02:33,890 what it was that happened until obviously I got older. 44 00:03:07,660 --> 00:03:09,180 - So a man was shot in his sleep, 45 00:03:09,270 --> 00:03:10,490 but no one in the house woke up? 46 00:03:10,620 --> 00:03:12,270 - Someone's lying. People are keeping secrets. 47 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,490 - She's evil. She's vile. 48 00:03:14,580 --> 00:03:16,280 - Police say a source has come forward 49 00:03:16,410 --> 00:03:17,930 with inside information. 50 00:03:19,980 --> 00:03:22,110 - A crime happened here. 51 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,460 The past isn't what it seemed. 52 00:03:25,550 --> 00:03:28,160 The story told turns out to be deception. 53 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,380 And just when you're sure have the answer... 54 00:03:30,420 --> 00:03:33,120 - 911. What is the address of your emergency? 55 00:03:33,250 --> 00:03:35,040 Hello? Anyone there? 56 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:37,950 - There's one final twist. 57 00:03:52,230 --> 00:03:53,660 - It was 3:30 in the morning. 58 00:03:53,750 --> 00:03:56,190 There was a dispatch to Wildhorse Lane. 59 00:03:56,270 --> 00:03:57,750 So my partners and I, you know, 60 00:03:57,840 --> 00:03:59,190 we raced to the scene. 61 00:04:04,590 --> 00:04:07,550 - The only thing we knew, there was a gunshot. 62 00:04:07,630 --> 00:04:09,240 We made entry into the residence. 63 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:12,460 It's dark. 64 00:04:12,550 --> 00:04:15,120 And as we were moving down the hallway, 65 00:04:15,210 --> 00:04:17,950 Melissa steps out of Alyssa's bedroom. 66 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,130 She's very upset, distraught, crying. 67 00:04:21,210 --> 00:04:24,610 We continued down the hallway to the master bedroom, 68 00:04:24,740 --> 00:04:27,170 and that's when we discovered Ben in a bed 69 00:04:27,310 --> 00:04:28,870 shot in the back of the head. 70 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:35,180 - He was laying on his stomach, and the back of his head 71 00:04:35,310 --> 00:04:37,790 had been blown apart. It was open. 72 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:41,320 So I knew I didn't have a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 73 00:04:41,410 --> 00:04:43,500 I had homicide. 74 00:04:43,630 --> 00:04:45,800 And I could see the rest of his brain matter 75 00:04:45,930 --> 00:04:47,760 projected onto the pillows next to him. 76 00:04:51,460 --> 00:04:54,640 Melissa told us there was two other people in the house, 77 00:04:54,770 --> 00:04:57,470 Melissa's brother, Craig, 18 years old, 78 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,640 almost an adult, and then Alyssa Oxley, 79 00:05:00,730 --> 00:05:02,860 Ben's daughter, aged six. 80 00:05:02,950 --> 00:05:05,650 - 782 on scene. 81 00:05:05,740 --> 00:05:07,390 - 10-4. 82 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:11,520 - Once the cops came, I remember just screaming 83 00:05:11,610 --> 00:05:14,960 that I wanted my dad, and I didn't understand, 84 00:05:15,050 --> 00:05:17,180 obviously, what was going on and why 85 00:05:17,270 --> 00:05:19,440 they were keeping him from me. 86 00:05:31,020 --> 00:05:33,240 - At that point, detectives took Melissa, 87 00:05:33,330 --> 00:05:37,160 Alyssa, and Craig to the sheriff's office. 88 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:39,860 - We got to the cop station. 89 00:05:39,900 --> 00:05:42,210 I screamed and ran into a corner 90 00:05:42,290 --> 00:05:44,690 'cause they weren't letting me be with Melissa. 91 00:06:06,580 --> 00:06:08,750 - Melissa was the person most close proximity 92 00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:10,890 to Ben when he was killed. 93 00:06:10,970 --> 00:06:14,670 She was laying in bed next to him. 94 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,160 - She had blood on her hands, tissue on her hands, 95 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:19,900 some on the side of her face. 96 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,380 - She appeared very distraught and upset. 97 00:06:24,510 --> 00:06:25,680 But we were trying to figure out 98 00:06:25,820 --> 00:06:28,730 who committed this heinous crime. 99 00:06:28,860 --> 00:06:32,430 - Detectives scope a moment, a pristine time capsule 100 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,390 of everyone's movements and whereabouts. 101 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:38,610 They're searching for a contradiction in the stories, 102 00:06:38,740 --> 00:06:40,920 something that doesn't align with what they've heard, 103 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,570 that one detail that doesn't line up. 104 00:07:03,900 --> 00:07:06,770 - You didn't hear the gunshot? You didn't feel it? 105 00:07:06,860 --> 00:07:08,730 I mean, how could this happen and you not be aware? 106 00:07:08,810 --> 00:07:11,030 I'm thinking, eh, this doesn't seem right. 107 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:37,760 - These are things you think you should know immediately. 108 00:07:37,890 --> 00:07:40,500 Your husband just got shot. Why didn't you get shot? 109 00:07:40,590 --> 00:07:43,110 It was very, very suspicious. 110 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,020 Her calling 911 could have been a ploy 111 00:07:45,110 --> 00:07:46,770 to throw us off, that she's not involved. 112 00:07:55,170 --> 00:07:57,430 - She denied any allegations. 113 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,170 But the information she was giving us didn't make sense. 114 00:08:01,210 --> 00:08:03,350 At that point, Melissa was the prime suspect. 115 00:08:06,180 --> 00:08:08,960 - So we're looking for motive. We're looking for reasons why. 116 00:08:09,050 --> 00:08:11,570 Is this a domestic situation that got out of hand? 117 00:08:19,060 --> 00:08:21,580 - So then you have to start picking apart her story, 118 00:08:21,670 --> 00:08:23,190 trying to figure out where the lies are. 119 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:42,560 - We have to find the motive. 120 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:43,610 Was this over money? 121 00:08:58,580 --> 00:09:00,190 - We found there was a recent life insurance policy 122 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:01,970 taken out on Ben. 123 00:09:02,060 --> 00:09:04,320 It was $400,000. 124 00:09:04,410 --> 00:09:08,850 - The policy was not very old, only about three months. 125 00:09:08,890 --> 00:09:11,460 - Melissa being the beneficiary to it, 126 00:09:11,500 --> 00:09:13,850 that could be a motive. - She'll be married tomorrow. 127 00:09:13,940 --> 00:09:15,770 - People have done a lot worse for a lot less. 128 00:09:36,570 --> 00:09:39,970 - Sometimes a case hinges on something hazy, 129 00:09:40,050 --> 00:09:42,710 maybe a wife's mid-sleep memory, 130 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:47,020 a surprise witness with a crisis of conscience, 131 00:09:47,100 --> 00:09:50,630 or a child's glimpse of a figure in the doorway. 132 00:09:53,590 --> 00:09:55,810 - While Melissa was being questioned, 133 00:09:55,890 --> 00:09:59,720 one of our other detectives did speak with Alyssa in the bay, 134 00:09:59,860 --> 00:10:01,810 just asking her what she heard and what she saw. 135 00:10:03,420 --> 00:10:04,860 - Alyssa, how old are you? 136 00:10:04,950 --> 00:10:06,040 - Six. 137 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,330 I didn't want to believe it was Melissa. 138 00:10:41,460 --> 00:10:43,250 But they weren't married for that long, 139 00:10:43,290 --> 00:10:46,210 and then he's laying next to her, 140 00:10:46,290 --> 00:10:47,380 and now he's gone. 141 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:53,780 - During the initial walkthrough of the scene, 142 00:10:53,910 --> 00:10:56,430 we started seeing small shotgun-type pellets 143 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,000 around the bed and on the floor, 144 00:10:59,090 --> 00:11:01,700 which helped us determine 145 00:11:01,790 --> 00:11:03,660 this was a shotgun used in this murder. 146 00:11:03,750 --> 00:11:05,880 And looking at the blood spatter 147 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:07,530 on the walls and on the bed, 148 00:11:07,660 --> 00:11:10,620 You would think there would be a lot of blood on Melissa, 149 00:11:10,670 --> 00:11:12,230 a lot of everything on her, 150 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:13,800 and there really wasn't that much, 151 00:11:13,930 --> 00:11:16,110 which is more indicative of somebody who was a shooter 152 00:11:16,190 --> 00:11:18,460 than somebody who was an unwilling participant 153 00:11:18,540 --> 00:11:20,280 laying next to somebody. 154 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:41,780 - Melissa, understand that-- 155 00:11:41,830 --> 00:11:43,650 - If she had done this and was trying 156 00:11:43,740 --> 00:11:45,570 to get away with it, I would expect tears 157 00:11:45,660 --> 00:11:48,050 because that's what you would think I would want to see. 158 00:11:48,140 --> 00:11:50,530 She could have gotten the life insurance policy, 159 00:11:50,620 --> 00:11:53,360 waited three months, and then committed the act, 160 00:11:53,450 --> 00:11:56,410 making it look like a homicide by some unknown person. 161 00:11:56,540 --> 00:11:58,930 So with Melissa, obviously, this was definitely looking 162 00:11:59,020 --> 00:12:00,190 like maybe she is the shooter. 163 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:04,890 - But we really had to keep our minds open 164 00:12:04,940 --> 00:12:07,110 to not go after just one person 165 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:09,900 without very specific physical evidence. 166 00:12:12,990 --> 00:12:14,770 - During the search of the residence, 167 00:12:14,900 --> 00:12:16,770 we were looking for any type of evidence 168 00:12:16,860 --> 00:12:19,910 that might have been left behind. 169 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:22,520 - That's when we discovered weapons in the house. 170 00:12:24,260 --> 00:12:27,180 We found shotguns in the garage 171 00:12:27,260 --> 00:12:31,180 that matched what appeared to be the round that killed Ben. 172 00:12:31,220 --> 00:12:33,270 - And then they found shotgun shells 173 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:35,140 in one of the bedrooms 174 00:12:35,230 --> 00:12:38,230 that Craig was using, Melissa's brother. 175 00:12:39,930 --> 00:12:41,630 - The shotgun shells in his bedroom 176 00:12:41,710 --> 00:12:44,540 matched the shotguns in the garage. 177 00:12:44,630 --> 00:12:46,500 So you got to ask the question, 178 00:12:46,540 --> 00:12:49,150 who was Melissa's brother? 179 00:12:51,460 --> 00:12:53,460 - The time is 5:30 a.m. 180 00:12:53,550 --> 00:12:55,600 I'm here with Craig. 181 00:13:18,620 --> 00:13:20,140 - Patrol officers are clearing the house. 182 00:13:20,230 --> 00:13:21,620 They're making noise. 183 00:13:21,710 --> 00:13:23,230 They're big people with a lot of gear on, 184 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,060 so they're not light and quiet. 185 00:13:25,100 --> 00:13:27,930 And to find him still sleeping under a bunch of blankets 186 00:13:28,020 --> 00:13:30,070 was kind of odd to us. Why are you hiding? 187 00:13:49,780 --> 00:13:51,610 - Craig was an avid hunter. 188 00:13:53,740 --> 00:13:56,740 So did Melissa use him as a murder for hire? 189 00:13:56,870 --> 00:13:58,570 Or was there some type of issue 190 00:13:58,660 --> 00:14:00,230 between Melissa and Ben 191 00:14:00,310 --> 00:14:01,660 that we didn't know about, 192 00:14:01,750 --> 00:14:03,840 and Craig took matters into his own hands? 193 00:14:05,580 --> 00:14:09,190 - There was a substantial insurance policy, 194 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,850 so Craig Nichols' relationship to Melissa as her brother 195 00:14:12,930 --> 00:14:15,070 meant that he, too, could be considered 196 00:14:15,150 --> 00:14:17,810 financially motivated to commit this crime. 197 00:14:40,310 --> 00:14:42,700 - Dawn was Ben's ex-wife, 198 00:14:42,790 --> 00:14:44,920 and Alyssa is their daughter. 199 00:14:45,010 --> 00:14:46,970 We learned that, after their divorce, 200 00:14:47,060 --> 00:14:49,140 Ben got full custody of Alyssa. 201 00:15:15,260 --> 00:15:18,910 - Crimes between loved ones are tough to untangle. 202 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,090 The motive is rarely just money. 203 00:15:21,180 --> 00:15:23,090 You can usually trace it back to something 204 00:15:23,130 --> 00:15:26,570 more primitive and destructive. 205 00:15:29,580 --> 00:15:33,710 - My mom was a cocktail waitress at a casino, 206 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,840 and that's where my mom and dad met. 207 00:15:36,930 --> 00:15:38,630 They did fall in love. 208 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:41,980 And they were really in love for a long time. 209 00:15:42,070 --> 00:15:43,420 But that changed. 210 00:15:46,810 --> 00:15:48,860 My mom had never specifically talked 211 00:15:48,900 --> 00:15:51,510 about why they got divorced. 212 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:52,950 But she always made sure 213 00:15:53,030 --> 00:15:56,340 that I knew that she loved me so much 214 00:15:56,430 --> 00:16:00,300 and that they took me from her. 215 00:16:32,070 --> 00:16:33,990 - With Dawn, you know, they're called an ex 216 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:35,380 for a reason, right? 217 00:16:35,510 --> 00:16:36,770 There's usually bad blood there. 218 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:00,670 - It doesn't seem like a lot of money, 219 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:02,410 that Dawn was upset having to pay. 220 00:17:02,540 --> 00:17:05,060 But on principle, the custody combined 221 00:17:05,150 --> 00:17:08,200 with having to pay could be a massive thing to somebody. 222 00:17:46,580 --> 00:17:48,540 - Dawn got defensive with us, 223 00:17:48,630 --> 00:17:50,630 but I wanted to pull out as much information 224 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:52,110 from her as possible. 225 00:18:11,390 --> 00:18:13,440 - Dawn told us she was home all night, 226 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,130 watching a movie with her boyfriend, 227 00:18:15,220 --> 00:18:16,790 James Matlean. 228 00:18:16,870 --> 00:18:19,660 She fell asleep about 4:00 or 4:30 in the morning. 229 00:18:19,750 --> 00:18:22,010 And the next thing she knew, officers were knocking 230 00:18:22,100 --> 00:18:23,840 on her door, waking her up. 231 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,450 Devon, her son, corroborated, 232 00:18:26,490 --> 00:18:27,970 saying that they were home all night. 233 00:18:28,060 --> 00:18:30,100 - Present is Devon Mitchell. 234 00:18:30,190 --> 00:18:32,150 Tell me what happened that night. 235 00:18:43,330 --> 00:18:46,080 - She had an alibi, so we had no reason 236 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,250 to think Dawn was a suspect. 237 00:18:48,340 --> 00:18:51,780 - Dawn's dislike for Ben didn't make her a murderer. 238 00:18:51,860 --> 00:18:54,910 - We didn't think she had it in herself to pull the trigger. 239 00:19:11,100 --> 00:19:12,320 - Yeah. 240 00:19:16,670 --> 00:19:21,110 - Paul Littler was Dawn Oxley's ex-husband prior to Ben Oxley. 241 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,550 He had a lengthy criminal history. 242 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:28,990 - Paul Littler had gone to prison for crimes of violence. 243 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:31,030 - We learned through the investigation 244 00:19:31,170 --> 00:19:32,600 Paul always wanted to eliminate Ben 245 00:19:32,730 --> 00:19:34,040 from the picture. 246 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:36,130 So that sparked an interest. 247 00:19:36,210 --> 00:19:38,260 - Is this a jealous ex-husband? 248 00:19:38,390 --> 00:19:40,000 It made a lot of sense. It could fit a motive. 249 00:19:40,130 --> 00:19:43,350 - We were told that Paul was in Lancaster, California. 250 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:45,140 We contacted the local sheriff's office down there, 251 00:19:45,220 --> 00:19:47,830 who confirmed he was released from prison 252 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:49,270 days before the homicide. 253 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,990 - Paul Littler was now a person of interest for us. 254 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:17,860 So he was brought in for questioning. 255 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,600 - Paul said he had no knowledge of the murder, 256 00:21:02,730 --> 00:21:04,480 and he hadn't really talked to Dawn in a long time. 257 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:08,000 He was very open, and he had an alibi. 258 00:21:08,130 --> 00:21:10,700 - We confirmed, based on the time frame, 259 00:21:10,740 --> 00:21:14,140 there was no possible way for him to be in Douglas County 260 00:21:14,220 --> 00:21:16,270 when the murder occurred. 261 00:21:29,890 --> 00:21:33,330 - The word "victim" implies innocence. 262 00:21:33,420 --> 00:21:35,380 But to find a killer in the shadows, 263 00:21:35,460 --> 00:21:38,550 you must also shine a light on the victim's dark side. 264 00:21:40,990 --> 00:21:42,560 - And we do what's called a victimology. 265 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,340 We look through the victim's past life. 266 00:21:45,430 --> 00:21:47,610 So we're looking at his closest circle, 267 00:21:47,740 --> 00:21:49,350 his secondary circle, third circle. 268 00:21:49,390 --> 00:21:52,650 Who would want Ben dead? 269 00:21:52,780 --> 00:21:55,920 - Ben had a history of being very short-tempered. 270 00:21:56,010 --> 00:21:57,790 There was at least two reports on file 271 00:21:57,920 --> 00:21:58,660 with the sheriff's office. 272 00:22:05,710 --> 00:22:07,970 - Ben had people that didn't like him. 273 00:22:08,060 --> 00:22:10,450 He had enemies. Ben owed them money. 274 00:22:12,370 --> 00:22:13,850 - He'd had neighborhood disputes, 275 00:22:13,980 --> 00:22:15,460 friends that were not happy with him anymore. 276 00:22:19,330 --> 00:22:21,550 - In totality, we contacted 79 people 277 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:23,510 over the course of the investigation. 278 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,080 Yes, Ben had issues with people, 279 00:22:26,210 --> 00:22:28,210 but we were able to clear them as suspects. 280 00:22:28,250 --> 00:22:30,170 But we were still missing the most critical piece, 281 00:22:30,300 --> 00:22:31,560 which is the evidence. 282 00:22:34,870 --> 00:22:36,960 - The family, we were only getting fragments, 283 00:22:37,050 --> 00:22:38,870 bits and pieces. 284 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,970 So everybody was a suspect, Melissa included. 285 00:22:43,050 --> 00:22:44,310 I didn't want to point fingers, 286 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,490 but people thought it was Melissa 287 00:22:46,580 --> 00:22:49,360 right from the get-go. 288 00:22:49,450 --> 00:22:51,150 - Melissa was never the one that actually 289 00:22:51,230 --> 00:22:53,630 had custody of me. It was my dad. 290 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,980 So when he died, I legally went 291 00:22:57,070 --> 00:22:59,460 to my biological mother, Dawn. 292 00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:02,900 That's when I started having a lot more hateful feelings 293 00:23:02,990 --> 00:23:06,470 towards Melissa, especially. 294 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,210 - Melissa and her brother, Craig, 295 00:23:08,340 --> 00:23:10,250 were still top suspects. 296 00:23:10,300 --> 00:23:11,950 But we lacked hard evidence, 297 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,430 so we did some covert surveillance 298 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:16,000 of Melissa and Craig. 299 00:23:16,130 --> 00:23:17,650 - We followed them. 300 00:23:17,740 --> 00:23:19,610 I talked to a lot of their friends. 301 00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:22,480 Melissa appeared to be more of a grieving wife 302 00:23:22,570 --> 00:23:25,050 than she did a person who's out at the bar, 303 00:23:25,140 --> 00:23:26,660 you know, and partying. 304 00:23:26,750 --> 00:23:28,140 We were seeing more of just that person 305 00:23:28,180 --> 00:23:30,320 that lost their husband. 306 00:23:31,670 --> 00:23:34,060 And Craig seemed like a really good kid, 307 00:23:34,100 --> 00:23:35,710 a solid family kid. 308 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,410 He didn't fit the suspect mold. 309 00:23:39,500 --> 00:23:41,070 - I don't want to say that Melissa 310 00:23:41,150 --> 00:23:42,940 and Craig were eliminated, 311 00:23:42,980 --> 00:23:45,510 but they fell very low in the case. 312 00:23:45,590 --> 00:23:47,900 - A year had passed in the investigation, 313 00:23:47,990 --> 00:23:50,080 and we were becoming concerned this might become a cold case. 314 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,910 We needed a big break. 315 00:23:54,990 --> 00:23:57,170 And then came a pivot point in the investigation. 316 00:24:00,300 --> 00:24:02,960 - Devon, thanks for coming down here to talk about the case. 317 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,140 - I was 15 at the time of Ben's murder. 318 00:24:09,230 --> 00:24:10,180 What do you do? 319 00:24:10,270 --> 00:24:11,180 What do you say? Who do you tell? 320 00:24:13,060 --> 00:24:14,840 - But I felt I needed to finally tell 321 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,320 somebody what happened that night and who killed Ben. 322 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,460 - Criminal intent doesn't just appear out of thin air. 323 00:24:27,590 --> 00:24:29,720 It's built in a thousand quiet moments 324 00:24:29,810 --> 00:24:33,210 you never see coming, a passing comment, 325 00:24:33,290 --> 00:24:35,380 a face in the crowd. 326 00:24:35,470 --> 00:24:37,470 They all collide, building on each other, 327 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:40,470 until an idea is finally forged. 328 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,210 But here's the thing. 329 00:24:42,300 --> 00:24:43,960 Every single one of those moments 330 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,920 had an observer, a witness, 331 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,830 someone standing right there in the shadows. 332 00:24:53,310 --> 00:24:56,750 - My mom and Ben, they were perfect together. 333 00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:59,320 And even though I wasn't Ben's blood-related son, 334 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:01,800 he treated me like a son. 335 00:25:01,890 --> 00:25:04,020 I remember calling him Dad. He was Dad. 336 00:25:04,110 --> 00:25:06,590 I didn't know any better. 337 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,150 But when I got older, I looked at him differently. 338 00:25:11,030 --> 00:25:15,640 After Alyssa was born, he cheated on my mom, 339 00:25:15,730 --> 00:25:18,470 and that really caused the divorce. 340 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:20,300 Then he met Melissa, 341 00:25:20,380 --> 00:25:23,390 and they started their life together. 342 00:25:23,470 --> 00:25:27,740 My mom just spiraled completely after that. 343 00:25:27,870 --> 00:25:29,700 I'd come back home from school, 344 00:25:29,830 --> 00:25:32,660 and it felt more like a party house. 345 00:25:32,740 --> 00:25:34,310 When I needed a safe space to go, 346 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,140 I never really had that because there was 347 00:25:36,270 --> 00:25:38,050 just always people there getting 348 00:25:38,140 --> 00:25:40,400 blitzed out of their minds. 349 00:25:40,530 --> 00:25:43,930 It didn't have that family vibe to it anymore. 350 00:25:44,060 --> 00:25:46,190 And then my world came crumbling down. 351 00:25:51,850 --> 00:25:53,850 - Present is Devon Mitchell. 352 00:25:53,940 --> 00:25:56,900 OK. Devon, tell me what happened last night. 353 00:25:56,940 --> 00:26:01,420 - That day, after Ben was murdered, 354 00:26:01,510 --> 00:26:03,300 the police were at our door. 355 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:13,090 - Mm-hmm. 356 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,230 I knew I was wrong for not telling the truth, 357 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:22,490 but I also didn't know what would happen 358 00:26:22,580 --> 00:26:24,620 if I did tell somebody. 359 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:28,670 But then, over time, 360 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,060 I started having a lot of regrets. 361 00:26:32,190 --> 00:26:35,760 Alyssa did come back to live with us after Ben was murdered 362 00:26:35,850 --> 00:26:38,900 and was exposed to a lot of the stuff 363 00:26:38,980 --> 00:26:40,810 that was happening in that house. 364 00:26:40,900 --> 00:26:44,160 I just didn't see my mom turn over a new leaf, 365 00:26:44,250 --> 00:26:45,690 like stop drinking. 366 00:26:45,770 --> 00:26:48,040 It's like, things got worse. 367 00:26:48,170 --> 00:26:51,950 I came to realize Alyssa deserved better, 368 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,700 and Ben deserved justice. 369 00:26:55,830 --> 00:26:57,390 It was a year after the murder when 370 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,880 I felt I needed to finally tell somebody what I had heard. 371 00:27:16,020 --> 00:27:19,460 - I thought James Matlean was just kind of another kid 372 00:27:19,550 --> 00:27:23,070 drinking at the house. He was 20. 373 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,550 And it turned out that he was dating my mother, 374 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:27,290 which is really disturbing. 375 00:27:27,380 --> 00:27:29,210 She was much older. 376 00:27:55,580 --> 00:27:58,410 My mother wanted full custody of Alyssa. 377 00:27:58,500 --> 00:28:02,410 And they were literally talking about going out 378 00:28:02,460 --> 00:28:05,160 and killing him. 379 00:28:05,290 --> 00:28:08,380 But you don't think anything of it as a teenager. 380 00:28:08,460 --> 00:28:09,770 They're both intoxicated, drunk. 381 00:28:09,860 --> 00:28:10,950 Nothing's gonna happen. 382 00:28:24,220 --> 00:28:28,570 I did feel relief that I finally told someone 383 00:28:28,660 --> 00:28:31,140 what happened that night because I knew 384 00:28:31,230 --> 00:28:33,180 it was the right thing to do. 385 00:28:33,270 --> 00:28:35,710 But at the same time, I was turning in my mother. 386 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:39,150 So, like, what's gonna happen now? 387 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,900 - The interview with Devon pointed towards Dawn 388 00:28:47,980 --> 00:28:49,980 and James committing the murder. 389 00:28:50,070 --> 00:28:51,380 But how do we prove it? 390 00:28:53,290 --> 00:28:56,380 We had little to no evidence linking 391 00:28:56,510 --> 00:28:58,560 James or Dawn to the murder. 392 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:00,170 We didn't have a murder weapon. 393 00:29:00,260 --> 00:29:02,560 We did not have the smoking gun. 394 00:29:02,650 --> 00:29:04,690 So we brought them in. 395 00:30:10,590 --> 00:30:14,370 - James and Dawn denied any involvement with the homicide, 396 00:30:14,420 --> 00:30:18,120 so we released them from the interrogation room. 397 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,640 But as our investigation continued, 398 00:30:20,770 --> 00:30:22,900 we discovered a $40 ATM transaction 399 00:30:22,990 --> 00:30:24,730 was made the evening of Ben's murder 400 00:30:24,820 --> 00:30:26,560 on Dawn's bank statements. 401 00:30:26,650 --> 00:30:29,040 We reviewed CCTV from that establishment, 402 00:30:29,170 --> 00:30:31,350 and we found video surveillance of James 403 00:30:31,430 --> 00:30:34,390 at 1:30 in the morning, prior to the murder, 404 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:38,090 withdrawing cash from an ATM. 405 00:30:38,220 --> 00:30:40,620 Dawn told us that they didn't leave the residence 406 00:30:40,660 --> 00:30:44,270 all night, so we knew she was lying. 407 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,750 We needed to prosecute the person who fired the weapon. 408 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:50,230 We believe that was James. 409 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:54,150 So we considered giving Dawn an immunity agreement. 410 00:30:56,630 --> 00:30:58,630 - It's a balancing act. 411 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,380 Am I gonna let go a person that was an accessory 412 00:31:01,460 --> 00:31:04,160 to murder just to get the murderer? 413 00:31:04,250 --> 00:31:06,250 What level of justice are we willing to bring? 414 00:31:06,380 --> 00:31:08,820 Ultimately, the decision was made 415 00:31:08,910 --> 00:31:10,560 that the family deserved closure. 416 00:31:10,650 --> 00:31:12,520 Ben deserved closure. 417 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:16,040 Our best chance at getting a conviction for this crime 418 00:31:16,130 --> 00:31:17,650 was to offer Dawn that immunity agreement. 419 00:31:19,130 --> 00:31:20,960 By cooperating with the investigation, 420 00:31:21,090 --> 00:31:23,010 providing information that we could substantiate, 421 00:31:23,090 --> 00:31:26,010 she will be immune or not charged with any crimes 422 00:31:26,050 --> 00:31:27,660 that she could be culpable for. 423 00:31:27,790 --> 00:31:29,800 So it's a plea deal. 424 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,890 She made the deal with the DA's office 425 00:31:31,970 --> 00:31:37,930 and agreed to tell us the truth. 426 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,550 - No matter how practiced the script is, 427 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,510 if any small detail is off, an alibi starts to fray, 428 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:54,690 pull at the right thread, and the whole thing will unravel. 429 00:32:02,130 --> 00:32:05,090 - Dawn, in her story, she was frustrated 430 00:32:05,180 --> 00:32:07,830 about losing custody of Alyssa. 431 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:09,750 She was venting. 432 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,140 And James, being intoxicated, told her, 433 00:32:12,230 --> 00:32:13,400 well, I'll blow his head off with a shotgun. 434 00:32:17,150 --> 00:32:20,150 - Dawn then stated that she went to bed, 435 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,760 and the next thing, James waking her up, 436 00:32:22,850 --> 00:32:25,110 saying, it's done. Ben is dead. 437 00:32:36,650 --> 00:32:38,730 - With the vague memory of Alyssa hearing someone 438 00:32:38,820 --> 00:32:41,430 coming into her room, my theory was that 439 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:43,300 that would have been James looking to see if she was 440 00:32:43,390 --> 00:32:45,570 in her bedroom, that she was, in fact, asleep, 441 00:32:45,650 --> 00:32:47,790 and/or to ensure that she wouldn't be 442 00:32:47,870 --> 00:32:52,010 in bed next to Ben or Melissa. 443 00:32:52,100 --> 00:32:54,920 - At this point, we finally had enough evidence 444 00:32:55,010 --> 00:32:57,580 to charge James with homicide. 445 00:33:03,370 --> 00:33:06,370 But before the trial starts, 446 00:33:06,460 --> 00:33:08,160 James reaches out with his attorney 447 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:09,980 and stated he wanted to talk. 448 00:33:13,550 --> 00:33:15,080 - Thank you. 449 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:33,090 - Brings up the conversation they had the night before 450 00:33:33,180 --> 00:33:34,830 at Dawn's residence with them drinking. 451 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:48,110 - James says he goes to the 7-Eleven, 452 00:33:48,150 --> 00:33:51,150 takes out $40 in cash. He drives to Walmart. 453 00:33:51,290 --> 00:33:53,900 He buys latex gloves, paper towels, shoes, 454 00:33:53,940 --> 00:33:55,290 Tyvek suit, and a flashlight. 455 00:33:59,730 --> 00:34:01,860 - In his statement, he said he didn't know 456 00:34:01,950 --> 00:34:04,040 where the residence was or the layout, 457 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:06,560 so he took Dawn with him. 458 00:34:24,270 --> 00:34:26,760 - The twist of the story is Dawn asked him 459 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:28,500 to kill Melissa as well. 460 00:34:42,340 --> 00:34:46,900 - James sees Dawn stopped at Alyssa's doorway. 461 00:35:06,970 --> 00:35:09,150 - James walks into Ben's bedroom, 462 00:35:09,230 --> 00:35:11,060 puts the shotgun to the back of his head. 463 00:35:37,260 --> 00:35:39,520 - James said after he shot Ben, 464 00:35:39,610 --> 00:35:42,050 he was frightened, so he ran out of the house. 465 00:35:42,090 --> 00:35:43,350 So he never shot Melissa. 466 00:35:50,620 --> 00:35:52,750 - James said he threw the shotgun away 467 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:54,410 in the sheriff's office dumpsters. 468 00:35:54,500 --> 00:35:57,410 I think more it was a dig at us to say, 469 00:35:57,500 --> 00:35:59,240 it was under your nose the whole time. 470 00:36:07,030 --> 00:36:09,680 - James was head over heels for Dawn, 471 00:36:09,770 --> 00:36:12,820 and she took advantage of that. 472 00:36:12,900 --> 00:36:15,690 She manipulated him into doing what she thought 473 00:36:15,820 --> 00:36:17,650 would solve her problems. 474 00:36:17,740 --> 00:36:20,300 - The person that planned it, or orchestrated it, 475 00:36:20,390 --> 00:36:22,650 is maybe even more culpable than the person 476 00:36:22,780 --> 00:36:24,610 that actually just did the job. 477 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:36,360 - But because of her agreement, 478 00:36:36,490 --> 00:36:38,280 she was immune from criminal prosecution 479 00:36:38,370 --> 00:36:40,670 in Douglas County for the rest of her life. 480 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:42,930 And that's a tragedy. 481 00:36:44,980 --> 00:36:47,640 - Ultimately, Dawn was behind this, 482 00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:50,460 but, sadly, Melissa took a lot of blame. 483 00:36:50,550 --> 00:36:52,640 Those early theories against Melissa, 484 00:36:52,730 --> 00:36:54,290 the financial motive, 485 00:36:54,420 --> 00:36:56,690 the lack of blood splatter, 486 00:36:56,820 --> 00:36:59,300 those were proven to be just theories. 487 00:36:59,430 --> 00:37:00,950 In reality, she was being honest. 488 00:37:03,690 --> 00:37:07,520 - Melissa, she's waking up to her husband being killed. 489 00:37:07,610 --> 00:37:10,480 And then you got everybody saying that she did it. 490 00:37:10,610 --> 00:37:13,400 What does that do to a person? 491 00:37:13,490 --> 00:37:15,490 - Emotionally, the damage you have caused me 492 00:37:15,530 --> 00:37:17,710 is almost unbearable. 493 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:22,410 For Alyssa, you crumbled her foundation 494 00:37:22,540 --> 00:37:26,410 and everything she knew to be right and true. 495 00:37:26,500 --> 00:37:28,720 - It was a lot for her, 496 00:37:28,810 --> 00:37:32,380 and she stayed strong through it. 497 00:37:32,460 --> 00:37:35,640 - For James, pleading guilty was probably 498 00:37:35,770 --> 00:37:38,690 nerve-wracking 'cause there was only two choices, 499 00:37:38,730 --> 00:37:41,300 life without the possibility of parole 500 00:37:41,380 --> 00:37:43,390 or life with the possibility of parole. 501 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:48,000 - For the murder charge, you're sentenced 502 00:37:48,090 --> 00:37:50,740 to life in prison. 503 00:37:50,830 --> 00:37:53,530 - James was ultimately sentenced to life in prison 504 00:37:53,660 --> 00:37:55,140 without parole. 505 00:38:06,630 --> 00:38:10,410 - Looking back on it, I almost feel, like, at fault. 506 00:38:10,540 --> 00:38:13,020 Maybe if I would have just stayed up a little later 507 00:38:13,110 --> 00:38:16,810 instead of going to sleep, he'd still be alive now. 508 00:38:16,900 --> 00:38:21,160 My sister, she should have a dad. 509 00:38:21,210 --> 00:38:23,430 Me being the bigger brother, 510 00:38:23,470 --> 00:38:25,780 I should have been the protector. 511 00:38:25,910 --> 00:38:27,340 And, oh, God. 512 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,260 - I love my brother a lot. 513 00:38:32,390 --> 00:38:35,350 And it's not his fault that any of it happened. 514 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:38,090 And it just sucks that he was going 515 00:38:38,180 --> 00:38:41,400 through that by himself. 516 00:38:42,790 --> 00:38:46,230 - At the end of James's sentencing hearing, 517 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:48,760 Melissa said, Alyssa has something 518 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:50,580 to say to James. 519 00:38:50,670 --> 00:38:56,020 She looked up and said, I was really mad at you... 520 00:38:58,370 --> 00:39:01,030 But I forgive you. 521 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:06,210 And I've always been impacted 522 00:39:06,340 --> 00:39:11,430 by that amazing level of kindness. 523 00:39:15,700 --> 00:39:20,270 - I don't know if I knew what forgiveness was at the time. 524 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:26,270 I didn't feel like I wanted him to be gone for life. 525 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:30,750 - Melissa petitioned the court for full custody of Alyssa, 526 00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:33,630 and she got granted it. 527 00:39:33,710 --> 00:39:36,720 - When Melissa got guardianship of me, 528 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:40,850 I was really happy to be back with her. 529 00:39:40,980 --> 00:39:45,810 But my relationship with Dawn was complicated. 530 00:39:45,900 --> 00:39:47,900 I mean, she was my mom. 531 00:39:47,990 --> 00:39:51,510 But by the time I had grown up, 532 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,260 I chose to not have her a part of my life. 533 00:39:56,650 --> 00:39:58,350 - I just felt it was more appropriate 534 00:39:58,430 --> 00:40:00,570 to cut things off from her. 535 00:40:00,650 --> 00:40:04,350 She started delving more into serious drugs. 536 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:05,790 You know, that was the reason why 537 00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:08,140 she got put in the hospital. 538 00:40:08,230 --> 00:40:10,010 - She ended up having a stroke, 539 00:40:10,050 --> 00:40:13,490 and she went brain dead, 540 00:40:13,580 --> 00:40:16,500 and she died. 541 00:40:16,580 --> 00:40:21,110 After all the loss, my dad, my mom, 542 00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:23,290 I still have a lot to process. 543 00:40:23,370 --> 00:40:26,240 And who knows how long that's gonna take? 544 00:40:26,290 --> 00:40:28,600 But I've tried to hold on 545 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:32,250 to all the good memories of my dad. 546 00:40:41,870 --> 00:40:43,960 Whoo! 547 00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:50,880 - Ben was the only father figure that I had. 548 00:40:52,140 --> 00:40:56,840 He should be remembered as a loving father, 549 00:40:56,930 --> 00:40:59,190 loving husband, wonderful brother, 550 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:01,500 the best friend. 551 00:41:01,580 --> 00:41:04,410 He was a wonderful person who deserved life. 552 00:41:06,940 --> 00:41:09,070 - For those people that are also going through stuff 553 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:10,330 like this, I hope that they know 554 00:41:10,460 --> 00:41:15,120 that they have others that get it. 555 00:41:15,210 --> 00:41:17,120 We are real people. 556 00:41:20,860 --> 00:41:23,950 - This season, we saw how an investigation can twist 557 00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:26,090 from a suspected professional hit 558 00:41:26,130 --> 00:41:28,310 to a reckless amateur, 559 00:41:28,390 --> 00:41:31,750 how the police can twist from heroes to criminals, 560 00:41:31,830 --> 00:41:35,140 how suspicion can twist to fall on one's own family 561 00:41:35,230 --> 00:41:37,660 or on someone who never existed at all. 562 00:41:37,750 --> 00:41:40,190 Each layer of deception we untangled 563 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:42,320 brings us closer to the truth. 564 00:41:42,410 --> 00:41:45,850 And in fiction, that's where the chapter ends. 565 00:41:45,930 --> 00:41:49,110 But in real life, the pages keep turning, 566 00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:51,500 the twists keep coming. 567 00:41:51,590 --> 00:41:55,550 I'm Harlan Coben. Good night.