Dateline NEW Season 2024 🚀🚀🚀The Plot Thickens🎃🎃🎃 Dateline Full Episodes

you know when they tell you your life passes before your eyes you think about everything that happened in your life and you wonder am I ready to die he was a Hollywood stunt man but this was no Hollywood stunt this is a hit shot four times and left dying on the floor somebody definitely wanted him dead will you be able to solve the mystery of who wanted him dead and why you'll meet lots of possible suspects oh my gosh including his ex-wife an actress once married to movie monster Joe pesi but sh

e had a strong Alibi do you know who shot here I don't know and that's only the start of the twists in this Hollywood mystery this is one of those Stranger Than Fiction kind of things certainly nobody would write a script like this the most stunning Twist of all was what didn't happen my mom said to me don't you die that hit me hard than the bullets my mom never swore I'm Lester Holt and this is dat line as they say in Hollywood the plot thickens here's Josh manowitz ready [Music] action action

it rank second only to money as the single most important word in Hollywood and here in La where life and art are often the same thing there's a real life drama that Rivals any action movie with a plot that includes all the elements of classic film [Music] Noir a mystery featuring an assassin a fem FAL a Hollywood star and a stunt man who makes the fall and as for the money we'll get to that let's start with the biggest name on the Marque Joe pesi famous for his roles as a coldblooded killer thi

s drama would co-star pes's ex-wife Claudia Harrow a model and actress who appeared along with peshi in the gangster film Casino The Supporting Cast includes Claudia's brother Manny Harrow not an actor but but an actual tough guy who did time in prison and who Harbors a terrible Secret in his past and finally Claudia's second husband Garrett Warren a Hollywood stunt man and martial arts expert a man very familiar with [Music] danger fade in early evening in the quiet town of West Lake Village Ca

lifornia outside of LA stuntman Garrett Warren heard a knock on his door and a voice on the other side asking about his new silver Volvo parked in the driveway Garrett answered then comes our first plot twist three shots into his body one more into Garrett's right eye the Daredevil's luck had run out I called and his mother answered the phone screaming crying just distraught w-e Wall-E you're not going to believe what happened why you know Garrett's been shot Wally Crowder was a fellow stunt man

and Garrett's good friend Garrett was one of those men that you could count on you hear in life that you're very lucky if you have five friends or you could count a friend on one hand Garrett was that friend to me Wally's been in the business for more than 30 years Garrett Warren was probably the finest fight man you could ask for I had hired him on several shows got to know him watched his expertise phenomenal athlete stunt man you've probably seen Garrett Warren's work you just didn't know it

his stunt work was featured in Charlie's Angels and double team with John Claude vanam Garrett was a very focused individual people think of stunt men as oh Daredevils crazy people that's the last person I want on my job I want the very best at what they do but towards the end of 1997 Wally says that Focus shifted the minute Garrett Warren met Claudia Hara beautiful beautiful woman we just wanted Garrett to be happy he had found somebody that he seemed like he genuinely loved and wanted to star

t a life with there was something special about her I think people who got to know her she just has a beautiful soul and I think men were attracted to that as much as to her beauty Claudia's good friend Julie Aris Scot remembers when Claudia and Garrett first got together one day she says to you I met this guy yes and she was very excited I was always a big fan of Garrett's he was sweet he was funny and she just seemed so happy with him and you know I I should say actually Joe and I both were ve

ry supportive by Joe she is referring to Claudia's ex-husband a character actor who became a star by playing mafia tough guys Joe pesi it sounds like her marriage to Joe peshi didn't end badly not at all not at all they're like family you know they're very very close Claudia stayed close to Joe pesi even after she started dating Garrett who came from a different part of the movie business Garrett loved action and adventure but when he met Claudia he was ready to settle down we felt that this wou

ld be the gal that Garrett would end up with no more dating no more running around I'm going to end up with Claudia Garrett and Claudia were married less than a year after they met in the beginning I think it was a very good relationship oh my gosh they soon had a beautiful daughter Kyla look at the hair do the new couple enjoyed being parents I love you guys but happy scenes like this one did not last Claudia and Garrett couldn't make it work it was a series of events it just wasn't the right m

arriage once the relationship started going south it went fast less than two years after their wedding clonia and Garrett split up for good divorce is never easy but in the long run it was two parents trying to figure out a way to live and both see their children Garrett went back to his old Life as a stunt man back to the set and the world of make believe so then how did his life go from playing dead to bleeding out on the floor of his home shot four times at close range somebody definitely wan

ted him hurt or dead at that time but who Mark gaimon then a detective with the LA County Sheriff's Department said investigators looked at every angle remembering how the gunman had at first asked Garrett about his brand new Volvo they wondered if this could be road rage someone Garrett had Tangled with on the LA freeways Mr Warren is a stunt man yes I'm guessing maybe he doesn't always drive the speed limit or use his blinker when it's time to change lanes that could be possible or it could be

personal could have been an ex- business partner or if it was somebody he was dating that was jealous uh maybe an ex-husband or an ex-boyfriend and there was an array of posses on who could have done this possibilities that led from the bloody crime scene to the bright lights of the movie business all the way to the parts of LA that the tourists never see so who did want Garrett waren dead there seemed to be an entire cast of suspects detectives especially wanted to talk to Garrett's ex-wife Cl

audia when we returned getting ready to say goodbye to friend I'm going to lose my friend he's not going to make it when dat line [Music] continues fade in Northridge Hospital daytime Wally Crowder rushed to the bedside of his buddy Garrett Warren a movie stunt man who'd been shot with real life bullets I run into Garrett's mom and realize I'm going to lose my friend he's not going to make it Garrett was in critical condition all these things run through your head the time you spent together the

things that maybe you should have said that you didn't it was rough shot three times in the body and once through the eye all at close range hard to imagine anyone surviving it ready for our second twist it's one that neither Garrett's family nor the gunman saw coming this is Garrett Warren today thank God I'm still here I mean I was very fortunate I was very lucky very blessed to the surprise of the doctor's treating him gared Warren pulled through and he lived to tell the story of the night h

e was almost murdered a flashback as Vivid now as it was then here's bullet one to be honest with you when a bullet hits you you don't really know that it hits you it's not like you see in the movies and as I slipped to the side and it hit me Center MK it went right in front of my chest passed by my heart and is now stuck in my rib cage right here and it's still there then bullet two so I I looked down I looked back up and here came another one and I spped my head to the side and when that happe

ned the bullet hit me in the neck and went straight straight out my back bullet number three then I realized okay this is for Real so I went to close the door and he shot Center Mass at me and when he did I was turned sideways and he hit me here in the hip and it went straight out my back and past my hip that one hurt you know that one hit my bone if that sounds gruesome then hang on for what's next I fell back behind my door to the ground and then he walked in and put the gun to my head and whe

n the gun was placed to my head the first thing I did was when I saw him squeeze the trigger I flinched just like like this like a fighter wood and as I did this the bullet hit me here in the eye went straight through my eye and came out my ear and got stuck in the wall behind my head those are some pretty good reflexes yeah I mean but if it was The Matrix it wasn't good you know that's like ke going back and the bullet actually hitting him so as much as I moved I still got hit somehow the bulle

t that went through Garrett's head missed his brain you know when they tell you your life passes before your eyes it doesn't pass before your eyes you run through it you think about everything that happened in your life and you wonder did I do anything wrong and did I not make up for it am I ready to die at the time of the shooting Garrett's mother was at his home helping with Baby Kyla Garrett's mother ran to see what was happening and the gunman took two shots at her but he missed and then out

of bullets he fled I looked at her and I said you I love you Mom I'll see you on the other side my mom said to me don't you die I was shocked that hit me harder than the bullets my mom never swore and here she was she shook me and she says don't you die you've been a fighter all your life fight one more time for me and I looked at her and I said all right you got it I'm not going to go home I'll stay as Garrett ran through his life he looked back on his failed marriage to Claudia Harrow it was

true it was the things that poetry was written about you know the things that movies were made of hi Daddy what's up that brief marriage produced their daughter Kyla and even though the marriage didn't last the bond both parents felt with Kyla surely did my daughter's being born was amazing was the most amazing part of my life and it's probably one of the greatest things that I can leave for as my legacy I guess but when the marriage broke up there was a nasty fight over who would get custody of

Kyla in the midst of it Claudia made perhaps the worst accusation you can make she claimed Garrett had sexually molested their daughter after a thorough investigation a family court judge ruled that there was no evidence of abuse but it was shortly after that that the gunman showed up at Garrett's home so naturally detectives brought in Claudia for questioning it was just another road that we went went down you know during the investigation you know it's like hey could it be a ex Claudia was co

operative she didn't appear to have any ties to the shooting and she had a strong Alibi for that evening she even expressed concern for Garrett investigators were satisfied she wasn't involved so they kept talking to Garrett who'd gotten a glimpse of the man who shot him it was very difficult to decipher what his ethnicity was because I was looking through a little peephole in my door not somebody you knew no never knew it before as Garrett recovered from his wounds the sheriff's department trie

d to piece together some theories I'm guessing detectives asked Garrett if he was carrying on with somebody else's wife or girlfriend yes everything was being looked at in his life and his lifestyle of his business an exciting high energy lifestyle from the gym he owned to the film Circle he ran in Garrett Warren had no shortage of Adventures but investigators received a tip suggesting that Garrett also had enemies lill sheriff station received Anonymous letter just kind of advising that there w

as some people involved at the gym that uh carrot was having some kind of relationship with people that might be of interest uh to detectives that they might want to question these people detectives checked out every name that came up they followed up on every lead but they hit a dead end at every turn depressing very depressing sometimes you just just need that one break you need a phone call that somebody wants to really give up some information give us another road to go down give us another

adventure to try it took almost 2 years before that break arrived that's when police in another County searching a car for drugs he instead found a note and a photo that would make clear just what kind of danger Garrett Warren was facing coming up was Garrett War would be killer about to try for take two I'm scared to death someone's going to come back and finish him when dat line continues closeup Garrett Warren the stunt man was gunned down in his own home but lived to tell the tale he knew hi

s wouldbe killer was still on the loose and Garrett was looking over his shoulder I have a bulletproof vest on I've invested whatever money I possibly can into all sorts of security around my house I'm scared to death someone's going to come back and finish it did you think there was ever going to be an arft no I actually gave up on it and thought yeah you know what chock it up to uh experience and move on with your life and that's it and you did move on with your life I did a year after his sho

oting Garrett still faced multiple surgeries and painful rehab he was back at work as a personal trainer at the gym he owned and that's where he met Issa she was also a client of mine that I was the personal trainer to so while we were first training she said you know I really like you we like to date you and I said well I have a rule I don't date clients so Issa quit the gym and she came back saying okay well I'm not in your gym anymore I'm not your clients so let's date they married in Decembe

r of 2002 2 years after the shooting maybe the happiness brought along by Garrett's second wife made it easier to get along with his first Claudia the anger that had marked their divorce had faded we're back to our visitation schedule again back to shared custody and we're on speaking terms and we're actually friendly it was about 18 months after Garrett was shot when detectives got that lucky break in an unrelated case San Bernardino Police served a search warrant on a car belonging to a man na

med Miguel Kos they were looking for drugs but they found something else under the spare tire in curro's trunk it was a photograph of Garrett Warren with a circle drawn on it and Garrett's home address which very few people knew so detectives showed Garrett a six-pack a photo lineup that included a photo of Miguel Kos I'm looking at the pictures in and I say by all means that's the guy I recognize that's the guy that shot you yep no doubt in your mind no doubt in my mind in 2003 detectives arres

ted Miguel Kos for attempted murder he was neither a gang banger nor a Hired Gun instead he owned a pizza parlor Sheriff's detective mark gimon it seem like he was your middle class very nice guy that everybody in the community loved and yet G was identifying him as the shooter yes other than Garrett's ID of Kos there was nothing to suggest they had ever met they'd ever done any business deal before no Caro's connected in any way to the gym no any chance that he was driving a car near Garrett th

at night no none whatsoever so what their connection was or why Mr Kos would kill him not clear yeah there was no Direct contion whatsoever and as detectives soon learned proving an attempted murder charge against Miguel Kos wouldn't be easy multiple Witnesses said they saw and spoke to KIRO at his pizza parlor on the night of the shooting these Witnesses weren't really beholden to Mr Kiros in any way they weren't members of his family they were just customers yes they were they were frequent cu

stomers of that establishment plus he had the receipts you know he hand writes on on him so it was pretty good eliis and so at Ciro's preliminary hearing evidence pointed both ways Witnesses put KIRO nearly 80 miles away from the scene of the crime on the night it happened but then why did Kos have Garrett's picture hidden in his car how and why would Garrett finger Kos as the shooter hon Chan was the deputy district attorney brought in from the major crimes unit and he knew he had more work to

do you got a guy stopped for drug charges right he's got a map hidden in his car of somebody who was nearly a murder victim sure and a photograph of that guy right and the guy picks him out right so you think what's the question aren't there people on death row for less than that sometimes there's more to a story than meets the eye which is the case here when we come back investigators discover a picture of Garrett Warren and the man he accused of shoo shooting him this is one of those Stranger

Than Fiction kind of things certainly nobody would write a script like this when dat line [Music] continues fade in Los Angeles County California Garrett Warren was gunned down shot four times in his own home but somehow survived it fit his character really a Hollywood Stunt Man martial artist and former fighter not only did he survive but he was able to identify a shooter a man who'd been caught with what looked like a h note in his car and they tell you his name is Miguel Kiros yes that name m

ean anything to you not at the time at all it sounded at first like a strong case but the more law enforcement and prosecutor hon Chan investigated the weaker it seemed to become so you've done a lot of work and mostly what you've done is help prove your defendant's Alibi sure so far right and eventually really prove The Alibi that he didn't do this remember multiple Witnesses put Miguel KIRO about 80 miles away from Garrett's home on the night of the shooting and then like a scene from Columbo

came this latest twist something the prosecutors saw during a court hearing I'm noticing some things first of all Mig aliro is Left-Handed the shooter was described by the witnesses the victim and his mother as right-handed and that's a little odd odd because what left-handed person would try to commit murder with the gun in his right hand that's like out of a movie yeah it's out of a movie right the script writer might do something like that but real life this doesn't happen it didn't make any

sense and then prosecutor Chun saw this photo taken at a party a barbecue in this photo you have Garrett Warren and he is facing Miguel Kos and they're kneeling down their children are in front of them we can tell from the scar on Garrett Warren's face underneath the left ear that this is post shooting we can tell from the ages of those children as well as the Lakers championship t-shirt that Mr Kos is wearing that this is very shortly after the shooting the two men were both guests at the same

party after the shooting but before Garrett made his eyewitness ID of Kos so you think this is where Garrett knew Miguel KIRO from right you think that's why he identified him as the shooter cuz he remembered him from this party right classic transference to both the prosecutor and to Garrett the photo explained the ID and for some reason when I saw him in the photo lineup it clicked and I said that must be him I recognize him and obviously it wasn't him so Garrett was wrong in picking Kos as th

e man who shot him and that left prosecutors with two questions who did shoot Garrett and since he had Garrett's photo and address in his trunk could KIRO still somehow be involved prosecutor Honan began to rethink the case the defense attorneys agreed that we could talk to Mr Kos and they let us talk to him and the detectives and I keep coming back to this hit note to where it's found he doesn't know Garrett Warren because remember their interaction was very brief at that barbecue detectives ke

pt after Kira they knew that whoever ordered the hit really wanted Garrett Warren dead because here's one more twist the postmark on the note is from after the shooting meaning that it's not so much a hit note as a note explaining to someone how to go back and finish the job it's a rehit if you want to call it that that finished the job note says Chan started to unravel the mystery that was really kind of what broke the case open that was quite frankly the lifeline we had on this case the one un

avoidable piece of evidence that finally cracked Miguel Kiros we go back round and round about this and finally he admits that he was one of the middlemen Miguel Kos admitted that while he wasn't the shooter he was in on the plot and that he was C by his own carelessness he explained that that hit note had been sent uh directly to him that he had put it under the spare tire in the trunk of his car and literally he said he had forgotten about it so the reason you ended up finding that hit note un

der the spare tire in the trunk of Mr kiro's car was that he put it there for safekeeping and then forgotten it this is one of those Stranger Than Fiction kind of things certainly nobody would write a script like this because they would have to kind of look at any self-respecting director or producer would have the look that you're having in any kind of Hollywood movie and saying come on that's uh that's ridiculous but people forget things disorganized crime yeah luckily for prosecutors Miguel K

IRO had not sworn a blood oath to never rat on his friends quite the opposite he rolled over like Lassie and cut a deal he agreed to wear a wire and help collect evidence on his co-conspirators and so as they say around here the plot [Music] thickened coming up the world's worst hit man I apologize I'm not a good shot just get the gun or whatever and we'll finish it off if that's what you need when Date Line [Music] continues fade in Los Angeles County nighttime a police informant wears a wire a

s he talks to a partner in crime I don't got to worry about you and you don't got to worry about me yeah you know what I'm like that the informant Miguel Kos he's the pizza parlor owner turned smalltime drug dealer and the man found with a hit note in his car targeting Garrett Warren now he was cooperating with investigators detectives already knew Kos wasn't the shooter hero told them the man who actually pulled the trigger was an old friend of his named Jorge Hernandez heard here disect long y

ou don't say nothing I don't say nothing as part of his deal with prosecutors KIRO wore a body wire and approached Hernandez at a party KIRO said he hired Hernandez for $10,000 to kill Garrett Warren on the tape Hernandez makes clear that he didn't waste any of that money on Transportation I use my own car Hernandez can be heard saying that he's sorry he didn't manage to kill Garrett Warren I AP I'm not a good shot and Hernandez made clear he was ready to try again just get the guns or whatever

we finish it off speaking to prosecutor H Chan KIRO explained his own involvement that he' been paid to hire Hernandez as a Hitman and he explained where the tray lad Mr Kiros told you that he didn't do it but that he was in on the planning right and that he did it at the beest of his friend Manuel Harrow correct Manny Harrow was Miguel kiro's longtime friend they worked together in the pizza business and in the drug business and if the last name Harrow sounds familiar it should Manny's sister C

laudia is Garrett Warren's ex-wife prosecutor ch joh says that explains Mr Harrow's involvement Emanuel Harrow was doing this for his sister Claudia who was married to Garrett who was once married to Garrett but was at the time going through a very contentious divorce on a scale of 1 to 10 this was an 11 this was about custody of their daughter this was about custody of the daughter uh exactly and uh she had a lot of antipathy that was expressed towards Garrett Warren she said you were going to

bleed right yep generally when one spouse says to the other you're going to bleed it's a sign there are bad times to come you're right prosecutors believed they were beginning to understand the outlines of the plot to kill Garrett Warren infuriated by a bitter custody battle they believed Claudia Harrow had set it all in motion but proving that wouldn't be easy investigators began by looking at how Claudia might have persuaded her brother to get involved in a murder detectives arrested Jorge Her

nandez and Manny har and charged them with attempted murder and conspiracy when they questioned Manny they learned about a secret of his that might explain why Manny would want Garrett Warren dead I really didn't really talk about me getting molested until I was at least 22 probably Manny told investigators he'd been molested as a child and remember Manny's sister Claudia during her divorce from Garrett Warren claimed that Garrett had molested their daughter those allegations were thoroughly inv

estigated a judge said they were unfounded but now investigators had to consider another plot twist because of something else Manny said that not only had he been molested but that the only other person in the world who knew about that secret was his sister Claudia being that I been through certain things in my childhood as far as like molestation and my S my sister was the only when I confided in told her about my you know the molestation thing that happened to me when I was younger had Claudia

manipulated Manny by telling him only part of the story did she let you know that the judge you know someone independent in her child husy case had found that the allegations that she was making against Garrett were false did she ever tell you that she I never asked and she never told me so I think she knew how to hit the nerve that he was molesting her so I think she knew it was hting n that way cuz I never really talked about Manny said his sister's exact language was that she wanted Garett t

aken out I don't I'm almost use a word murder or kill but it's like me telling you I want you to take him out you know what that means and that slang means take him out mean kill Manny Harold a small time criminal was the finger of guilt straight at his sister an actress and mother who'd been married to Hollywood stardom and who had never had a problem with the law it was hard to believe except maybe for the intended victim of the murder plot who believed Claudia was behind it from the GetGo I k

new there's only one person that wanted this done to me he felt that way even as the investigation pointed in every other direction until finally 5 years after after the shooting detectives arrested Claudia Harrow I did think to myself you know thank God you know finally I don't feel crazy anymore but he was in for another shock prosecutors did not feel the case was strong enough because Manny Harrow had not agreed to testify against Claudia and the DA's office declined to file charges I'm think

ing you probably hated that yes but that's not the worst of it I was proud to call Geral and tell him guess what I've arrested Claudia Haro for hiring a Hitman to kill you and then you got to call him back and say you're not going to believe it but I'm I got to let her go 48 hours after detectives arrested Claudia she was back on the street completely free once again but I guaranteed him that uh I would not stop what would it take to write a new ending to this story with a new role for the beaut

y that investigators believed was their f fatal or would Claudia Harrow Escape prosecution simply by denying she'd been involved the bottomline principle is this lying isn't just about saying the words and mouthing the words the words have to make sense and and when they don't make sense um you're going to have a problem lying's tougher than people think it is oh it's a lot tougher than people think it is coming up it's your day in the llight hi go this do you know who shot G War I don't know do

you know why he was sh no I don't know when dat line [Music] continues closeup Claudia Harrow she once played a show girl in a gangster movie once was married to a legendary movie Gangster now she was accused of hiring a Hitman in real life Sheriff's detectives arrested her but prosecutor hon Chun did not file charges and Claudia was turned loose Chun felt he needed stronger evidence I did not think there was a fiable case at that point but Claudia's brother Manny changed that he took a plea de

al from prosecutors and finally agreed to testify against his sister at some point does somebody approach you about doing something killing somebody yes okay my sister Claudia approached me cl har approached me that made the difference detectives rearrested Claudia Harrow this time the prosecutor charged her with two counts of attempted murder and one of conspiracy to commit murder Claudia denied everything do you know who shot G Warren I don't know do you know why he was sh no I don't know but

while there was evidence enough to charge Claudia was there enough to convict her you got Mr kiro's admission right and you got Mr har and Mr Hernandez on tapate right but you don't have anything proving that Claudia Harrow set this in motion we have the motive the contentious divorce proceedings we uh have the timing of this because uh what happens is that the judge finds the child abuse allegations to be false on April 12th I believe of 2000 the hit occurs about a month and a week after that o

n May 20th of 200 okay but all of that's circumstantial I agree I agree but soon there was more prosecutors said the handwriting on the hit note matched Claudia Harrow's and when prosecutors compared samples of Claudia's letters to Garrett with the hitn notes they noticed the misspelling of this word Agora as in Agora Hills the location of Garrett Warren's home on the hit note found in kiro's car and in Claudia's letters the word is misspelled the exact same way a u g o r a Claudia insisted she

had never given any notes or maps to Miguel Kos did you ever give him anything in paperwork no not that I can think of and know so if we had say someone's address written in your handwriting I don't know not for me I don't know she claimed to know very little about what her brother Manny Harrow might have been too why would your brother who never even met Garrett want him killed I don't know that's not I why would he tell us that you're the one that asked him to be killed and helped arrange it I

don't know did you ever give your brother a large amount of money no any am whatsoever I think I ever had a large amount of money as we said every every Hollywood Story eventually comes back to money if Claudia Harrow paid somebody 10 grand to ice Garrett Warren where did she get the cash detectives took a good look at her other ex-husband tough guy actor Joe peshi remember that party snapshot of Garrett and middleman Miguel Kos along with their kids that was taken at the Hollywood Hills Home o

f Joe pesy we actually interviewed Joe pesi and uh we just wanted to ask if he gave her large sum of money at that time he denied that he ever gave her a large amount of money then there was no evidence to indicate that he had any involvement Claudia Harrow said she wanted to do an interview with us but we were not able to speak with her in jail we spoke with her defense attorney Tom mesero best known for successfully defending Michael Jackson the picture that's drawn of her is sort of this veng

eful woman who would stop at nothing to keep her daughter away from her ex-husband whoever gave you that information doesn't know Claudia Harrow meso says that if Claudia is guilty of anything it is of having a career criminal for a brother I believe Manny Harrow was angry about being abused and molested as a child he was desperate to maintain his street credibility as a drug dealer and then when he got caught he tried to blame it on his sister to try and gain freedom for himself not only that h

e said but those hitn notes allegedly written by Claudia I am convinced these are forgeries Claudia never wrote any hypn note to anybody nobody ever talked to her about whacking someone or murdering someone or shooting someone mesero was ready with those arguments and more and who knows what a jury might have done remember the movie my cousin Vinnie where Joe peshy played a lawyer who got his client acquitted of murder charges well this movie didn't end that way on the eve of trial Claudia Harro

w decided not to fight the charges she pleaded no contest to two counts of attempted murder she received a sentence of 12 years and 4 months Claudia's friend Julie the deal she was offered she'll be out in 8 years and she gets to see her daughter grow up and that's why she took it and at her sentencing Joe peshy showed up to support his ex-wife as for the others Miguel Kos and Manny Harold took deals KIRO got a 3-year suspended sentence in return for his cooperation Harrow was sentenced to life

in prison with the possibility of parole he was released in June 2017 The Hired gunman Jorge Hernandez was tried and convicted on charges of attempted murder and conspiracy he's serving a sentence of 77 years to life in total Claudia Harrow served just more than 9 years before being granted Parole in August 20 19 if Claudia did Mastermind this attempt at Murder She ended up getting a very good deal Claudia's brother Manny who set it up and the actual shooter both pretty much got maxed out on the

ir sentences the amount of time you spend Behind Bars is nothing to you know what I believe will be eternity afterwards you know and uh I believe that you know we all pay one day no matter what you seem remarkably free of anger I am and everyone should be in this world you know she made a mistake I've made mistakes no one's perfect surprised you shouldn't be that Trifecta of Love Money and murder isn't new to Hollywood neither are stories about beautiful women who turn out to be as tough as a $5

steak and the man who somehow find it in themselves to forgive [Music] them that's all for now I'm Lester Holt thanks for joining us I'm here asking for help it was like hearing a ghost a voice from Beyond the graves there's no way I can go back can she help solve her own so surreal this is something that happens to other people not to you she was a dancer who married a dashing photographer they seemed a perfect family till the bone chilling night she went missing you could see the body underne

ath the snow where was her husband that night my attorney said you don't know the tital wave that's coming towards you do you seems like it's always the husband right isn't that what police usually say except this time they would so sure it's a who done it I have three viable suspects three possible suspects turns out this victim also had a boyfriend and he had a wife everyone starts getting questioned husband boyfriend jealous spouse I said something like I hope she rots in hell so what did hap

pen that snowy night see what you think because the most important clue of all may be the victim's own voice I knew there was a line to draw I'm Lester Holt and this is dline tonight secrets in the snow here's Keith Morris it was cold the night it happened so very cold a night to be inside by a fireplace tucked under a quilt not outside in the Frid of D not way up here 9,000 ft up in the Colorado mountains snow thick already that late November night and with the wind chill 24 below I don't know

enough to to know exactly what happened I'm still trying to figure it out what in God's name was his wife doing walking out into the brutal cold and more to the point what happened to her this middle class married mother of three where did she go without a word to him or her friends you can't imagine that this is happening to you and to your friend she was just plain missing yes she was and it was terrifying Dreadful in the end and his events were about to prove a shocking lesson on what can dwe

ll hidden beneath a person's public skin so this is really a secret thing as far as knowing a lot of it sure everybody has secrets of course Stephanie roller Bruner Secrets lived as she did in a skier's paradise they met at the top of a mountain d Bruner a professional photographer was taking and selling photographs of visiting skiers person has to make a living and fale skiers were it I love taking Wildlife photos and scenics and people say well why don't you sell more of your work that way I s

aid well Buffalo don't carry credit cards you know anyway it was up there on the mountain he spotted this young woman seemed to be conducting some sort of Forestry service survey I skied up to her and I said what are you doing riding parking tickets and she looked up at me and smiled and then she took off her big ski goggles I was stunned and I'm like wow she's beautiful they moved in together right away and when they got married a few years later they eloped they jetted off to Fiji it was so St

ephanie said her friend yeah they kind of just went off and did it they made their home in Silverthorn where Dale's photo business grew and grew when things were really rolling I had several operations in different stat states around the country around 25 uh photographers working Stephanie got a job in County Governor environmental planning department look look at the camera they raised their three young children awesome children the best how smile and life for the Bruner family was it was fanta

stic we traveled we vacationed but it was in her spare moments and hours that Stephanie was truly transformed Ballroom dancer dancing was probably to her what photography is to me our guest star bill it was her passion said her old friend Bill he knows Flo Stephanie Loved To Dance I mean dance was her life she was alive when she danced hardly surprising then that Stephanie and Jennifer were very close too we started a ballroom dance program together pretty soon she had me doing back flips but it

was Dan that led off the whole Cascade of trouble in the fall of 2010 there's an annual fundraiser here in Silverthorn called dancing with the mountain Stars vocal worthies paired with Ballroom Pros did you go oh yeah absolutely I went to well three years of them the last one I did not go to the last one had a wedding to shoot so he missed the chance to watch Stephanie teach those lead-footed businessmen the Fox Trot and the tango and so on which means he also missed what happened that night sh

e coached a number of couples and in the process she met uh a man named Ron Ron Hol house a local married physical therapist she started working with him and got to know him and she really did call it a true love moment and he seemed to feel the same thing about her well yeah they really click together Stephanie is dancing on air she didn't realize that there could be love like that a secret from her family of course but she told her friends she'd found her soulmate it was almost odd how she tol

d a number of us that I I just want you to know that I'm very happy but joy and misery come in pairs sometimes as Thanksgiving approach chaos took over what had been a well-ordered life it was a Wednesday middle of October when things turned and piling up horrendous day for her because well she went to work that day and the county laid off 20 people that very day including Stephanie in fact Stephanie's troubles and her Secrets seemed to pile up like the snow but she was behaving a little bit str

angely a little unpredictable a little bit yeah it was Thanksgiving week that cold dark night not far away from peaceful Silverthorn someone robbed a bank a very rare thing around here Dale was in bed he said when Stephanie announced she was going out to clear her head and then didn't come back the morning Dale called the Silverthorn police I got a phone call from Dale Bruner and just said I wanted to make a report that my wife is missing it was a records Clerk named Veronica Nicholas who took t

he call he said I got the kids up I got him ready for school and I got him on the bus and then I thought I should probably call you guys Stephanie's car was in the driveway said Dale and when he called her cell phone it went to voicemail Veronica called Stephanie's best friend Jennifer I panicked this is something that happens to other people not to you oh but it had happened as the Silverthorn police checked local hotels and hospitals Stephanie's friend scoured her neighborhood it just seemed u

nbelievable that Stephanie would not check in the day became two and then three and some private secrets were about to become very public indeed so where was Stephanie police had a lot of questions for her husband Dale they also wanted to talk to that other man in her life her boyfriend Ron and when we come back they do I just want to ask straight up again not accusing you do you know where Stephanie is right now when dat line continues [Music] all night the bitter cold pried at the windows and

licked under the door frames of the Bruner house here in Silverthorne Colorado hardly a night to take a walk certainly not an all night walk had she hurt herself or had someone else hurt her it wasn't like Stephanie roller Bruner to just disappear it seemed more likely that it might be a stranger that might be involved or that Stephanie herself might have just run off in Despair and and and maybe hurt herself Stephanie's friends and family poured over those last few weeks so full of change and s

ecrecy turmoil were there clues of course some knew about Stephanie's relationship with that new man and how upset she was about losing her job still she seemed to be holding the trouble at Bay six weeks before she disappeared as Dale recalled she suggested a little family holiday she says it let's go to Glenwood Springs for the weekend old classic wonderful place and it was almost romantic said Bale just like the old days but when they got back she gave him the news she goes I I want a divorce

I said we you don't love me anymore she goes I've met this other person and she even said it's not that I don't love you but I think I love I think I've met my soulmate again and just like that Dale's world came crashing down I called called her brother I called her sisters I called her mom I said do you know what's going on do you know what's happening he talked to her sister Ramon I remember during the phone call feeling really annoyed like why are you calling me to try and sway me to your sid

e but then by the time the phone call ended I remember thinking yeah what is Steph doing he begged Stephanie's friend Jennifer do something you got to talk some sense into her you know you got to make her see that she needs to stay with me you had no ankling that this was coming no not until she told me that she was in love with somebody helplessly in love she told him fell for her other men that night dancing with the mountain Stars I go back to the day that I asked St if I should shoot that we

dding or not and I didn't go to the event with her I wasn't going to be dancing with her on a big important night for her it was a curiously old-fashioned Affair apparently Stephanie told her friends her feelings were not so much physical as pure and emotional but she made it clear to Dale that even though she still loved him she had no choice but to follow these powerful feelings and make a life for that new man they said if this is what you want this is what you want they would share the child

ren of course Dale at the Family House Stephanie in a rented condo the weekend before she disappeared he helped her move out why that to do that she asked me to help isn't that what you do I didn't fall out of love with her I still loved her and then middle of the night her very first night away D says he woke up to a commotion downstairs it was Stephanie she crawled right back into bed with him she had come home wow she said this was all a horrible mistake and that she she wanted to move back i

n and I said are you sure she said don't worry everything's fine but now just 2 Days Later things were not not fine not at all Stephanie was missing and Dale was down at the police department telling officers where he thought his wife might have gone I thought she would go somewhere with her uh Wi-Fi and be on the computer and my other guest was maybe she went to you know Ron's house I didn't know the police interviewed the other man of course Ron Hol house I just want to ask straight up again n

ot accusing you do you know where Stephanie is right now I absolutely have no idea wa Miss Ron admitted he and Stephanie had a romantic relationship but he denied they ever slept together then Ron told them something very interesting that he had ended the affair it was the night she moved into the condo he told them he said to Stephanie it was over I said I'm going to move to Florida with my wife we're going to try to go back to Naples and make this work do you have any reason to believe that an

ything bad man happened to her that would be my worst fear but Thanksgiving Day came went no Stephanie an overstretched local police force called in the Colorado Bureau of Investigations Greg Sedar was the agent who answered the call soon he was standing beside the shallow Blue River starring at what looked like a lump of snow and some rocks there was several inches of snow on top of her and uh you could see the body underneath the snow it was Stephanie all right but how did she get here coming

up the autopsy finding that surprised everyone had Stephanie been murdered it's a who done it I had at least three viable suspects any one of whom had potential motive absolutely when dat line continues it was perplexing almost that a thing so awful could happen in the midst of such beauty here in the Frid Rushing Water of the Blue River 3 and 1 half days after she disappeared they found Stephanie roller Bruner nude but for a tiedyed shirt that still come to her body she'd come to rest against a

tumble of snow covered rocks just a little bit farther beyond that where the water gets calm when we located her her remain just over by that second vent there yes sir she hadn't gone far agent Greg sadar of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation how far from her house uh rough guess off the top of my head three 350 yards the news spread fast today investigators say that they have found a body yeah that was a pretty bad day your heart drops let's find out what happened to her along with humongous

Sadness the County coroner broke the news to Dale they said Dale we need to tell you something and I'm like what and uh I just went into convulsions but how did she get here was it suicide accident or murder there's a bridge just Upstream from the place they found Stephanie's body Dale told police she often liked to walk there she could have been attacked on this bridge and shoved over that was one of our early fears or that she just simply committed suicide jumped in the water hit her head and

that was that that was also another legitimate consideration so that's the puzzle it is until 4 days after Thanksgiving when the autopsy revealed a curious detail one that seemed to rule out suicide there was no wounds at all to The Souls of her feet what did that mean well that certainly means that she did not want walk uh to where we had found her without shoes and just in case there was any lingering diary the autopsy also revealed she'd taken a Blow To The Head and then she'd been strangled

but was still alive when she was thrown into the freezing water the ultimate cause of death hypothermia and drowning well we knew at that point she had been murdered first murder in Silverthorn in decades but who would do such a thing why it was just hours before Stephanie took her walk in this virtually crime-free community that somebody robbed that nearby Bank so did the robber later encounter Stephanie and then assault and kill her this is where a predator could could have been hiding out yo

u there's any number of opportunities at that point still it was so cold perhaps too cold for a lurking Predator this is one of those very few cases where it's a a who done it if you will and where you've got I had at least three viable suspects any one of whom had potential motive absolutely there was Ron Hol housee the other man who had just suddenly dumped Stephanie there was Cindy Ron's wife who if she knew about the affair could have wanted revenge and then there was dale dale Bruner the hu

sband and any one of them thought the detective was certainly physically capable of committing the crime her husband uh 6 foot 200 lb very athletic guy and Mr hos a big strong guy his wife uh was actually a very physically fit woman so she'd be uh outgunned by any one of them I would believe so yes sir they took Ron in for questioning several times and again and again he insisted it wasn't him I screwed up my marriage I made a mess of my life he admitted that in the last hours of Stephanie's lif

e he met her here in this clothing store parking lot around dinner time and it wasn't a happy meeting I was actually trying to tell her that it was over he'd earlier sent her a breakup email he said she insisted on seeing him in person she wasn't taking it well at all and then she said asked me again one more time like but we can make it work I said no I we cannot make this work she was still interested in having a relationship with him and didn't want to let him go correct and I'm sure that he

was motivated to not let his wife find out about that which begged the question where was Ron Hol house later that Monday evening when Stephanie went for her walk you're saying to me you were at home you never went out on Monday night correct the detectiv called in Ron's wife Cindy it would not be unheard of for a woman to be very upset that her to find that her husband has been seeing another woman and want to go to significant lengths by eliminating that Temptation her Alibi she was home sleep

ing right next to Ron okay did you know you know for sure was in the house me time that night I can't sitting uping at him think so their aliis were each other detectives kept [Music] proding [Music] anything for almost a month detectives went back and forth between Ron and Cindy and Stephanie's husband Dale who by that time had been advised by a friend better get a lawyer so I called and my attorney said you don't know the onslaught the Title Wave that's coming towards you do you you have no id

ea I said no apparently not oh yes and what a Title Wave it was so three potential suspects the husband Dale the boyfriend Ron and Ron's wife Cindy when we returned police narrow their focus to just one after a very strange Discovery every trace of her had been scrubbed from the house when dat line continues it's horrible I mean it's I I I I don't even know how how to explain having a microscope go into your world it's surreal there are few secrets in a person's life that can escape the attentio

n of a determined homicide detective everything comes out absolutely everything and Dale and Stephanie it turned out had their share of Secrets but the weird thing one chilly morning 6 weeks before Stephanie was murdered as Stephanie told her friend Jennifer she heard spanking and um she she told me she counted at least eight spanks before she got up the stairs and down the hall to the kitchen well my boy was acting out far Beyond you know the norm and I said come on that was a Wednesday morning

Stephanie was Furious about this spanking and stormed off to work and that very day was laid off from her County Job and then still upset with Dale Stephanie went to see a judge and filed a restraining order against him sought advice from her friend Bill honestly I was I was a little bit surprised I had never detected any major problems in their relationship but and this was dis distinctly odd she asked the court to delay implementing the order until the following Monday and then she went home

and said Dale suggested that family holiday we had a a wonderful weekend at the at the hotel Colorado and hot springs swimming with the kids but then back in town is when Stephanie revealed one that she was in love with another man and two her restraining order was about to be served she told me that uh you know the sheriff's was going to come to the house and I'm going to have to leave so he did after which that Dale they calmed down and 10 days later went back to ask the judge to resend his or

der the court recorded the session I'm never going to spank again this this potentially could crush my entire world and I'm so sorry to you and I will make it up in any and every way I possibly can she wanted to leave but she felt like the restraining order was was too much that M Dale didn't deserve that and that maybe she had overreacted and so they talked about it like adults and eventually they signed divorce papers and Dale even helped Stephanie move into her condo where as you know the ver

y night she moved in her new love Ron told her the affair was over they weren't going to be together not then not ever he was staying with his wife two days later she was dead and Ron and his wife and Dale were all under suspicion they they said I was a person of interest I didn't think I had any worries but agent SAR wasn't so sure as his investigation continued he became convinced that Ron Hol house and his wife Cindy had been telling him the truth I feel awful I really feel but he kept encoun

tering suspicious things about Dale why had Dale waited until morning to report his wife missing and why while Dale's friends and family scoured the town looking for her why didn't he take part at all it was kind of this mounting series of of things that we started to be concerned about and it was Dale said Sedar who had motive and opportunity for one thing the place they found her body Dale could certainly have carried her that far and we were struck by how close it is to the house and uh how a

ccessible it was even under those those snowy conditions yeah and Wale was still talking before he lawyered up his demeanor seemed odd to the detective one of their meetings at a local restaurant was recorded what happened to her then well that's what I'm talking to you about very very probative he wanted to know what we had learned from the autopsy U where we were going with the investigation a when you said there's no other clothes on her I going Li you I have some concerns I'm being very open

and honest with you happened to her I mean that's what I'd like to find out he was nervous but not outwardly sad and then two weeks after the murder when detective seder got a search warrant a house that had been cluttered at the time of the murder was now spotless what you find this time nothing there was nothing to find there were no signs of blood no evidence of any struggle nor in fact was there any sign that Stephanie had ever lived there there wasn't a single photograph of her every trace

of her had been scrubbed from the house it also seem suspicious said the detective that Dale changed his story a bit first time he called the police he said they'd had an argument before she left to go out walking later he said there was no argument was there an argument we never had an argument it was no argument it was just the facts were on the table what we guys talking about clear head we were just talking about within a few weeks of Stephanie's murder the state ramped up the pressure on D

ale Social Services sent the Bruner children to live with Stephanie's brother in California I I'm in a a fight with Mike Tyson with no gloves and then they're taking to take my kids away too Dale wasn't completely alone mind you some family stayed around reported back to Stephanie's sister Ramona that Dale was truly grieving well we kept asking what is Dale acting like what is he saying unless he's some kind of actor that deserves some kind of Oscar performance this guy really seems distraught a

nd Stephanie's friend Bill even moved in for two months to help out conso Dale we were just trying to hold Dale together he was having a very difficult time did you ever either confront him or say on tell us what happened looked every one of us in the eye and said I had nothing to do with this I'm innocent you talking all about investigators only focusing on you I hope they're investigating someone else didn't look like it it was summer 2011 9 months after Stephanie's murder when it happened I w

as coming back from one of my photo shoots and a a little unmarked car with a a light on it flashed and a siren went and they have guns drawn on me Dale Bruner was charged with second degree murder in the death of his wife he pleaded not guilty posted Bond and was offered a plea deal by the DA's office why' you turn it down cuz innocent people don't play besides now said Dale it was time to fight back coming up probing questions and provocative answers it's a very intimate crime it's the sort of

crime that husbands commit or should I say boyfriends when dat line [Music] [Music] continues two Winters passed here in the Colorado Rockies between the untimely demise of Stephanie roller Bruner and the District Attorney's effort to Pinn the blame on Stephanie's husband Dale and he fumed in Silence about the allegations against him the lies are really tough to take you're like are you you know you just can't believe it you're like really waiting for trial he continued to live here all alone n

ow in the family house by the Blue River working with his attorney in the effort to clear his name Robert Bernhard was the attorney a man not at all impressed he told us with the police investigation their position was I think Dale's the easy guy you know the worst pieces of investigating that I've ever seen in my career that's whatand his attorney told us that despite a show of interviewing other suspects the police quite clearly had made up their minds the very day she disappeared the police c

ame to my house I I don't what the exact first thing he said he goes did you kill your wife and I was just stunned the police didn't seem to want to believe what he told them about how happy he was that last evening discussing new possibilities a fresh start when around 9:00 p.m. their daughter came into the bedroom to ask for help with her homework when she came into the our room we were laying on top of our bed cuddling nor he said did the cop seem to want to believe his explanation for not re

porting Stephanie missing until morning more than 9 hours after she walked out into that frigid night why would he if he was aware of the fact that she was having an affair he probably assumed that she went to her boyfriend the last thing I was going to do is make waves just do what you got to do they made such a big deal of the fact that Dale didn't join the search for Stephanie even though I called the police and they told me stay home in case she comes home so by the time Dale's trial began h

e and his attorney were ready for evidence that was they knew only circumstantial questions like this beaten the way she was beaten on her head and strangled the way she was strangled it's a very intimate crime it's the sort of crime that husbands commit when their wives are about to leave or should I say boyfriends or boyfriends well there you go that was the point his lawyers wanted to make in court that police and prosecutors had unfairly brushed off the possibility that Stephanie's new soulm

ate or his wife and anything to do with it that would be Ron hold house when everybody found out that Stephanie was missing did any police officers come and visit you at work or at your home that day no they did not and didn't Ron's wife Cindy have a motive and I said something like um I don't know where she is but I hope she rots in hell and I'm very sorry I said that of course Dale and his attorney knew the prosecution would make a big deal of that restraining order Stephanie took out after Da

le spanked their son but her decision to ask for that order said Dale sprang from her own confusion the affair the chaos in her life I believe she built a a a fake little world where I was the bad guy but was Stephanie ever worried that Dale might get violent hardly said the defense why else would she ask the judge to delay the order until after their little family holiday the judge said he had never seeing someone have a restraining order but then have them say well don't enact it yet not till

next week and why would she go away on a yoga retreat and decline this friend's offer to babysit can I take care of the kids she said no they're fine with Dale and that's because she knew that Dale wasn't a threat to her he wasn't a threat to those children and remember how the detective found the house unusually spotless 2 weeks after the murder it was turned out family and friends who cleaned up apparently because Dale was paralyzed by grief Dale walks into his walking closet and half of the s

tuff is Stephanie's and he comes out and he's just crying and he's just like I got to get this stuff out of here so it's clearly a rush to judgment a sloppy investigation said the defense by detectives who bought the hold House's Alibi too easily who failed to consider that the murder might have been committed by whoever robbed the nearby Bank just before Stephanie disappeared attorney Bernhard confronted CBI agent Greg sadar you had no direct evidence of Mr Bruner assaulting his wife correct no

direct evidence of of Mr Bruner murdering her of course I deal taken the stand he'd have had to answer to some stubbornly uncomfortable facts and this question that hung over the defense table like a cloud you loved your wife you loved her a lot but in that moment of Extreme Rage when she was leaving you you killed her strangled her and then threw her body in the river that's so not true the theme of the prosecution was that you were an abuser and that you it was a it's beyond so not true it's

just not true they painted quite a picture though oh yes they certainly did with the help of a woman whose message been away came back from the grave coming up Stephanie speaks I'm here ask think for help and so does another voice from the past he had a look on his face that I'd never seen a recognized before What secrets will she reveal when dat line [Music] continues I'm sitting across from a man who may be telling me a true story who may also be living with the knowledge that he HD his wife o

n the head and strangled her and put her in the river and that's where she died and you have to live with that secret fortunately fortunately I don't have to live with that that I don't have to live with what Dale Bruner would have to live with would depend on the outcome of his trial of course and whether or not the prosecutor Mark Herber would persuade the jury without the benefit of physical evidence that Dale killed the love of his life in a fit of blind rage I think Dale Bruner strangles he

r believes that she is dead takes her to the river and dumps her in the river so what did happen on the night of the murder the prosecutor called a child to start the story Dale and Stephanie's eldest daughter the girl who walked into her parents' bedroom around 9:00 p.m. and at 10 years old she could say what happened happened with with specifics out of the view of the media she told the court she heard her parents arguing not cuddling as Dale claimed after which remember Dale claimed Stephanie

went for a walk to clear her head but at temperatures well below freezing you got to be kidding said the prosecutor his wife goes for a walk and he wouldn't call anybody until eight or 9 hours later 10 hours later that just doesn't make any sense which by itself didn't mean Dale was guilty this was where some of those Secrets began to spill out the terrifying secrets of a fatally troubled marriage like the one Stephanie told this friend after that spanking incident when she applied for a restra

ining order did she Express fear to you at the time yes she did and she looked at me and she said he just sees red he gets so mad that he goes into a red zone and he doesn't even know what he does and so said this friend she was afraid to get a restraining order against Dale because he had already threatened to harm or kill her that threat from Dale was years earlier but Stephanie had never forgotten how terrified she was she told the story to her friend Jennifer just before the murder he strong

armed her into a corner choking her threatening to hit her um he stopped short of hitting her but he did and there was another time he threw her on the bed and put his knee on her pregnant belly how often would this happen you know there were maybe three of those in two or three I don't know of those incidents that she talked about then there was Leah Aken lifelong friend of Dale's who told the court about Dale's reaction when Stephanie told him she was in love with another man he just wanted h

er dad you know maybe she would have a heart attack or get hit by a card I kept telling him to stop talking like that did Dale really mean that could he be truly violent consider this woman said the prosecutor an ex-girlfriend from Dale's past woman named Jodie who told the jury and us the strange tale of what Happened One Night when she lived with Dale 20 years ago he hadn't come home for dinner one night and um had said he would be home you called him on it came home we argued about it and he

became very angry uh yelling at me he pushed me down onto the flooor and put his hands around my neck and said if you ever say or do that again I'll kill you he had a look on his face that I'd never seen or recognized before that was the most scared I've ever been in my life and even though that was a long time ago said the prosecutor it told a terrible tale which sadly is as old as time he said was a man sometimes overcome by rage and and his Mo was to go for the throat she was strangled so har

d such force that it broke a bone in her neck and then the prosecutor introduced his bomb show Stephanie herself on tape 6 weeks before her murder Stephanie begged a judge for that restraining order and now in court her recorded plea was a voice from the grave he has threatened my life years ago but you know with a hand on my throat didn't squeeze it screaming in my face I will kill you if you leave that I've never forgotten her sister was sitting in the courtroom listening and was overcome and

that was when we lost it cuz it was feelings of oh my God and she is crying it was as if Stephanie was testifying in her own murder trial I would so love to talk to him about it say can you leave or can you get help and I just think that would go really bad so I'm here asking for help and I'm going to end up getting a divorce cuz there's no way I can go back only she did finally this domestic violence expert weighed in when a a victim is attempting to leave a relationship or has left a relations

hip it is by far the most dangerous time for a victim but what was the trigger that according to the prosecution set Dale off the answer he said May lie in an unfinished email Stephanie was writing to the other man Ron just before she was murdered and though Dale denied he knew what she could doing I honestly didn't know I had no idea the prosecutor said Dale must have seen her writing it an email begging Ron for another meeting because she couldn't accept the idea that her new love was leaving

her I think Dale Bruner got angry at that and hit her with something then he strangles her believes that she is dead she's probably unconscious at that point but she is not dead takes her to the river and dumps her in the river the jury stayed out 4 hours court has reviewed the verdicts it was kind of early which was always worrying Dale Bruner stood awaited his fate you're just trying to maintain and not just melt on the you know so you prepare yourself to Just Breathe just breathe and then the

re it was we the jury find the defendant Dale Bruner guilty of murder in the second degree Dale Bruner was also convicted of two counts of sexual assault and sentenced to a total of 112 years in prison an appeals court vacated the sexual assault conviction and in 2018 Bruner's sentence was reduced to 48 years it is a perfect storm I'm going down with the ship Stephanie's friend Jennifer was driving when the verdict came in I was in my car you know parked on the side of the road crying like a bab

y and like others who knew Stephanie she wishes now she' taken her friend Secrets more seriously I beat myself up over it every day about how I should have done this or should have done that an almost good marriage with one deadly flaw a lot of Stephanie's close friends and family didn't even know what was going on and I knew of a couple of events over the years and let's say it was only two yeah it only took three and she's dead and so say her friends take some advice heed the warning don't hid

e the secret that's why I'm talking about about it now and hopefully just one woman would would have the courage to stand up and say I'm being abused I'm living in fear I'm living with secrets and I need to stand up and be [Music] bold that's all for now I'm Lester Holt thanks for joining us