the prosecutor knew he couldn't use beard to testify against tom. >> even if he came forward and said, "i want to testify now," he had lied so many times. he had lied at his own trial. >> beard had changed his story so much at his own trial that he wouldn't have been a credible witness. >> reporter: tom and his lawyer pounced on that, telling reporters that beard acted on his own. >> this is purely mr. beard's doing, what we do know is that mr. clayton had nothing to do with the death of his wife. >> reporter: and tom's lawyer didn't stop at michael beard. he went after the investigators. he said they had tunnel vision when it came to his client. >> he said, "you'll hear it. u'll hear it from e body cam video." >> she's beat the [ blee] she's beat up. >> you got a suspect? >> the husband. >> the husband? reporter: the lawyer believed everything that followed in the investigation had been poisoned. >> he was simply just being wrongfully accused and police