Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20170902

Phone call, and a fib. I pulled up my phone and im like, thats strange. A killer living two lives. A young mother living on borrowed time. Everything you thought you knew was all a lie. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Andrea canning with the house in the woods borrowed time. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres andrea with the house in the woods. He wasnt exactly sure where the house was or what had happened there, but he knew it was bads. These ones are not fun to do. Finally, he found it down a secluded driveway, a man on the front lawn waiving him in. Whats going on. Hey, im the neighbor. Inside the deputy could see signs of a struggle, blood on the floor. Blood on the wall. Blood on the steps. A broken wall. Searched the house. The kids room. This one is clear. Let me check this last room. The trail led to this, to someone in a little room just beyond the stairs. Beyond all hope now. Oh, my god. Yes. The house in the woods was home to kelly and her two adorable children. Kelly was a hometown girl raised right here in the region of new york state. When you grow up here, it actually took for me to move away and go to college and come back before i appreciated how pretty it is. Andrea is kellys best friend. They grew up together near all mie ra new york. She says it was as if the land bred a sweetness into kelly, maybe a little tartness too. After all, mark twain also lived here. How did you see her sense of humor. She was very goofy. Always happy. Always trying to have fun. She was sar castic. Witty. What did you think when you heard that. I was sad, but i was sad and i was like oh miff god, go. Youre so brave. Do it now. Did you see her off. Absolutely. She parked at her moms house and i remember running down the street. Did you have parting words or advice for her when she left. I have a photo of husband hugging. Its such a sad photo for me. The saddest day of my life. Kelly came home to visit often enough including christmas of 2003. By then, there was a new attraction, a Minor League Hockey team. My mom, and sister and i were at a hockey game and this player gets checked into the boards and his helmet comes off and all three of us were like wow, hes pretty cute. Kellys mom, we general joyed watching the game. He was fun. He was tom clayton, served as the instigator. The guy who starts fight, but he and kelly locked eyes, it was game over. She met him that weekend. She met the bad boy. Yes, she did. Was it instant for them. Yes, it was. They were married about two years later. After that came the kids. A girl and a boy. Tom traded in his hockey skates for work boots to run a Home Restoration business. Now andrea had her best friend home plus tom. What did you love about him. He was very generous. He would shower her with things. We had a mutual friend who he and his wife passed away in a car accident and tom immediately called me and was like we have to do this. Lets do fundraiser. We did and he was like a brother. Almost ten years into the marriage, kelly still gushed about her tom. Just talking about hes the greatest guy. I hit the jackpot with him. Did that make your happy hearing that. Yes, it did. Greg and linda got to know the millers well over the years. Hosted poker games with tom as a frequent guest. Occasionally called him hockey puck. One thing the millers didnt envy about the claytons. Its out in the middle of nowhere. We said we could never live in the woods like that. Just being out in the woods is scary enough sometimes, you know what i mean. No one remembers kelly feeling uncomfortable, even at night. Even alone. Except for one evening in late september 2015. Andrea was chatting on tb phone. She wasnt her usual happy self. She was like, all right. Im tired good night. All right. Leave me alone pretty much. Why was it odd she might want to go to bed early one night. I think she was really stressed out, but she didnt she was a night owl. She stayed up. Her kids stay up late, you know. Neither, of course, was what followed. Sir, you need to calm down so i can help you okay. Whats your name. My name is tom. Tom clayton was on the phone to 911. Something about his wife. She wasnt breathing. How long has she been down. I dont know, i dont know. I just got home. The clayton home, tucked down a pocket of a long dark road. It would never be home again. What had happened . When we come back. I felt there was something wrong here. That maybe this isnt medical. There was something more to it. I said wheres your wife and he pointed to the kitchen area and thats when i walked around. Oh, okay. The all new 2018 camry. Toyota. Lets go places. With no artificial preservatives hot doin all of our meat. And no added nitrates or nitrites. In every. Single. One. So, fire up the grill before summers over, and finish summer strong with oscar mayer. Tand, our adulte children are here. So, we save by using tide. Which means we use less. Three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. Those are moms. Anybody seen my pants . Nothing cleans better. Put those on dad its got to be tide. Whats new from light and fit . Greek nonfat yogurt with zero artificial sweeteners. Real fruit and 90 calories. Youll be wowed try new light fit with zero artificial sweeteners. Hi. Lookthe whole fam. Hooked they sure did guywhousedtoaskifyoucould hearhimnowwithverizon . Or just paul. Weve been up here for ages. You should switch to sprint like i did. Nowadays, every network is great but with sprint, youre not paying a ton for unlimited or overages. Thanks, paul. Works for me daddy, can we switch to sprint . I dont feel too good. Dont get hooked by verizon and let a 1 difference in Network Reliability cost you twice as much. Switch to sprint unlimited 22. 50 per month per line for four lines. For people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay. Com car accidents, drug overdoses. Those are the kind of emergency calls he responds to. The one he and his partner got after midnight on september 29, 2015. That was a first. How long has she been down. I dont know, i dont know. I just got home. We received a dispatch from 911 center. Unknown possible medical center. I responded i did not feel i felt there was something wrong here. Why. Just cop intuition. That maybe this wasnt medical. Yes. There was something more to it. It just seemed that way. His instinct proved right. Still he did not expect what cam next. This is footage from the body camera he was wearing that night. Arrived to find a man outside coming towards him. It was the neighbor. How are you doing . Im okay. Whats going on . Tom just came im the neighbor. He just came and got me out of bed. Hes right in the house. What happened. I went in and located mr. Clayton. He was down on his knees bobbing up and down. Visibly upset and in the hallway between hallway and the Transition Area between the hallway and the dining room. Anybody else in the house tom . Just you . I said where is your wife and he pointed to the kitchen area. Thats when i walked around and located the victim on the kitchen floor. Oh. Okay. It was toms wife kelly. Right away the deputy knew she had been murdered. What did you see. The victim. There was blood. Blood spatter on walls, ceiling, victim had blood pooling around her head. Tom. Where were you when this all went down . Playing pool with my buddies. Tom said he had just come home from a poker game to find kelly dead on the floor. Her sevenyearold charlie saying something about a break in. I came home and my daughter said there was a robber in the house and she saw him. I want you to have a seat. You dont need to see this anymore. Kids were home. Kids were home. When i got on scene he had taken them to the neighbor. The officer led tom to his patrol car. Come on. Well get you a water. Take it easy bud. Take it easy. Come over here tom. I just want you to have a seat so we can talk to you. All right. Take it easy. Youre not in trouble. Just sit right down. Im going to leave the door open. Sit right there and relax. Then the deputy and his partner went back inside the house to make sure the killer wasnt still hiding inside. The kids room, this one is clear. As they searched, guns drawn, it became clear how the crime unfolded. Blood all over up here. From what i could see, the attack started in the main bedroom, went out into the hallway. Looked like a fight ensued. Pictures knocked off the wall. Then theres a landing. Stairs go straight down. A big hole in the wall where a body part had gone in the wall and broke the wall. I knew from my experience, training that okay, this started up here and worked its way down here. She was fighting. She was fighting, yes. She was fighting. Next, they searched the basement and the rest of the house. I dont see any blood around here at all. Okay. Nothing there. Were you able to clear the house. Did youd fid you find a robber evidence of an intruder. We cleared the house and found nobody in the house. No sign of forced entry, but when they went into the garage, they realized how the killer might have gotten in and out. Side door to the garage was opened with the inner door opened that goes to a laundry room. That door from the laundry room to the kitchen was also open. By then, more officers had arrived and tom clayton outside by a police car was still a mess. Come on over here and sit down. Thats what im saying, you want to sit down somewhere. Come on. I said calm down. Sit down. Relax. Just tell him we need you to stick around and talk to you find out what happened here. To find out what happened, theyd have to go to another house where one of the countys top lawmen was about to perform one of the most difficult interviews of his career. It took me personally a long time to work through in my own mind and it stayed with me quite a while. Coming up. A kiechild witness. A chilling suspicion. I just remember cory walking up and down. Something is not right. Something is not right. When dateline continues. Now, boost your regimen with Olay Regenerist concentrate. First you start with this. These guys. A place like shhh no. Found it and definitely lipton ice tea. Lots of it. A lipton meal is what you bring to it. And the refreshing taste of lipton iced tea. And then there are paint projects. S. With labor day saving you can save on both. Right now get our lowest prices of the season. With 10 off of 1gallon cans, and 40 off 5gallon buckets. The home depot. More saving. More doing. We dont just want to watch games cable gives us. We want all the teams, no matter where we live with directv nfl sunday ticket. We want falcons in new york. Jets in la. Bears in new orleans. Or buccaneers in a quaint, little new england bed and breakfast. Can you please pass the marmalade, charlie . I sure can, crazy pirate. Switch to directv and get every game, every sunday with nfl sunday ticket. Call 1800directv. Outer layer of your enamel tooth surface. White, the thing thats really important to dentists is to make sure that that enamel stays strong and resilient for a lifetime the more that we can strengthen and reharden that tooth surface, the whiter their patients teeth are going to be. Dentists are going to really want to recommend pronamel strong and bright. It helps to strengthen and reharden the enamel. It also has stain lifting action. Its going to give their patients the protection that they need and the whiter teeth that they want. Reporter kelleys sister kim raced to the scene. Shed gotten the call, kelley had been hurt badly. So its pitch black. And all you see are new york state trooper cars, sheriff cars, Corning Police cars. I see ambulances. All these lights. Oh, god, wheres my sister . I first run to the ambulance, because i think theyre going to be working on my sister. Im like, wheres my sister . Where is she . Reporter police explained the awful truth, kelley was dead. We were screaming, wailing. I mean, i was throwing up on the side of the road. You cant believe shes dead. I mean, its, like, its inconceivable that she could be dead. They wouldnt let you see kelley either, right . No. They just kept saying, kim, you dont want to see her. Was your first instinct that maybe there was some kind of a Home Invasion . Yes, it was. Some stranger. Yes, it was. Reporter kelleys best friend got a call from kims husband corey. And my dad drove me there. And by the time i got there, everyone was there. I just remember corey clenching, keep clenching his fists, and walking up and down the road the whole time. Somethings not right. Somethings is not right. Something doesnt add up. And we were all just so confused. They wouldnt tell us anything. Nothing, you knew nothing. Nothing. Can one of you stay with him . Thats the husband. Reporter one comfort, officers told the family that kelleys children were safe at a neighbors house. They didnt mention what the eldest, charlie, had been through. She saw everything. And she saw it happen. Reporter Steuben County sheriff jim allard interviewed the 7yearold that night. He was astonished by her poise and bravery as she gave him the details of what had happened. Her story begins that she was in her room playing on her tablet, and she said she heard, mommy, yelling run, charlie run, repeatedly screaming it. Run, charlie, run. Mommy got to her door and got the door closed. Then she heard more commotion. She opened, went into the hallway, followed the commotion down the hallway to the steps and to the kitchen and observed mommy fighting with what she termed as the robber. She got up and pantomimed for me of a person standing over another person with an object in their hand, striking that person that was on the ground. And she described the object as a cylinder that the robber, as she kept calling him, used. Reporter she went on to give the sheriff a detailed description of the socalled robbers appearance. She described the person to me as a male wearing jeans and a dark shirt and a mask. And i officially asked her, you keep saying its a man. How do you know its a man . And she told me, because of his eyes. And i said, well, what about his eyes let you know its a man . She said, his eyes are just like daddys. So then i stood up and i said, how tal was the guy . Was he taller than me or was he shorter than me . She said, he was same height as daddy. And i said, okay. And then i said, how much did he weigh . Does he was he heavier than me . Was he thinner than me . He was the same as daddy. And she says, and the mask he had on is just like daddys mask that he wears hunting. Reporter after the robber left charlie said she rushed to hug her mother and then knew there was one more thing to do, she had to go upstairs and take care of her 3yearold brother. Reporter to the sheriff, the 7yearolds story was both chilling and heartbreaking. It was a memory ill have with me the rest of my life. Its one of those that takes a little part of you with them or with it. Heres a little girl who does remind me very much of my own daughter. And shes working through, i just watched mommy brutally attacked. It could be daddy. Where am i . Where does this leave me . Reporter but could it be true . Did she really just see her father kill her mother . This had been a very bloody murder. And deputy dean swan had looked tom clayton over carefully. Did tom have any blood on him . I did not see any on him. No. Nope. I actually checked him for any injuries, or any blood, or anything on him. And he had nothing. Reporter tom had told the deputy hed only just come in the door to find his wife dead. Hed been gone all night at his friends house, the millers, playing poker. So thats where investigators went. I heard the banging on the door and ringing of the doorbell. And i woke him up. Im like, somebodys banging at the door. What time is this . This is, like, 6 00 in the morning. 6 00. Right. Thats pretty early to get a knock on the door. Nothing good happens from answering the door right. At 6 00 in the morning. Reporter when greg realized it was the police at his door, his first thought was that his daughters had been in a car accident. The investigator told me, no, nothing is wrong with your daughters. Did a guy named hockey puck, as you know him, or tom, play poker here last night . Hockey puck is toms nickname . Correct. And i said, yes, he did. He said, well, when he went home he found his wife murdered last night. Wow. And instantly it was, like, were looking at each other and it was like were in a state of shock. And i said, obviously you probably want to come in. Reporter greg gave the officers the details of the previous night. Tom had been in his basement playing poker until around midnight. And normally what time did the game wrap up . Usually the games would go at 1 30. But we quit at 12 00, and by the time everybody got out of there, it was about 12 10. Reporter it sounded like tom was telling investigators the truth about where hed been at poker night. They later determined the murder happened before the game wrapped up. This is a real whodunit . Yeah. Very much so. Come on over here, tom. Youre not in trouble, okay . Im just going to have you have a seat so we can talk to you. Reporter so despite what the little girl thought she saw, the investigation was far from over. Authorities were asking, who on earth would want Kelley Clayton dead . Coming up i remember kelley, you know, not wanting to be home alone if he was there. A suspect whos no surprise to some. And a second suspect who is. It doesnt feel like a slam dunk here. No, it does not. Reporter [ music resumes ] with Quality Ingredients like roasted hazelnuts and cocoa, nutella is sure to bring a smile to breakfast time. Nutella, spread the happy. Grown right here in california, with absolutely no antibiotics ever. A better way to grow, a better way to eat. And it starts with foster farms simply raised chicken. California grown with no antibiotics ever. Its twith the new sleep number 360 smart bed. It senses your every move and automatically adjusts on both sides to keep you effortlessly comfortable. And snoring. Does your bed do that . The new 360 smart bed is part of our biggest sale of the year where all beds are on sale. And right now save 50 on the labor Day Limited Edition bed. Plus 36 month financing. Ends monday reporter investigators were trying to figure out what had happened in the murder of Kelley Clayton. They were looking to the family for leads. They were like, listen, like, do you guys know of anyone that possibly, like, could of done this . Reporter kelleys niece molly had an idea. I kind of, like, looked at my mom. And i was like, yeah. Reporter molly, only 16 at the time, told police shed spent the summer working for her uncle at his restoration business, servpro. And there she met one of his employees. A man named michael beard. Tom told her to keep her distance. He never really wanted me around michael beard. He didnt want me, like, working with him. Reporter michael beard was no stranger to the family. He actually had done work at my sisters home. My sister would give his daughter charlies handmedowns, clothes, toys. My sister would make lunch for him when he was there working at her home. Reporter while kelley was kind to beard, she told her sister she didnt always feel comfortable around him. I remember kelley, you know, not wanting to be home alone if he was there. You know, he he was civil. He was nice. But id i dont think she wanted to be left home alone. Reporter now, molly told investigators that her uncle tom had recently fired beard. Michael beard was fired september 17th. And then kelley was murdered the, like, night of the 28th, 29th. So it wasnt long at all. Reporter was it possible that beard was angry about losing his job and that kelleys murder was some kind of revenge . Molly went through her cell phone and her facebook contacts and gave investigators beards address. I gave that to them. And they were just like, okay, thank you. Reporter the Steuben County Sheriffs Office needed all hands on deck and called in the new York State Police for assistance. I was contacted by investigators the day of the homicide. Reporter investigator matt lambert was assigned to run down the michael beard lead. Reporter what did you know about michael beards background . He actually was a pretty wellrespected employee until september 17th, when when tom had fired him. Reporter why did tom fire him . Stealing from jobs and drinking, i think, on the job and that he fired him on the 17th because theres maybe some complaints from other employees at servpro. Reporter so theres some issues there . Right. Reporter but beard was polite and cooperative when the investigator knocked on his door. We said, hey, can you, you know, take a ride with us up to the barracks. And he said, yeah, just let me let my wife know. Reporter and he already knew what it was about . We told him that we want to talk to him about the the homicide of Kelley Clayton. Reporter the investigator asked beard where he was the night of kelleys murder. He said he was home except for a beer run. He actually kind of alibied himself at that point saying that he was at that store the night before, and that same clerk working she could prove that he was in the store the night before. Reporter did did he express that he knew anything about kelleys murder . No, he didnt say that he knew a thing about the murder. Reporter is he telling you anything about tom clayton . No. Just that he had worked for him. Reporter and beard denied any hard feelings toward his former boss, said he and tom were still friends. In fact he told the investigator it was toms partner who fired him, not tom. And tom was even trying to help beard find another job. Reporter are you getting any bad feeling from him . Are you suspicious of him . Not at all. Reporter so youre thinking this is going to be something that were going to cross off the list . Yes. I didnt expect to see him again. Reporter to the investigator and those close to kelley, michael beard didnt seem like a good suspect after all. Reporter did you think it was it was possible that hes a disgruntled employee . He was, you know, taking revenge . I didnt. Because if youre disgruntled, why wouldnt you kill the person that youre disgruntled against . I mean, im im angry at you, so im going to go kill your wife. Reporter but as a matter of procedure, the investigator asked beard for a dna swab and permission to look through his cell phone. He was very, very forthcoming. Very willing, no problems. Just very cooperative. Reporter while the state investigator was checking out the notsopromising michael beard tip, sheriffs investigators had tom down at the station. Detective donnie lewis said they still had questions. Reporter for the most part, it looks pretty good for tom. Correct. Reporter this alibi is pretty strong. Absolutely. I mean, the witnesses that see him at the poker game, we know where he was all night. Reporter thats not the end of the story, though. That is not the end of the story. Reporter not the end of the story because there was something investigators just couldnt get around, the daughters story. Her description of the killer, it was powerful evidence they couldnt ignore. And so just hours after the murder defendant was remanded in Steuben County jail without bail. Reporter they arrested kelleys husband tom clayton and charged him with murder. Reporter how can you arrest him . What are you arresting him based on . There theres a lot of suspicion. Theres a lot of and basically we have to have probable cause to make an arrest. Reporter what was the probable cause . The biggest thing, the oldest child had made comments that it looked like daddy, it had daddys eyes. And as of the end of today reporter Tanner Jubenville covered the story for nbc affiliate wetmtv. I dont know how they charged him honestly. I dont know how they charged him so quickly. Reporter he says the arrest had everyone in the newsroom scratching their heads. Thomas had a great alibi. I mean, he was at a poker game 15 minutes away. Even hours after they arrested him, i dont really know what grounds they had as far as actual evidence connected him to the death. Reporter if tom was killer, then there had to be a hole in that rock solid alibi. Or maybe the authorities, thinking the husband always does it, had acted too fast. It doesnt feel like a slam dunk here, arresting this man. No, it does not. Coming up, the mystery of the missing phone call. I pulled up my phone and im like, see if there was a number there. And there was nothing. And im like, thats strange. Reporter when dateline continues. The moment you realize theres nothing original about your original floors. At lowes, we have all the latest flooring styles and trends at prices you can afford. Get woodlook tile starting at only 0. 99 per square foot. At the lowes labor day savings event. Getwith the cricketown unlimited 2 plan. Less, two lines of unlimited data for 80 mo. 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To many, including kelleys best friend andrea, it didnt make sense. I loved him. She loved him. He was part of our family. We were part of theirs. Reporter the millers were also confused. They knew tom couldnt have killed kelley because he was at their house when she was murdered. Was this a normal night, just like any other monday . Absolutely, just like any other monday, yes. Reporter but now the millers wondered, had they missed something . They started thinking like detectives. Im, like, going over everything in my head. And im like, what the heck . Why . You know, all this stuff. Who could it be . Whats going on . Reporter then linda miller remembered tom at the poker game, asking a favor. I was doing dishes, and he came into the kitchen and said, hey, can i borrow your phone for a second . He says, i left mine out in my car. I have to call work. I said, oh, okay. Sure. I said, oh, its on charge. Just a second. And he followed me into the bedroom. And i unplugged it, and i handed it to him. And he said, thanks. And it seemed like just a couple of minutes later he was back and like, thank you. And he put it on the table. Reporter it wasnt odd at the time, but now the phone call around 11 00 p. M. Seemed important. Whom had tom called . I pulled up my phone and im, like see if there was a number there. And there was nothing. So there should be a number if should be a number he called he called somebody on the phone. Right, and im like, thats strange. And i said, greg, can you look at my phone . I says, theres theres theres nothing. Is part of you thinking, oh, maybe he just decided not to make the call . No, because i heard him talking. Youd hear the like, the mumbling, just a voice speaking of sorts, but nothing intelligible. Reporter as the millers struggled to make sense of that, they called the other men whod been to their house that night. The poker players recalled the same detail. Toms phone was always with him. He had his phone at the poker table . Thats what poker players are saying. Yes. It was it was there. Yes. Yes. So he has his phone at the poker table, but hes telling you hes left his phone in the car . Uhhuh. Thats what he told me. Reporter more than a little suspicious, the millers kept digging. They went online to check lindas phone records. And there it was, the number tom dialed about an hour before the murder, a number they didnt recognize. Investigator donnie lewis took it from there. So what i did was i got the number and put it into actually facebook on my phone, and as soon as i put that phone number in there the profile that pops up is michael beard. Reporter michael beard, the exemployee whod been so cooperative with investigators. Suddenly, he didnt seem so innocent. Now police had to reconsider their theory of the crime. Maybe it wasnt tom whod beaten kelley to death. Maybe his daughters description of the killer was wrong. Maybe it was michael beard she saw. This phone call, this is, like, the key. This is it. Thats the first real connection that we had that put beard anything to do with the murder. That kind of just alerted us right off the bat as we need to go talk to michael beard again. He denied any type of involvement. He even denied receiving the phone call. They never talked. Did that seem odd to you . That did seem odd. He denied having any type of conversation. He said he didnt even remember receiving it, and he wouldnt have answered a call that wasnt that he didnt know the number. Reporter and when investigators looked at beards phone, there was no sign of a call from linda millers cell. It had been, uh, erased. He explained that away by saying that he, the night before, had to recycle his minutes on his phone. It was a little bit suspicious to me. Did you start to come down really hard on him . Like, i dont were not buying your story . It wasnt hard. It was more like i was trying to say, let the truth out, because he was having physical like, his stomach was rolling. And i was saying, mike, just let the truth come out. Let it come out. It wants to come out. Let the truth come out. Its not adding up. You got to stop. You hear your body right now. Your bodys telling you that youre not telling the truth. Just get it out. Reporter while investigator lambert was speaking with beard, he was interrupted by a colleague who had been grilling beards wife. She mentioned a dramatic piece of information, something about a big payment beard was expecting to get from tom. 10,000. The investigators confronted beard. At that point, he was just defeated. I looked at him and said, 10,000, is that why you killed kelley . And he looked at me and said, yes. This was your big moment . That was the that was the win. Reporter michael beard was arrested for murder. And tom, already in custody, was now accused of orchestrating the crime. But toms newlyhired defense attorney wasnt having it. He wants to be reunited with his children. He frankly is grieving the loss of his wife. Reporter investigators had quickly arrested tom based largely on a childs description, which turned out to be wrong. Now his attorney said they seized on a confession that was anything but true. Who would be believed . This is every innocent persons nightmare. Coming up, a secret revealed. He told me that he was sleeping with other women. Reporter was that enough of a motive for a jury to convict tom of murder . I have never been in a room that was filled with so much anxiety. Let a 1 difference in Network Reliability cost you twice as much. Switch to sprint unlimited 22. 50 per month per line for four lines. For people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay. Com whats new from light and fit . Greek nonfat yogurt with zero artificial sweeteners. Real fruit and 90 calories. Youll be wowed try new light fit with zero artificial sweeteners. 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Tom clayton stood accused of hiring a hitman to kill his wife, and kelleys family and friends who once loved tom like a son and brother were trying to process the idea that he might be ler. The betrayal and the confusion. You dont know what to think. The fear, just because nothing is making sense and you try to make sense of something thats not logical. This has been such a betrayal of someone thats been in our lives for a number of years. Were you trying to give him the benefit of the doubt at all . I want to say there was no looking back. You know . I believe he was involved. Reporter if kelleys sister had any doubt about toms guilt, it was erased when she saw him in court for the first time. I was there at his bail hearing. He had a bullet proof vest on, shackles, no emotion. He doesnt look. He doesnt cry. And he gets out on 250,000 cash bail. Thats pretty low. And hes been out ever since. Reporter and he seemed determined to profess his innocence to anyone whod listen. He said, id like to tell you my side of the story. I said, i really dont want to hear it. I dont want to get any more involved. And hes, like, partially crying and hes saying, you know, i wouldnt do that. Reporter months went by as the state prepared the case against each man. Michael beard was the first to go to trial. In court, he recanted his confession and changed his account of the murder. But prosecutor Weeden Wetmore said evidence put beard at the crime scene. His dna was found where she had fled after being struck in the head with the murder weapon. Reporter it took jurors only seven hours to convict him. A jury finds michael beard guilty of what the prosecution is calling a murder for hire scheme. Reporter if beards case had been a slamdunk for investigators, tom claytons would be anything but. The prosecutor knew he couldnt 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 wouldnt 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. Beards doing, what we do know is that mr. Clayton had nothing to do with the death of his wife. Reporter and toms lawyer didnt stop at michael beard. He went after the investigators. He said they had tunnel vision when it came to his client. He said, youll hear it. Youll hear it from the body cam video. Shes beat the [ bleep ] shes 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 just rushed to judgment and that therefore led to an incomplete investigation. Reporter and in fact, investigators never found evidence that tom paid beard for a hit. Reporter as far as tom clayton, there was no conversation overheard. There was no money exchanging hands. You couldnt even use the confession from michael beard. So, there were a lot of things you didnt have. Right, but if you look at Thomas Claytons conduct, he never mentioned michael beard. Everybody says, michael beard should be an immediate suspect. He never mentioned michael beard to the police. To me, thats theres a reason for that. Reporter as they prepared for trial, investigators kept digging. They discovered a flurry of calls and texts in the weeks leading up to the crime. Clayton was contacting beard, saying, hey, we have to meet. He was getting him a bicycle, so he was having these clandestine meetings. Reporter investigators also pulled Surveillance Footage from outside toms business. They believed this was video proof of a conspiracy. Thats beard, they say, in a red truck that tom loaned him just hours before the murder. And thats tom following in his green servpro truck. Also know that during that time period beard turned his phone off, turned it on, turned it off again. Why do you think he did that . Well, the inference to be drawn from that is that he has guys are not naive. They know that theres a possibility of being tracked with their phones. Reporter then, after the murder, the video shows what looks like beard returning to toms business to drop off the truck. There are its headlights entering the lot. And investigators believe thats beard getting on the bike tom gave him, pedaling away under the cover of darkness. The trial for Thomas Clayton is now set to begin. Reporter the courtroom was packed as toms trial began i have never been in such a tense, anxious atmosphere. The courtroom was typically tense throughout the entire trial, but as far as anxiety was concerned, i have never been in a room that was filled with so much anxiety. Reporter the only one who didnt seem tense to the reporter was the defendant himself. He saw tom clayton smiling and kidding around with family members. His lawyer, though, was on the attack. He told the jury how investigators had immediately labeled tom a killer on the night of the murder. I think he attacked her. Reporter and the defense said investigators refused to change their minds even after it was clear michael beard was the one who beat kelley to death. The defense had basically alluded to the fact that there was a psychosis in michael beard. And that he out of just hate and revenge against thomas and his other bosses went to the house that night with the intent of stealing and taking money and killed kelley in the process. Reporter the prosecution said that was nonsense. Michael beard had no reason to murder kelley unless he was sent there by the defendant, tom clayton. The state called linda miller to testify. She recounted how tom borrowed her phone and then deleted the number hed dialed, never dreaming shed do her own detective work. You really connected the dots. To get the police to this moment. Yeah. She did good. If you can call it good. Reporter finally, the prosecutor said he knew why tom wanted his wife dead. He called kelleys niece mollie to the stand. He just told me a lot of stuff about their relationship. Reporter molly told the jury about the summer she worked for her uncle tom. She said he talked a lot about his marriage. That he wasnt in love with her anymore, that kelley was very lazy. And he told me about him trying to sleep with other women and that he was sleeping with other women. And he told me that he also was getting close to a divorce. He just wanted to be done. Reporter the prosecutor told the jury this was toms motive. He wanted to get rid of his wife but keep everything else. I think he was concerned that his wife, if they went through a divorce, that she probably would get everything and this was an opportunity just to start anew. Reporter the millers listened and wondered how they could be so wrong about their old friend tom clayton. We didnt obviously know until the trial of the affairs and stuff. You really didnt know tom at all . No. Correct. Correct. Thats the scary part. Reporter after seven weeks the case went to the jury. Kelleys sister and the prosecutor braced themselves. Now we wait. Reporter but not for long. It took jurors just six hours to make their decision. As they filed back into the courtroom, the reporter noticed a change in tom clayton. That was really the first time that i saw on his face that you got the sense of this guy final knew that, oh, god, i could go to prison for life, depending on what theyre about to say. Reporter and then they said it. Guilty of first degree murder. Outside the courthouse there were tears. Lots of them. Thank you. I believe justice was done here today. I do. Reporter tom clayton is awaiting sentencing. Michael beard has already begun serving a life sentence. It seems so many in town want to honor kelley, even toms old hockey team. The elmira jackals just held a tribute for her and victims of domestic violence. Kelleys children dropped the ceremonial first puck to start the game. Im telling you, kelley is with me. And i have a very strong faith. I hear her days, saying, get up. Lets go. We have got to do this. And i do. I have her beautiful babies and my own. You know, you have to keep on keeping on. And now our second hour of thats ail for now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us. Next keeping cool. The many ways people are trying to beat the bay area heat. Also how the hot weather has south bay firefighters taking extra competitions and hot competition. Bay Area School Sports in the extreme heat. The news is next. Hanging on in many parts of the bay ar ton the heat that was everywhere today is hanging on in many parts of the bay area. And there is much more where this came from. The news at 11 00 starts right now. Good evening everyone. Im terry mcsweeney. And im janl wang raj and jessica are off tonight. A welcome site the sunsets after scorching here throughout the bay but still a warm night. Indeed look at the temperatures across the bay