in western colorado, a successful land developer, alan helmick, and his wife, miriam, were going through difficult times. professionally, alan's real estate ventures weren't what they once were. on a personal level, someone had recently tried to take alan's life. >> while alan is waiting for miriam, he notices smoke coming out the back end of his car. >> it was right in the middle of a parking lot in broad daylight. >> apparently, someone had placed a lit fuse in the gas tank. fortunately, alan saw the smoke and got out in time. >> for whatever reason, the conditions weren't right for an explosion. the car did not explode. >> unfortunately, the parking lt had no surveillance cameras, so it was impossible to tell who had planted the device.