Transcripts For KSNV Dateline NBC 20151213

Thats all true . Yeah, thats all true. What else would we find . Theres a maniac out there. Im lester holt. And this is dateline. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with the story of deadly intent. Reporter youre looking at the life of the hogueland family of san diego played out in brief moments stretching across the years, from the prosaic to the profound. Thats the mom, connie, just after she gave birth to son jonathan. Look over here, guys. One, two, three. Good one. Reporter here he is, six years later after losing a tooth. Hey, jonathan, thats a great smile you have there. Reporter this is oldest daughter jill learning to play golf. Thats a nice one, jill. Reporter and this is her little sister jacqueline. Today the kids are grown. Jacqueline is married. And jonathan has graduated high school. And looking back, the childhood they describe is one of stability and routine. Just normal happy family i would say. We go to church on sundays. Wed have movie nights or Family Vacation that we would have taken. Usually disneyland which is our favorite. Everything was just as a family. Everything was perfect. Reporter they loved each other and they had a good marriage. Exactly. Reporter the patriarch of the hogueland family, larry, was a leader in their church and a professional photographer who can be heard off camera. Hold still. Reporter gently directing his children through these precious kodak moments. Thats good. Keep going. I remember getting sick of it. Because i just wanted to have fun and we had to pause and take a picture, which kind of got annoying after a while. But looking back, nice to see reporter the mom, connie, loved being with her kids so much that as they grew older she found a job taking care of toddlers at this day care home. But on september 23rd, 2010, as connie was leaving her job for the day, her life and family were quite literally blown apart. A thunderous explosion rocks an east county neighborhood. The first thing i said to myself when i heard the explosion was, oh, my goodness, what was that . Reporter Teddy Williams is the owner of the day care home. So i ran out the gate. I come to this point, and i saw because connies car is rolling at full speed and smacked into my van. I ran around her truck and this is where i found connie, right here. On her side in the street. Reporter Connie Hoagland was connie was lying on her side curled up in a ball. I rolled her over, there was glass, there was shrapnel, there was shards of metal everywhere, everywhere. Reporter te derks teddi knew all the hoagland family cell phone numbers, and she was the one who broke the news. I was driving and there was an explosion and my moms truck blew up. So i immediately pulled over, stopped and called my dad, asked him whats going on. What do we do . Reporter what did he say . He said, i just heard, too. I dont know all the details. Reporter the hoagland family gathered at uc San Diego County medical center, where connie had been taken for emergency surgery. We got to see her rushed from the hallway into surgery. It was probably ten seconds. And i just remember telling her, i love you, and her being awake but kind of being out of it. And then that was it. The wires coming out of her and the bags hanging and the blood and all that, it was very, very shocking, taken aback. I almost felt sick. Reporter what did you think had happened . I thought her truck malfunctioned. We didnt know was it an accident, was it the gas tank . Whats going on. I didnt know what exactly had happened. Reporter by now, though, investigators knew, this explosion was no accident. Because they found bomb fragments embedded inside connies truck. Making it clear this was an intentional act, a car bomb, which got investigators wondering if it was the work of terrorists. Almost immediately when we came on scene, we made a plan of how we wanted to sweep the area. What we were doing was looking for secondary devices so we didnt walk into an area and get hit by another sort of device of some sort. San diego county sheriffs bomb skaud squad, an ad atf Sergeant Matt beals were the lead investigators. They quickly learned that something about the day care may have made it a target. On that particular day care center, we were aware that there were other Law Enforcement officials who had their children in that particular home during the day. Reporter was it possible someone was out to kill cops and their kids . If so, connie, who always parked in front of the day care home, could have been the perfect, yet unwitting Delivery System for the bomb. They werent looking for any known or suspected domestic terrorists or possible watchlist type people that may be in the area. Reporter no question that this was an ied, an improvised explosive device . No. Reporter and suddenly they had more questions after they ran connies address and discovered that, in her police had found another bomb. Police make an explosive connection. This was personal. When we come back, had connie or her family been targeted before . Real. When Connie Hoaglands truck exploded outside a san diego daycare center, investigators suspended terrorism. A suspicion that only grew this bomb might be related to an unexploded bomb found two weeks earlier lying in the street near the hoaglands house. This is a device we had not seen in the united states. Reporter detective chris ever and the bomb squad had taken that call earlier between them. They have investigated and disarmed hundreds of explosive devices, but this one was a first. This particular device had only been seen in war countries, afghanistan and iraq. Reporter the small but powerful device was hidden in a fedex envelope, but what really got everyones attention was the detonator, linked to a cell phone. And that to you says what . This is somebody that can build a bomb and can sit there from anywhere in the world and set it off. Breaking news. A bomb squad investigates a suspicious object in rolando. They sent in a robot to disarm the bomb. Fire in the hole reporter a firefighter was then put in one of those famous suits to make a final safety check. And found the cell phone detonator had 18 missed calls. Only a broken wire had prevented the bomb from going off. We were like, wow, this is for real. Reporter police ran the phone numbers, of course, but they belonged to untraceable throwaway phones available almost anywhere. The bomber or bombers had left no trace of themselves. No fingerprints, no dna. Reporter the only real clues were found on the fedex envelope. Duct tape and soot suggesting the bomb might have fallen off of the underside of a car. And so, two weeks later, when connies truck blew up at the day care home, investigators two sophisticated bombs really the work of terrorists . Or was all this personal . We went through all those gamuts, and we had a lot of people just going out chasing every lead there was trying to get this stuff done. Reporter and while he was still at the crime scene, detective luke had what seemed to be an odd visit from an old colleague, eric stallmaker, the former commander of the San Diego Fire Department bomb squad. Thats luke to the left of your screen and stallmaker on the far right. He was the first one to contact me as soon as i got on the scene. I said what are you doing here . He says he had retired to colorado, came back to visit some friends here in town and he heard about the bomb and he came over and tried to assist us. Reporter and there was one more thing. He turns out to be an acquaintance of the hoagland family. He knew the victim and the husband. First thing popped into my mind thats retired, and now hes also has some nexus to do with the family. That was definitely a curveball. Reporter the current bomb squad commander john wood was also at the scene. And had the same unsettling concerns. One of our own, sitting there going, wow, why did he show up . Now hes a suspect. Reporter this guy used to have your job. Exactly. He appointed me after i left. Reporter everyone here knows him, trusts him, likes him, knows him . Yep. Reporter hes a friend of the family and hed know how to make that device. Exactly. Reporter but stallmaker had a tip offering up a potential suspect. Connies exsoninlaw who stallmaker claimed may have had it in for the family. That was absolutely a lead that we needed to follow up on immediately. Reporter hes the first person who didnt like connie and larry . Exactly. Or so we were told and led to believe. Reporter so beals hit the he didnt have a negative thing to say about connie in any way, shape or form. Reporter just as important, the soninlaw had a solid alibi. He corroborated his story as to where he was, and he received the backup that he was in a store at one time and clearly not in san diego, not in california, and his alibi all checked out. Reporter all of which put the guy who fingered him, stallmaker, under more suspicion. Meanwhile, investigators put connies truck up on a lift for a closer inspection. And in the soot dust on the floor pan, they saw an outline the size of a fedex envelope framed in traces of duct tape. The imprint of the earlier unexploded bomb. Hardening their suspicion that, whoever built the bomb, was targeting connie or her family. This appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be directed at one person. Whoever the driver of that truck reporter back at the hospital, the hoagland, Family Holding a vigil by connies bedside, was unaware there was a criminal investigation under way. Until luke and beals paid them a visit. Then they asked, you know, if she had any enemies, if anyone would want to hurt her, if we could thing of anybody. And i couldnt think of anybody. There wasnt anybody. Reporter im guessing that the only thing stranger than hearing that your mom has been the victim of an explosion is hearing that it was not an accident and that it was directed at her specifically . I was like what . I couldnt i didnt believe it. I didnt understand it. And i started crying because i didnt know who could do that, who would want to do that. Reporter what made a strange case all the more baffling occurred four days after the bombing, when a large fedex box was delivered to this san diego Area High School addressed to one of their students. Jonathan hoagland. That got san diegos bomb squad scrambling. And it got the towns attention. Coming up Connie Hoagland, wife, mother and survivor. I remember coming out to the truck, putting in the key and then kaboom. Her . September 2010 may well be remembered as hoagland month for san diegos busy bomb squad. This picture perfect family suddenly seemed to be the target of a Relentless Campaign of terror. First there was the cell phone device placed inside a fedex pack found just down the street from the hoagland home. Then there was the pipe bomb that detonated inside Connie Hoaglands pickup. And now there was a mysterious fedex box addressed to Jonathan Hoagland but delivered to his i guess it had something to do with the car bomb that was happened last week. It may be from the same person, so were not sure. Immediately the school was shut down because now we still wasnt sure who was going to be involved. Reporter the box was removed and destroyed. Inside investigators were hoping to find some evidence that could lead them to the bomber. Instead they found party favors that jonathan had forgotten hed ordered for a high school dance. Something that he was in charge of getting, and he didnt remember it. Reporter but it shows everybodys state of mind at the time. Pretty rough, schools closed down, bomb squad coming out, everything. Reporter while this particular event turned out to be a bust in terms of finding any workable evidence, luke and beals believed the bomber had to be somebody who knew the hoaglands, knew where they worked, where they lived, knew their routines and had access to their cars. The only problem was that connie, a devout christian and mother of three, had no known enemies. Shed some light on that part of their investigation. A witness they had yet to question. Connie hoagland. Always i had a sense that she was going to live. I dont know why, but i always knew that she was going to live. I just didnt know how. Reporter sedated and in icu after having gone through seven different surgeries to save her right foot and left leg, and yet somehow still alive. I remember coming out to the truck, put in the key and then kaboom, just a huge explosion. It scared me. I first i thought maybe the air bag went off. Reporter smoke, flames . Smoke started filling up and i looked out the door to and i noticed the truck started to move. And my feet and legs hurt really bad. The truck. So i pushed the door open, started to get out. I did not want to see my injuries. It felt so bad, it felt like my feet were blown off. Reporter what did you think had happened . I dont know. I really just laying there, i just thought it was a random act. Reporter and so she says she was stunned when investigators first spoke with her in the hospital. And the police told me, this bomb was meant for you. And that was weird. I couldnt even digest that. Like youre kidding me. Reporter and they say to you, who does not like you enough to try to kill you . They did ask that. I could think of no one. I really dont have any enemies. They said its somebody who knows the code on your truck. Its somebody who knows where you work. Reporter who knows your routine . Yes. But its still nothing. Reporter thats not too many people. No, but reporter thats like what, your husband, your kids and a couple Close Friends . Thats true. Not them. Reporter and Standard Police procedure is to say after that, so hows your marriage, hows everything in your marriage . I said everythings fine. Reporter but in her heart, she knew that wasnt quite true. After 25 years of marriage, larry seemed to have grown tired of her. The last few years werent that good, but i thought we were still committed and just hanging on to the commitment of that time. Reporter did he act like he didnt care about you any more . Yes. Reporter that has to be heartbreaking. Yeah, it was. Reporter you ever think about leaving larry . It never crossed my mind. In the church, divorce is really frowned upon. If you can work it out, work it out. Reporter how was larry at the hospital . Pretty standoffish, which was normal for us at that time. Reporter the truth is there are a lot of bored husbands out there in suburbia, but few ever their wives. And connie certainly didnt believe that was the case here. Neither did detectives. When you first meet larry, was he a suspect . No, he was not. He was the victims husband. We didnt really focus on larry that much. Reporter so eric stallmacher, the former bomb squad commander, remained on everyones radar screen. He was constantly by larrys side at the hospital and still wanting to pitch in on the investigation. I called the investigator friend of mine and said, hey, you know, can i come in and talk with you. Reporter detectives thought the time had come to bring in stallmacher for questioning, but before they could speak with him, they received another phone tip, one which would send this investigation in a whole new direction. A new direction, a new suspect and finally an arrest. Youve got this whole package in a nutshell. Detectives trying to figure out who would want to kill mildmannered Connie Hoagland were hitting nothing but dead ends until they got a call from the Business Partner of connies i says, hey, i found bombmaking instructional videos and internet searches on our office computer. And i didnt make the searches. Reporter it seems larry had been looking for some unusual things on the internet. We looked at the stuff that he had looked at, and then it was like, wow, this is the exact same bomb that we found. Reporter but they found more than just a list of incriminating websites. During the search we find love letters between him, Larry Hoaglands hand, and a woman by the name of lee ann. Reporter the highly moral, godfearing Church Leader had been cheekt on his wife with a woman who lived across the country. What did she tell you . That she and larry had been in a relationship for several years. Reporter larry and lee ann, it turned out, were once high school sweethearts. In 2007 lee ann, recently divorced and living in pennsylvania, wondered if it was take another crack at love. She was able to track him down on the internet and place a call to him one day while he was at work at his photography shop and, boom, just like a spark totally rekindled into a fire. Reporter according to lee ann, larry told her, he, too, was getting a divorce. And soon the two were texting like hormonal teens. Youve been my dream girl for as long as i can remember being in love, larry wrote. Life is like dry brown toast without you. Lee ann was equally smitten. I lost you once and do not want to lose you again, she wrote. She was preparing for him to come be her husband and be a part of her life for the rest of her life. Reporter while he carried on with lee ann in pennsylvania, back home in san diego, larry was growing distant from connie but never mentioned getting a divorce or separating. In fact, he still kept up his church with them every sunday. My dad was a church board member. My mom was really involved with Bible Studies and womens groups. It was a big part of our life. We didnt know anything was wrong. I always thought that everything was fine and great. Reporter so larry was leading a double life and lying to both of the women . Exactly. Yeah. He had two complete lives. And lived them as one. It was really weird. Reporter connie remembers that time well but for different reasons. Larry told her and the kids that hed gotten a big photo contract in pittsburgh and for the next three years, larry split his time between california and pennsylvania. He said he had a friend out in pennsylvania named bob and he would go out there and do work for him. We had no reason not to trust him, believe him. Reporter but heres what connie and the kids didnt know. Their san diego home. I thought we were doing fine. I thought it was going to be a good time in our life. Reporter but then suddenly there was no money. Yeah. Suddenly its like what . Bankruptcy . Reporter you had to declare bankruptcy . I didnt want to declare bankruptcy but larry said, no, we need to do this. So i just went ahead with it. Reporter you went along . Yep. Yeah. I trusted him. I thought he maybe knew better than i knew. Reporter and detectives learned while larry was deceiving connie and bleeding his own family dry, he was also playing lee ann, telling her the timing wasnt right for them to get married because he couldnt afford to go through with his divorce. As proof, larry even sent lee ann this secretly recorded meeting with his lawyer. Spousal support at 900. And Child Support at . 1,000. 1900 total. Why is that so high . Why is it so high . To this video . Text after text basically telling larry to put up or shut up. I have heard it all so many times, she wrote. I am tired of it all. If you love me like you say, we still wouldnt be doing this. I am ready to move on. Two weeks after that text larry was in pennsylvania trying to patch things up with lee ann when the cell phone bomb was discovered in the hoagland neighborhood. Im telling matt, matt, we got him with a girlfriend in pittsburgh. Weve got all this stuff going on. Because this is all that were finding, love cards in the business. So all this is building in one day. So youve got this whole package right there, right in a nutshell. Thats what says hook him. Reporter larry was arrested that night, but at that point the hoagland family had no idea he was even being investigated. So when jaclyn got a 2 00 a. M. Call from her sister jill with blindsided. My sister said hes been arrested. They hes in jail. And i couldnt believe it. And i think the first thing out of my mouth was theres no way he did this. Theres no way. They have the wrong guy. Reporter the evidence against larry was circumstantial. No fingerprints, no dna, nothing to physically connect him to either bomb. And that made investigators take another look at eric stallmacher who was asked to come down to his old fire station for an interview. This was not going to be a friendly chat with his old work buddies. When they asked me if id be willing to take a polygraph, i was like, wait a minute. You guys know me. You should know better than that. Then i realized the best way to clear make sure that im clear in their eyes is to take a polygraph. Right after it was finished, reporter stallmacher was nothing more than the right guy in the wrong place. Everything came up clean. He was just coincidence. Reporter luke and beals were now convinced larry was the bomber and that he was in it alone, but Larry Hoagland, the husband, father of three and man of god, had a ready explanation when he sat down with me. Hed been framed. I did not try to kill my wife. There is somebody out there who is responsible for this. Theres a maniac out there. Coming up Larry Hoagland tells his side of the story and even he admits it sounds crazy. Is it . If i was a guy out there watching dateline, i wouldnt believe this. I would be the first person to say, oh, this guy is full of baloney. Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buuck bubuck, buck, buuuck buck, buck, bubuck, buck, buck, bubuck buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, buck buck, buck, buck. Foster farms chicken nuggets. 100 natural with no added hormones or steroids. Good journalism is about telling a story from more than one perspective. Embracing diversity can enrich your story by allowing you to see things from more than just one point of view. Thats a story worth telling. The more you know. After his arrest, Larry Hoagland was booked into San Diego Countys curiously named George Bailey detention facility. Merry christmas. Merry christmas, george reporter a different George Bailey, you may recall, was Jimmy Stewarts character in its a wonderful life. Which actually described Larry Hoaglands life at one point. Good friends, a loving family, the respect of his community. From larry, much of that had evaporated. He stood accused of trying to kill his wife with a pipe bomb. And his first words to me was that police had the wrong man. I did not try to kill my wife. Im adamant about this. Reporter the only thing larry said was true was that he did have an affair. I was cheating on my wife. I was cheating on my family. Reporter you were in love with somebody else . Yeah, i was. Yes, i was. To be perfectly frank, yes. Reporter and you were what, going to ask your wife for a divorce . Yes. Reporter and walk out . That was pretty much it, yes. I let a lot of people down, i deceived a lot of people. I forsook a lot of people, i did. Reporter is that the worst thing you committed . Yes. Besides adultery, yeah. Reporter because what youre sa yourein here for oh, yes. Reporter pretty much tops all of that. I did not. I have nothing to do with what happened to connie. There is somebody out there who is responsible for the whole thing and theres a maniac out there. Reporter the whole thing, meaning trying to kill your wife and framing you for it . Yes. Reporter larry who has motive to do that . You wanted out of your marriage. You had a girlfriend. You were planning to leave your wife and your family. And you didnt want to pay the alimony and you tried to kill her. Alimony was nothing. You know, and i tell you all these things because its the truth. Im not going to stand behind and start explaining to you about the details. I just have to tell you that its true. And thats all there is to it. Reporter briefly tell me and i only say briefly because i dont know how much time we have. Who framed you and why would they do that . Larry wasnt able to explain it briefly, so ill do it for him. His story goes like this. Larry claimed there were a their motor homes in the Industrial Park around his photo studio. And that he, larry, living out his christian faith, let those transients piggyback off his wifi at night and that one of those transients, a guy named jerry, did the bombmaking internet searches. Not larry. You believe that jerry, with his wifi internet access, is responsible for the computer searches that were found in the investigation . I believe so. Reporter and in truth, when cops arrested larry, they knew there was no physical proof connecting him to those internet searches and so they continued to dig. Larry had a lot of stuff in his wallet, a lot of pocket trash, business cards, pieces of paper, receipts. I wouldnt want to sit on his wallet, lets put it that way. Reporter while going through that wallet, beals found this phone number written on a little i said holy cow, this first number is the bomb phone number. I keep going through the contents of the wallet and heres the second number. Reporter thats right. Larry hoagland had, in his wallet, the numbers of both cell phones used as detonators on the first bomb, the one that didnt explode. Thats an unbelievable piece of luck. Id like to call it investigative genius, but, yeah, it was fantastic. Really good to find that. Reporter that tied larry to the unexploded bomb. Yes. Reporter if youre thinking it would be hard to explain away that evidence, then you dont know Larry Hoagland. How did those numbers get into your wallet . Jerry gave them to me. That man gave them to me. Thats why i say he had everything to do with this. Reporter he gave you those phone numbers and said this is how you reach me . Yes. Reporter then gave you another one because he had a second phone . Yes. He said heres my wifes phone number. I said, okay, fine, so i grabbed the piece of paper and wrote it reporter all of it to frame you for murder to what possible end . For what conceivable reason . How does that benefit him . Its obvious weve got a maniacal person on our hands here. Reporter tell me what you know about jerry. I know very little about jerry. I know what he looks like. Reporter what does he look like . Six feet tall, dark hair, wavy hair like yours, no salt and pepper. I would guess that hes late 20s, early 30s. Always needed a shave. Reporter larry said there was one transient who could back up his story. And his name is . Thats joe, injun joe. And hes been out there. Reporter if we find joe, hell be able to lead us to jerry . I certainly hope so because joe, to my knowledge, knows everybody in that neighborhood. Reporter it sounded like a crazy story and larry well knew it. If i was a guy out there watching dateline, i wouldnt i would be the first person to say, oh, this guy is full of baloney. Its like watching a tv show. Reporter it is like watching a tv show. And youre telling us to go search for the onearmed man. Yes. Thats a good analogy, yes. Reporter and so we went to try to check out larrys story. Was he telling the truth this time . Or was it a lie just like the ones he told his family . We combed the area around his old photo studio, an Industrial Area near the freeway full of warehouses and alleys in search of an injun joe who might lead us to jerry. We found this old rv. And inside . Joe. Indian joe. Reporter coming up Larry Hoaglands wild story seems to be checking out. He left them on all night for us. We could do our emails, surf the net, whatever. Really a nice guy. Allegedly trying to kill his wife with a pipe bomb, had an alibi that sounded like a movie plot, that hed been framed by a mystery man using larrys wifi. Larry told us a man named indian joe could confirm his story. Hey, hows it going . Youre joe . Yes. Reporter much to our surprise, indian joe turned out to be real. He left them on all night for us. We could do our email, surf the net. Whatever. It was kind of nice. Reporter nice guy . Nice guy. Really a nice guy. Kind of larry milquetoast. Kind of really quiet. Reporter so far this part of larrys strange story checked out, but what about the crucial part that larry promised would exonerate him and prove hed been framed . Larry tells us about a guy named jerry who was, like you, somebody who came up, parked guy who was about 6 feet tall, dark hair like mine but maybe darker than mine, wavy hair, slender build. Ring a bell . Somebody fitting that description, no. I have known everybody that comes around, and there was nobody, there was nobody fitting that description. Reporter do you know anybody named jerry . No, there was nobody with that name during that time period that he was here. Reporter because thats fairly important to larry who is now behind bars. I know. After i heard the situation come down, i actually asked the other people, did you get on the internet . Did you look up how to build a pipe bomb . Did you try any of these things . And everybody said, no, why would i do that . And it was like this is just im afraid its just fantasy. Reporter that was not the news larry was expecting to hear. Or was it . We found joe. Wonderful. Reporter we talked to joe. Great. Jerry. Anybody that resembles my description of jerry . Anybody at all . Reporter so now youre not sure of the guys name . Ive never been completely sure of his name. I called him jerry. Anybody that resembles jerry. I wasnt positive his name was jerry. Reporter joe says he doesnt know anyone like that. Cant help us. And he wasnt unhelpful. He was actually quite willing to talk to us. He says he doesnt know anything about it. Thats very disheartening. Reporter is there really a jerry . Yes, there is. Yes, there is. Theres a man out there who is responsible for this. And im not him. Reporter i got to ask you, i mean, did you think about just getting divorced . Yes. Reporter i mean, if you had just gotten divorced, none of this would have happened. Youd be in pennsylvania with your girlfriend and your wife would be angry at you. Which would not have been the right thing to do to delete my family in hindsight, yes. Reporter but it beats murder. And our interview finally ended. And as he was being led away, larry conceded to his guard that we werent buying his story. No, they think that im a lying scumbag. And i was. Reporter while larry admitted to being a liar, he never admitted to the bombing attempts and even connie didnt believe her husband of 25 years would try to kill her. Not until larry called her shortly after he was arrested while connie was still in the hospital. He said, i want you to know ive been having an affair, before it gets out. And he said, since the accident ive been dedicated to you. And then he said, i didnt do it. Dedicated to me, its like a light bulb went off like hes lying. You know . And i knew, you know what . He did it. Reporter just from that, just from that one phrase, that he was dedicated to you . Right. Weird. Because i knew he wasnt. Its like my mind was opened at that time. Like whoa. Its you. Reporter 19 months later, connie painfully pulled herself into court and testified against the man who had once promised to love, honor and cherish her as long as they both shall live. My ears were ringing. It was so loud. Reporter larrys defense . The same story he shared with us. Hed been framed by the mysterious jerry. To no ones surprise, the jury didnt buy it. We the jury in the aboveentitled cause find the defendant lawrence Gerald Hoagland guilty of the crime of good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Reporter a month later at his sentencing, connie and the kids read victim impact statements. It was the first time any of them had spoken to their dad since his arrest. Larry is no longer my father, and i am no longer his daughter. I havent spoken to larry in almost two years, and after today, i will never see or speak to him again. Larry, you disgust me. He does not deserve or have the right to refer to us as his family anymore. When larry dies in prison, no one will shed a tear. I exercise my divine right to wash my hands of you. Your soul is of no concern or consequence to me. And now you, you will live your hell. Reporter words that some which is, in fact, the sentence larry received, life plus 13 years. You guys feel like youre better off now . Oh, yeah. Yeah, all better. You know, its weird to think that after all this, but we are. Were closer. And we know each other better. And weve seen each other at our lowest. So were closer and were all stronger as a family. Reporter 2 1 2 years after the bombing, connie was up and walking unassisted, on this night heading to the podium to receive the citizens of courage award from the San Diego County d. A. s office. I can walk. Yes reporter for having the guts to face her husband, her attempted killer, in court. When you went into court and stared him down, what was larry thinking . You tell me. I think he just still thought that i didnt think he did it. Feeling that maybe larry thought that you were the kind of person who wouldnt have the strength to testify against him. I think youre right. I think he just didnt know me as well as he thought he did. Reporter boy, was he wrong. He was. He didnt know me at all. Thats all for now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us. Anchor live at 11 00 from the Commission Chambers to the back of a squad car tom collins arrested for suspicion of dui. The weather outside is soon to be frightful. They are sending out a freeze warning. What you need to know. And why irish eyes are smiling tonight