Page 13 - Assistant Da News Today

United states blamed iran for the drone attack on the saudi arabia oil facility. now back to "dateline." welcome back. he said she did it and he was she was telling investigators he did. shannon shared a a new version of events claiming jermeir was the real killer. shab noncaptured a series of recordings that she was sure proved her innocence. what would investigators make of this tail of the tape? >> it is rare for women to murder. more often they convince their men to do it for them, a kind ...

>> it could turn the entire case on its head. >> she is not a murderer. >> its not in her nature, not in her character. >> if i thought that she was lying about it, no, i wouldnt be on camera saying -- i wouldnt be sitting here waving a flag for her if i thought she had anything to do with this. >> reporter: in may of 2007 shannon crawley was out on bail. she and her attorney walked into the durham police station. this wasnt just another interview. shannon was prepared to share all new informati...

Mallory were arrested and charged with the murder of ashlea harris. cold comfort for ashleas sister. >> its just such a loss and its so pointless. i just dont understand how people could do that. >> reporter: they were tried separately, but the cases against them were virtually identical. assistant d.a. kevin rousseau led the prosecution. >> on states exhibit 1 -- >> reporter: ashleadeenor assisted. from the witness stand detective cedillo helped lay out the case. >> were you able to conduct a s...

The vehicle. he said, "yep, thats the vehicle that i saw." >> reporter: and that wasnt the only thing the witness noticed, says assistant d.a. david saacks. >> he remembers a patch or some kind of something, you know, on the shirt. >> reporter: a patch like on the uniform shannon wore as a 911 dispatcher. and there was more. investigators discovered shannon clocked in at about 10:00 a.m., some two hours after denita smith had been murdered. more than enough time for the 55-mile drive from durham...

June 2007. it had been six months since denita smiths murder. and sitting on the desk of assistant d.a. david saacks was a series of phone recordings that shannon crawley and her family insisted were jermeir stroud copping to the crime and trying to cover it up. >> i got away with it once. ill get away with it again. just keep your [ bleep ] mouth shut. >> this is wrong. i didnt do anything. >> you know ill find you. >> reporter: police were not present when shannon recorded the calls, but they ...

People that lived in the neighborhood at that time. >> reporter: word of shannons reported rape traveled quickly to durham, where detective shawn pate and assistant d.a. saacks were now preparing for her trial. they wondered if shannon was certain the attacker was jermeir. >> i asked her, "well, how did he know you were going to be walking a dog at 3:00 in the morning?" and i guess he just stalked the house and saw his opportunity. so for four hours he raped her. so if it was 3:00, then when doe...

All new information with the potential to change the whole focus of the case. assistant d.a. david saacks. >> she just wanted to give her side. and we certainly wanted -- allowed her to do that. >> reporter: and her idea, or her attorneys idea was and then youll drop the charges after youve heard this? >> i think that certainly was her idea. so if they dont say anything were going to keep going on the path were already on, which is shes already charged. >> before we ask any questions, you must u...

>> the nurse changed her story. >> everything changed. everything changed. >> reporter: this is what? one big conspiracy? >> i hate to make it sound like that. >> it sounds like it. it sounds like it. >> reporter: assistant d.a. david saacks says the rape was properly investigated and seemed to be nothing more than a hoax. which also, for him, finally answered that lingering question of who was stalking whom. >> everything was pointing to her and the only thing that was pointing to jermeir was t...

David saacks, an experienced, savvy prosecutor, would now square off against a younger court-appointed defense attorney named scott holmes. >> its important, i think, to try to see the world, try to see the world from the eyes of shannon on the days that led up to and the day that this happened. >> the whole trial was basically us saying that shannon crawley committed this murder and the defense saying jermeir stroud did this murder. that was basically the trial. >> reporter: detective shawn pat...

>> apparently, he can. >> well, he did it. he did it. >> reporter: youre convinced that was jermeir. >> oh, it was jermeir. >> reporter: so whose voice would ultimately ring true? a three-year investigation was now in the hands of 12 people. two families now waited anxiously inside the durham county courthouse. as did assistant d.a. david saacks. >> im never confident when a case goes to the jury. >> reporter: youve been slapped in the face by juries before. >> too many times. thats the lesson h...