Could blame her if she would have done that? but that s not who she is. reporter: it looked as though curtis would have to use a public defender. but christine wouldn t accept that option. she worked her connections and eventually ended up here in chicago. she came to our office and told us her story and i remember finding it compelling and certainly worth exploring further. reporter: jon loevy is not a criminal lawyer. he s a civil rights attorney by practice who also does pro bono work with the exoneration project. its aim, overturn wrongful convictions. but curtis hadn t been convicted, at least not yet. still, loevy and co-counsel tara thompson decided to take the case. their services would be free. the main concern that i had in this case from the outset was really the lack of evidence. this didn t feel like a murder case from the beginning. reporter: with a new defense team in place, christine got
Christine. he said this can all end right now if curt agrees to take this deal. he said it would keep him from dying in prison. but he d have to admit his culpability, responsibility in cory s death. that s the condition, right? correct. and that he wouldn t have to spend probably any more than 13 years in prison. reporter: the two said no thanks to the state s offer and geared up for a second trial. but that forced them to face another dire reality: they were totally broke, unable to afford another lawyer. what are we going to do? i mean, at that point, it there didn t appear to be any option. this could be a moment for christine to say, i m out of here. i didn t sign on to be some tammy wynette for this guy, standin by her man. i m gone. yeah. and who who could who could blame her if she would have done that? but that s not who she is. reporter: it looked as though curtis would have to use a public defender. but christine wouldn t accept that option.
Hours before curtis claimed. it proved he was lying. it proved, he argued, that curtis killed her. coming up the defense gets its turn and christine is feeling optimistic. i knew in my heart he was coming home. until christine came in. and they explained to her what was about to happen. when mystery on the mississippi continues. mississip i s okay, t s do a ticket check. paper tickets. we re off to a horrible start. .but we can overcome it. we re not gonna point out our houses, landmarks, or major highways during takeoff. don t buy anything. i packed so many delicious snacks. -they re -nope. would you say, ballpark, when group two is gonna get boarded? 2 hours and 58 minutes. progressive can t protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. someone should ve left home earlier.
Then a union neither one of them expected. how did he propose. we sat together near a place that we called our date place near the river and we started talking about marriage. and and i said to him, let s get married. and he said, let s do it. we need to do this. so i guess in hindsight it was more me that proposed than than him. reporter: more than six-months later, on the day after christmas 2013, curtis was once again standing at the altar. only this time, the new mrs. lovelace seemed to have approval from everyone. even 20-year-old daughter, lyndsay, who d packed up at the arrival of her father s last flame. she seemed very genuine. i liked that she cared a lot about the boys. did you think maybe this could be the restoration of the family? yeah, i did. after the nightmare, as you see it, of erika? now, here s christine who seems okay to you? i felt she s certainly making an effort to reach out to you, right? yeah. and i felt like our family deserved happine
Up and like i remember her not feeling good and i was sitting on the stairs and then i went to school. i think i remember saying i love you before we left, but that s pretty much it. reporter: logan, the eldest son, said he knew for certain that his mom was alive that february 14th. she was sitting on the steps, like, ready for us to leave the house. reporter: christine was still trying to find her husband. she didn t know he had been transferred to a different jail. eventually, he called. he told me everything would be okay. and that we were gonna have to to fight some things. reporter: christine was a wreck. her husband was in jail and she was dumbfounded as to why the police had taken the boys out of school and then interviewed them without parental permission. she felt better about this though the two oldest boys backed their dad s story. they had seen their mom, cory,
Things out. and losing my mother was the worst day of my life. how are we to understand what s going on with lyndsay, christine, because she has told the story that she, like her brothers, remembers seeing her mom alive, but then she backs away from it and says i can t remember really. i don t know what s in lyndsay s head and in her heart. one day she was happy and then everything changed. reporter: the prosecution still had to explain why the two oldest boys were adamant their mom was alive that morning. parkinson told jurors there was a two-day gap between cory s death and the first police interviews with the kids. ample time he suggested, for the boys to be influenced by their dad. i think the children were confused as to which day. after all how about coached? do you think that he told him a story? he had custody of the children from the moment of her discovery until thursday afternoon. so from tuesday till thursday afternoon, i don t know what was said. reporter:
And i didn t know whether i could put them through another year of what we had already gone through. reporter: that s when one of curtis lawyers turned to christine. and he said that this can all end right now if curt agrees to take this deal. he said it would keep him from dying in prison. but he d have to admit his culpability, responsibility in cory s death. that s the condition, right? correct. and that he wouldn t have to spend probably any more than 13 years in prison. reporter: the two said no thanks to the state s offer and geared up for a second trial. but that forced them to face another dire reality. they were totally broke, unable to afford another lawyer. what are we going to do? i mean, at that point, it there didn t appear to be any option. this could be a moment for christine to say, i m out of here. i didn t sign on to be some tammy wynette for this guy,
Standin by her man. i m gone. yeah. and who who could who could blame her if she would have done that? but that s not who she is. reporter: it looked as though curtis would have to use a public defender. but christine wouldn t accept that option. she worked her connections and eventually ended up here in chicago. she came to our office and told us her story and i remember finding it compelling and certainly worth exploring further. reporter: jon loevy is not a criminal lawyer. he s a civil rights attorney by practice who also does pro bono work with the exoneration project. it s aim, overturn wrongful convictions. but curtis hadn t been convicted, at least not yet. still, loevy and co-counsel tara thompson decided to take the case. their services would be free. the main concern that i had in this case from the outset was really the lack of evidence. this didn t feel like a murder case from the beginning. reporter: with a new defense
Investigation that led to my indictment. reporter: finally, the defense s medical expert concluded there was only one plausible explanation for cory s death. she had a history of drinking and falling and that caused that abrasion and cut. the bottom line, she was an alcoholic and bulimic suffering from a liver disease, someone who unfortunately died of natural causes. she s not a normal 38-year-old woman. she has a significant disease of a major organ that is associated with sudden death and with liver failure. reporter: in the end, curtis decided not to take the stand. ten women and two men would decide lovelace s fate. the deliberations went on for two full days. then, christine got the call to come back to the courthouse. i knew in my heart he was coming home. that was it. you were gonna prevail. he s coming home. yes. reporter: but once she arrived, bailiffs led her to a
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