Page 7 - Christopher Sutton News Today

He brought her back to miami and the hospital where her father was in intensive care. her brother, christopher, had already arrived. both of them were reeling from loss of their mother. and now they kept vigil at their gravely wounded fathers bedside. >> we didnt even know if he was going to live for a long time. >> reporter: pretty touch and go wasnt it? >> to say gruesome is, if i didnt know his hands and know little intricate pieces of him you wouldnt have known it was him. >> reporter: you f...

The evidence against christopher was circumstantial. little more than guilt by association. the samoa boot camp may have given christopher a motive. but. >> i certainly needed more than that to make the arrest. i decided it was time to act. we are going to need a confession, i believe. >> reporter: given what they had against kopp, detectives gambled the shooter may roll over on the son. >> reporter: he denied all. wasnt my gun? >> it wasnt my gun. looks like well beep here a long time today. >>...

Prosecutor kathleen hogue. >> is wasnt just drug deals. they hung around a lot. doing drugs. playing video games. whatever. >> reporter: in the months after the murder, phone records showed a spike in the volume of calls between the two. 300 calls in three months. >> the that is an awful lot of drugs to be dealing in three months if you have 300 some phone calls. >> reporter: could they have been talking murder? speculation of course. but -- then after the murder when kopp was arrested on the gu...

Knew it long before the trial was that the scene in that courtroom was about as bad as it could be. because there they were, just feet apart. his client and a blind father. the survivor of christopher suttons alleged plot to kill his parents. >> the fact that john sutton survived and was blind to me was the greatest prejudice in the case. >> reporter: there he was right behind the bar the whole time. >> the jury would hear something bad and they would look over at john sutton. they had to be thi...

Perfect son. in fact, he told the jury he was a drug dealer. garrett kopp was one of his best customers but had good reason to turn on him. why? because years earlier, christopher said, he turned police informant to get drug charges dropped. and who did he finger? garrett kopp. >> what happened if anything with your relationship with garrett kopp after he was arrested? >> i didnt speak to him for a while. or he didnt speak to me i should say for a while. >> was he mad at you? >> yes. >> reporter...

>> reporter: during a long, arduous recovery, the many surgeries, lingering fear, a protective layer formed around johns demeanor. he learned the hard way to keep focus in and emotion safely at bay. it was easier that way. survival mode. >> he just focuses on putting one foot in front of the other. i think i do the same thing. and if you were to break down emotionally all the time or -- dwell on what happened you wouldnt get out of bed. >> reporter: the doctors let him go home finally, but since...

Two engaged to be married in ape to weeks. dress bought, invitations in the mail. >> she sat there and said i dont know anything about it. christopher doesnt tell me. >> reporter: didnt tell her anything? or so she said. awe thought was my reaction. and i didnt buy it. >> reporter: i guess not. because he went on grilling this young woman for more than 12 hours. at the end of which, the detective played to her heart, her relationship with susan and john sutton. >> i said, look, susan really care...

John sutton had time to think and remember. one event in particular which perhaps he suppressed. it happened nine years earlier when christopher was 16. it was the deciding factor in sending him off to samoa. >> susan was going through christophers room. and found a handwritten note planning our murder. >> reporter: what did it say? >> well it talked about killing us for insurance. >> reporter: a week after a warrant was taken out for his arrest, police found christopher and brought him to the m...

Garrett kopp and christopher sutton while ripping up bloody carpets actually called detectives to tell them they found new evidence at the crime scene. a bullet casing under the carpet. >> helpful handy man. by the way, i found another casing. i mean, come on. >> an indication maybe they didnt do it. >> i didnt think so. >> reporter: thats what any good defense attorney is going to point out. >> sure, sure. the casing was underneath something. i dont know how we missed it. we missed it. >> we we...

Keith morrison: like, for example, this big tantalizing piece of puzzle, right here. what in heavens name might an island in the far off pacific have to do with the shooting of john and susan sutton? coming up, trouble in paradise for a young christopher and his family. he was kidnapped in the middle of night, and he was 17 years old. we knew that christopher sutton had complained that he had been hogtied, beaten-- keith morrison: when "dateline" continues. what does life look like during your p...