and all of our files were on computer. reporter: it was late 2013, almost eight years after cory s death. adam gibson, a newly-minted detective with the quincy police department began idly pulling up old files. not looking for anything in particular, just reading old cases. cory lovelace popped into my head. and i read the report. reporter: the name mean anything to you? yeah. i knew i knew curtis lovelace. cause he was had been at one time one of our assistant state s attorneys. reporter: there wasn t much to read in the file, truth be told. a statement from curtis the husband, police interviews with the three older children. and the pathologist s summary of her autopsy findings with some photos. so you knew what had happened in 2006, sort of, or yeah. i knew that she had passed away on valentine s day of 2006. reporter: what was the medical examiner s finding about the death of that woman? that was an undetermined, was the original autopsy.
prison upon conviction for first-degree murder. he pleaded not guilty. cameras were not allowed in the courtroom. it s clear to me it didn t matter what i did. as far as the prosecution was concerned. their only concern was that they needed to create a crime and they needed for me to look bad in order to do that. reporter: curtis didn t necessarily need prosecutors help to look bad. some of his own actions the day cory died were at the very at least unusual. including never calling 911. reporter: he called who? his boss. reporter: his wife is dead in the bed? yes. reporter: and he calls his boss? yeah. and said, my wife is dead. so his boss, said, well, would you like me to call the ambulance people? yes. would you do that? reporter: cory s mom, marty didriksen, who lived just a few houses away, testified that curtis broke the news of her daughter s death in what she
original autopsy done. couldn t do a new autopsy, because the body d been cremated. reporter: the chief okayed the request to hire a new pathologist to review old autopsy notes. the detective also had something else in mind to beef up his case, talk to anyone and everyone who d known cory. his first call was to her mom, marty. he told her he wanted to meet, but not why. he said, well, you know, can we set up a time, maybe tomorrow or what. you know whatever. and then i said, scratch what i m doing this afternoon. you just come now. because i was so nervous about what it was. reporter: everything old was about to be new again, new and very unsettling. you coming up the thing that struck me first was the position of mrs. lovelace s arms. a different medical examiner reaches a different conclusion. the manner of death would, homicide. and a detective has a question for curtis daughter. she s in mourning before you
they wanted to be in the neighborhood, and they wanted to be close by, and that just made it all the better. so we found them a house, and they moved back. virtually over the fence, huh? over the backyard two houses up and one over, yeah. reporter: curtis ambitions drove the young couple. he became a prosecutor in the adams county state attorney s office, and dabbled in school board politics, winning a seat, and serving as president. he even found time to teach a business law class at quincy university. in between the professional milestones, the lovelaces started a family: first a girl, lyndsay, then three boys. cory juggled that part of their lives. how was your cory as a mother? she s a young mom. fantastic. she was a great mom. there wasn t anything she didn t do for those kids. reporter: cory s days were filled with diapers, play dates and tantrums, but even then, this great mom never forgot how to be a good daughter. in early 2006 her dad, john, was
it was it was impacting her ability to take care of things at home. reporter: he also told the detective that cory had been taking falls, sometimes out of bed. what s more, the detective later found out cory had been battling bulimia. the picture quickly emerging, cory had not been a healthy woman. i know you guys are listening to the words that a subject is telling you, but you re also looking at them. why is he telling me this, or how does he phrase it. what were you seeing on that score? it s very important, and i saw a man who was answering my questions. not being evasive? not being he appeared to be cooperative, solemn, upset. reporter: curtis also retraced the family s steps that morning. he last saw his wife around 8:15, he took the kids to school, he returned, and found her deceased. reporter: with that, the detective finished the interview and left, but curtis knew his awful day was about to get worse. not least, he had four children, ranging in ages from f