did attack this girl in rich field, but there is no way that he could've killed our friend. >> but the detective who just interrogated daniel thought the opposite. >> did you believe that daniel could have killed jesse? >> yes, it was just a sense that you got, a feeling you. got >> that you were sitting across from a killer. >> yes. >> detective thickens went to grill dan himself. >> i was hopeful we would get more information to advance our case. >> when was the last time you saw her? >> last week i think. >> daniel admitted to having a romantic feelings for jessie, but swore through sobs that he had nothing to do with the murder. >> what do you think happened too jessie? >> i have no idea. >> do you think it could have been accidental? >> i don't know why somebody would do that to her. >> but detectives did not believe him and he fit the
places it around her neck, he then strangles her. >> there were searches on serial killers. there were surges on bondage. >> did dan then, who was big into theater, a straight a student, was he also a serial killer in training? >> i think that is the potential. >> these items. >> prosecutors showed the jury all of the physical evidence. the dna, the tapes, the wipes, the likely murder weapons that tied daniel to jessie's death. through it all, daniel sat quietly at the defense table, looking at no one, showing little emotion. >> even when the evidence that the public had never heard before. dna that the state argued showed that he not only killed jessie, but also raped her. >> daniels dna was found under jessie's fingernails and inside of her.
against a woman in the park. but after police spoke with him, they realize that he could also be guilty of something far worse. >> did you leave that interview having any doubt that dana was the killer? >> none whatsoever. >> daniel told investigators that on the morning that jessie was killed, he was in a park reading a book and when they checked the security cameras,. >> we found video that put him there. >> but that did not mean that daniel was innocent. detectives decided to search the park, combing through more than a dozen garbage pins. hoping to find anything that linked daniel to jessie's murder. >> in one garbage, can this cereal box full of ligature's. >> ropes that were very likely the murder weapons used to strangle jessie, plus a whole lot more. bloody sanitizing wipes, tape, shoelaces. >> i guess he didn't believe
that we would have made the effort to go through the garbage. to find anything. >> police sent the evidence for testing, and forensics showed that both and daniels dna were on the ropes felt in the park. the detective shared the incriminating discovery with her parents. >> i had trouble getting it, that it was dan, the realist in me knew that it was him. the other half of me was like what happened to the funny teenager. >> daniel was officially charged with murder, buck enjoy trying to wrap their heads around what had happened to the funny teenager. who had nothing but empathy for his parents. >> they did not do this, they did nothing wrong, they provided a great environment for him, for his sister, they're good people. >> i can't say that he is totally evil, but something went very wrong, i don't know what it, they also felt sorry for randy tally, the cast member briefly rumored to be involved, now completely cleared. i >> felt bad, more collateral damage from one person's evil
choices, and though the dna evidence linking daniel to the murder seemed to give the da a slam dunk case, daniel pleaded not guilty. gary schmaltz was the attorney. >> some people might say that there was overwhelming evidence against daniel, why go to trial? >> you go to trial when your client in this case dan, denies having committed the crime. >> when daniels trial began, the courtroom was full of conflicted hearts. supporters on both side, knew or cared for jessie and daniel. >> was it like watching one friend be tried for killing another? >> it's like i was watching a tv show. you are in the same room with the person who murdered your friend. it is crazy. >> it was the strangest mix of
profile of the killer that they were looking for. someone who knew jessie and her habits. >> she usually wouldn't get up before 11 and 12, i would text or in the morning, asked her if she wanted to hang out or something and she would not respond. >> he knew where she was going to be. knew she didn't have a dog on the house, knew she didn't have siblings, and where her parents are going to be. >> and asked for her emotional denial, they thought it was an act. >> he was making these noises, gulping, sobbing. as if he was crying. >> he did not shed a tear during that entire time we talk to him. >> i knew he had done, now i gotta go out and prove it. >> coming up, daniel faces a jury and jessie's family. >> i can't give you the answers that you are looking for,. >> when dateline continues. ♪ what? tween milestones like this... may start at age 9. hpv vaccination, a type of cancer prevention...
jessie's. >> the girl that just passed? >> yes, we were visiting her parents. >> yeah, we are visiting her parents. >> his name was daniel bartell and the same friend that jessie had been writing music with that summer. >> detective called hartford police right away. had a suspect in custody. jessie's parents refused to believe the news. >> we were saying, no, not this kid. >> he's a little screwed, up just got back from, college does nobody's, doing but doesn't think it's dan. >> after all, daniel was more than jessie's friend he was her first love in high school. and had never been in trouble. >> had everything going for him, a top notch, student straight a
student. had gotten the lead role in most musicals. was very talented. >> i was like, i like this kid. he could make me laugh and he came from a nice family. >> we said that it is not dan, he is a good kid. >> jessie's friends agreed. when detectives called daniel's cell phone, they were with him at the house grieving together. >> we were all crying, my friends phone rang. and he was like i got called into the police station for questioning. >> amelia and jackie were the ones who drove daniel into the police station that afternoon, assuming it was just routine questioning about jesse. and we were like they might question you as a suspect. that's what they've been doing to all of her male friends. he was like, i didn't even think about that. >> now, even with dan under arrest for the park attack, they could not imagine that their friend was capable of murder. >> i was thinking that it was a mistake, like yes, maybe dan
but most of been the toughest piece of evidence to come back from surgery. >> difficult. didn't have an alternate explanation that. and don't have one as i sit here right now. >> in any case, daniel was never charged with rape and for the murder, the defense rested without calling a signal witness to the stand. when the jury deliberated for just three hours. >> we the jury find the defendant daniel bartelt guilty with intentional homicide. ladies and gentlemen, was this your verdict? >> not a good day for anybody. nobody won. >> months later at the sentencing, buck stunned the courtroom when he said this. >> dan, i forgive you. as i have every single day since we found it was you. >> in response to such unbelievable grace, daniel
truth from daniel or know why he turned so violent. daniel was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole. for the attack on melissa richards, he was sentenced to five more years. >> melissa is our hero, if it wasn't for her, they would not have caught him. we are forever indebted and thankful for that. >> the police and the family commend you. and feel other woman could've been murdered if it was not for you. >> i tried to help out as much as i could. i just wanted to help them out. i don't know, i tried. ♪ ♪ ♪ jessie's parents have started an educational campaign in their daughters honor, called love is greater than hate. >> i am doing it for the millions of people who will be jessie, if not murdered, sexually assaulted and have their lives changed forever because of it.