Dinner Ben News Today

>> shes starting to lose jobs. its like all hell broke loose in her head. >> reporter: but murder? remember, the police went to see dawn just a couple of hours after ben was killed, found her fast asleep. >> what time did you think you went to sleep? >> oh, god. i watched the movie "the depart departed" and i dont know, about 4:00. >> in fact, she happened to be sharing her bedroom with a 21-year-old family friend named james matlian. >> we watched a movie and went to bed. >> yeah, thats her sto...

>> reporter: dawn. dawn oxley. ben oxleys ex-wife, alyssas mother. even as more than a few local gossipers pointed suspicious fingers at melissa, bens best friends told each other -- >> everything in me said that dawn had something to do with that. >> reporter: of course, just a few years back that sort of thinking would have been unimaginable to dawn and bens best friends scott and cindy graham. not dawn. dawn, the force of nature, the center of any room she was in. >> i dont know if its manipu...

>> i pulled the trigger. >> reporter: but james matlean did not shrink from it. he murdered ben oxley in his sleep and must live with what he did for the rest of his days. >> im afraid to deal with what i actually did. >> reporter: he told his story in court last december. it was after the d.a. took the death penalty off the table and james decided to plead guilty. and thats when melissa sitting in the courtroom heard for the first time about something else. james was supposed to kill her, too. ...

>> reporter: alyssa was 6 by this time, was the only person who remembered seeing anything unusual. she told the detective right away. >> well, i was fast asleep. i woke up and i heard this creak. i saw someone walking in. and i just -- i went back in. >> do you know who they were? >> i dont know who it was. >> she saw a shadow in her doorway looking at her and then the shadow left. she went back to sleep and then melissa came in and grabbed her and was talking to 911. >> reporter: the detective...

>> yeah. thats what it feels like because you have no idea. >> reporter: how was it possible melissa hadnt seen the person whod shot ben? shed been lying right next to him. why was she unharmed? >> thats kind of a testy little red flag popping up. you start thinking, okay, this doesnt seem right. >> reporter: and had craig, melissas teenage brother, truly slept through the whole thing as he claimed? >> i opened my eyes and right in my face was a bunch of barrels from a machine gun. >> reporter: ...

A heated conversation about ben oxley. james asking dawn if she wants to have him killed. but thats where the stories diverge. dawn remember, says she told james, no, dont do it and fell asleep on the couch. but thats not james matleans story. >> she was ecstatic about what was happening. she was happy i was going to kill somebody. you know? >> reporter: it was after midnight. dawn drew him a diagram of ben oxleys house, said james, so he could find his way to the bedroom. then he went to the 7-...

They were. a happy family. >> for her to be my wife is just -- its a blessing. >> its what you wait for all your life. >> reporter: what were your plans?s l >> to buy a house and to have babies and have a family. >> reporter: they eventually moved here, a three-bedroom ranch in the carson valley looking up toward the sierra nevadas. alyssa spent half her time with ben and melissa. the other time with her birth mom, bens ex-wife, dawn. but above all, what ben really wanted was to have his little ...

The facility in the past week according to north koreas academy of defense science. now back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline." im craig melvin. melissa oxley could now breathe a little easier. while still on their radar, detectives no longer considered her the primary suspect in her husband bens shooting death. theyd shifted their focus to another woman in bens life. someone they believed held a grudge. investigators were about to bring her in for questioning. and the story shed tell ...

>> reporter: finally, the story of ben oxleys murder, bit by bit, was leaking out. but could dawns version be believed, that she had nothing to do with it? heres what dawns mother sherry thought. >> i can see her sitting there saying, god, i wish he was dead. >> yeah. >> and i can see james going you want me to go kill him for you and her going whatever? it was more of a disbelief than an affirmation. >> reporter: thats the story dawn told, too, that she did not want james matlian to kill her ex...

>> this is a case built on lies and deception and cat and mouse. who knew what it was? but the story when it began back in 2005 was about love. or what certainly felt like it. in fact, fair to say it was two kinds of love. there was what happened to ben when he met melissa. >> as soon as he met melissa, he was something i had never seen. just, you know, just for no reason hed kale her and say i love you. >> reporter: he was a changed man. >> absolutely.s he was happy. melissa really made the dif...