Page 6 - Dylan Spellman News Today

>> reporter: while detective aaron veuleman continued trying to strengthen his case against dylan spellman, investigators in neighboring sinton, texas, received a mysterious letter addressed to kristene chapas dad. >> immediately i knew this was something very, very big and very important. >> reporter: the letter writer described himself as a hitman hired by the person whod shot mollie and kristene. he wrote the gunman had sought his services to finish the job and make the only witness to mollie...

Was wearing under armour gloves. was this a detail that could help police unlock the mystery? here is josh with a texas twist. >> reporter: day by day, inch by inch, kristene chapa walked a steady, if uneven, road to recovery. >> i couldnt move my left side. i couldnt move my hand or my arm, my leg. i had to relearn to swallow. >> you dont give up, do you? >> i dont. i try to stay motivated. >> reporter: so did detective roland chavez. he, too, was making progress. the cigarette butts and drink ...

Three blocks from the crime scene. and chavez also noticed a striking resemblence to that sketch kristene had helped police draw of the gunman. >> we start trying to get background on dylan spellman. >> reporter: some quick computer searches revealed spellman had a criminal past. >> dylan spellman had just been convicted of a violent crime. >> yes. >> on an armed robbery in in nevada. >> yeah. >> reporter: that nevada armed robbery occurred in 2010, a year and a half before the shootings. spellm...

Hitman even named the person who had hired him. if youre wondering, the letter does not mention dylan spellman. all of it was a twist as big as texas. coming up -- the mysterious letter. could this be the smoking gun police will be looking for? >> immediately i knew this was something very big and very important. >> when "dateline" continues. this new day looks nothing like yesterday.

Youre involved in the crime? >> sure. so, i mean, it -- that definitely raised more suspicion. >> reporter: chavez then told spellman police found his dna just 30 feet from where the girls were shot. thats when he says spellmans demeanor changed. >> he asked me, you know, "what -- what -- what are the consequences?" and i said, "well, in texas, i said, you know this is a death penalty kind of case." >> reporter: and then dylan spellman asked about a deal. >> normally any person thats innocent is...

>> we start trying to get background on dylan spellman. >> reporter: some quick computer searches revealed spellman had a criminal past. >> dylan spellman had just been convicted of a violent crime. >> yes. >> on an armed robbery in in nevada. >> yeah. >> reporter: that nevada armed robbery occurred in 2010, a year and a half before the shootings. spellman and some accomplices broke into a home in a las vegas suburb and held a family hostage before robbing them and taking off. >> anybody get kil...

Dylan spellman was in the corpus christi area, awaiting sentencing for the nevada armed robbery. >> he had been sent here to -- to stay with a friend. >> reporter: what intrigued chavez were some unusual similarities between the nevada crime and the shootings in texas. >> as we started going through that case file, we started seeing more and more things that are lining up with what were looking at. >> for example? >> the use of numbers. >> reporter: remember, kristene had said the shooter referr...

Who had the last word. dylan spellman, he told the jury, might have been under suspicion but ultimately had nothing to do with this crime. david strickland, he said, was the man holding the gun. >> shooting both of these girls for no identifiable reason at all. he certainly is a psychopath. >> reporter: prosecutor smith never offered the jury a possible motive. kristene says shes sure it was about her sexual orientation. >> whats the reason for thinking its a hate crime? >> in the letter that he...

Surviving victim in this case, kristene chapa. >> reporter: in the letter, the hitman even named the person who had hired him. if youre wondering, the letter does not mention dylan spellman. all of it was a twist as big as texas. coming up -- the misstirhouse letter. could this be the smoking gun police were looking for. when "dateline" continues. [laughs] ah... ahem... show me the carfax. start your used car search at the all-new carfax.com. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette sh...

>> reporter: it didnt help that chavezs one eyewitness to the shootings could not identify spellman from a photo lineup. >> it was very hard because the suspects all looked the same. >> reporter: and then there was the matter of mr. spellmans height. >> hes big. >> hes, what, 68"? >> 68". >> reporter: remember, kristene said the shooter was quite a bit shorter than that. 58", maybe 59". >> for me, it -- it was always the -- the difficulty of -- of getting over the size. >> reporter: so chavez an...