Page 13 - Finally Ralph News Today

>> yeah. >> her sister kelseys interpretation? >> i thought it was very strange. i thought that he had some work to do on a story because it sounded really phony. >> entitled to their opinions, of course. but then so were the cops. recovered memory? no, said the cbis jody wright. more like a cover-up. >> nothing in his statement matched anything that i knew to be at the crime scene. it just didnt make sense. none of it. >> it wasnt really that ralph changed his story in his "world journal" manif...

>> coming up, back at home with detectives, ralph gets his own surprise. >> he was very upset that they were missing. >> a better question, why would he care? when "dateline extra" continues.

I went out the back, and the rear door glass was broken. some pieces fell out when i opened the door. ralph even had answers to questions he wasnt asked, like, why was the fireplace poker exactly where it belonged by the fireplace? >> normally if you used a weapon, youre going to find it somewhere around where your victim is. and it looked like the poker had been put back in its original place. >> heres what ralph wrote. i picked up the poker to stir up the fire. i saw blood on the end of it and...

>> ralph candelarios life was more important than anyone elses life. >> reporter: so the jury got the case. and they worked till the end of the day and then through a second and then a third. tick tock. >> whether they convict him or they dont is going to be a different set of emotions. >> reporter: and then in the middle of the third day -- >> we the jury find the defendant, ralph leroy candelario, guilty of count number one of first degree murder. >> reporter: guilty. but the end of ralphs sto...

Pulls in his house, the ones investigators removed to test for fingerprints. >> in the event that one of the invasion persons touched them. >> now heres ralph with the police at his house just after pam was murdered. noticing the missing knobs. >> what happened to all the knobs? >> he was very upset that they were missing. >> i dont understand why the knobs are gone. >> and he would know youre looking for fingerprints of these home invaders. >> well, yes. >> but what if they didnt find any finge...

>> finally ralph managed to get the words out. he and his wife had been attacked and robbed. very afraid the attackers might still be in the house, called 911. >> he looks like he had been shot. he said somebody broke in last night. >> how are they doing? >> hes not good. crying. he told me to go help her. shes in the kitchen. im going to get my neighbor to help me here. ralph, were getting help for you, ralph. okay? >> the police arrived. went into the house with guns drawn. and there at the en...

More of, okay, where would he put her body? >> he was maybe 13 or 14 when he thought about those old coal mines around walsenburg. >> you actually went and looked? >> oh, yeah, i went through a lot of those mines myself. >> alone? >> mm-hmm. >> youre looking for the remains of your own mother. i mean, i cant imagine what that -- >> i cant explain it. its always been a fire that just drives you to do something. >> and then one day -- >> i had been going through some of my dads stuff in the baseme...

Invasion and killing at the candelario place was a big deal for the weekly paper and for the whole town. >> we didnt know who was out there. >> people like their neighbors, dina and mark. >> i was afraid. i didnt even want to go to my paint class that i do in the evening because i was afraid to be out. >> a lot of people got guns. >> a lot of neighbors told me. i went out and got a gun. you know? i want to protect myself. >> everybody knew the candelarios had a nice house, filled with vintage tr...

And do you remember we mentioned it a while back that broken glass in the back door? the thing was, the glass fell out the door, not in, as you would expect it would do if somebody was breaking into the house. the police, of course, brought that up with ralph. and what did he write in his letter? i went out the back, and the rear door glass was broken. some pieces fell out when i opened the door. ralph even had answers to questions he wasnt asked, like, why was the fireplace poker exactly where ...

>> reporter: then, said the defense, one of the bad guys saw pam and -- >> he hits pam in the head hard. hes standing there in the kitchen, fire poker in his hand, wondering what to do. >> reporter: the robbers must have thought pam and ralph had already left on vacation. >> this family was supposed to be gone. that was the talk around town. >> reporter: so for the jury it came down to whose story to believe. prosecutors said the police cleared those suspects right back at the beginning. but not...