Page 20 - Finally Ralph News Today

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. >> 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 nothing could clear ralph. and nothing could soften a truly shocking alle...

It just didnt make sense. none of it. >> it wasnt really that ralph changed his story in his "world journal" manifesto, not exactly. more like he kept adding to it. so he watches very carefully what youre doing and tailors his story to match what he thinks youre finding. >> exactly. >> ralph kept explaining, kept offering not less, but more details. about, for example, the drawer pulls in his house, the ones investigators removed to test for fingerprints. >> in the event that one of the invasion...

>> a split second? remember, in his letter, ralph said his captors held him and abused him for nearly two days. >> in my mind, if youre not going to tell me what happened, and youre going to dance around the issue and tell three different stories, what are you hiding? >> investigators wondering the same thing, tried to find answers in the evidence. on a laptop they found hits for, match.com, just days before the murder. somebody had been visiting the site at least. >> that would have been our su...

Selling the heritage because theres nothing else left to sell. >> so no surprise said eric mullens of the "world journal." 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 an...

He had bruises in several places. he was confused. like a man coming out of a concussion. >> just exhausted. my head still just hurts. >> and then as soon as he was able, and still in his hospital clothes, ralph talked to agents of the cbi. >> sorry to hear about your loss. >> its been a horrible day. >> the best he could remember, said ralph, he got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. then decided to go downstairs to make sure the wood-burning stove was still lit. but on his way ...

It took awhile to sink in. we had to think a little more seriously about saving money for the future and for the kids. - the income of airbnb really helped to mitigate the stress. - but we have that flexibility of knowing that if you know things get worse, we have this to help keep us afloat. - so thats very, very important for us. teachers, nurses and firefightes support prop 51. prop 51 will upgrade libraries, science labs, and classroom technology and relieve school overcrowding creating more...

I could see pams legs in the kitchen. thats when he ran out of the house and found his neighbor who called 911. of course, the "world journal" printed all that though the police werent too happy about it. and eric mullens? >> i remember taking it home and reading it and putting it down and thinking, no, it didnt say that. and picking it back up again. >> but remarkable as ralphs letter was, it still wasnt the whole story. a few weeks after the murder, he mustered up the courage and told the poli...

Any fingerprints besides his and pams? well, in his letter written a few days later, ralph provided a new detail that accounted for that possibility. >> all of a sudden, now his attackers, he remembered that they wore gloves with l.e.d. lights on them. which would explain why no one elses prints would be on the knobs of the drawers. >> have you ever heard of gloves with l.e.d. lights? >> we researched it, because i had never heard of that. they do exist. >> in the letter, ralph also changed the ...

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 treasures. >> theres a little jewelry that pam kept. this is h...

And he proceeded to assault me. >> so that was the whole awful story. but if ralph thought that sharing his new more detailed recollections would clear the air, he was wrong. what did you think when you saw it? >> i was pretty blown away by what was written. >> 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. ♪