Page 3 - Finally Ralph News Today

Bull [ bleep ]. i said, this is the worst -- i could barely stomach to finish it. >> and aaron, shannons ex-husband, ralphs son? aaron went to a very dark place indeed. oh, you have no idea. you were 11 years old when your mother disappeared. >> yes. >> coming up, secrets in the basement. >> i had been going through some of my dads stuff in the basement and found a box of stuff that supposedly she had taken with her. >> when "dateline extra" continues. growing odors. thats why we graduated to ti...

>> about as well as you expect anybody to get hit by a sledgehammer or whatever. first youre just kind of shocked, then a little bit of denial. >> suddenly i realized that that last conversation i had with her was -- that was it. >> no fresh start now. her mother was dead. and then shannon saw ralph. >> and he lost it. he just turned into a sobbing, shaking maniac. >> ralphs face was banged up. he had bruises in several places. he was confused. like a man coming out of a concussion. >> just exha...

>> well, you know, the sucker would rather go out than actually face his destiny that way. >> reporter: suicide attempt, delaying tactic, whatever it was it didnt work. a day later the judge ordered ralph back to court. >> people versus ralph lee candelario sentencing. >> reporter: and ralph, bandaged up, got another day in the spotlight. >> your honor, i have maintained that i have been innocent through this whole process. >> reporter: and then a keen observer might almost have heard the jaws d...

>> 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. which means we use less. three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. anybod...

And i touched her cheek. and she was cold, cold, cold. and i ran out of the house. >> and that, said ralph, is when he saw his neighbor and yelled for help. but who did it? robbers? or someone else? normally, said walsenburg police captain vince suarez -- >> you always look at the closest people to the victim. >> except in this case, ralph candelario was also a victim, and clearly wanted to help find the killer or killers. cbi agent jody wright -- >> he was very cooperative, absolutely. >> so in...

>> after a year and a half, shannon and aaron divorced. pam and ralphs marriage, on the other hand, thrived. they moved into a big house on a corn lot in the walsenburg, an owed coal mining town about 50 miles south of pueblo. they opened up an antiques mall in the center of town. then bought a vacation home in oregon. >> that was the happiest i ever remember seeing her. >> for nearly three years, shannon still hurt, rarely spoke to her mom. but then one day pam asked her to lunch. >> she was so...

You, ralph. okay? >> the police arrived. went into the house with guns drawn. and there at the entrance to the kitchen, still in her nightgown, lay pam candelario. her head covered in blood. >> i knew she was dead when the ambulance showed up, because they didnt go into the house. they just stayed, and were working on ralph. >> ralph wasnt shot, but he was hurt. and he was air lifted to the nearest trauma hospital. walsenburg, as local reporter eric mullens knew, was not equipped to handle an in...

The issue and tell me 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 suspicion. >> its going to be either pam or ralph. >> right. >> and then they found ralphs real life mistress. yes, he had one. and she said they carried on for most of the time he was married to pam. but now ...

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 police -- >> while he was held ca...

And this is moving day with reliable service appointments in a two-hour window so youre up and running in no time. show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. >> 7:00 a.m., january 16th, 2014. a cold morning in walsenburg, colorado. >> 911. where is your emergency? >> ralph and pam candelarios neighbor had ...