First Halee News Today

Happened. her boyfriend, a man named thaddeus rice, had dropped the baby down the stairs after tripping over a diaper bag. >> jordan was crying and halee looked at me. i was like, what are we going to do? lets get jordan under control, lets calm her down. and halee put the mom skills into very good use and she is like, it will be okay. hell pull out of this. he is so strong and all this stuff. >> they did what they could to help. they got jordan some food and went to her apartment to get her som...

>> he texted her that morning after the bodys been found saying, are you okay or something to that effect. he knows shes never going to get the message because he threw her phone out the window. >> so you believe he was establishing some type of an alibi. >> he was trying to lay down an alibi at that point. >> detective kruse raised the heat again. >> it does not make a damn bit of sense. >> he tag teamed with other investigators to get isaiah to confess. >> were trying to find out why you did t...

When that happened cell phone data showed isaiah was miles away. >> at the time that her phone came back on and started traveling it was nowhere near isaiah hagan. in fact, he was in a different county. so he could not have been pinging off the same tower that she was. >> reporter: which according to the defense meant someone else had to have halees cell phone. but the prosecution insisted isaiah had the phone all along. >> it looks like it powers back up at the soccer field, but weve since come...

Defining moment for young halee. she was just 12 when she went to a friends house for a sleepover. >> that night the brother of the girl that my daughter was staying with had a friend stay over, and he was 19. my daughter was 12. he tried to molest her. >> at first halee said nothing to her parents, but when she learned that the man preyed on other girls, the instinct to help led her to act in a way few her age would have the courage to. >> she testified and sent him to prison. after that i thin...

Leaving that out is because you know i was scared. >> reporter: he insisted hed left halee alive and well at the soccer field with her wallet and her phone. but investigators questioned that, too. their analysis showed halees phone had been in the same location as isaiahs phone hours later when he was long gone from the soccer field. detective kruse pressed isaiah to explain, moving his chair closer. >> and thats why i need an explanation. >> reporter: isaiahs explanations kept changing. >> lite...

They were okay. but halee wasnt answering her phone. and friends told heather she didnt show up to take her exam at the university. >> its not like her to miss class. not like her to have her phone turned off. >> not like halee rathgeber to go missing. coming up, what had happened to halee. >> are you getting a sick feeling? >> i was sick all morning. it was so much anxiety. >> i just started screaming her name like, my stomach had dropped. and i was like, oh my god. where is halee? where coul...

Seen her. >> jake told police he hadnt seen halee that night, but isaiah had told him where hed taken her. to a local park, a few miles from the soccer field. >> he told me he dropped her off, and he went on a separate way because she wanted to go there to meet somebody. >> that didnt sound right to jake. >> i feel like he wasnt that type of person to let her be there alone at that time of night. he was way too overprotective. >> something wasnt adding up for you. >> not at all. >> and there was...

Like, i just remember just -- i didnt want to exist anymore. >> the family was horrified to learn that halee, just 20 years old, had been murdered with a shot to the back of the head. >> that was the most shocking part. never in a million years would i have thought that someone would shoot my child. like, why? >> as youre processing the most horrific news youve ever had in your life, that your daughter is gone, do you immediately ask these detectives who did this? >> they asked me. >> they asked...

Where did your money go? she said it looks like someone took money from my bank account. she pulled up a picture of the check, and it said to isaiah hagan for groceries. and it was $300. >> halee being halee, she said she forgave him after he promised to pay her back. >> take a seat over there. >> three days after halees death, police decided it was time to talk to isaiah themselves. >> he sat there in this chair, and i sat here. >> what was his demeanor like? this is a big case. this is a young...

That was important for our family. >> reporter: their other love was sports. isaiah was a gifted soccer player, even scored a partial scholarship to college. >> he talked about wanting to be a teacher and teach athletics. >> reporter: they didnt know much about isaiahs relationship with halee, didnt realize how much she meant to their son until he told them she died. >> he was very, very distraught. >> i mean, his elbows, his hips, his knees, his ankles, everything gave. he was collapsing to the...