Page 287 - Hawk News Today

Where was debbie hawk? what happened to her? and what happened to the sacred bond that once held three children together? back at the beginning, even the police were confused. >> this case seemed very unusual from the start. >> assigned to the case at the time, california police investigator darren madison along with a kings county d.a. investigator aaron lublew. both had worked other cases here in hanferred, and out among the suburbs in the almonder orchard and dairy farms, but this one did not...

>> a guilty man or not? the jury did not take very long to decide. >> we, the jury, find the defendant, david martin hawk, guilty of the murder of debbie hawk. >> guilty of murder and nine financial crimes. dave hawk was sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars. but was that the end of this story? not in the least. his defense attorney appealed the case as high as he could, even trying the supreme court, which declined review. then in march 2016, ten years after debbie hawk disappeare...

>> but they did not. no debbie hawk, not anywhere. >> there were some drag marks, some kind of smear marks leading out to the garage where they stopped. >> and debbies van was gone, too. >> my initial reaction was, oh, my god. what has happened? who could have done this? >> sure. the girls ran to a neighbors house. conrad called 911. >> were in my moms room and her bathroom, and theres blood on the carpet. >> after the initial shock of it, i start to be reasonable and think, wait a minute, lets ...

>> did you find fingerprints, hairs, anything? >> no. >> did one man have a motive. >> you stole $300,000 and are about to be exposed of it. >> except without proof, how could anyone convince a jury? >> you dont think they had any evidence against you? could anyone name anything? >> could anyone solve the mystery? >> we, the jury, find the defendant, david martin hawk -- >> hello, and welcome to "dateline." when someone goes missing, one of the hardest things for those left behind is not knowing...

Low temperatures. back to "dateline." >> welcome back to "dateline." im craig melvin. even though investigators looking into the homicide of debbie hawk had no physical evidence tying her husband dave to the crime, they did uncover some information about possible financial wrongdoing on his part. police considered it strong enough to warrant an arrest, but could they get the prosecutor to agree? here with more of our story is keith morrison. i kept pushing and pushing and we kept sitting back....

>> though, what the jury thought, no one could say. then there was inevitably a conversation about whether or not dave would testify. >> i told them i wanted to testify. >> an idea daves attorney did not like one bit. >> dave is a combative individual, he is prideful, he is offended easily. >> he thinks he is smart and hates for anyone to think he is not smart. he would be perfect fodder for a trained prosecutor. >> and so dave held his tongue in court. he saved his story for us. so you dont thi...

Murdered. in fact, his daughter insisted he could not have left the house without her having heard him. >> it doesnt seem at all possible. >> even though investigators would tell the court the kids slept so soundly it was hard to wake them up when they went to see them one morning, the defense claims that the prosecutions theory of what happened just didnt add up. >> that is just beyond belief that somebody would take that kind of risk, he would sneak down the hallway, open the door, drive the t...

Decide whether the other branches are held accountable or not, that mr. whitaker indicated maybe thats not really something that is legitimate or that the federal courts really dont have equivalent power. that to me is extremely dangerous. i would suspect that wouldnt be upheld. >> i dont say thank god that much on this program, but thank god thats not mr. whitakers call or this president or any presidents call. >> yeah, and it would go to the supreme court of the united states, and now justice ...

Started because there was no crime. it is -- everybody has conflicts. they all have conflicts over there that are beyond anything that anybodys ever seen in terms of conflicts. >> so he says that he could fire everybody right now. is he right, though, ryan? i mean because he has a stronger majority in the senate. >> i mean he could. he could fire everyone. he is the president of the united states, right? but whats always prevented him from taking that action, thats the one red line he wouldnt cr...

Because politically i dont like stopping it. its a disgrace. it should have never been started because there was no crime. it is -- everybody has conflicts. they all have conflicts over there that are beyond anything that anybodys ever seen in terms of conflicts. >> so he says that he could fire everybody right now. is he right, though, ryan? i mean because he has a stronger majority in the senate. >> i mean he could. he could fire everyone. he is the president of the united states, right? but w...