Jessee Case News Today

Takes a toll on them physically and mentally. >> thats what you worry about? >> uh-huh, exactly what i worry about. >> reporter: because she knew if he didnt solve the jessee case, he might die trying. >> hes like a dog with a bone. hes going to take it and hes going to do it until it gets done. >> reporter: dove was not alone, mind you. there was a prosecutor too who shared his dogged conviction. a man named michael purchaseky who wanted sandra jessee and her group just as badly as dove. >> thi...

Stayed on its track. the key mouse was caught. >> i hope that she rots in hell. i just really do. im glad it wasnt the death penalty. i want her to stay there and suffer with all the other miserable people that go to prison. >> whats it feel like to get justice finally? >> oh, it feels good. it feels good, but not complete. not complete. lost a guy. the nicest guy i ever met. >> and for tom dove, hes now retired from the sheriffs department, and at his going-away party his fellow detectives gave...

And finally that little ball stayed on its track. the key mouse was caught. >> i hope that she rots in hell. i just really do. im glad it wasnt the death penalty. i want her to stay there and suffer with all the other miserable people that go to prison. >> whats it feel like to get justice finally? >> oh, it feels good. it feels good, but not complete. not complete. lost a guy. the nicest guy i ever met. >> and for tom dove, hes now retired from the sheriffs department, and at his going-away par...

With that kind of stress, it takes a toll on them physically and mentally. >> thats what you worry about? >> uh-huh, exactly what i worry about. >> reporter: because she knew if he didnt solve the jessee case, he might die trying. >> hes like a dog with a bone. hes going to take it and hes going to do it until it gets done. >> reporter: dove was not alone, mind you. there was a prosecutor too who shared his dogged conviction. a man named michael murray, who wanted sandra jessee and her group jus...

>> hey, dude, its me. you need to [ bleep ] call me asap. >> could they set the perfect trap? >> these people might literally get away with murder. >> "deadly conspiracy." with doting grandfather jack jessee at the helm his big and blended california family seemed like one happy bunch. then jack was found stabbed to death in his living room and police wondered if the jessees werent as close as they seemed. the case went unsolved for years until an ace detective hatched an unconventional plan to ...

Out. >> yeah. it was horrible. >> it was just -- >> like it happened all over again. >> that one juror, you know, i saw her. i went and talked to her. >> what did you say? >> i said she was an idiot. >> it was certainly difficult for me. it was far more difficult for the family. >> murray promised the family justice. spent two years putting a new case together. and just weeks before trial, he got a call. it was from toms attorney saying his client was ready to cut the apron strings and testify a...

>> reporter: not the only time jack said such a thing, it turned out. >> he actually told me, i he said that. >> reporter: so dove picked through all the original files, hoping he might come across something that had been overlooked. and buried inside, he found this. a simple two-page report apparently unread by any detective. remember the guy who walked into the bar, the one who told a story about the jessee murder? well, years later when the case had gone cold, the bartender decided to call th...

So for him to take a case, hes going to do it and solve it. >> reporter: and so detective dove decided to start over. take a different approach this time. he immersed himself in sandras old phone bills. seized by detective wyatt years before. >> what i did is i went through every telephone call on those phone records looking for somebody related to this case. there had to be some communication. >> hit anywhere? >> yeah. >> reporter: what dove found that had been overlooked before was a cluster o...

About. >> reporter: because she knew if he didnt solve the jessee case, he might die trying. >> hes like a dog with a bone. hes going to take it and hes going to do it until it gets done. >> reporter: dove was not alone, mind you. there was a prosecutor too who shared his dogged conviction. a man named michael purchaseky who wanted sandra jessee and her group just as badly as dove. >> this case seemed to be full of obstacles. >> it would have been probably forgivable just to let it go at that st...

California, moved to arizona to be near her son tom, and soon her daughter followed too. and they all lived within a couple of blocks of each other in homes sandra helped purchase with jacks insurance money and savings. >> when everything was said and done, she got close to $700,000. >> reporter: and as the months slipped past, leads failed to connect, the investigation hit one dead end after another. wyatt was promoted out of homicide. the case bounced from the placentia pd to the orange county...