nothing sexual? no big deal, that s right. reporter: after that, keith was released to go and grieve with his family. detective carter, meanwhile, set out to verify keith s story. he had a receipt where he had stayed. reporter: so that puts him three hours away from this house fire. correct. reporter: the death of his wife? it showed his check-in time and check-out time. reporter: a quick check of keith s gun showed he was telling the truth about it as well. the gun looked as though it had never been fired. so maybe he s not the guy? he may not be. reporter: so then who was? coming up the detective sits down with deanna. was she really like a guy friend to keith? you could say maybe she s driving events here. maybe she wants to get rid of the wife. that s correct. let s see, aleve is proven better on pain
griffith what she would have needed in a divorce and been entitled to. reporter: keith s daughter-in-law ali griffith listened to the entirety of the prosecution s case. all she heard were theories. they spun a story, and they told a story how they wanted it to go. and they had facts that supported their story, but did not prove it. reporter: and that s what keith s defense attorney mark bryant hammered home for the jury. reporter: what s no evidence mean? they didn t have dna, they didn t have any kinda forensics, they didn t have a confession. they had nothing! they had circumstantial evidence. reporter: in their haste to arrest keith, the defense argued, the police had gotten it wildly wrong. yes, he conceded, keith wasn t the husband of the year. but, he said, deanna s story that keith was pursuing her for a long term commitment was nonsense. rather what he wanted was a port in every storm. reporter: as for the life insurance, $250,000 was far from
well, this is gonna be a nightmare. reporter: when aaron and zach flew the nest, the griffith s lives seemed to get only busier. they joined a motorcycle class through their church and frequently were a golf foursome with friends craig and temple bradley. everybody that knew keith loved him. great guy. reporter: did he become your best friend? yeah, definitely. one of my very best friends. reporter: temple felt that way about julie, too. she had a heart of gold. she would do anything for you. but she also wasn t afraid to tell you exactly how it was either. reporter: did she get people s feathers ruffled? oh yeah. yeah, but everybody loved her. reporter: after early retirement from the water company, keith found a second career as traveling lawnmower salesman, which left julie to spend a lot of nights alone in the house. but keith never worried for her well being in a safe neighborhood, their own door watched over by their beloved great dane cleo. aaron s wife, ali.
prime minister. the president was encouraged by the first and a slew of celebrities to help free the rapper after his arrest in sweden. a heat wave leads to the death of three people in maryland and arkansas and forced evacuation of 250 residents from a retirement home in philadelphia. now back to dateline. reporter: julie griffith s family had hardly had time to absorb the horrific news of her death in a house fire when disturbing rumors started reaching them that investigators thought her death was foul play. the sheriff s department kept details of the murder quiet for days. i could not believe it. reporter: daughter-in-law, ali. i couldn t imagine anyone that would ever want to hurt her, much less set the house on
to buy, so, for us to be together. reporter: for the detective, deanna s story put a whole new spin on the investigation. keith griffith now seemed like a man with a very big secret. or, thinking like a homicide detective, was she the one with the secret? reporter: you could spin it another way and say, maybe she s driving events here. maybe she wants to get rid of the wife ? that s correct. we were open for that, being an idea or a possibility. reporter: in fact, the detective had let her tell her story without ever explaining the reason for his visit. now, he laid out his cards. was he not divorced? um no. he says, first of all, keith s not divorced. according to him, he s been married to his high school sweetheart for 36 years. and i just broke down, because i i couldn t believe it. reporter: but, of course, there was more. we are conducting an