why, the age-old conclusion, the husband always does it. he was a statistical suspect from day one, for sure. my opinion is, they sandbagged around that to make a case. reporter: why, she asked, would anybody believe an addict and known liar over george? and the detectives theory that a guilty conscience led to a suicide attempt? that was hog wash, said maria. but let me tell ya, he has been on suicide prevention squads, he s an emt. he is quite knowledgeable about what it takes to kill yourself in a vehicle. so, driving that large vehicle into a k-rail with your seat belt on is not how an expert tries to commit suicide. he did something stupid, but he didn t try to kill himself. reporter: and it wasn t just george s family who stood firmly behind him. fellow firefighters came to his defense, fellow west point grads, childhood friends. i truly believe he s innocent. he gives too much of himself, and i think that that is one of the reasons he finds himself in the situation he
we went in and told him that he was under arrest. did he say anything? he asked to speak with his attorney. i just knew that george had something to do with it. reporter: both george and noel were booked on murder, and conspiracy and burglary charges. george is the one that wanted shauna dead. george is the controlling man that needed that control of shauna. and he had a tool at his disposal that worshipped him, that loved him, that would do what needed to be done. reporter: noel stevens pleaded guilty to several charges, including murder, and spent the next three years cooperating with the investigation. stevens was later sentenced to 42 years to life. george, who pleaded not guilty, set up a ministry in the clark county detention center. and george s sister, maria, remained convinced he did not do it.
good job. yay. good singing. reporter: it s a terrible thing to bury a young mother in the prime of her life. especially, in the shadow of murder. big sister paula had felt somehow frozen in a terrible dream that refused to end or make sense ever since her mother called with the news about shauna. what s it like to hear something like that? i don t know that you can describe it. you know, i mean, your heart just drops to your stomach. reporter: paula and shauna s family and friends gathered to mourn and remember how much they cared about her. the funeral itself was standing room only. it was a beautiful tribute to shauna. reporter: george s big sister, maria. i could see george was heartfelt and did what he could
my opinion is, they sandbagged around that to make a case. reporter: why, she asked, would anybody believe an addict and known liar over george? and the detectives theory that a guilty conscience led to a suicide attempt? that was hog wash, said maria. but let me tell ya, he has been on suicide prevention squads, he s an emt. he is quite knowledgeable about what it takes to kill yourself in a vehicle. so, driving that large vehicle into a k-rail with your seat belt on is not how an expert tries to commit suicide. he did something stupid, but he didn t try to kill himself. reporter: and it wasn t just george s family who stood firmly behind him. fellow fire fighters came to his defense, fellow west point grads, childhood friends. i truly believe he s innocent. he gives too much of himself, and i think that that is one of the reasons he finds himself in the situation he s in. were you surprised at the amount of support that george got? no.
this is his sister maria mcgrew. a valedictorian and on the football team. yeah. you d think he d be just a jerk, right? yeah. just kind of a jock, mean-spirited sort of who knows, stereotypical. reporter: but it was quite the contrary, said maria. he was always the calming force amongst family and friends. you know, he was the gentle speaker. he had this outlook in life where, i wanna go out and make the world a better place. reporter: so george did. he earned a prestigious appointment to west point, and after graduation became a combat engineer, served as a nation builder in panama. his childhood friend, aaron solano, went down for a visit. the stories he told me about the missions that he accomplished, building schools, clinics, roadways and bridges, really had an impact on his life. he finally felt like, hey, i m getting to do something. reporter: when george left the military with the rank of captain, he took a corporate engineering job, but soon realized that