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Thought just the opposite. to him it was no marriage at all, and worse, he wasnt able to see his new baby. his mom says he was running out of patience and options. >> he said, mom, the only way im ever going to get to know sydney or to get time with sydney without jennifer being attached to her is if i file for divorce and get visitation. >> he needs to divorce his wife to see his daughter? >> yes. it was a very hard decision for him to make. >> he also filed for custody of sydney, and that set ...

There is your horse. there he is. >> and the heart of an illinois farm belt a new relationship was growing very fast. it seemed steven and jennifer began dating one day and became a committed couple the next. making it a happy threesome, stevens daughter from a previous relationship, alex. steven often captured family moments with photos and family videos. his family says he thought jennifer would make the perfect wife and mother. >> he felt like she wants to cook with us, she loves alex she. tr...

Grandparents lived in ashland, about a half hour from stephens family. then, not long after that stephen called his mom with more big news. jennifer was pregnant. >> i was excited for him. i kept thinking, you know, maybe i was wrong and being thankful that i had not said anything, imposed my feelings on him. im thinking theyre going to have a baby, theyre doing good as a family. >> but soon after the announcement things seemed to change for stephen and alex. his mother says jennifers family sud...

When she was born, he doubted over her. he was just excited about every little thing. he would sleep right by alex his bed, holding her little hand. i mean, thats just how he was. >> the former girlfriend regularly took alex to visit steven in virginia and the bond between father and both daughter grew strong. alex his mother then realized stephen can offer more stability and a better home life for their daughter than she could, and she gave him full custody of her. >> that says a lot about him ...

Her family made several comments about how they were happy they had such a wonderful son-in-law and he was going to be part of their family. >> the whole family raved about stephen and alex. >> the whole family, that is, except jennifers uncle ed. he says he didnt approve of the whirlwind romance. he didnt like that stalker steve became the one so quickly. he did not attend the wedding. >> i was told within a month after they started dating they was going to get married. and thats just not the w...

I thought jennifer it would be real good for both of them. they presented a pretty good picture. >> was your son and love? >> yes. >> steven began spending much of his time with alex, jennifer, and her family. he was thrilled that the family seem to embrace him and his daughter, as his sister ashley remembers. >> that was number one. he wanted to make sure they enjoyed kids and would get along with alex, too. not only was she nice and interacting with him and alex and basically the perfect mothe...

Cousins playing with him, showering them with attention. >> he loved kids, loved people and he was going to have kids and be around them. >> he was patient and kind and had a smile for everyone. >> you could always see the smile in his eyes. i could just look in him and see the joy of life. >> brandi tally ran cross country with stephen in high school back in the nineties. >> just a really good guy. genuine, loved his family, i dont think he had an enemy in the world. just always looked out for ...

The case dragged on for months. >> people all over the community are saying why hasnt there been an arrest. yes. i was hearing that a lot. >> as the case dragged on, the whodunit became the talk of the town. >> people are very, very aware of the killing in this community. >> bruce rushton covered the case for the springfield "register." >> any time we write about this in the newspaper, its the most clicked on thing, or close to the most clicked on thing. its a puzzler. its almost a game of three...

And unscathed. >> very, very, poorly planned out scheme on my niece, and my sisters side, that ruined the watkins family, room the skinner family. -- i dont think they planned it out as good as what they shouldve, if they were going to do something like that. >> despite the accusations of a family conspiracy, neither jennifer or anyone else in the skin a family was charged with any crime related to the shooting. no one in the family had agreed to speak with dateline, except ed. as for stephens p...