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smokey was found in the backyard. did james put him there, and was he able to pacify the dog based on help jessica provided? we wanted to ask jessica about all of that. she declined to be interviewed. if she committed a murder or played a part in committing a murder, she's getting away with it. >> we cannot find any evidence. >> or -- >> yeah. >> -- she's not guilty? >> correct. >> as for serena and james and their covenant marriage, it's over now. they divorced in 2019. but serena still worries about what effect james might still have on her and her children's lives. you ever going to be free of this guy? >> when god hits his off switch. >> james lapan will most likely be in prison when that happens. he was sentenced to life. he's filed an appeal. kristy, who says she waited 40 years to meet nick, now faces the rest of her life without him. >> he'll always be my superman. i'll always love him. that will -- that doesn't change. >> and even in the midst of mourning his brother, john morelos takes some comfort in how he helped solve nick's
more. in december 2017, as james lapan sat in a pima county jail cell, his wife of seven years sat in a hotel room during a work trip, watching a lifetime movie about an abusive, controlling husband. >> seeing that made me fully realize the fact that it's a pattern that's going to continue to get worse. and if he had not been arrested, this would probably be a direction in which my life would be going. >> it took months, but eventually serena found the courage to pick up the phone. >> she calls and says, i've got a new story to tell. >> pima county chief trial counsel jonathan mosher. >> we bring her in for an interview with recorders running. >> when you talked to police previously -- >> i lied. >> okay. what did you lie about? >> the fact that he had left the house, because he did. >> serena told prosecutors what
wasn't a pushover. >> with james and his strong personality and my strong personality, we were on the same page, and we got -- things were going amazing. >> in 2010 at james'request, they entered into a covenant marriage. what's a covenant marriage? >> covenant marriage is recognized before god and state, and quite frankly it's a lot harder to get divorced. >> less than a year into their marriage, james'father died, and serena says something in her husband changed. he became, she said, controlling and frightening. serena recalled a disagreement in which she wanted to step away from him to check on their children. >> he was physically holding onto my biceps at that point in time. he was just like, we're going to finish this discussion. immediately following that, he said, the children are replaceable. we can make more. i'm not. and at
him only got stronger. his dna was found all over nick's bedroom, and nick's blood was on the pants recovered at the lapan home. with the overwhelming dna evidence plus serena's testimony and the firearms analysis evidence, jurors didn't need much time to reach a verdict. >> we, the jury, do find the defendant james lapan guilty of the offense first-degree murder. >> you're not required to offer a motive, but what do you think the motive was here? >> obsession and hatred. that's all tied up around nick and jessica. >> jessica stillwell, james lapan's mistress and nick's former girlfriend. prosecutor mosher called her as a witness, but his interest in her was not so much about what she said as what she might have done. >> i can't prove that she had involvement, but i can't rule it out either. we have these texts from the evening of the murder that are really pretty disturbing. >> reporter: at 6:36 p. m., james lapan sent this text to jessica. pitbull. to which jessica replied, his dog. his name is smokey. and then james instructed jessica to delete all their texts. >> why are you talking about nick's pit bull the night he's murdered? >> jessica testified she and james had talked about her getting a dog like smokey for her daughter. that said, investigators still wonder if jessica was feeding james information about nick. remember, after the murder,
and he didn't want to leave his family. >> now detective garcia had someone knew she wanted to talk with, james lapan's wife, serena. >> i know he's been, um -- fell off the marital bandwagon so to speak. >> serena said james had told her about the affair weeks earlier. they were going through counseling, she said, and working on the marriage. and when detective garcia asked her about the night of nick's murder -- >> her statement was exactly the same as james'. >> they hung out together during the day. they went to bed together. they woke up together. >> yes. >> so she alibis him. >> yes. >> you wouldn't try to be covering up for him for anything? >> no. >> okay. >> if serena was telling the truth, james could not be the killer. as detective garcia pondered that, nick's brothers john kept up his own investigation. he mentioned lapan's name to a childhood friend. remember how tucson can be a big small town? >> he said, johnny, you're not
his property revealed a mountain of evidence, including bloody pants and rug fibers matching nick's carpet. but james did have an alibi. his wife serena said he was with her the night of the murder. could a tv movie get serena to flip her script? the real story was about to be revealed. here's josh mankiewicz with the conclusion of "stone-cold. " >> i assumed he was a marine because he carried himself with such confidence and attitude. >> serena met her future husband james lapan at a weekly dance class. >> every single time i came in, he'd come sliding up again, and he's like, so, when do i get to throw my name in the hat? and i'm like, maybe never, you know? there's the door. go away. >> but he wouldn't go away? >> no. >> serena, a sergeant first class in the army and a self-described alpha female, was happy to have met a man who
murder. >> if i contact your wife, she's going to tell me this is where you were on sunday? >> i would hope so. >> okay. >> he pretty much answered all the questions that we had. the interview ends. >> but then maybe two minutes later, there was a knock on her door. >> and it's james. he came back, and he tells us, i basically need to tell you the truth. >> the truth? like a confession? well, yes, but not to murder. james lapan owned up to slipping. >> what was the part you were not forthcoming? >> jessica and i have slipped. >> slipped, as is had an affair with number's ex-girlfriend, jessica stillwell. >> she broke it off pretty quickly because she did not want to be the other person,
husband james lapan at a weekly dance class. >> every single time i came in, he'd come sliding up again, and he's like, so, when do i get to throw my name in the hat? and i'm like, maybe never, you know? there's the door. go away. >> but he wouldn't go away? >> no. >> serena, a sergeant first class in the army and a self-described alpha female, was happy to have met a man who wasn't a pushover. >> with james and his strong personality and my strong personality, we were on the same page, and we got -- things were going amazing. >> in 2010 at james'request, they entered into a covenant marriage. what's a covenant marriage? >> covenant marriage is recognized before god and state, and quite frankly it's a lot harder to get divorced. >> less than a year into their marriage, james'father died, and serena says something in her husband changed. he became, she said, controlling and
around 9:00 and got up around 5:00 a. m., which would have been an hour after nick's murder. >> if i contact your wife, she's going to tell me this is where you were on sunday? >> i would hope so. >> okay. >> he pretty much answered all the questions that we had. the interview ends. >> but then maybe two minutes later, there was a knock on her door. >> and it's james. he came back, and he tells us, i basically need to tell you the truth. >> the truth? like a confession? well, yes, but not to murder. james lapan owned up to slipping. >> what was the part you were not forthcoming? >> jessica and i have slipped. >> slipped, as is had an affair with number's ex-girlfriend, jessica stillwell.
>> she broke it off pretty quickly because she did not want to be the other person, and he didn't want to leave his family. >> now detective garcia had someone knew she wanted to talk with, james lapan's wife, serena. >> i know he's been, um -- fell off the marital bandwagon so to speak. >> serena said james had told her about the affair weeks earlier. they were going through counseling, she said, and working on the marriage. and when detective garcia asked her about the night of nick's murder -- >> her statement was exactly the same as james'. >> they hung out together during the day. they went to bed together. they woke up together. >> yes. >> so she alibis him. >> yes. >> you wouldn't try to be covering up for him for anything? >> no. >> okay. >> if serena was telling the truth, james could not be the killer. as detective garcia pondered that, nick's brothers john kept up his own investigation. he mentioned lapan's name to a childhood friend. remember how tucson can be a big small town? >> he said, johnny, you're not