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
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 really happened the night nick morelos was killed. she said she and james went to bed about 9:00.
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 that, i'm like, oh, you're replaceable, but not like i -- it's not like i can say it, you know, because at that point -- >> and if you had said it, what would have happened? >> i don't want to know. so i don't know want to know what would have happened. so then it became an issue of pick your battle. and the battle i picked was protect the children. >> which is why, she says, she turned a blind eye to her husband's affair with jessica. even when james invited jessica home for dinner. what kind of hostess did your husband expect you to be for jessica? >> the same hostess as anybody
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
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 murder. you've still got his
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.
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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
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 really happened the night nick morelos was killed. she said
>> 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