and i was like, what s going on? and he s like, lisa s been shot. i held her hand and i just said, my lisa. my lisa. everyone s like, do you want justice? do you want revenge? i just want the truth. lisa techel, newly married, pregnant, starting the career of her dreams. she always put everybody before she put herself. then, one morning, a single shotgun blast rocked the newlyweds home. she s been shot. a young husband, out of his mind with grief. it was a tragedy. but for lisa s dad, a sheriff s deputy, it was no mystery. he was sure he knew who the killer was. go get him. go get him now. a neighbor with a gun and a grudge. i thought, they better get to him before i do. but some said this couple was having trouble. that seth had a secret. did he tell you, she sent me some topless pictures ? yes. others said the real murderer was someone else, right under cops noses. here s a legitimate suspect that should have been investigated
lives. was there any extramarital affairs? no. seth didn t hesitate. there was no other women. but out at the trailer, quite unexpectedly, someone was about to put the lie to that rosy marital picture. a good friend of seth s named colton had walked up to the crime scene tape at the drive. he told the deputies and agents there that he was looking to pick up his puppy that seth had been boarding for him. the investigators began peppering the young friend for info about seth and lisa. a detail that tumbled out surprised them. what was the story you told them colton? i told them that seth had a trac phone. so kind of a secret phone? yeah. and he had been talking to a girl. the investigators had no idea where this would lead, but the unexpected revelation that there might be a girlfriend in the mix meant that they had to get on the horn with agent thomas downtown and pronto. seth was still in the interview chair, but he could walk at any
strangely shook thomas hand. appreciate it. and then he walked out. in the end, what did the investigators have? that seth lied about sex, but was it even that? all he admitted to was making out with rachel. and on the big question, he insisted, over and over again, that he did not kill lisa. even agent thomas expressed disappointment with the outcome of the marathon interview, nearly five hours long. you felt you d come out of a 15 round fight? it was exhausting. felt somewhat like a failure, in some regards. why? we didn t get the full confession. maybe that s because seth didn t do it. agent thomas just didn t know. but the women in the caldwell family, without knowing any of seth s admissions about rachel, believed with 100% certainty that seth did not kill lisa. especially lisa s sister and seth s great friend, presley. i was never thinking that seth did it. only todd caldwell was no
squeezed andy s arm, and i said i ll take this. to stand up here and suggest that anyone in the courtroom is trying or attempting to intentionally influence the jury is absolute nonsense. the courtroom started to settle down and clear. but seth remained at the defense table, his former father-in-law coiled behind him, ready to pounce. i was just praying, please just let me stand here. for more than a minute, glaring, burning a hole in seth s back. if looks could kill. there s just kind of an urge to move forward. to jump the rail? yeah. god, please don t make me do that. just let me stand. what were you doin in your mind? i don t really wanna even think of what i was doing in my mind but i was i was wanting to do something. two hours later, the jurors returned. but nothing had changed. a mistrial is declared. unbelievable. veteran prosecutors who d never had a hung jury before, were now 0 for 2. again, the state didn t hesitate. seth techel would go on tr
detail, approaching brian tate for an interview. he s our prime suspect. it s very possible in all of our minds that he just shot and killed lisa. as the phillips team walked slowly up to the tate house, marty and the chief deputy provided cover in the driveway. i had my rifle out, locked and loaded. had the red dot turned on. everything s popped off. we were ready. nerves screaming, everyone was poised for battle, everyone but, it turned out, brian tate. he wasn t armed or belligerent. they could all exhale. as we walked up there, he was accommodating, got some chairs out for us. this is brian tate? brian brian did. and we sat down in his front yard. in the front yard in lawn chairs, his mother and brother by his side. no shotgun in sight. so the cops turned on a recorder and started asking questions. so you asked him 5:00 a. m., where were you? yes. he said he was in bed in his basement bedroom, sleeping off a higher dose of medication for his schizophrenia.