of the blue. an ex-lover reveals all, including a motive for murder almost too absurd to believe. coming up this could be the reason that we never could find out why trent was killed because it was something this weird. when dateline continues. devices are like doorways
murdering her in the basement of her own home. reporter: prosecutors set out to prove that paul orchestrated this murder down to the last detail. he was planning this for a period of weeks and maybe more in his own mind, of how to rid himself of catherine. he s a murderer. he s a sociopath. he planned. he executed. and he killed catherine novak in cold blood. reporter: their star witness was paul s ex-lover, michelle la france. the jury heard every minute of those police interrogation tapes of michelle describing the details of how he killed his wife. he told me that they were fighting and that they were rolling around on the basement stairs floor for like 45 minutes and that s why he was so late. and that she was screaming and begging him for her life. reporter: and the jury didn t have to just take her word for it. prosecutors called scott
there were cameras at two different businesses right there at that intersection. and one additional detail to contradict the prosecution s case. becky s brother david testified that there was an innocent explanation for that in hair tance that she mentioned to her ex-lover. she wasn t talking about live insurance. becky was about to inherit a diamond ring. my aunt s rings. very expensive? very expensive. two carats, $19,000, appraised, some years earlier, so obviously it had a little more value. more than a enough reasonable doubt, said the defense. but would a jury agree? the wait for a verdict began. i was so nervous, waiting for it, my hands were shaking. i was holding out hope that the jury would recognize the mistakes that were made, and understand that because of those mistakes, we may never know who really did it.
holbrook, a/k/a, becky s prodigy. becky confided her feelings for him months earlier when becky and keith appeared to be happier than ever. i said to them, becky, you and keith seem to be really committed to making this work. and she said to me, oh, i m a great faker. once i ve made my mind up about something i m a great faker, and my heart kind of sank. the prosecution argued this was becky s motive for murder, she was fixated on her ex-lover and elaborately scheming to get him back. she proceeded to tell me that she was going to tell the ex-lover that she was pregnant. so she is saying she is pregnant with his baby? yes. i said, becky, you re 50-plus years old, and she said, 50-year-old people get pregnant all the time. and i said, who, where? how does this happen? i ve never heard of that. her reasoning had just kind of gone out the window at that point. how far had she gone with the baby story? she wanted somebody that
crime. pam woodard said becky told her about it at the hospital after the shooting. gentlemshe just openly told . she said, i had sex with a 29-year-old client this morning and i have a picture of his private area on my phone. that s not the words she used, and she said, and i feel kind of bad because when i got home keith had made me a tea. did this have alarm bells going off? it was the oddest conversation. but pam and some of becky s other girlfriends weren t brought to court just to talk about that dalliance. what was the purpose of you taking the stand and what was that like? i didn t want to take the stand. i was made to take the stand, i was subpoenaed by the prosecution. the prosecution wanted pam to testify about becky s obsession with her ex-lover, mark