Page 6 - Son Aaron News Today

>> the news hit zach griffith particularly hard. since coming out to his mother, his relationship with her had been strained. and now this. >> i guess youre just beating yourself up something terrible that you had been sideways with her. >> yeah. and i know that if we were just given more time, that we would have been close again. that we would have been, you know, that mom and son duo that we were. but we just -- we didnt have the time. it was ripped away from us. and we never get it back. >> a...

I mean, it made no sense. just who would want to kill her. >> after keith was released the night of his interview with detectives, he headed straight to his friends, the bradleys. they were floored to hear the line of questioning that he recounted. what was up with his marriage, his alibi, the gun he owned? >> he had been questioned to the point that he almost felt like they thought he had done this. >> son aaron also got called down to the station that same evening. and he, too, was questioned ...

>> its not true. no way. >> what had they all missed? >> a monster. a liar. a cheater. >> hes destroyed my entire family. ♪ ♪ >> before it became charred rubble, the house was home to a long-time paducah couple, keith and julie griffith, church going, golf playing, high school sweethearts, 36 years into a marriage that had produced two sons. aaron the older. >> they were very supportive parents. they were loving. they loved my kids. >> aaron took after his dad, athletic, easy going, level he...

>> i know for a long time they didnt lock the door. they would leave and go to dinner or go to town and leave the door unlocked. because cleo was the guard dog. >> fulfilled as the griffiths lives seemed to be, keith and julie were transformed when aaron and ali brought into the world their first daughter, aria. >> a first child, it was a greatest day of her life i think. >> julie lived for my little girl. she wanted to be a part of everything that she did. >> and julie was there for ali when sh...

A firecracker like his mom. there was the time, for instance, in the sixth grade zach grabbed a shovel and started digging a hole for a koi pond in the backyard. >> my parents come home. theyre like, what are you doing? im like, were going to have a pond. >> were they okay with it? >> yeah, they were fine. they were kind of like, well, this is going to be a nightmare. >> when aaron and zach flew the nest, the griffiths lives seemed to only get busier. they joined a motorcycle class through their...

That does make the hair on your neck stand up. >> it does. >> that wouldnt look good to a jury. the development brought aaron to a tipping point. >> were you no longer wavering at this point? had you come down on the side of, oh my god, my father killed my mother? >> yeah. yeah. >> now aaron, too, wrote his dad a letter. if he was guilty -- >> its time. its time to man up and do what you should have done two years ago. >> keiths defense attorneys went to the prosecutor to hammer out a plea deal....

Regretting what id done. i probably drove 100 miles an hour all the way back, hoping to get caught. >> as for the future, keith says he is prepared to die in prison. >> i dont have anything to live for. except maybe forgiveness. >> from who? >> from my boys. >> thats why youre talking to me today? >> exactly. yes. >> well, its between you and them. ill tell you, my take on it is youve got some distance to make up. >> i know i do. ive got a lot to make up. >> of the countless things keith stole f...

I had no idea what could have happened. >> no enemies. i mean, it made no sense. just who would want to kill her. >> after keith was released the night of his interview with detectives, he headed straight to his friends, the bradleys. they were floored to hear the line of questioning that he recounted. what was up with his marriage, his alibi, the gun he owned? >> he had been questioned to the point that he almost felt like they thought he had done this. >> son aaron also got called down to the ...

I could tell he was in shock. >> the news hit zach griffith particularly hard. since coming out to his mother, his relationship with her had been strained. and now this. >> i guess youre just beating yourself up something terrible that you had been sideways with her. >> yeah. and i know that if we were just given more time, that we would have been close again. that we would have been, you know, that mom and son duo that we were. but we just -- we didnt have the time. it was ripped away from us. ...

Rule breakers pay the consequences. >> sandra: what would your son aaron -- we thank him for his service. he made the ultimate sacrifice. what do you think he would have thought watching these nfl games and seeing these players take a knee? >> i have said frequently that if aaron ever saw somebody take the knee during the national anthem, he would help them to their feet. it would break his heart. i watched them drape an american flag over my sons casket in arlington in august of 2011. i watched...