Wasnt Debbie News Today

Debris was an accomplished woman, a sales referee from a school full firms. who was immensely popular. >> she was very real regal, to us royalty. she definitely fits the bill as a princess. >> she should have been a kennedy. >> which is why the ribbons that suddenly bloomed everywhere around hanford were royal purple. and the people who put the ribbons on and up also joined the search to find her. they walk to the river banks. they peered among the trees. not a trace. by then, as you can imagine...

Would this be enough to sway the jury? here with theo conclusion of o story is keith morrison. dave hawk on trial for the murderon of his ex-wife debbie d not testify, didnt tell the members of the jury what he was thinking. he had a sinking feeling he knew what they were thinking. >> always blame the ex-husband first. >> it was an awful problem as he saw it. had been from the day his ex-wife x debbie, disappeared through a trail of her own blood. the number one suspect was him. thats what the...

Pastor and friend. this person who is portrayed as such a monster isnt. hes worked hard in the church. hes their father. >> their son began to face serious financial charges. daves parents took over custody of chelsa. not the way they expected to spend their 80s or how they expected to defend their son. >> hes made some mistakes. nothing of the scope generally accepted. >> stan set up those trusts for his children and had the right to see fit how to use those. >> were you surprised how he used t...

>> debbie was an accomplished woman successful. very popular. >> she was very reegle and to us royalty. she fitted the bill of princess. >> she should have been aiken di. >> that is why the ribbons put up were royal purple. by then, the whole town new about the disappearance. something else too. two days after, there was a find. it wasnt good but it wasnt debbie. police found her van parked on the street in a high-crime area.

Welcome back to "dateline" im craig melvin. police considered the information strong enough to warrant an arrest. could they get the prosecutor to agree. >> they kept pushing and pushing. >> the prosecute kbror at the t said he would not charge him with the murder of his ex-wife, debbie. it was evident this single mother had been murdered. police convinced themselves dave was responsible.

Debbies house. i think he tried the stun gun and she screamed very loudly. struck her more than once. at that point, he suffocated her. he must have dragged her body to the garage. disposed of her somewhere and drove the van to fresno and left it there. someone must have picked him up and drove him the 40 miles back to the farm. but really, there is no body or evidence to show he had even been at the murder scene. everyone in town had a theory, the prosecutor did too. but was that proof. the sta...

Did not take very long to decide. >> we, the jury, find the defendant david martin hawk, guilty of the murder of debbie hawk. >> guilty of murder and nine financial crimes. dave hawk was sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars. but was that the end of this story? not in the least. his defense attorney appealed the case as high as he could, even trying the supreme court, which declined review. then in march 2016, ten years after debbie hawk disappeared. a farmhand found her remains in...

>> my point was they havent looked for her. if someone had thrown her off a bridge, it would have floated downstream. they didnt look anywhere. >> so did you throw her off the bridge? >> no, i didnt throw anybody off a bridge. >>f they also made a huge deal about something he supposedly said to his girlfriend about debbie. >> dave said we wont be rid of that [ bleep ] until shes dead. >> i might have. but>> i dont remember that. that certainly does not mean that im going to go kill somebody. >> ...

Like a duck. but you are saying its a turkey. >> the burdenen is on them to prove it is a duck but they didnt. >> there was no evidence that dave even left his house the night debbie was abducted or even murder. his daughter insisted he could not have left the house without her having heard him. it just doesnt seem at all possible. >> investigators would tell the court the kids slept so soundly, it was hard to even wake them up. claiming the prosecutions theory just didnt add up. that is just be...

Between the two of you? >> yes. >> surely not easygoing for the children of dave and debbie hawk. >> we do the best we can. >> thats all for this edition of "dateline." thanks for watching. good morning. im jo ling kent at msnbc world headquarters. heres whats happening right now. an unprecedented step and surprise summit. president trump visiting the dmz and doing something no other sitting american president has done before. this hour, the significance of that meeting and what kim told trump...