and who was the shooter in this theory? her father. giving his daughter a monstrous and bloody gift of liberation from a man they both loathed. so detectives tried to call ed ates at his home in florida. they say his wife dottie answered and told them he was away and had no idea how to reach him. >> he is essentially out of touch for 24 hours from the time of the murder, and he's the person that we're looking to talk to, and when you have that type of situation, it starts throwing up red flags. >> the night after the murder, thursday, ed ates did return the police's calls. he told them he was currently in louisiana at his elderly mother's. obviously the new jersey detectives were eager to interview ates in person, so they flew to louisiana. by the time they arrived, the father-in-law had already hired a lawyer and invoked the right not to talk.