Sons a monster. How could a son do that . But why, bart . This is the question everybody wants to know. Why . How could a father do the nearly impossible, forgive him . I dont understand it. I look it at it as a miracl the desire for revenge had gone. He wants to save his son no matter what. He had to go to that length to feel alive. We can all live twice. Im david muir. And im elizabeth var fwgas this is 20 20. Death row. It is ominous. It is cold. It is a place you look at it from the outside and you know what happens inside. Reporter in a race against time, 38yearold thomas Bart Whitakers final days are ticking down on death row. Now, he awaits a destiny that seems all but assured. Execution, by lethal injection. His father, kent, spends these final days in a desperate hunt for mercy. On this savoring what may be his last visit with his son in prison. As we were leaving, we put our hands up to the glass and he puts his hand up on the other side and we smile and say we love you. And then we left. Reporter in texas, a state that executes more prisoners than any other in america, kents is a fierce battle against the odds. His love, tested by a terrible twist of fate. The son he is defending plotted the murders of his wife, and his other son. Police say a masked gunman shot the whitaker family as they returned home from dinner. Mother, patricia and son, kevin, were killed. Father kent and son bart were shot, but survived. I am the single greatest victim in this crime and nobody has to convince me of how awful the crime was. Death penalty was the right choice in this case. Reporter the whitaker story began here, in sugarland, texas. Where the sweet smell of success brought them everything they desired. It was the sugar industry that transformed this suburban backwater into one of the wealthiest towns in texas. Sugar land is affluent suburb of houston an allamerican town, a small town. This is a city in which kids play in the street in their front yards, its a place where you want to raise your children. Get back in line you little nerd reporter the whitaker family videos paint a warm picture of a loving, prosperous home. Wave to daddy. Reporter tricia is a former teacher turned fulltime mom. Whos ready for christmas . Reporter every moment seems picture perfect. Brothers inseparable since birth. He looked up to me and wanted to be me. And, i thought that was so ironic because i wanted to be him. They played with each other from the time kevin was old enough to do it, up until the end. They still did stuff together. Look what you got. Reporter but who could imagine that inside that adorable little boy, was a ticking time bomb of rage. What was your relationship like with your parents . It was a good relationship. Reporter we first met Bart Whitaker in 2009, when bart spoke to former abc correspondent, Mary Fulginiti about his strange and violent journey. Your family tried to love you. It was idyllic, yeah. Hey bart, drive down to the stop sign for me. Reporter barts bond with his father, kent, was especially close. From the moment bart learned to ride a twowheeler, he and his father shared a passion for biking. We tried to figure it out one time and ended up with about 15,000 miles that we have ridden together. Reporter so how did the son of this loving family end up here on death row . I was always an independent child, and i think somewhere along in there can we stop for a second . Whats bothering you right now . Im just its all a lot, thinking back on those days. We had a pretty close family. In terms of what was going on inside of me, that was a little different. Never really fit ivery well with anybody, to be honest with you. I think Everybody Knows horrible things can happen, but you just dont expect it. Reporter december 10, 2003, a time for celebration at the whitaker residence where bart receives a extravagant College Graduation gift, a rolex watch. We thought we were celebrating the upcoming graduation of our son. He was supposed to be going to graduate school, going into law enforcement. We got ready for dinner, you know, and went to dinner. Lots of laughter, yeah we were happy and we were teasing each other and but then we did that whenever we were together. Reporter as they celebrate his graduation, only bart knows that an intruder has quietly entered their home. His deadly plot is about to begin. Entered the house with the key, and the alarm code. Reporter as kent snaps photos of his happy family, bart poses with his favorite dessert, bread pudding, decorated to mark the occasion. Tricia smiling with her sons. Yeah. I took that after we finished eating. I betcha no more than five or ten minutes before we left the restaurant, which is five minutes from our house. Reporter bart smiles. And yet, he knows that if everything goes as planned, in less than 30 minutes his brother, his mother and father will all be dead. I dont really know a better term for how i was feeling, other than i was on autopilot. I wasnt even aware of myself. We left the restaurant and drove back to the house. And when we came back, kevin led the way to the front door and trish was behind him. And when he stepped in, thats when the shootings happened. I went out to my car to get my cell phone. And i was walking back from the car when the first shots happened. I had been at church with my family eating dinner and had just gotten home and my pager went off, telling me to call the police department. Reporter Sergeant Marshall slot is a homicide detective. On any ordinary day, not much business for him in this town. Sugar land for years has been known as one of the safest cities in america. For the police, this is not something the likes of which theyve ever seen before. The dispatcher told me that four people had been shot, i initially thought she was joking with me. And i said, youre kidding, right . And she said, no. I need you to respond to sugar lakes. A family of four has been shot reporter but why would a kid who had it all try to kill both of his parents . Someones just shot my neighbor. Get over here. Reporter stay with us. Tay with us. And a gentle wavelike motion. Liberate your spine. Aflac and reach, toes blossoming. Not that great at yoga ya but when i slipped a disc, he paid my claim in just one day. So he had your back . Yup in just one day, we process, approve and pay. One day pay. Only from aflac im losing myust memind just a little so, why dont you just meet me in the middle in the middle about type 2 diabetes. With some surprising facts so you have type 2 diabetes, right . Yeah. Yes i do. Okay so you diet, you exercise, you manage your a1c . Thats the plan. What about your heart . What do you mean my heart . 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Your brother loved you, yes . Yes, maam. But you still decided to kill them. I did. Reporter a heinous crime committed on a whim says prosecutor fred felcman. With Bart Whitaker, theres no reason why. He just wanted to, and thats whats scary about it. He didnt need their money. He didnt need their love. They had never done anything to him. He just wanted to do it. Reporter on the night of his graduation dinner, bart charmed his family, playing the role of the gracious man of the hour, or was he . Youre smiling in this photo. This is like a halfhour before your family is going to get gunned down. What were you feeling in that photo . I was about as close to numb as a human being can get, i think. Reporter it was just after 8 00 when the whitaker family leaves the restaurant, and barts secret murder plot is unfolding as he expects, just as he and his unwitting family arrive home. The whitaker family suspects nothing, but as they enter the house, bart hangs back. Im on the front porch and, uh, i hear a shot, and then trish is saying, oh no, and then another loud noise, but i know you dont cant quite imagine this, but i didnt recognize them as gunshots. I didnt really understand what was happening. At the time, what were you feeling . Nothing. Nothing at first, and then the gunshots went off and shock. I walked up to the door. All the lights in the house were out, but the street light showed a single figure in a ski mask maybe six, eight feet away. My reaction was i wondered which one of kevins goofball friends is playing a trick on us with a paintball gun, and i just stood there, but a moment later, i was shot too. And before i could call out to see how if bart was safe, there was a fourth shot from inside the house, and my reaction was, my god, he shot all of us. Why . Reporter as shots ring out a Neighbor Calls 911. Someones just shot my neighbors get over here i know i ran into the house. They say i ran past my dad, but i dont even remember seeing him. Do you remember getting shot . I do vaguely remember making the 911 call. Ive been shot. Where have you been shot at sir . In my arm. Okay bart, who shot you . I dont know. That he went out the back door. I think i said that. I pulled up about three houses down, and i pull my weapon, and i start running through the yards to get to the whitaker house. Reporter first on the scene, Sugar Land Police officer phil prevost finds 19year old Kevin Whitaker dead where he fell, a single bullet in his chest. Tricia whitaker also dies of a single gunshot wound soon after shes airlifted to the hospital. Incredibly, Kent Whitaker survives the attack shot in the dhes chest. Also wounded, bart makes for a convincing fourth victim. Where are you in the house right now . In the living room. Okay. Do you see the officers, bart . Yeah. I asked him. I said, who are you . Who are you . And he said, im bart. He said, i live here. This is my house. So i figured he belonged there and said, wheres the bad guy . Can you tell me anything about him at all, bart . Did he sound black, white, hispanic . Maybe black. You had yourself shot as part of this plan. Was that your idea . Yeah. It was to distance me from the guilt. So you were trying to throw the cops off, in your mind. Yeah. Reporter and it works like a charm. The crime scene that i was investigating was a burglary gone bad where the victims were shot by the suspect, and the suspect fled the scene. Reporter homicide Sergeant Marshall slot thinks hes looking for a burglar with bad timing. We called out tracking dogs that night to in an attempt to track the shooter. Reporter the dogs pick up a scent in the house and follow it outside to a dead end. Sergeant slot scans the crime scene for anything that might lead him to the killer. He finds drawers pulled open as if by a burglar. A gun safe, pried open. Four spent shell casings, and on the kitchen floor, a 9mm handgun with four bullets missing from its clip. Investigators find no suspect fingerprints at the scene. They take the gun back to the crime lab for a closer look. Initially it was processed for latent fingerprints. Reporter investigator max hunter carefully tests the weapon and makes a hopeful discovery. A partial latent fingerprint was developed on the left side of the slide. It was a partial palm print, but, that palm print did not have enough information in it. We couldnt identify it to any one particular person. Reporter tracking dogs identify the shooters scent on the gun, but dna analysis comes back negative. It seems the killer made a clean getaway. It seemed like every piece of evidence that we collected, we ran into dead ends left and right. Reporter back to square one. Sergeant slot and his partner detective, billy baugh go to the hospital to interview the survivors, kent and Bart Whitaker. They were in separate rooms. So we first went to Kent Whitaker. Kent seemed somewhat at peace. He was obviously upset, but not crying, but he very much demanded that we catch who was responsible for committing this crime. Reporter lying in his hospital bed, Kent Whitaker is torn between emotional extremes. He wants revenge, but he also prays, asking god to give him the strength to do the impossible, and forgive whoever was responsible. And the moment that i did ask him to help me forgive, the strangest thing happened. This warm glow flowed over me just instantly, and i looked at my heart, and i realized that that desire for revenge had gone. Reporter the thought that it might be his own son he would need to forgive was the furthest thing from Kent Whitakers mind. When he told me that he had forgiven the shooter i was shouting inside, well, what if thats my fault, and i of course i didnt have the courage to say anything at the time. How do you face that . I dont know how to face that. Hiding it all from everybody else was sort of like hiding it from myself also. Theres also the fear of this place, you know. Reporter all of sugar land seems stricken with grief and outrage. More than a thousand mourners, including kent and bart, attend the funeral for tricia and kevin. At the whitaker family home, its a media circus. Get away from me reporter with the investigation hitting dead ends bart has good reason to believe hed gotten away with murder, but when we come back, the huge secret he couldnt allow his family to discover . How could he be so stupid . I just read him the riot act about how if he had been telling the truth he would not be a suspect. Applause] muhammad im going to become champion of the universe muhammad me with my beautiful, colorful personality. Muhammad im good looking, clean living, cultured, muhammad and i am modest. [laughter] muhammad i am so modest, i can admit my own fault. 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The drawers being pulled out like they were and not rifled through was not typical of a burglary scene. Reporter nor was the fact that the only thing missing from the house was barts cell phone. And the burglar leaves the gun, leaves all the electronics, but takes a cell phone that we couldnt find in the scene. That was a real oddity that stuck out in everybodys mind. Reporter its the Little Details that can be the undoing of one who would devise the perfect crime. The first clues for police arise out of the whitakers last supper. I