>> hello, and welcome to dateline. garrett ward was a hollywood stunt man, who made his living pulling off death defying acts. then one night, he opened the door for a stranger and found himself in the middle of a terrifying scene that was all too real. garrett was looking down the barrel of a gun, moments later, four shots rang out. and soon investigators would be embroiled in a who done it with more twists than a feature film. here's josh mankiewicz with the plot thickens. >> ready and action! >> action. it ranks second only to money. i as the single most important word in hollywood. and here in l. a., where life and art are often the same form, there is a real life drama that rivals in the action movie with a plot that includes all the element of a classic film noir. >> a mystery, featuring an assassin, a femme fatale, a hollywood star, and a stunt man who takes the fall. and as for the money, we will get to that. let's start with the biggest name on the marquee, joe pesci. famous for his roles as a cold blooded killer. this drauma would costar pesci ex-wife, who appeared with pesci in the film casino. it includes claudia's brother, now the nectar, but an actual tough guy who did time in prison. and someone who harbored a terrible secret in his past. and finally, claudia second husband, garrett warner, a hollywood stuntman in martial arts expert, a man very familiar with danger. faith in. early evening in the quiet lake of west lake village, california, outside of l. a.. stunned then gary warner heard a knock on his door, and a voice on the other side asking about his new silver volvo, parked in the driveway. gareth answered. then comes our first plot twist. three shots into his body, one more into gareth's right eye. the daredevils luck had run out. >> i called, and his mother answered the phone. screaming, crying, just distraught, wiley, wiley, you are not going to believe what happened. what? gareth's been shot. while he was a fellow stuntman and garrett's good friend. >> garrett was one of those men that you could count on, you here in life that you are very lucky if you have five friends, or you can count a friend on one hand, garrett was that friend. to me. >> while he has been in the business for more than 30 years. >> garrett warren was probably the finest fight man you could ask for. i had hired him on several shows, got to know him, watched his expertise, phenomenal athlete, stunt man. >> you've probably seen garrett warren's work, you just didn't know it, he stunk work was featured in charlize angels, and he double teamed with jean-claude van damme. >> gary was a very focused individual. think of stuntman as a daredevil? that's the last person i want. i want the very best. >> while he said that his focus shifted the moon minute warner met claudia. >> beautiful, beautiful woman. we just wanted garrett to be happy, and if it seemed like he met someone he genuinely loved and wanted to start a life with. >> there's something special. you think people who got to know her, she just has a beautiful soul. and i think he was attracted to that as much as her beauty. >> claudia's friend julie remembers when claudia and garrett first got together. >> so he met this guy. >> yes, that he was very excited. , he was sweet he was funny and she seemed so happy with him. and i should say actually, joe and i both were very supportive. >> by joe, she is referring to cloudy's ex husband, a character actor who became a star by playing mafia tough guys, joe pesci. >> it sounds like her marriage didn't end that badly. >> not at all, not at all, they're like family, very close. >> claudia stayed close to joe after even after she started dating then--but when he met claudia he was ready to settle down. >> we felt that this would be the gal that garrett would end up with. no more dating, no more running around, i'm going to end up with claudia. >> gareth and claudia were married less than the year after they met. >> in the beginning was a very good relationship. >> oh my gosh. >> they soon had a beautiful daughter, kayla. >> the couple enjoyed being parents. >> love you guys. >> do but happy scenes like this one did not last. claudia and garrett couldn't make it work. >> it was a series of events, it just wasn't the right marriage. >> once the relationship started going south, it went fast, less than two years after their wedding. claudine gareth split up for good. >> divorce is never easy, but in the long run it was two parents, trying to figure out a way to live and both see their children. >> garrett went back to his old life as a stunt man, after the set and the world of make believe. >> so then how did his life go from playing dead to bleeding out on the floor of his room? shot four times at close range. >> somebody definitely wanted him hurt or dead at that time. >> but who. >> detective mark game in of the l. a. county sheriff's department, investigators looked at every angle. >> remembering how the gunman asked at first garrett about his new volvo. they wondered if this could be road rage. someone gareth had tangled with on the l. a. freeways. >> mr. warren is a stuntman? >> yes. >> i'm guessing maybe he doesn't always drive the speed limit or use his blinker when it's time to change lanes. >> that could be possible. >> or he could be personal. >> it could have been an ex business partner, or if it was someone he was dating that was jealous. maybe an ex husband. or an ex-boyfriend. there was an array of possible 's on who could've done this. >> possibilities that lead from the crime scene to the bright lights of the movie business, all the way to the parts of l. a. that the tourists never see. >> so who did walk want garrett warren dead? there seems to be an entire cast suspects. coming up, getting ready to say goodbye to a friend. >> i'm going to lose my friend, he's not going to make it. >> when dateline continues. >> fade in. northridge hospital, daytime. while the crowd are rushed to the bedside of his friend garrett warren, a stuntman who was shot with real life bullets. >> i ran into garrett's mom and realized i am going to lose my friend. he is not going to make it. >> garrett was in critical condition. >> all of these things run through your head, the time you spent together, the things that maybe you should've said that you didn't. it was rough. >> shot three times in the body, and ones through the eye. all at close range. hard to imagine anyone the psoriasis treatment she's been looking for. sotyktu is the first-of-its-kind, once-daily pill for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis... for the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding that outfit psoriasis tried to hide from you. or finding your swimsuit is ready for primetime. dad! once-daily sotyktu is proven to get more people clearer skin than the leading pill. don't take if you're allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur. sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections including tb. serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection, liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides, or had a vaccine or plan to. sotyktu is a tyk2 inhibitor. tyk2 is part of the jak family. it's not known if sotyktu has the same risks as jak inhibitors. find what plaque psoriasis has been hiding. ask your dermatologist about sotyktu for clearer skin. so clearly you. sotyktu. after advil. feeling better? 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on top of the worlddddd!!! before advil. advil targets pain at the source of inflammation. when pain comes for you, come back fast with advil liqui-gels. >> fade in. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): fade in, when pain comes for you, northridge hospital, daytime. while the crowd are rushed to the bedside of his friend garrett warren, a stuntman who was shot with real life bullets. >> i ran into garrett's mom and realized i am going to lose my friend. he is not going to make it. >> garrett was in critical condition. >> all of these things run through your head, the time you spent together, the things that maybe you should've said that you didn't. it was rough. >> shot three times in the body, and ones through the eye. all at close range. hard to imagine anyone surviving it. >> ready for our second twist? it's one that needed neither garrett's family nor the gunman saw coming. this is garrett warren today. >> thank god i'm still here. i was really fortunate. i was very blessed. >> to the surprise of a doctor treating him, garrett pulled through. and he lived to tell the story of the night he was almost murdered. >> a flashback as vivid now as it was then. well here's bullet one. >> to be honest with you, one a bullet hits you you don't really know that it hits you. it's not like you see in the movies. and i slip to the side and it sent it, went right in front of my chest, passed by my heart, and isn't right now stuck in my ribcage, it's still there. >> then bullet two. >> so i looked down i look back up and here come another one, and i slip my head to the side and when that happened the bullet went into my neck instead of my back. >> followed number three. >> then i realized that this is for real, and i went to close the door and he shot center mass at me, and when he did i turn sideways and hit me in the hip and went through my back, that one hurt, it hit my bone. >> if that sounds gruesome? then hang out on for what's next. >> i fell back behind my door and to the ground and he walked and put the gun to my head and when the gun was put my head, when i saw him do i saw his finger squeeze the, trickle i flinch like this like a fighter wood, and then it went straight through my eye, came out my ear, and got stuck in the wall behind my head. >> those are some pretty good reflexes. >> i mean if it was a matrix, it was in good. that's like keanu going back in the bullet actually heating him. so as much as i move, i still got hit. >> suddenly the bullet that went through his--'s brain. >> well you know when it's they say that your life passes in front of your eyes, it doesn't pass in front of your eyes. you run through it. you think of what you want to renew. life did i do anything that i should've make up for it? >> at the time that he was shot, garrett's mother was at carrots home helping out with baby kyla. the gunmen took two shots at her but missed. and out of bullets, he fled. >> i looked at her and i said, i love you, mom. i'll see you on the other side. my mom said don't you (bleep) die. i was shocked. that hit me harder than the bullets. she never swore. and she said don't you (bleep) die. you fought all your life, fought for me. and i looked at her and said, all right. you got it. i'm not going to go. i'll stay. >> as garrett run through his life, he looked back on his failed marriage to claudio haro. >> it was true love, it is the things that poetry was written about. the thing that movies are made of. >> hi daddy, what's up? >> that brief marriage produce their daughter kyla and although the marriage didn't last, the bond that both parents felt with kyla truly did. >> my daughter being born was amazing. it was the most amazing part of my life and one of the greatest things that i could leave us my legacy, i guess. >> but when the marriage broke up, there was a nasty fight over who would get custody of kyla. in the midst of it, claudio made perhaps the worst accusation that you can make. she claimed that garrett sexually molested their daughter. after a thorough investigation, a family court judge ruled that there was no evidence of abuse. but it was shortly after that that the gunmen showed up at garrett's home. so naturally, detectives brought in claudia for questioning. >> it was just another road we went down during the investigation. it's like, hey could be an ex. >> claudia was two operative, she didn't appear to have any ties to the shooting and she had a strong alibi for that evening. she even expressed concern for garret. investigators were satisfied she was not involved. so they kept talking to garrett who got a glimpse at the man who shot him. >> it was very difficult to decipher what his ethnicity was because i was looking through a little people in my door. >> not someone you knew? >> no never knew him before. >> as garrett recovered from his wounds, the sheriff's department tried to piece together some theories. >> i'm guessing department as garrett if he was carrying with someone else's girlfriend. >> everything was being looked at in his life, his lifestyle, his business. >> and exciting high energy life style from the gym he owned to the film sickle circles he. ran in. garrett was not short of adventures. but investigators will also so that he had enemies. >> he received a letter advising that there was some people involved at the gym that garrett was having some kind of relationship with. people who might be of interest to detectives who might want to question these people. >> detectives checked every name that came up. they followed up on every lead, but they hit a dead end at every turn. >> depressing? >> very depressing. sometimes you just need that one break. you need a phone call to have somebody who wants to really give up some information, give us another road to go down, give us another adventure to try. >> it took almost two years before that break arrived. that's one police in another county, searching a car for drugs, instead found a note and a photo that would make clear just what kind of danger garrett warren was facing. >> coming up, was garrett warns would be killer about to try for take two? >> i'm scared to death, that he's gonna come back and finish it. >> when dateline continues. need that one break. you need a phone call that somebody wants to really give up some information, give us another road to go down, give us another adventure to try. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): it took almost two years before that break arrived. that's when police in another county, searching a car for drugs, instead found a note and a photo that would make clear just what kind of danger garrett warren was facing. craig melvin: coming up. was garrett warren's would-be killer about to try for take-two? i'm scared to death someone's going to come back and finish it. craig melvin: when "dateline" continues. 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