their family or you weren't. together they had a little girl, sydney. >> when their marriage fell apart, her family closed ranks. >> in their view, sydney was their property. >> one day he went to pick up his little girl for a visit and was never seen alive again. >> he died right there. >> but who would kill a devoted dad? the unbelievable choice, his golden girl wife or the gracious family matriarch? they seemed so loving, but was there another side. >> it's a monster that comes out of a closet. it's very ugly. >> how dark is that side? >> murderous. >> but which one was the killer? hello and welcome to "dateline." he was a man suddenly confronted with something monstrous, evil at the door. this story is a mystery about a father of two young daughters. one night he left to pick up one of them and never came back. the question for investigators wasn't what happened. it was who did it. >> in the home of a god-fearing family in one of the smallest of american towns, the worst of crimes. >> please come and help us. >> okay. i'll get a hold of the ambulance. all right? >> yes. >> the crime became a mystery, a whodunit? >> it's a puzzle. almost a game of three card monte. >> it made many people in town wonder about one particular family, about what had been going on behind the closed doors of their home. >> how well do you really know your neighbors? how well do you really know the people that surround you? >> get one? want to feed it to me? >> our story begins with stephen watkins who had grown up in tiny chandlerville in rural central illinois, population 700. he'd had the kind of ideal childhood he wanted to recreate on his own. >> i think that was probably his biggest goal in life, was to have that family that he grew up with. >>stephen's parents, penny and dale, say even as a kid their boy was always holding his younger sister ashleigh or cousins playing with him, showering them with attention. >> he loved kids, loved people, and he was going to have kids and be around them. >> he was patient and kind and had a smile for everyone. >> you could always see the smile in his eyes. i could just look at him and see the joy of life. >> brandy ran cross country with stephen back in the'90s. >> just a really good guy, genuine, loved his family, not an enemy in the world. just always looked out for people. >> in his 20s, stephen joined the military. >> i think he wanted to get out and see a different part of the world. he was raised in a small town and he felt like the military could offer him adventure. >> stephen signed with the coast guard and moved to virginia. but not long before he left, a former girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl named alexandra, alex. it was his baby girl and he immediately jumped in as her father. >> stephen right right there. when she was born, he doted over her. he was just excited about every little thing. he would sleep right by alex's bed, holding her little hand. that's just how he was. >> the former girlfriend regularly took alex to visit stephen in virginia and the bond between father and daughter grew strong. alex's mother then realized stephen could offer more stability and a better home life for their daughter than she could, and she gave him full custody of her. that says a lot about him as a dad. >> yes. stephen was responsible, and that says that he was determined to be part of his children's life. >> when alex was 2, stephen moved her to virginia to live with him full time. >> he made sure she was in a good day care. there was always times when he had to make sure he run out and got her at the right time. >> did he complain he didn't have freedom? >> absolutely not. he was content with that. >> but stephen also wanted a wife. when his coast guard service ended, he returned home, living in a house behind his parents and got a job with the state. about a year later stephen noticed an attractive woman whose office shared a parking lot with his. >> he was really excited. he felt like i found what i've been looking for in life. >> that woman was jennifer webster who had grown up around the corner from stephen's friend brandy. >> she was very tall and just angelic in so many ways, her smile was contagious as well. very bright, very modelesque. when she walked into a room i think people turned their heads because she was beautiful. >> she was a very cute girl, long hair. she can be as sweet as can be. you can take her to any crowd and she'll fit in. >> jennifer's uncle ed skinner remembers hearing about stephen from jennifer before the two started dating in the summer of 2006. from jennifer's description, stephen seemed to be infatuated with her from a distance. >> she said this boy has been watching me in the parking lot at work, watches my every move every time i go to work, he's there sitting in his car, until i get out and then he follows me. my two boys and looked at each other and said stalker stephen. once they found out his name. >> his mother says stephen wasn't stalking her, but had spoken with her a few times before asking her out in that very same parking lot. they became a couple instantly. >> this happened so quick, i was shocked. she brought him to church two weeks after they had met and introduced him to my father-in-law, didn't even know his last name. >> ed says this wasn't how things usually went in his and jennifer's family which he says was slow to accept outsiders. >> we're a kind of family that every single night for probably 15 years we met for supper someplace, either at their house, my house or at a local restaurant. we was just a close-knit family. >> the skinners are a religious family, seventh day adventists, in the last several years multiple generations lived together in a large home, one of the biggest in the neighborhood. they stuck together, kept to themselves, to the point where some people say they seemed almost clannish. brandy says not only were they tight-knit but financially successful as well, the result of a family business. >> they always had nicer things. i remember growing up, one summer they had a garage sale and it was like a gold mine. >> jennifer was beautiful, well off, came from a close family like stephen had and yearned for a family as stephen did. what could be better? in the end, the real question, what could be worse? >> he didn't know what he was getting into. >>coming up, stephen's family starts to wonder exactly what kind of woman he's gotten involved with. >> it was a disgrace that she would even do something like that. >> when "dateline" continues. that's not gonna fit. what's that? you need another four inches? do you work here? nope, i just saw you there and i thought i'd save you the trouble. nana! she's a human measuring tape. and she knows allstate is the right fit for her. it's not gonna fit. that's not gonna fit. what? steven? some people just know. well played. well played, my friend. those are the people who know you're in good hands with allstate. -we're done. -what about these? looks right. nooo... nooo... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. bounty, the quicker picker upper. lowe's knows when you open up your home this holiday and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. you open up your kitchen. during black friday every day we've got deals on samsung appliances fit for any kitchen and - any budget so you can open up the possibilities. shop black friday every day deals now. in store and online. 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(vo) this black friday weekend, turn any iphone in any condition into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium, and ipad, and apple watch se, all on us - that's up to $1700 in value. only on verizon. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. welcome back to "dateline." home of the xfinity 10g network. welcome back to dateline. learn more today. steven and jennifer seemed to have a lot in common. stephen and jennifer seemed to have a lot in common, both came from close families, and they were both interested in growing a family. the budding relationship appeared so simple at first. but how well did they really know each other? they couldn't know it yet, but the couple was in for rockier times ahead. we continue with "the mystery on horseshoe drive." >> that's it. there's your horse. there he is. >> in the heart of an illinois farm belt, a new relationship was growing very fast. it seemed stephen and jennifer began dating one day and became a committed couple the next. making it a happy threesome, stephen's daughter from a previous relationship, alex. stephen often captured family moments with photos and family videos. his family says he thought jennifer would make the perfect wife and mother. >> he felt like she wants to cook with us, she loves alex. she treats alex like she's her mother. >> the woman to complete his life. >> yes. >> the family he was looking for. >> yes. >> if stephen was happy, his mother had her doubts about the girl from that tight-knit family. >> i didn't feel like she really wanted to be part of our family, and that was from the very beginning i felt that way. >> stephen's dad took a more positive view. >> i just thought it was going to be a good fit for him. i thought jennifer would be real good for both of them. they presented a pretty good picture. >> was your son in love? >> yes. >> stephen began spending much of his time with alex, jennifer and her family. he was thrilled that the family seemed to embrace him and his daughter, as his sister ashleigh remembers. >> that was number one. he wanted to make sure they enjoyed kids and would get along with alex, too. not only was she nice and interacting with him and alex and basically the perfect mother, but their family was accepting alex and welcoming both of them with open arms. >> it was crucial to stephen to have this family accept alex. >> exactly. >> within weeks of meeting, stephen and jennifer got married in august 2006. stephen's family remembers how happy everyone seemed the day of the wedding, especially stephen. >> he was ecstatic, had a big old smile, eyes shining. it was an outdoors wedding. it was really a nice wedding. >> they threw petals on the sidewalk. >> she was smiling ear to ear. her family made several comments about how they were happy they had such a wonderful son-in-law and he was going to be part of their family. >> the whole family raved about stephen and alex. >> the whole family, that is, except jennifer's uncle ed. he says he didn't approve of the whirlwind romance. he didn't like that stalker steve became the one so quickly. he did not attend the wedding. >> i was told within a month after they started dating they was going to get married. and that's just not the way that our family ever did it. you get to know somebody, you date them a long time before you just commit to something in life. i felt she jumped out of the skillet into the frying pan. >> did you feel stephen was jumping out of the skillet and into the frying pan? >> yeah. he didn't know what he was getting into. >> their life together unfolded like a storybook marriage. not long after the wedding they bought a home on horseshoe drive, just down the block from where her parents and grandparents lived in ashland, about a half hour from stephen's family. then, not long after that stephen called his mom with more big news. jennifer was pregnant. jennifer was pregnant. >> i was excited for him. i kept thinking, you know, maybe i was wrong and being thankful that i had not said anything, imposed my feelings on him. i'm thinking they're going to have a baby, they're doing good as a family. >> but soon after the announcement things seemed to change for stephen and alex. his mother says jennifer's family suddenly wanted nothing to do with stephen's daughter. >> he said jennifer's family told alex that she's not really part of their family. i don't understand how they can love her and make her a special part and treat her like blood and then all of a sudden just turn and go the other way. >> she says alex was very upset by the rejection. stephen was as well. soon with the spring thaw, about six months after stephen and jennifer's wedding, their relationship grew ice cold. now it was stephen himself who was also feeling rejected, kicked out of that family circle. >> stephen was hurt and discouraged. i don't know if he thought that was just a stage that she would go through while she was pregnant, a hormonal thing. somehow he could make things better and get them back on track. >> it didn't get better. instead, the relationship flew off the rails after the baby was born in june 2007, a girl named sydney. >> it was like jennifer wanted her family and her to be part of sydney's life, but didn't want anybody else to be part of it. stephen said, i barely even get to see sydney. when i get home, jennifer goes down to her mom's house with grandma shirley and all of them. he said she even bathes sydney down there and everything, brings her home at 9:30, 10:00 time to go to bed and gets up the next morning and starts the routine over again. >> stephen told his parents jennifer thought the arrangement made for the perfect marriage, but stephen thought just the opposite. to him it was no marriage at all, and worse, he wasn't able to see his new baby. his mom says he was running out of patience and options. >> he said, mom, the only way i'm ever going to get to know sydney or to get time with sydney without jennifer being attached to her is if i file for divorce and get visitation. >> he needs to divorce his wife to see his daughter? >> yes. it was a very hard decision for him to make. >> he also filed for custody of sydney, and that set off a move from jennifer stephen never expected. she fired back a bombshell. >> the day that she found out that he filed for divorce and custody of sydney, the day she found out, she called dcfs and accused him of molesting sydney and alex. >> molesting sydney and alex. >> yes. >> did your son molest his daughters? >> absolutely not. >> i thought it was a disgrace that she would even do something like that. not only did she hurt him and hurt alex, she hurt the whole family. >> as the state investigated, stephen was allowed visits with sydney. but his family said jennifer continued to keep sydney from him. >> knowing the skinner family, they were so tight-knit, they would let nothing come in between them and their grandchild. >> the allegations of sexual abuse didn't stick. the department of children and family services said they were unfounded, but jennifer still wouldn't allow stephen to see sydney. to force her to share the baby with stephen, the judge in their divorce case ordered that stephen get regular visits with sydney. that court order helped and stephen was able to see sydney for a few visits. he sometimes invited jennifer to come along as they did to pick pumpkins in october 2008, because despite all that had happened, his family says stephen was still hoping he could show jennifer how good life could be with the four of them together as a family. his efforts were in vain, though. far more often than not, jennifer and her family denied stephen visits with his baby, frequently saying sydney was sick. once stephen called a police officer to the family to help him. the family still said no. stephen was becoming more and more frustrated. then one evening in late november 2008, the whole situation exploded. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> my, my, my grandmother needs help. my husband came to pick up my child because we're getting a divorce, and he come after her and tried to come after the baby and i. >> coming up, jennifer was calling for her grandmother, but it was stephen who needed help. >> looked like somebody decided to shoot him in the back of the head. >> when "dateline" continues. dry burnt-on stains. old dishwashers. very hard water. new finish ultimate, with cyclesync technology, helps deliver the ultimate clean. ♪ [coughs] when caroline has a cough, she takes robitussin. so, she can have those one on ones again. hey jim! can we talk about casual fridays? oh sure. what's up? get fast, powerful cough relief with robitussin, and find your voice. ♪robitussin♪ welcome back to "dateline." and find your voice. welcome back to dateline. steven watkins became increasingly frustrated stephen watkins became increasingly frustrated his estranged wife jennifer was keeping their daughter away from him. they had been battling in court, but things were about to turn violent. we continue with "the mystery on horseshoe drive." >> it's not just corn that grows quickly in rural illinois. so did the family of stephen and jennifer. they met, married and had a baby in about a year's time. and just as quickly, their relationship fell apart. they were fighting over baby sydney when stephen went to jennifer's one november evening to pick up the child. within minutes, jennifer was on the phone with 911, hysterical. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> my, my, my grandmother needs help. my husband came to pick up my child because we're getting a divorce, and he come after her and tried to come after the baby and i, he's on the floor shot. >> is she shot? >> no, he's shot. i need an ambulance for my grandmother. >> it was a confusing 911 call. jennifer wanted an ambulance for her grandmother shirley skinner. as for her estranged husband stephen, jennifer implied to the dispatcher he had been shot to protect her family. >> he come after her and pushed her out of the way and then he tried to come after sydney and i. oh, god. >> what happened to your grandmother? >> i think she might -- she's having heart trouble. please come and help us. >> what's your name? >> jennifer watkins. >> okay. i'll get a hold of the ambulance, all right? >> yes. >> ashland police chief jim birdsell was called to the scene. >> about 5:50 i got a phone call from 911 advising me there had been a domestic in town at 11 horseshoe drive, saying the husband came to pick up the daughter for visitation, forced his way into the house, knocked the elderly woman down and she's having medical problems. >> when he arrived, he found this was no routine domestic. >> i walk up, open the door and walk in the house. directly in front of me was an elderly lady sitting in the chair which turned out to be shirley skinner and a person kneeling beside her holding her hand. she's crying a little bit. >> then a first responder motioned over to the other side of the room. >> i saw the body laying down there. >> any sign of life? >> no. >> it was stephen watkins, dead on the floor. a 9 millimeter glock handgun on a box several yards away. >> trying to get in my mind what happened, the ems personnel told me shirley made a statement to them that she had shot him. >> they reported to the chief that shirley had said a couple times is he dead? i shot him. he shouldn't have come back here. a stunning story, but this was secondhand information. from first responders quoting an elderly woman in the midst of a medical and family crisis. were her statements reliable? had she really said that? chief birdsell asked jennifer what happened. >> he said stephen forced his way in the house and knocked her grandmother down and then he was comin