Dateline. I never dreamed somebody could do this. I dont know why anybody would want to kill him. You see it on tv. You see it all the time. You just dont think it could happen to you. They were a young couple wanting to make their fortune, building their life until one life ended all too soon. He was laying on the floor, and i got scared. A young father murdered in broad daylight. Didnt look like a robbery. Lots of valuables left behind. Lots of secrets, too. Something was tearing the family apart. Or was it someone . The most coldblooded, evil person. A family feud and an innocent person caught in the middle. I wanted that so bad. So bad. Hello, and welcome to dateline. He was also a businessman, a Real Estate Appraiser like his parents, and a successful one at that. The money was pouring in, in fact. But family and business the two really dont seem to mix. He is kurer morris with the root of all evil. All evil. The hunting is good in the arkansas delta. A horde of migrating mallards descends on the rice filled. You have to be quiet to aim true. Thats what mark despain dad taught him and thats what he taught his son before the hatred wormed its way in. The anger that pitted father against son. It almost got physical. It breaks my heart. And husband against wife. I just wanted to go to protector mode and protect us all. In the event that haunted the town on a deadly summer afternoon. What could be left but the bitter taste of recrimination. He is evil. He is not the kind of person hes got the public convinced he is. Reporter jonesboro is both a college town and a farm town. It tends to the minds of Young Students and rice farmers west of the mississippi. Its where Mark Despain Breezed through school with his easy charm. Tanner is his mother. He was the only freshman that we know of that was chosen by a senior to go to the senior prom. Reporter mark became a High School Football star. His sister jackie watched him bring home trophies to lay at the feet of his father, jack. And then its an old story, really. When i was 18 and he was 19, we just bumped into each other. Reporter pretty michelle. She was sitting on top of the car when she spotted mark that night. Before long, pregnant. The way i was brought up, if you got a girl pregnant, you married her. That was just what you did. Reporter there was a shotgun wedding. Two families thrown together. Mark and his parents, jack and tammy. Michelle and her long divorced parents, her mom kathy and her dad, carl. Michelle also brought along a baby from an old relationship. He never treated her like she was not his. Never. Reporter together they had two boys. It was everything they ever dreamed of, he would do. Anything. Reporter the Little Family moved into a trailer marks parents bought them and mark study hard to become a Real Estate Appraiser like his mom. And went into business with his parents, which, said michelle, was about when things began to go wrong. Mark didnt like to be pushed around by his dad. He was an independent person. Reporter mark demanded a bigger share of the money. They argued, and then Michelle Chimed in. Oh, boy. Oh, my goodness. When she opened her mouth, dad just flipped off the handle. And of course, mark just stepped in as a husband, like a husband should do. Reporter thats how it began, the trouble between father and son. The trouble that was going to get so much worse. Mark split away from the family business. Michelle helped him with bookkeeping. I was just amazed at what they were able to accomplish. Reporter they were a good team, says michelles mother. They both just had the ability to Work Together and make money. Reporter Mark Got Into real estate investment. His first, a Real Estate Park Nobody would touch. What were you thinking, have you lost your mind . He flipped it and made about a 100,000 project. Absolutely. Reporter and the money seemed to roll in. Mark moved his family to an upscale neighborhood of the southern part of town. He spent more and more time with michelles parents, taking them all on family trips. Even hired michelles dad carl to be his rent collector. I remember a lot of times walking in and carl would be sitting at the Dining Room Table with 50s, 100s, 20s. He was counting them like a drug dealer. Piles of money. Piles of money. Reporter one august afternoon, michelle came home from work early. There werent any lights on. Reporter and then she got to the kitchen, and there he was. He was laying on the floor, and there was blood coming all out from behind him. And i shook his leg and said his name and i looked around and there was stuff on the floor everywhere. And i got scared. Reporter she ran outside, terrified, and called 911. 911. Michelle ran across the street to a neighbors house, desperate to hide. It was a voice that scared me. You know, you pick up the phone and you hear one of your kids on the phone and then you hear crying. Reporter kathy raced over there and found Michelle Sobbing on the curb. Shes like, i got to get to him. I grabbed my daughter by the shoulders and i said, he is gone. He is gone. Reporter so he was, dad on his own kitchen floor. A young wife is now a widow, and the horror of what she witnessed is unforgettable. Reporter coming up. Doesnt live in your mind a lot . Reporter her familys good life, suddenly gone. Or maybe it hadnt been so good. He was kind of embarrassed to have to kind of get money for me. Reporter when dateline continues. Continues. With arexvy. Arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower Respiratory Disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. Rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd, and certain other conditions. But im protected. Arexvy is proven to be over 82 effective in preventing lower Respiratory Disease from rsv and over 94 effective in those with these health conditions. Arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. Those with weakened Immune Systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. The most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. I chose arexvy. Rsv . Make it arexvy. Icy hot. Ice works fast. Heat makes it last. Feel the power of contrast therapy. So you can rise from pain. Icy hot. Reporter there burned into Michelle Despains brain, the remains of that awful afternoon. Her husband. His blood. He was laying on the floor. Is an eight site that lives in your mind a lot . A lot. Reporter outside, police, family, and curious neighbors gathered outside marks house. Among them in an awful state was marks sister, jackie. Everything was wrapped in tape, you cant do this, you cant do that. I just wanted to hold his hand or something. Reporter detective vic brooks was on the other side of that police tape. When i first walked in, i noticed there were some papers that appear to be knocked on the ground and there was broken glass and stuff like that on the floor. Reporter investigator snapped photos of the chaos, drawers pulled out and close thrown into a back rub, a jewelry case toppled over. Was someone was looking for something. Possibly. Reporter they asked around the neighborhood, did anyone see any strangers yesterday . Yes, someone did. An africanamerican was seen in the neighborhood wearing a certain colored shirt. Reporter someone said they saw an aged beat up mercedes circling the neighborhood. These casing the house . Maybe. And yet as Detective Brooks looked around the house, he could see this didnt have the hallmarks of the robbery. Tv sets, computers were untouched. Sitting next to marks keys and cell phones is a container of ice cream. It appeared he had just walked in and set these items down and caught somebody offguard. Reporter all of that shrieked of a planned ambush dressed up like a robbery. The way investigators pieced it together, somebody was waiting for mark to get home and then crept up from behind, shot him twice. One appear to have entered in from his left side, and then another shot toward his face. That was kind of a kill shot or something. Somebody is making sure. It appeared so, yes. Reporter why would someone want to Kill Mark Despain . I didnt think mark had any enemies, and i dont know why anyone would want to kill him. Reporter Detective Brooks found a potential reason. Mark had serious money trouble. He was kind of embarrassed to have to come and get money for me. Reporter it was a couple of months before the murder, said michelles mother kathy. Mark asked her for cash to help pay for michelles birthday present. Usually they just go out and buy whatever they want. Reporter not anymore. That summer, 2011, jonesboro real estate was far from recovered. Many Rental Properties were underwater, the bank was closing in, tenants were being forced out of their homes. And then an ugly little surprise crawled out of marks own troubled family. Reporter mark and his parents were Lobbying Lawsuits at each other over some shared property. The prosecutor heard that marks dad, jack, was a pothead. He was very angry at jack for mishandling the property that they coowned together. Reporter yes, but it went deeper than that. Went to a very dark place, as you will see. Because of it, mark hadnt spoken to his parents in years. So when jack showed up at the crime scene, the suspicion was audible. Michelles dad, carl, started yelling out him. Reporter cursing very loudly, calling them all kinds of names. What was he saying . Theres that , jack despain. Mark told multiple people, if anything ever happens to me, look at my dad. Reporter Detective Brooks invited jack down to the Police Station. Just maybe this mystery would have a quick if very disturbing solution. A young girl makes a troubling accusation that divides a family. Oh, my god. How could this have possibly happened . Was at the motive for murder . Was it even true . When dateline continues. Ine co. Why choose a sleep number smart bed . Can it keep me warm when im cold . Wait. No im always hot. Sleep number does that. Now, save up to 1,000 on select sleep number smart beds. Plus, special financing. Shop now at sleepnumber. Com when i was your age, we never had anything like this. What . Wifi . Wifi that works all over the house, even the basement. The basement. So i can finally throw that party. And invite shannon barnes. Dream do come true. Xfinity gives you reliable wifi with walltowall coverage on all your devices, even when everyone is online. Maybe well even get married one day. I wonder what i will be doing . Probably still living here with mom and dad. Fast reliable speeds right where you need them. Thats walltowall wifi on the xfinity 10g network. Reporter its an unpleasant thing to think about parents murdering their own children. But it happens. Its an old story, frankly. Some kind of glitch in the human recipe, and it happened here in jonesboro. Suspicion fell quickly on marks dad, jack despain. Somebody has murdered mark, and he was like, oh, my god. He said have they found jack despain . He thought right away it was jack . Reporter anyone close to jack and his family knew that a pozen for more potent than money had come between father and son. I never saw it coming and i dont think mark ever saw it coming. Reporter it began with her 13yearold daughter told him an ugly story. That her grandpa jack asked her to take nude photos of herself on the phone. Mark told his dad, theres a problem and we want to help you. We are not here to point fingers at you or judge you. Reporter jack swore he did nothing wrong. Mark called in the police. Tanner, jacks life of more than 40 years, left him and moved in with mark and michelle. How do you prepare for a thing like that . You dont, you dont prepare. Your mind just is in overdrive. Trying to think, oh, my god. How could this have possibly happened . After they had hurt her story change and become more elaborate, the investigation was dropped. Antenna, riddled with guilt that jack ever abused his granddaughter went back to them and beg forgiveness. The man that ive been with for over 30 years and went to high school with and then doubting him and knowing i shouldnt have. Reporter mark and michelle, believing the girl, never spoke to his mom or dad again. Disowned marks sister when she took jacks side. I believe them 100 . Reporter so that was the ugly backdrop to the murder investigation. Detective brooks would have to figure out if this years old unproven allegation had so eaten away at marks dad that it pushed him over the edge. Time to meet potential suspect number one. Detective brooks sat down with jack in an interrogation room. Watch the men fall apart. Apar was this true grief the detective was witnessing . Regret or guilt over something jack had done or hadnt done . Too late. What did he mean . Jack didnt shy away from discussing the abuse allegation. Heres how it happened. Happene jack said he found out the girl, confronted her, said he was going to tell her parents, but she got to him before he did. She invented the story to get out of trouble. Jack told us the same story. Eager, he said, to finally set the record straight. You never asked her to take pictures of herself . No, no. Reporter with the accusation, jack said, nearly destroyed him. I was at home, typically i dont drink. That was just to kill the pain. Is everybody thought you were abusing your own granddaughter. Yes. Yes. Reporter did jacks Payment Secam to drive him to seek revenge on his own son . No, he says. He wanted to reckoned file with mark. Not kill him. Anyway, when mark was murdered, said jack, he was miles away at his own house. That alibi would have to be checked out, of course. Even before Detective Brooks had a chance to do that, other members of the family came down to the Police Station and said dont be fooled by jacks tears. He was an angry and possibly violent man. He said you all accused me of this. Reporter this is michelles dad, carl, the man who had been cursing jack out on the street right there at the murder scene. Detective brooks could plainly see, this was a family with a troubling history. So he made a decision to attend mark despains visitation, look around, see what his gut would tell him. You wrote in your case file, this had to be one of the strangest visitations i ever attended. It was just a cold feeling that this did not look right. Reporter was he planning a next move . Coming up. A family feud at the funeral. And somebody else calls the police with a tip that could crack the case. That was a nice little gift. It was. When dateline continues. Ne it starts with dupixent. Dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. Its an addon treatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma. And can help improve Lung Function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. Dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks. And can even reduce or eliminate oral steroids. Can you picture it . Dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. Get help right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in your limbs. Tell your doctor about new or worsening joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. Dont change or stop asthma medicines, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. Who knows what you can do when you du more with less asthma. Ask your doctor about dupixent. The most prescribed biologic for asthma. Hi, im chris and i lost 57 pounds on golo. Golo isnt complicated. Ask your doctor about dupixent. I dont have to follow a restrictive diet, and i dont have to spend a lot of time making meals. Using golo was truly transformative. It was easy, and inexpensive. Reporter michelle and mark, just children really when they got married. Now mark was dead, gunned down in the family kitchen, michelle had to plan his funeral. She was barely functioning, she said. I could barely tell you who was there. It was just a blur. It all just feels like a blur. Reporter but there was one thing she was clear about. Marks parents and sister were not welcome at his funeral. It was the same at the cemetery. She is literally trying to get him in the ground before we can even walk up. We didnt get to fill in the grave. We immediately jump out of the cars and start rushing to the grave site and she calls the police on us. She calls the police at my brothers funeral. Reporter and yet, for all the chatter about jack, that he might have killed his own son, Detective Brooks instincts said, no. Jacks alibi checked out. He was fixing his roof the afternoon of the murder, and those tears in the interrogation room. I did not feel anything as being fake from mr. Despain. He appeared to be a broken man at that time. Reporter so what to make of the fractured family and all the bad blood now tangled up with so much grief . Detective brooks got back to his interview with michelles dad, carl, the man who pointed a finger at jack on day one. Carl had said he had been at marks house not too long before the murder to drop off some rent money. Interesting timing. Coincidence . Or, as Detective Brooks wondered, did carl had something to do with the murder . No, probably not. Surveillance cameras caught carl right where he said he was at the time mark was gunned down, meeting marks wife at the bank where she worked. Marks parents spent time at the cemetery, finally able to do what they couldnt when the sun was still alive. We talked to mark. Rainy days were the worst. I didnt like rainy days. What do you mean, rainy days . I dont like him getting wet. I knew he was in heaven, and i just didnt like the rain in him. Reporter and then pure luck, really. Remember how parents reported seeing an africanamerican stranger in the neighborhood . Now someone called the cops with a tip. Someone who matched the description was actually boasting about shooting mark despain. It didnt take them long to find the guy. Street name lalo. Real name, terrence parker. And he was novus. He denied everything. Detective brooks wasnt buying it. Has by then, the police also tracked down the driver of that beat down Blue Mercedes found near the house, and he told the cops he took him to meet a man