the first thing is how in the world did this man get scissors into the interview. and, second of all, how did he get the disk and do this. >> apparently, snodgrass knew the investigators had his floppy disk and he came to the interrogation prepared. >> we knew whatever was on that disk was absolutely -- should i say death -- to joe. >> joe snodgrass was immediately taken into military custody. >> he called us up and said they are arresting me fr the murder of your mother. and he said, i promise, i did not kill your mother. and i said okay. i believe you. >> investigators were desperate to repair not only the disks, but their reputations, as well. so they collected the pieces and sent them to the u.s. military's brand new computer, forensics laboratory. >> they said you're not going to believe what happened. we were interviewing this guy and he reaches into a box and pulls out a disk and starts cutting it up with a pair of pinky sheers. okay, i'm not a magician, i'm a computer crime investigators whachlt are we going to do? >> to their dismay, they couldn't find a single instance of someone successfully reassembling a damaged floppy disk. >> we were calling everybody we could think of. we went to the private sector, you know, because maybe they had tools. we pulled out all of the stops! one federal agency offered to try, but said it would take months, possibly a year to figure out how to do it. it would cost close to $1 million and there were no guarantees.