Actually murdered. Killed in a crime that had never been solved. She was almost a perfect victim. And what about him . He had become the focus in his first wifes mysterious death. Was he a victim too . Im a father, i have a family. I didnt kill janet. I felt horrible for him. You didnt want to believe it. Who would want to believe that . Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Heres josh mankowitc with deadly denial. She found plenty of the wrong guys. Now here in front of her was someone different. We met at a daycare where both of our children went to daycare. Vanessa pond of Salt Lake City was 25 and a single parent when back in 2007 she made raven abaroa. Like vanessa, he was single and raising a child alone. He was very charming. He would always come up with such fascinating dates. He seemed different. He seemed very different. A good guy. Very good guy. And you fell for him. Hard. But along with the charm and the lavish dates, raven also had a story. A horrible, awful story, that would change his life and would also change vanessa ponds. The story raven told wasnt just about himself. It was about his first wife, janet. He said, well, i should probably let you know that my wife was actually murdered. The murder, raven said, had happened three years earlier when he and janet were living in durham, north carolina. It happened in a home invasion. And he came home and found her. And that he didnt want to talk about it any further. It was not the kind of thing vanessa expected to hear from the man who had just stolen her heart. I was beside myself. Vanessa retreated to her laptop and began searching online. Looking for exactly the details raven abaroa had not provided. I had started researching, and i stayed up until 4 00, 4 30 in the morning. The homicide, vanessa learned, occurred in april of 2005. Raven had just come home from playing in a nighttime soccer game when he found his wife on the floor of their tiny secondfloor office. Janet had been stabbed three times. Raven talked to us about that dreadful discovery. Are when i initially look at her, im talking to her. Like hey, janet, whats wrong. And then it clicks on me that shes her eyes are open looking at me, but shes not blinking her eyes. Something was it terribly wrong. [ screaming ] youre going to have to calm down, okay . Whats the address. For janets parents, val and janet chris janssen, it was the worst day of their lives. I pick up the phone, and theres raven screaming into the phone. Shes gone thats all thats what he was saying. Shes gone of course, i cant breathe. I felt for sure i was having a heart attack. The chrisjanssens raced to durham to be by ravens side. He immediately broke down into bawling tears. I remember putting my arms around him, giving him a hug and saying well get through this together. Everyone was left to wonder, why janet . A woman as gentle as she was pretty. Shes extremely loyal, i guess is the word. Like, with all of her friends. I mean, she when she has close friends, shes really good to them. Shes really good to me. She always wanted everyone to be happy. People, and loved to help other people. That came in handy, growing up in a mormon household. With no fewer than nine siblings. She was a peacemaker. She didnt like confrontation. Absolutely not. In college, janet excelled in the classroom, and especially on the soccer field. What was it with her and soccer . She got to kick a ball. And she loved that. She did. But from a very early age, janet had her sights set on something more. Her goal in life was to be married and have children and be a mom. To having a very well, a perfect home. Enter janets college sweetheart, raven abaroa. With her, you know, i want to say i knew right away. I mean, we started talking about a longterm relationship three weeks into being together. Whitney was janets best friend in college. He was very handsome. And i said all of the time, youre the allamerican couple. It was a foregone conclusion that this young couple was destined for marriage. It rained the night of the wedding, but no one seemed to care. And then the perfect allamerican couple completed the perfect picture. Welcoming into their world a son, caden. She said this is so phenomenal. Oh, she loved absolutely loved being a mother. But just six months later, that perfect picture went dark when janet was discovered lying in a pool of her own blood. Was there anyone to dislike her . Not that i know. She was a good person. Three years later in Salt Lake City, the news of janets homicide was also shocking to vanessa pond. Vanessa had learned the killing had never been solved. She wanted more details from raven about his terrible loss. We sat down, had a conversation. I had my questions written out. And so we addressed every single one. How long did that take . We took an entire evening, just to go over everything. When the evening was over, vanessa was convinced that the horrific crime back in 2005 had claimed two victims. One, of course, was janet. But the other was raven. I felt so, so, so, so sorry for him. I couldnt imagine possibly going through that. She also couldnt imagine that this it terrible crime from the past would forever change her future. When we come back, why had this killing never been solved . We delve into the clues, a bloody shoe print, mystery dna, and a coin in the yard. We didnt know exactly what happened. All we could think was that somebody didnt expect her there and killed her. Design for centuries this levian collection is amazing. Maybe its time to start your own. Kay jewelers presents todays levian collection. Featuring exclusive levian chocolate diamonds. From the levian family where the latest in fashion meets fine jewelry. One more reason kay is the numberone Jewelry Store in america. Its. A work of art . Every kiss begins with kay. 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Now in a tablet that starts dissolving instantly. Your trash can be someone elses treasure. Like old electronics. Give them to someone else when you upgrade. Youll keep them out of landfills and give them a new life in new hands. The more you know. The disturbing story of how raven abaroas first wife had been killed did not scare off vanessa pond. She was in love with him, and committed to helping raven get beyond both the heartbreaking loss of janet and the Homicide Investigation back in durham. I wanted to i wanted them to find the killer. I wanted all of this to be all of this to be behind us. But vanessa knew that wouldnt be easy. The past seemed to haunt raven as he shared with vanessa just how much janet had meant to him. He laid kind of in a fetal position next to me, and then he just he started talking how mad he was after janet died. He said i loved my wife. I loved my wife. For everyone who loved janet, the days following the homicide back in 2005 were agonizing. Raven says he found himself asking the same question over and over again. Why we could have this beautiful child, why we could have this beautiful relationship, and then to have her die. Misty foxily, a friend of both janet and raven, attended janets memorial service. How did raven look . He looked crushed. But he was trying to hold up. Soon, attention turned to finding her killer. We didnt know exactly what happened. All we could think was that somebody broke into the house. For what reason, didnt expect her there, and killed her. Charles seoul, now retired, was a cop with the Durham Police department in 2005. He was called to the scene of janets homicide. It was a twostory family residence. Nice part of town . Quiet, for sure. First responders discovered janet lying on the floor of the upstairs office. He wit was on her back, her t was raised up, exposing a wound to the center of her chest. Janet also had a stand wound to her hand, suggesting she tried to protect herself. The fatal wound was to her neck. And the weapon was nowhere in sight. Literally no disturbance on the desk. Suggesting it was not a violent struggle. No. Which was kind of odd, based on it being a stabbing. Crime scene investigators began the task of swabbing the entire house. It was no surprise that most of the blood and fingerprints tested came back as either ravens or janets. But there were some things the techs had a harder time explaining. The first was a fingerprint found on the upstairs Office Closet door. Not far from janets body. That print didnt come back to anybody. No. Then there was a shoe print left in blood next to janet. Could you tell anything about this bloody footprint . It was right there by janet, but nothing definitive about the type of shoe, the make or anything. Finally, analysts found unidentified dna mixed with janets blood on a storm door leading to the side entrance. None of that forensic evidence could be traced to raven, janet or anyone connected to the investigation. Those are things that as an investigator you absolutely want to try to figure out. While technicians processed the house, detectives began interviewing raven, hoping he could help point them in the direction of janets killer. Raven was visibly crying, he looked distraught and upset. He himself said he knew of no enemy she had. He realized that some items from the house were missing. And they asked me, well, where was the last time you had the computer . So this would have been later that night or the next day. It was later that night. It was in that initial initial meeting with them. His computer was gone. Robbery . It was possible. He also talked about some knives being missing. Any burglaries in that neighborhood . Yes. Lisa sealy was one of the abaroas neighbors who had been burglarized. Your car was broken into, right . Yes. It was unlocked. Someone went into it and took out some change. Aseemingly petty, relatively insignificant theft until a canine dog was called to search the grounds of the abaroa home where janet had been killed. When the dog got to the front of the house, it stopped unexpectedly. It was in that proximity where the bottle was. The dog made an alert, and there was something in that area. There, amongst the weeds, the dog had found a coin. One of the neighbors reported that her car had been broken into, and some change had been stolen. Youre correct. And i guess at least one theory was that maybe this coin was from that. It certainly could have been. A homicide, a burglary down the road. And a coin that could link the two. Detectives needed to find out more about that coin. Coming up, scenes from a marriage and secrets from the past. Had raven and janet been as happy as they seemed . You never knew when the coin would flip and all of a sudden everything that was wrong in the world was her fault. 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The theory that janet abaroas death may have been Collateral Damage from a burglary gone bad was not getting much traction. Generally, when you surprise a burglar, they dont fight you or try to kill you. They run away. Thats correct. And there was no rummaging. None of the drawers were gone through. None of the ran sacking you would see in a breakin. Just didnt add up. As for the coin found in front of the abaroa home, the police dog was unable to track a scent from it back to the house or anywhere else. Detectives were having a hard time finding a link between the burglary down the road and janets killing. The next step was the obvious one. Detectives took a look at janets husband, raven. Its pretty common to look at the spouse in situations like this. Thats correct. Thats, you know, part of the process. According to raven, the day of the murder was like any other for the abaroas. Raven told investigators that a member of the church had come over the evening of the incident. Later that night is when raven said he left janet and his son at home to go play in a nighttime soccer game about a half hour away. Jason small was one of ravens teammates. Business as usual. You know, a bunch of guys playing soccer together, trying to beat the other team. Nothing out of the ordinary. Raven seemed normal to you that night. Completely normal. After the game, raven told police he drove to a gas station to grab a sports drink. How are you doing . Just to be sure, detectives checked the stations security video. And there was raven. Raven said he then headed home to find caden undisturbed in his crib, but janet lying in a pool of blood. [ screaming ] okay. Youre going to have to calm down, okay . Whats the address . Detectives also talked to ravens family and friends. By all accounts, he was outgoing, friendly, charming and broke. They dont have any money. They cant rub two nickles together. Knew every dollar he earned. Exactly. Money or lack of it may have been behind something that had happened five months earlier. Raven had been caught stealing sporting equipment from his employer, and reselling it on ebay. Ravens mother, karen, was stunned. I just couldnt believe it. I was like, how could you be so stupid . But at least he admitted it. He didnt try to get out of it. I was proud of him for that. For owning up. For owning up. Along with the young couples financial stress, friends told detectives raven and janet had also had a brush with infidel y infidelity. According to janets friend brittney, within just months of the wedding, raven had cheated on janet. How did she sound when that happened . Devastated. And then she went back with him after that. She forgave him. She made promises to love him for good, for bad, for ugly. And to support him. But brittney noticed other problems in the marriage. Janet, she said, was struggling with what appeared to be ravens increasingly dramatic mood swings. She told me that sometimes things were, like, perfect. And it was like holding your breath, because you never knew when the coin would flip and all of a sudden everything that was wrong in the world was her fault. Things got so bad that a year before the homicide, janet and raven briefly separated. But by itself, a marriage on the rocks did not mean raven was in any way responsible for janets death. Despite police suspicion, many refused to believe raven could or would kill janet. Including janets own parents. When you heard the police thought raven was a suspect, when did you think . I defended him. You stuck up for him. I did. I couldnt bear the fact that someone whom i entrusted my childs life with would turn on her like that. I could not go there. Neither could raven and janets friend, misty foxly. Raven could not have killed janet. He loved her. He loved her. He wouldnt have done that. Detectives had an equally difficult time convincing the District Attorney, who after reviewing the evidence there wasnt nearly enough to get an indictment. Theyre the ones who make the decision if it goes in court. Why they didnt do it, i dont know. With no other strong leads, the investigation into janets homicide began to cool. Raven had relocated to utah to be closer to his family. Which is where, two years later, he met vanessa pond. He wanted to move things very, very, very quickly. With you. Yes. Despite all the things vanessa had learned about raven, she stood by him. In part because raven was very upfront about how police were investigating him. He said that they didnt have anybody else to look at, which is why he was the only person of interest. Okay. Wait a minute. You find out that a guy youre going out with was a suspect in a murder is still a suspect in a murder . Yeah. And he gets another date . He talked me into that. Everything he did just melted my heart, because i felt i felt so bad for him. And thats how vanessa decided raven, the person of interest, remained the only person she was interested in spending the rest of her life with. After a fourmonthlong courtship, raven proposed and vanessa said yes. He didnt waste any time. No. But before vanessa walked down the aisle, she saw the counsel of her father randy. Randy pond wasnt just vanessas father. He was also a retired cop with 23 years on the force. Randy decided he needed a man to man with raven. He just came in and was all smiles and very, very fun to be around, very talkative, very outgoing. And you and your wife thought, good. Oh, yeah. I was very impressed with raven. Yeah. So impressed, randy gave the two his blessing. How was the wedding . The wedding was beautiful. It was great. And you thought, what . Were going to be okay. Absolutely. Coming up. You think at last, justice. Yes. 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