No eyewitness to the crime. And no telling how this case would end. Theres a lot of blood in the garage. Missing, murdered . Who was behind it . Theres not one doubt in my mind that he is guilty. Look, im not guilty. I didnt do this. I didnt commit this crime. Three trials, three juries and heartache beyond measure. Our mom is already gone, and theyre trying to take our dad away from us. Theyre either for him or against him. My obligation as a District Attorney is to seek justice. A father in the fight of his life. My life is on the line and my kids lives are on the line. Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Here is Keith Morrison with the mystery at empire lake. Reporter its been the story of their lives. We cannot sit here in silence and watch another travesty of justice take place. Reporter its about their world, the one that fell apart in the time they cant recall. Do you remember very much about your mom anymore . Not really. Its been a long time. Reporter its about what happened on a september day the rest of the world cant forget. Is there a corner of your brain that thinks maybe it was somebody else . Not at all. Not at all. Reporter 14 years, three tiles, moments of sheer agony. Takes your breath away. You know, its like getting stabbed in the stomach. Reporter tonight, the climactic chapter in a family saga. One that began in a moment all but drowned out in the chaos of history. It was september 2001. The harris kids were little, 7, 6, 4 and 2. The family lived in this sprawling patch of wilderness with a private lake in the backyard. Living in paradise, seems like. Yeah. The kids have still have a lot of happy memories out here. Its just a very unique and special place that we were fortunate enough to purchase, you know, years and years ago. Reporter a unique and special place that only a prosperous person could afford like the prominent car dealer cal harris. He loved it out here, too, he said. And taught his kids to love it. You went hunting with the kids here and fishing . Hunting, fishing. You name it. We swim in the lake, jet ski in the lake, we water ski. My kids like to bring their friends out and really enjoy. If you like to be outdoors, its a fun place. Christmas was always fun. Reporter i can imagine. Playing with presents. Reporter i cant think of a more idyllic place to have christmas. Did it feel like that at the time . It did. Reporter it was here in this patch of paradise, said cal, that he woke up one morning almost 14 years ago to find that his wife, michele, wasnt home. Shed gone to work the evening before, didnt come back. Merry harris is cals aunt. He didnt know what happened. Reporter woke up and she wasnt there . And, honestly, he didnt it wasnt something he seemed comfortable talking about a lot. I think it was very emotional for him. Reporter she was gone. Gone without warning. Her friends, distraught, called her cell phone. Where the hell are you . You need to call me as soon as freaking possible. I am worried to death about you. Reporter they heard her cheery cell phone message haunting them. Hi. This is michele. Leave me your name and number and ill call you back as soon as i can. Michele . Bob miller. What is going on here . Reporter there is Something Else about this you should know. The night Michele Harris vanished was not just any night. It was september 11th, 2001. Things are in some kind of disarray. Reporter so they were. And so nobody was paying much attention to the disturbing events up here around little owego, new york. Troopers have all been sent to new york city. Theres a Skeleton Crew left at all the stations. Reporter back then, sue mulvey was a senior investigator with the new York State Police. She took the call morning of september 12th. What do did you do . I sent two investigators over to talk to Calvin Harris and sent a uniformed trooper up to the house. Reporter Calvin Harris opened up his house to them. He said whatever you need. Look wherever you need to look. Carte blanch. I want this to be solved. I want this to happen. Reporter that morning she knew only this. She had a missing person case on her hands and, with luck, it would resolve itself speedily, as many do. We kept hoping, as everyone did, that michele would call her house or call one of her friends and show up. Reporter cal said his aunt merry was completely focused on his four children, had to leave it to others to search for michele. His thing was, its time to go to school. Now its time for me to pick them up. I need to make sure this is a routine thats normal for them. Were going to keep them in that routine. Reporter but where was their mother . Here was a clue, and it didnt look good. Micheles van had been left at the foot of the long driveway leading up to her house on that big country lot. The keys were still in the ignition, but where was she . Mulveys investigators, video camera in hand, searched the house. Outside those 200plus acres to look through. That area was homesteaded heavily in the 1800s. So theres a lot of laidup wells and old foundations and things like that. Reporter didnt find anything . No, we didnt. Reporter not at first and not outside, but a few days later they did. I entered the residence through the open garage door. Reporter senior investigator steve andersen. I noticed blood stains on the floor and on the moldings of the doorway that led out to the garage. Reporter and there was more blood, tiny stains on a kitchen rug. They sent it out for tests. Everything on the floor, on the inside walls and on the carpet came back to being micheles blood. Reporter and suddenly the case looked ve eed very differe. Then we knew we had a real problem. Reporter what in the world had happened to Michele Harris . When we come back, inside the harris household. They have what would appear to be an idyllic life and a beautiful home and beautiful children. 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New York State Police investigator sue mulvey felt sure of one thing, michele had nat abandoned her children. The clear picture that we developed is that michele would never leave her children, ever. Reporter so was it foul play . After all, micheles van was abandoned at the foot of her driveway. And that blood on the garage floor and in the kitchen alcove, testing proved it was micheles blood. Theres a lot of blood in the garage and spread over a wide area. And there is a lot of blood splatter, over 60 drops, of blood thats been not just dripped but splattered by some force on that throw rug. Reporter and yet it didnt make sense. This woman, wife of an affluent car dealer, devoted mom, seemed like an unlikely victim. They had what appeared to be an idyllic life, beautiful home, beautiful children. Reporter it got off to a storybook start. He, the attractive wealthy car dealer. She, a pretty young woman from modest means, answering phones at a Harris Family car dealership. My brother had his office across from mine. I just saw her one day and just kind of evolved from there. Reporter what attracted the two of you to each other . She was very outgoing and very attractive and good personality. She was a knockout. She was funny. She was vibrant. Reporter his aunt merry harris was also taken by cals new girl. Michele, she said, was a woman up for anything. Athletic. Lets have a good time. Jump on the jet ski. Jump on the four wheeler. Reporter wasnt a dainty wee thing as it were. Right. Reporter and not a shy, retiring type either . No. Thats part of xwhy their personalities to me seemed to really mesh. Reporter michele fell hard, too, for the man and his lifestyle. Gary taylor is her dad. He won some dealership thing and they went to switzerland, i think. Reporter wow. There was a lot of perks there that she had never had before. So reporter in august 1990, michele and cal got married here beside empire lake. It was a great day. Just a beautiful setting. Very relaxing. Not very stressful. Just kind of ended up being a big party afterwards. Reporter the fairytale rolled on. The kids kept coming. They built this house on empire lake. Here on their private preserve, they were a family in motion, fishing, swimming, skating. Michele into all of it. And now the kids, of course, are much older. Taylor is 21, cayla 20, jenna 18 and tanner 16. Their mom . About her, they have no real memories. Its been a long time. Reporter yeah, traes true. Most of your lives. And how old were you . Im not sure how old i was. But i dont have any memories. Reporter jenna is often told by those who knew michele how much she resembles her mom. Ive seen pictures of her. Shes really pretty. Shes always smiling. Like a really happy person. It makes me feel good that people see me in her. Rr and even with that terrible loss, said the kids, theyve grown up happy and content for the most part, all thanks to one person. Just tell me about your dad. What kind of guy is he . Funny. Reporter funny . Yeah. Hes funny and hes the most caring guy in the world. And hes nice and were his whole world. And hes protective and just loves us so much and wants the best for us. Reporter a protective dad who said he tried to shield them best he could from the notsohappy times. Michele was really struggling with those kids at a young age, which i totally understood. What i noticed was that she was just drifting away from being a stayathome mom. And i understood that. Reporter there was certainly friction in the harris marriage. He loved order. She, not so much. She had a room downstairs and she called it the chuck room. If there was going to be a party or picnic or whatever, shed throw it take it down the chuck room. Reporter she told friends and family he had a temper, a controlling way. Once back in 1996 she called her sisterinlaw from a closet, terrified. He had the gun outside the closet and she was inside, hiding. Reporter what did you hear about that . He was out there with a pump gun, i guess, and he was racking the pump action up and down and telling her to come out. Reporter cal later denied it was true that he had been fighting or threatening michele with a gun. Then in 1999, michele learned cal was having an affair. She was devastated, but not ready to end the marriage. And cal said he wasnt either. Michele said we can work through this, but, you know, youve got to get rid of the girl. Reporter they did what they could to salvage the marriage. It didnt work. She told her family he cut off her spending money. She took up with a young man in november 2000. A month later she told cal she wanted a divorce. Her family said he didnt take it well. And things in that big house in paradise grew strained indeed. Why did she stay in the house . Her attorney had advised her to stay in the house and to not leave. Reporter they divided the parenting duties and worked on a settlement. Michele got a job as a waitress at a local restaurant and bar. Thats where she was the night of september 11th. She finished her shift about 9 00, had some drinks with two coworkers and then she drove to her boyfriends apartment. Left there about 11 00. That, sue mulvey learned, was the last time anybody saw Michele Harris. We did a lot of work on a lot of different people early on. And it wasnt until they were eliminated and then we learned more and more about calvin that he became the focus. Reporter the District Attorney even tried to speak to the two eldest children. Didnt accomplish much beyond frightening them, apparently. I know i just sat there and cried the whole time. I didnt talk. I wasnt allowed to be in there with taylor. Reporter how old were you at the time . I was in fourth grade. He was in fifth grade. So, 9 and 10. Reporter the d. A. Jerry keen said he interviewed plenty of other witnesses who convinced him the police had the right man. In september 2005, four years after Michele Harris disappeared, the d. A. Charged her husband, cal, with seconddegree murder. Three state Police Personnel literally busted into my office and kicked the door open. And the three of them jumped me and handcuffed me and shackled me and walked me out the front door of my office. Reporter you got a taste of law and order up close and personal. Yeah. Reporter the d. A. Was going to take the case to trial, even though there was no body, no murder weapon and even though he himself was by no means convinced he could prevail. I thought that it was maybe a 5050 shot at a conviction. I thought that a jury could go either way. Coming up it hurts. Absolutely. All of it was just taken away. Why would cal harris want to kill his wife . He told her that he would put her body in a place where it would never be found. And the evidence . I think it could very well have been the most important part of the case. In september 2005, four years after his wife, michele, vanished, cal harris was charged with murder. Oh, it hurts. Absolutely. You know, i had a Good Standing in the community. Reporter yeah. Had a successful business. Donated my time, money and resources to a lot of good causes in the community. Raised my kids in that community. And, you know, all of it was just taken away. Reporter but the Cayuga County d. A. Had become convinced that cal killed his wife late in the night of 9 11 and, as the children slept, disposed of her body. The more i met with the people that were close to michele and that knew something about the case, the more convinced i became that, you know, he really did this. Reporter the trial began in may 2007, with the prosecution claim that cal harris was a man used to being in charge of everyone and everything in his life. Hes in control of his businesses. Hes in control of his wife. Hes in control of his finances, his employees and his children and just kind of a domineering person. Reporter more than that, said the prosecutor, cal harris could be volatile. Michele harris began keeping notes about what she said was abusive language and behavior. In fact, she won a temporary order of protection against him. What he said to her was, i wouldnt need a gun to kill you. And if i did kill you, theyll never find your body. Reporter in the heat of passion people say terrible things to each other. Doesnt mean they killed them, though. But he went beyond saying terrible things to her. He told her he would put her body in a place where it would never be found. Thats like one of the biggest facts of the case. We looked and looked and looked for this womans body and have not been able to find it. Reporter the Harris Family babysitter, a woman named barb thayer testified she was the one that found micheles van parked at the end of the long driveway. She goes into the house and yells is michele here . Because the cars at the end of the driveway. And the defendant, without missing a beat, just said, we better go get the car. Reporter according to the babysitter, cal didnt seem surprised. Didnt ask her any questions about the keys, like he knows the keys are in the van. Reporter this is an interpretation of a persons reaction. Yeah, youre right. But its all these hundreds of Little Things that convinced me that hes just not acting like someone would act if they didnt know what had happened to their wife. Reporter later that morning, when new York State Troopers talked to cal, they too made note of his demeanor. He seemed kind of unconcerned. He was more concerned with getting Michele Harris van cleaned up and back on the lot. Reporter the motive, said the prosecutor, was simply money. Cal had learned that michele was demanding an appraisal of the car business. Did she intend to take a piece of it in the divorce . All of a sudden, everything is out of his control. Reporter so the argument went, if michele disappeared, cals problems did, too. He was going to have his finances scrutinized. He was perhaps not going to be able to stay in the marital residence. Certainly his children are leaving. And the next day, all those things are back in his control. Reporter finally, that blood evidence. Prosecution witnesses called it medium velocity spatter that had been left there only recently. I think it could very well have been the most important part of the case as far as placing michele bleeding in the house with some force having been applied to that blood and no explanation for it. Reporter so what happened that night . Prosecutor keene put his theory to the jury. She got home that night at about 11 30, parked her car, went in through the garage door and as soon as she got inside the house, she was struck with something by the defendant. Reporter she went down on the kitchen rug, he said. Was struck again. That blood spatter. So this would put her down either on her knees or on her bottom as shes being struck and the blood spatters on the door and on the carpet. Took her back out into the garage and laid her down on the garage floor. She must have bled some on to the garage floor because theres an area