But their own daughter, who admitted to a bitter, simmering dispute. Has been a long life family feud. Bambi needed her stepfather and mother dead so she could get her property back. Reporter evidence pointed to her boyfriend as an accomplice. You got the victims blood on your shoe. He was there. Reporter or was he . Reporter no hair . No fingerprint . No dna . Nothing. Reporter a onceloving family, now gripped by suspicion. I had a lot of people in my ear saying that she did it. Reporter would t truth rip them apart . This cannot be happening. Reporter im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Dennis Murphy with the deed. Reporter the old barn is a shambles now. The fields back in the day so the farmhouse empty. Time was, the farmland in horry county was some of South Carolinas finest. Bambi bennetts granddad owned a big spread and created a legacy for the generations to come. That barn used to be a tobacco barn. And my granddaddy built that. Reporter so it was a tobacco property, huh . Uhhuh. He did farming and tobacco. Repor b are as deep as the old oak tree draped in spanish moss that still stands tall in the front yard. They say land is worth dying for because its the only thing that lasts, and truer words might never have been spoken. In this case, a beautiful piece of land turned out to be nothing but trouble. This is where Bambi Bennetts family was ripped apart by an act of cruel, unspeakable bambi, her given name, was a fun, feisty, good ole girl, country through and through. I was at my grandparents a lot growing up. We gardened and we had a big yard. You know, a huge yard. Reporter youre a country girl. Uhhuh. Reporter but shed endured her share of heartache, even at a tender age. Her parents divorced when she was just six. Mom remarried. Then a few years later came that terrible day she will never forget. My daddy and my granddaddy passed away on the same day. I was 12yearsold. Reporter so all of a sudden youd lost the two important men in your life . Uhhuh. Reporter it was a bewildering and tragic day. There was so much sudden loss to absorb, that young bambi, not yet a teenager, paid no mind to her grandfathers and fathers wills. But it turned out shed been left the entire homestead, all trust until she turned 18. Not long after bambi inherited the farm, her stepfather charlie moved the family onto the property, her property. Most everybody called him big charlie. Bambi called him daddy. Daddy loved hunting and fishing and he always had fish fries and oyster roasts. There was always people down at the barn. Reporter you call your stepfather daddy. Uhhuh. Reporter easily do that, huh . Uhhuh. Ive always called him daddy. Deacon at church. And he started a Small Business selling and installing glass, converting the old tobacco barn into his shop. Bambis mom diane worked as a secretary in the public schools. They were a respected, happy couple, salt of the earth. She was the backbone of that family. Reporter bambis cousins jessica and amy loved their aunt diane. If your car literally stopped down, she would go and make sure you had a meal or you were warm. And while she was doing that, big charlied be, like, fixing the car. Reporter good mom . Fabulous mom. Outstanding. I mean, her biggest thing was she wanted to make sure her kids were protected and their hearts were protected. Reporter and her daughter bambi would need a lot of protecting. The girl was growing up in a rush. Married to her High School Sweetheart and divorced after a few months. By the time she was just failed marriage and was struggling as a single mom, trying to raise two boys, cody and nathan. Reporter that had to be tough. Keep your household going, huh . Yes. Reporter and things went from bad to worse. Bambi started popping painkillers. Reporter the old story, huh . Yes. Reporter just gobbled em down when you could get em, huh . I liked the way it made me feel. Reporter bambi was a single mom hooked on pills and sitting on a piece of land worth a small fortune. Intervene before, say, another whirlwind husband du jour got half the property. Mama said, if you put it in my name, it will be protected. Reporter and so she signed the deed to her property over to her mom. And then bambi signed over her heart, sending cody and nathan to be raised by their grandparents. She calls it her lowest point. I didnt want to do it, but i knew it was the right thing. She wanted to take care of them. She loved those children. Reporter it was a crushing loss, no question, but bambi agreed at the time the boys were better off. They loved diane and charlie. Theyre just very loving. Like, did a lot of outdoor stuff. I mean, they spoiled us to death. Reporter nathan, how about you . Yeah, they were the most loving individuals ive ever met in my life. My grandmas the most sweet woman and everybody says so. Living at their grandparents, bambi tried to get her own life back on track. Thats when she met rick gagnon, a new hire at charlies Glass Company. There was an instant attraction. Ive always liked the bad boy image, you know, i guess. Like, he had the goatee and the shaved head. I dont know. We just had a good time together. Reporter was it a serious relationship . Yes. It was. Reporter rick was serious too. He confronted bambi about her demons. I told her, if she wanted to be in a relationship, she had to do something about the pil reporter by the spring of 2005, bambi felt she had turned the corner. She and rick found a home of their own in myrtle beach. After a long struggle, she was ready to be a mom to her boys again. I was getting on my feet. And and i just i wanted cody and nate there with us. Reporter grandparents charlie and diane agreed, very reluctantly, to let the boys move in with bambi and rick. But no sooner had the boys moved then diane was making the case reporter did she want to hold on to the boys . She said that she would like for them to, you know, continue to stay with her. Reporter boyfriend rick thought bambi couldnt catch a break with her family. Everybody pretty much treated bambi like crap. It stemmed from, you know, issues that diane, charlie, and bambi had. Reporter those issues were simmering into an angry family drama. Then just a few weeks after the boys were turned over it happened. Morning. Bambi called her mom. No answer. Big charlie was late for work. One of his barn employees went up to the house to look for him. Moments later, he called 911. 911. Shes laying on the floor. And theres blood everywhere. Theres blood everywhere . Yes, maam. Oh, my god. Reporter inside, things were chaotic, an appalling sight. Big charlie and diane were dead. And the Old Farmhouse they loved charlie and diane parker lying dead in their own home. When we come back, the investigation begins. At a grisly crime scene, some small stray drops of blood might just provide a huge clue. It appeared that someone involved in the crime was a bleeder. So thats great evidence . Reporter the horror discovered inside that farmhouse confused both the caller and the 911 operator. But what happened to charlie and she was found lying next to her bed. Big charlie sprawled on the bathroom floor. Each had been shot multiple times. Both by then dead for hours. Horry county sheriff phillip thompsons cell phone erupted with calls about the shooting and he rushed to the scene. Not to investigate. Charlie and diane were his best friends. They werent just mine. They were everybodys friends. What we remember is how good they were. People they were. Reporter down at her house in myrtle beach about 30 minutes from the crime scene, bambi was getting ready to go antiquing with her mom. She called her cell. One of charlies Glass Company workers answered. I said, can i speak to my mama, please . And he said, bambi your mama and daddys dead. Reporter just like that. Yes. And i said, what . He said, bambi, somebodys broke shot them. And i just dropped the phone and started crying. Reporter when bambi arrived at the house, yellow caution tape blocked her way. Police were everywhere. My mom was like freaking out. Reporter rick tried to comfort bambi. Young cody turned to him too. And then i remember rick, he was near me, and i was crying on his shoulder. And everybody was just kind of it was a madhouse reporter in those moments, it seemed the whole county had gone mad. The murders of diane and charlie came hard on the heels of two other vicious killings nearby. The suspect, a man all over the news named Stephen Stanko was still at large. They were looking for Stephen Stanko when charlie and diane parker were discovered. Reporter vivian skipper was charlie and dianes neighbor. She runs a flower shop nearby. Is this a kind of thing you could feel in the air or what . You could feel it in the air. I was at the flower shop. Reporter probably not too thrilled with the idea of getting in your car and driving away. I didnt even want to go home. It was pretty bad in horry county that day. When i first arrive, what im looking at is is an opportunity to get oriented to the crime scene. Reporter the man responsible for making sense of the crime scene was prosecutor Fran Humphries, then deputy chief solicitor for horry county. Reporter had the house been tossed, rifled . It had. One of the first things you do invasion burglary. Reporter first take on it . First take reporter Home Invasion no question. Reporter it was a gruesome crime scene. The bathroom awash in charlies blood. There was blood spatter in the bedroom where diane lay. But several feet from diane, there are notably a few small droplets. It appeared that someone involved in the crime, not the victims, was a bleeder. Reporter why couldnt that be from one of your two victims . It was apparent that big and it was apparent that that diane died where she lay. Reporter so it looks like your shooter, your intruder is has reporter bleeding . Is bleeding. Reporter so thats great evidence. It is if you can match it up. Reporter while crime scene techs processed the house, investigators started taking statements. Big charlie and diane had a large family and knew a lot of people. We talked with everybody. The list of people that we talked to is exhaustive. Reporter a parade of friends, employees, and family was brought down to headquarters for interviews, including bambi and her boyfriend rick. They did gunshot residue test on all of us. Reporter including you . Uhhuh. They had me remove my shirt, lift my pant legs up. They took my shoes, took pictures of my shoes, tops, bottoms. Reporter both bambi and rick told police theyd spent the night at home. Never left. To the farmhouse. Everyone was gone. Bambi says she realized shed left her purse with her phone and car keys in the detectives cruiser. She decided shed take her mothers vehicle to get home. We didnt have any way to get in touch with nobody. We didnt have anything. And i told rick, i said, see if you can find mamas purse or cell phone. And so he went in the house. Reporter police had released the crime scene. But it still looked like one. Detectives told the family they woul t so when rick says he went in to fetch dianes car keys, he found himself tiptoeing through a bloody mess. Reporter what were you seeing . All the blood and just one of the most horrible things id ever seen. Reporter rick approached the bathroom where charlie had been killed. He says he noticed bambi through the window, pacing in the backyard. She was calling out, you know, mama, mama. She was crying, screaming. And i stepped into the bathroom. Tried to step around the mess as reporter and you closed them because you didnt want bambi to see the blood and gore. Thats right. I remember saying to bambi, i think i stepped in the some blood in the bathroom. And i was, you know, wiping my shoe off on the sand. And she was telling me to wash my shoe so i didnt get blood in her moms truck. Reporter man, that must have been eerie being in that house that night, huh . Yeah. Extremely. Reporter it was an eerie moment. One that would haunt bambi and rick for years to come. Om stunning admission. Thats been like a long family feud. Reporter the coldblooded kiin people in and around conway, South Carolina, bolting their doors and locking their windows. Reporter had you had any trouble in that neighborhood, out in countryside with breakins . Not that i know of. I mean, its always been a wonderful place. It just doesnt make any sense. Reporter was this more of the murderous rampage of the notorious Stephen Stanko who was no, said prosecutor Fran Humphries, who knew stanko had been sighted in georgia at the time of the murders, 200 miles away. Reporter so this awful thing at the farm house, you werent associating that with stanko . I was not. Reporter even in the public mind, they might have made that connection, huh . Oh, they did. But truly at that time Law Enforcement knew that he was physically in augusta. Reporter rather, humphries focused on the evidence coming from the parker crime scene. He quickly came to believe this was more than just a bungled Home Invasion. It was apparent that nothing had been taken. Or at least nothing that you would suspect to be taken in a burglary. Reporter humphries thought back to some curious statements bambi had made in her interview with police, which she said she had given willingly. Okay. All right. You sure youre okay to sit down and do this . Im not okay. But i want to help you. Reporter soon after the interview started, bambi, he said, began describing in detail a feud with her family. At issue was the land bambi life family feud. Right. For a long time. Reporter over the land . Yeah. A long time. Reporter according to humphries, bambi and diane argued over who should control that property. Diane wanted to make sure that that property was there for the kids. I think she had become convinced that, you know, bambi was not going to be in a position to to manage that property i love this girl, my daughter, but shes beyond hope. Is that the kind of reporter bambi didnt agree. She wanted the property back. I had a lot of anger about that. Reporter but humphries learned the land wasnt the only hot button between bambi and her mother and step dad. Bambi admitted they also argued over the raising of bambis boys, nathan and cody. Was there any issues where they didnt where your parents didnt want the kids to go back to you guys or anything like that . Well, yes. For them and all and that was hard for her to give them back. At first we were angry, you know, at each other and being ugly to each other. Diane just wasnt comfortable with bambi having custody of those children. Reporter in fact, just four months before the murders, a motherdaughter shouting match over the care for the boys got so out of hand that diane called 911. Reporter the responding officer arrived with his dash cam rolling, just moments after bambi had stormed away. No. Youre not bothering me at all. Reporter diane explained the argument to the officer. She usually does what she wants to do. Picks them up when she wants to. She doesnt do anything for them. Reporter diane went on to say she felt threatened by her daughter. She scares me. She got in my face and jerked the phone out of my hands when i was calling. Reporter and then came this chilling pronouncement. Its just but if anything happens to me, youll know that shes the responsible person. Reporter how telling is reporter humphries by now suspected bambi was somehow involved in her parents murders. But he was skeptical she could commit a double homicide on her own. So the prosecutor turned his attention to bambis boyfriend, rick gagnon. He was aligned with bambi. He was extremely faithful to bambi. Reporter and according to humphries, willing to do anything for her. Reporter you got the daughter and the boyfriend who seem to be in some sort of a conspiracy the theory goes . Well, an agreement to accomplish a goal. Reporter the alibi bambi and rick gave detectives that they were at home during the hours leading up to the murders was difficult to prove. Each gave the other as a witness. She said, we were at home. You know, rick was there. I was there. My boys were in the other room. Reporter the prosecutor began to wonder, could those mysterious blood droplets at the crime scene be linked to rick and bambi . The dna results had not come back. We didnt know whose blood that was. Reporter you didnt know it could have been Richard Gagnon. Reporter while humphries waited for those results, he obtained a search warrant and took another look at some of rick and bambis belongings, including their shoes. There is blood on his shoe. Reporter what did the lab analysis say about that . It was big charlies blood. Reporter the prosecutor didnt buy ricks story about having stepped in blood while looking for bambis mothers car keys. Detectives also found what they thought was blood on one of bambis boots. Reporter so now you have two persons of interest, fair to say . Oh, no question. Murders, humphries asked both rick and bambi to take polygraph tests. Both agreed and both showed deception. Rick gagnon in particular showed deception. Reporter police then sat both rick and bambi down in separate rooms for another round of questioning. This time the gloves were off. Do you want to be charged with something . Are you charging me with i didnt do anything. Reporter they hoped for a confession or at the very least, that shed give up rick. She didnt do either. You dont want to be charged . No. Im not going to be charged because i didnt lock her ass up. Do anything. We done. Lock her ass up. Cause youre not going to tell us anything. Put some handcuffs on her. Take her to jail. Charge her with two counts of murder. Reporter but the detectives werent done yet trying to break bambi. On her way to her booking, bambi said the hammer came down hard one more time. They surrounded me like a pack of wolves. Daddy. And i said, no, no, no. And i was trying to cover my face and he was pulling my hands off of my face. And he said, you did this. You. Reporter detectives said the same thing to rick gagnon. They arrested me. Thats pretty much it. If bambi did it, then i had to daughter and her boyfriend, partners in love and suspected of murder. The alleged motive was basic. Get the deed to the land and resolve the custody issue of the boys in one bloody rampage. Horry county could sleep easier at night with case closed. But was it case solved . Coming up, a new family feud breaks out between bambi and her sons. I had a lot of people in my ear saying that sh i resented her. Reporter Bambi Bennett sat in a Horry County Jail cell stunned. She had just been charged with two counts of murder. I thought, im just having a bad drea this cannot be happening. Not only were my parents just murdered, now im being acc