Th then. Please help me reporter her death was ruled a suicide, but not everyone agreed. I always was afraid he was going to hurt her, always. Always. Reporter did a fight that night lead to something much worse . I knew that ashley wouldnt take her own life. Reporter a troubled woman, or a troubled marriage. That wound on the back of her head isnt where she could do it herself, tom. It is not. It is not. Reporter suicide or murder . I didnt do this. I just knew that my whole world is never going to be the same again ever. Hello and welcome to dateline. It was december 31st, and by all appearances, Ashley Fallis was in the mood to celebrate, a vibrant mother of three, she gathered her friends and family to ring in the new year, but as her guests began to count down to midnight, who could have known they were also marking the last hour of Ashleys Young life. Heres Keith Morrison with after the party. Reporter what is so optimistic as a party on new years eve . What night is hopeful, as full of anticipation as the clean slate midnight brings . It was a small new Years Eve Party. Just family and friends. Reporter disappointment is inevitable, of course. Clean slates no matter how ardently desired are messy too soon. We noticed there was a lot of alcohol out. Reporter still we celebrate possibilities and drown past sorrows and watch the clock that ticks toward our new beginnings and our ends. On december 31st, 2011, an hour north of denver in west evans, colorado, ashley and tom fallis surrounded by friends and family danced to the music that brought them together, their wedding song. They decided to get up and dance in the middle of their living room and everybody watching. With everybody watching. I think i said, oh, this is sweet. Reporter it was their party, ashleys and toms. Shes invited her coworkers like andrea. It was casual, but she like verbally told everyone at work, you should come. Reporter they worked together at a Rehabilitation Hospital where ashley was a respiratory therapist. She was crazy, nice, just full of energy. She was a happy person. She laughed a lot and joked. Reporter their friendship was new, andrea didnt know a lot about ashley but had listened to her chatter about jobs and marriage ass and her three kids, the youngest who was born with a dangerous condition called hydrocephalus which causes dangerous fluid buildup in the brain. Reporter she embraced the challenge said ashleys mom jenna, became a public advocate. She went to washington, d. C. In the fall of 2011 to speak before congress for funding for hydro acce hyd hydrocephalus so she had a full plate. Reporter so did tom for that matter. I liked tom. He was a pretty good guy, very intelligence. Reporter Jeff Rodriguez was toms boss at the weld county jail. They were corrections officers. He was a good employee. He had a son that was sick so he did miss more work than most fellow officers liked. Stressful caring for a sick child, so maybe their new Years Eve Party was a way to hope for better times and take a break, too. Ashleys adoptive dad joel was at the party. There was dancing going on and people were having a good time. Reporter and ashley seemed to be having a fine time said andrea. She and tom seemed to be getting along fine. They seemed to be getting along fine. Reporter thats when ashley and andrea went off into the kitchen, had a little party of their own. What were you drinking . Jungle juice and jello shots. Oh, my. Yeah. I was having a good time. I intended to have a good time. Reporter there was one unusual thing, though, said andrea, ashley had just gone through something kind of awful. She found out that she had a miscarriage that day and i said oh, im sorry. Are you okay . Oh, yeah, its fine. Did that strike you as odd . No, i dont think it was odd. Was she unhappy of the miscarriage . My impression of it is she already had her beautiful family. It seemed like her life was already complete, so i dont think she was devastated that she had found out that she had a miscarriage. Reporter no tears andrea said, just a quick, casual mention, and then the conversation moved on. Went on to talk about other things. Went on to talk about other things, probably went and got another. Jello shot. Jello shot. Reporter midnight arrived there were as there always are kisses and smiles and toasts. By 12 30 the party was over. I gave her a hug, told her bye, we talked about future plans. How did she seem . Happy. Reporter but oh, how quickly the new years clean slate darkened. As an uncle prepared to leave, ashley asked him for a bit of his marijuana to smoke later she said. Tom, the Sheriffs Department employee was furious and reminded ashleys family that her employer required regular drug tests. Was it the which will that amped up the family screaming match . Whatever, ashleys parents had their own recollections. He walks by me, and he says that he hated us all and wished we would all bleeping die, and he went into the bedroom and slammed the door. Ashley came out of the bathroom and was just kind of like whats going on, and were like well, were going to leave. And then shes like hey, im having a Super Bowl Party this a couple of weeks. Dont forget about this. Reporter but ashleys parents were rattled. They drove away and then pulled off to the side of the road to talk. Ashleys mom sent a text to tom. Im like hey, theres kids in the house. Calm down. Which arrived as their young granddaughter was involved in quite another discussion with 911. Can you go open the door and let the officers in . Its open, its open. The new year was less than an hour old and off to a very bad start. Coming up. It was shocking. A frantic race to save a life. What happened in that house . 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I need you to go open the door. Reporter Brian Spencer was a weld county sheriffs deputy back then. He arrived within minutes to discover that the local police, the evans police had beaten him there. I believe there was three there ahead of me, and then there was more sirens, lights, u you could hear them coming. Thats a pretty fast response. Very fast. And this bit of news was going around fast too. This was a sheriffs employee, a jail employee. Its not that that should matter, the effort then was save Ashley Falliss life. This was recorded by a Police Body Camera, shows the paramedics arriving. Chaotic . The scene, very. Frantic, the officers located Ashley Fallis somewhere in the home. Reporter the local police took charge. They asked Brian Spencer to watch the front of the property. Thats when from the post on the front porch he saw tom. Thats him in the white tshirt. He was pacing around the front yard, front sidewalk area, frantic screaming. Screaming what . I heard him say she was dead, a lot of mumbled stuff. He put his hands up over her face screaming, crying. By this time ashleys parents had pulled off the road home to talk and worry about the fight that ended the party. When they heard the sirens, saw the lights flash by headed that way. Something automatically felt bad, and i whipped a uturn. He didnt have the sccar stopped and i was out running to the house. Were you able to see ashley . No, i could hear what was going on. I had all three kids and they were just crying, and crying and screaming. Im crying. It was crazy like a nightmare. I could see blood swatter on the wall, past the bedroom wall. What was that like . Chaos, it was shocking. Did you understand it was your daughter . Yes. I do recall just being hysterically upset and crying and thinking that this cant be happening to my daughter. This cant be happening to us. But yet it was. Reporter inside the master bedroom, ashley was alive but the wounds to her head were catastrophic. The Police Body Camera shows officers kneeling on the floor trying to stabilize her condition. Paramedics went in and they made a decision to do what we call a load and go, which means theyre not going to spend any time doing life support stuff. Reporter ashleys mom jenna huddled with her grandchildren in a neighbors bedroom, listening to it all through a closed door. Is there any way to describe what its like for a mother to be in that situation . No. Your brain does funny things. I just knew that my whole world is never going to be the same again ever. Reporter outside, Brian Spencer watched tom pacing back and forth crying, talking to himself. I notice hes wearing a white tshirt, and hes covered. I believe it was on his left side in a large amount of blood. Reporter it was odd, brian thought that the Evans Police Officers didnt take toms clothes or bag his hands for gunshot residue. He still had evidence on him, and he needed to be preserved. He needed to be controlled. He needed to be processed . And clothing removed, everything. Reporter thats not what happened, not at all, and soon after ashley was rushed off to the er, tom got in the back of a squad car and was driven away, but surprisingly not to the hospital. Coming up, tom tells his story. I heard her gun cock and i looked up and i was like what are you doing . But police dont seem to believe it. The wound on the back of her head isnt where she could do it herself, tom. Oh, [ bleep ]. When dateline continues. Want to brain better . Say hello to neuriva. So nice to meet you june, jay, ji, jj kay, raj, and. Ray good job, brain neuriva is a new brain supplement that combines the best of science and nature, with clinically proven ingredients that fuel five indicators of brain performance focus, accuracy, memory, learning, and concentration. Neuriva its time to brain better. You only talk about your insurancet, when you complain about it. garbled . Its so painful. Good point thats why esurance is making the whole experience surprisingly painless. So, you never have to talk about it. Unless youre their spokesperson. Esurance. Its surprisingly painless. In the first cold dark hours of 2012, Ashley Falliss parents followed an ambulance to the hospital and caught up to her in the icu. We walked in to her bleeding out of everywhere. Reporter there wasnt really any hope. They could see that. She was going to die. I just sat down and held her hand. Reporter but tom wasnt there to hold her hand. Tom fallis was at the evans Police Station answering questions. I dont know whats going on. I have no idea, and thats why im asking to speak with you. Reporter it was 2 00 a. M. And tom was still wearing blood stained clothes, the ones that a sheriffs deputy thought should have already been bagged as evidence. How is your relationship with your wife . Really good. Reporter but said tom, ashley was devastated when she miscarried the very day of her new Years Eve Party. It was hard for ashley. It was hard for me, but i didnt think that it was getting to this point. Reporter still, at the party itself said tom, she seemed all right. They got on fine until the argument about the marijuana. Tom admitted he was furious that ashleys family said he was trying to protect her and they werent. I told ashley, i was like you dont need to get high. I was like if whatever happened today with the miscarriage, i was like it happened. I was like you know what . [ bleep ] your mom, [ bleep ] everybody. Reporter so there was no love lost between tom and ashleys parents. That was clear, and tom admitted that he and ashley kept arguing as they got ready for bed, and then he turned around and went to the closet, he said, and it was all over. When i was in the closet, i heard her gun cock and i looked up. I was like what are you doing . And before i even had a chance to finish my sentence or close the door. There was smoke. I heard it, and it was just smoke. I just ran over to her, and i just grabbed her head. Reporter tom told detectives that sadly he had been worried about just this sort of thing for more than a year because ashley had threatened suicide before. What was she saying that she wanted to do to herself. She wants to end it. Shes like you and the kids would be better off without me. And so she had just said those words but she never acted on anything . No. And so how long never once, never once has she ever grabbed her gun, has she ever loaded it, has she ever made this type of gesture whatsoever. Reporter by this time, while the doctors tried to save ashley, tom had been answering questions for hours. I have to ask these questions that i have to understand i know, but the problem is is that ive been here since fricken what, 2 00, and now its already 5 00 and i dont know whats going on with my wife. Reporter but then the detective noticed Something Else about tom. The scratch mark thats on your chest, what is that . You have like a long, red oh, probably because ive been doing this all night. This one just goes straight across here. I dont know, its just me. Its not okay, so it isnt . I just had to ask. Reporter the detective left the room and spoke with ashleys parents whod arrived with the purpose of telling officers just one thing, their daughter did not shoot herself. We had just seen her seven minutes before this. She was completely fine, you know, she wouldnt do anything like this. Reporter she was in good spirits when they left, she said. She was already planning her next party, but tom, hed always had an awful temper, they said. I always was afraid he was going to hurt her, always. Always. Reporter why . What about him . His temper. You cant go from 0 to 100 and think clearly. I think that he was just in a fit of rage and he shot her. Reporter armed with that new information, the detective went back to talk to tom and zeroed in on those scratches. Officers had given him something clean to wear so they could collect his bloody clothing. And you have scratches on your body. Okay. See this . This is a shaved chest. Do you know how bad this hurt a and itches . So when im sitting there. I do this all fricken day. This is actually her blood. It comes off. See . Oh, my gosh, its coming off. Its her fricken blood. Thats actually a scratch, okay . Thats a scratch. Reporter still, the detective pressed him. He had motive and opportunity she said. So when you went upstairs you were arguing with her, and you know you were arguing with her. Reporter she was also reluctant to believe the shooting happened so quickly, no threats or warning or hesitation. She went from saying im going to do what i want to just pulling yeah, yeah. She did. Im not lying to you. Reporter and when the detective gave a description about the gunshot wound, a description that turned out to be inaccurate, that really set tom off. That wound on the back of her head isnt where she could do it herself, tom. It is not. Oh, [ bleep ]. It is not. [ bleep ] [ bleep ] [ bleep ]. Then quite suddenly in the middle of it all, completely out of nowhere the detective made an abrupt declaration. And i have to let you know your wife did not make it. Your wife did not make it. She was breathing when i was holding her. She was breathing. They told me she was breathing when she left the house. Reporter ashley died while tom was in police custody. I didnt shoot my wife. I didnt shoot the mother of my kids. I didnt shoot the person who i wanted to have another one with reporter what would the police believe, toms story that the shooting was a suicide or ashleys parents story that hed shot their daughter in a fit of rage . Coming up, ashleys family is outraged by the investigations final report. It was incomplete. It was inconsistent, no followup. It was unbelievable. When dateline continues. Compare comcast business to your current provider. My Current Service provider does not provide half of what you provide. And to know that i could save money . Id be thrilled. This sounds like a whole business package, which would be incredible. So what are you guys waiting for . Lets do it. laughs comcast business gives you a full suite of products with great performance and value. Get fast, reliable internet on the nations largest gigspeed network for less than at t. Thats 120 dollars less a year. Better, faster. I mean sign me up. Comcast business. Beyond fast. Im melissa ray burger, breaking news from Southern California where it has happened again, a major earthquake has rocked the region. The 7 7. 1 quake centered near t city of ridgecrest. At this point no reports of fatalities or major injuries. There have been a few fires and structural damage reported in the region along with power outages. Seismologists warn more could be expected. More news at the top of the hour. Welcome back to dateline. Im craig melvin. Though covered in blood and suspicious scratches, tom fa