Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline 20190804

On top of the refrigerator was a manila folder. Did that just give you chills . It was horrible. Why didnt she tell us . Did a secret lead to murder . Its got to be unimaginable. Welcome to dateline. When the body of Brooke Morris was discovered by the side of the road, her family started looking for answers. They were surprised to discover that she may have been involved in an allegedly violent relationship. Could that revelation be the key to solving her murder . Here with nightfall is andrea canning. Id ask that you all close your eyes for a few minutes this morning. Id like for you to envision rom county in the middle of october. The leaves are changing. Theres a little bit of a nip in the air. Now envision Brooke Morris standing there and brooke feels like shes been punched in the throat. Shes been shot. Brooke feels like a bomb goes off in her body. This is the second shot, and it tears through her chest. Shes terrified, and shes in extreme pain. Thank you, you can open your eyes. Reporter the final minutes of a young womans life detailed in a tennessee courtroom. A tragedy that devastated her family and friends. This cannot be happening. It was really the worst day of my entire life. Who would do this to our friend brooke . It was awful. It was horrible. Reporter secrets exposed, but would justice be served . It was neverending, neverending. And i was so frustrated. Reporter most people who knew Brooke Morris remember her radiance and zest for life. She was always, always, always dancing everywhere she went. Reporter kaitlyn okal met brooke when they were teenagers, growing up just outside knoxville, tennessee. Brooke the yin to kaitlyns yang. We kind of balanced each other out. She was a girly girl and i was more the tomboy. So id go to her house. And change into a thousand outfits and try on makeup and do our hair. And then shed come into my house. And wed ride four wheelers and play on the farm. Reporter sounds like you two were almost more like sisters . Oh yeah, we even fought like sisters. We reporter thats when you know youre good friends. Yes, yes. For sure. Reporter this is brookes real sister brittany and their mom, tina. What did she like to do clothes. Clothes very very girly, loved doing hair and stuff like that. She was just a girly girl. Reporter a little Southern Belle . Uhhuh, yeah. Yes, yes. Reporter the little Southern Belle grew into a beautiful young woman. Sometime blonde, sometime brunette, brooke always drew people into her lively orbit. Really spontaneous, fun, hilarious, just the life of the party, could literally make friends with anyone. Reporter dina renee was one of them. She would come over to my house. And shed be, like, were going out tonight. Were going to have fun. Reporter and that meant one thing on fall saturdays in knoxville, volunteers football at the university of tennessee. The strip is completely packed. There are vol fans everywhere. It is so much fun. Lots of cooking out. Lots and lots of fun. Reporter lots and lots of orange . Lots of orange. Reporter was this something that brooke looked forward to . Oh yeah. Reporter on saturdays . All of us at that age, you know . That was what you did on saturday. You wanted to get your orange and white outfits. And and figure out where you were going to be. Reporter october 15th, 2011 started out as one of those fun days. The vols were taking on Louisiana State and brooke was tailgating with friends. But by nightfall, something was terribly wrong. 911, wheres your emergency . Uh, were down here on blair road. Reporter 40 miles away from knoxville, a couple was driving down a country road. They were keeping an eye out for crossing deer when their headlights illuminated something else. And there is a body laying off the side of the road. Ok, i need somebody to check for a pulse. Shes, shes a bloody mess, maam. I understand. Reporter chief Deputy Tim Phillips of the Roane County Sheriffs Office had just finished watching the Football Game when dispatch called him at home. What information were you given before you arrived at the scene as as you were driving there . Essentially had had a white female that was deceased that was laying on the side of the road. Reporter the body had been found just after 8pm at the intersection of two quiet rural roads, not far from the chiefs home. The woman had not been dead for very long. When you arrived here. What could you see . The victims body was over here on the side of the road close to the intersection here at old blair. Reporter right on the road . Yeah, right on the white line. You know. Reporter what did she look like . What could you see . She was welldressed wearing blue jeans, boots, and a bright orange shirt. She had her purse there with her and everything. Reporter i. D. ing the victim was the easy part, her drivers license was found right in her purse at the scene. It was 23yearold Brooke Morris. The hard part would be unraveling the mystery that led to her death on this lonely country road. Was it someone that was a stranger to us . Was it someone that we knew . All kinds of things were coming into our heads, you know, trying to figure this all out. Coming up what happened to brook . Theyre asking do you know anybody that would want to harm your sister . And were like we dont have a clue. The hunt for a killer begins and it starts close to home. When dateline continues. S. Protect your pet with the 1 name in flea and tick protection. Frontline plus. Trusted by vets for nearly 20 years. [ text notification now that you have] new dr. Scholls massaging gel advanced insoles with softer, bouncier gel waves, youll move over 10 more than before. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. 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And he was like, well, what do you thinks goin on . Im like, i dont know. I just feel really nauseous. And it wasnt 20 minutes later i get a phone call. Reporter sheriffs deputies were looking for her mother, tina. He didnt want to tell us much until he talked to mom first. Reporter tina was at a friends house. Both chief phillips and brittany headed over there. Mom, you know, comes to the door. And then she looks at me. And shes like, its brooke, isnt it . And im like, yeah. How did you know . What i knew it had to be because brittany was there, you know . So it had to be. Ive delivered more than my share of death notifications, and this particular one was ill never forget it. I just asked her to sit on the couch and we sit there for a second and i said, you know, were is Brooke Morris your daughter . She said she is. And i said, well, shes been murdered. She passed out cold. So we had to get her to, you know, come back to. And i think we were just all shocked. Reporter when tina came to, she could hardly process what had happened. It was almost like it was not real. You know, youve got the wrong person. Its not her. Reporter but it was real. Brooke was dead. Shed been shot 3 times once in the neck, once in her chest and an execution style shot to the back of her head. I could not believe that another human could be so heartless. And you know, theyre asking us these questions like, who would do you know anybody that would want to harm your sister . And were like, we dont have a clue. I could not even think of someone that would want to hurt brooke in any way. Everybody loved brooke. Reporter but investigators had to start somewhere. Although only 23 years old, brooke already had an exhusband Clayton Morris. She met him soon after high school. He was kind of country, you know . They just hit it off. They just had fun together and started dating. And then the surprise popped up. She comes home with some news, some big news. Mmhmm. She was totally excited. Of course. I was not so much excited. Reporter brooke, then 20 years old, was pregnant. I thought brooke was too young, for one thing. And you know, its just its not what i had hoped for her at that time. Reporter brooke and clayton were determined to make a go of it as a family. So before they became three, they got married. Then they had this sweet baby that just stole my heart. In an instant, you know did that make it all better . When you met your grandson . It did, it absolutely did and how was brooke as a mom . Did she just take right to it . Oh, yeah. Reporter they moved into a house and both had jobs. But the young couple soon realized that family life came with grownup responsibilities and problems. Did she confide in you at all about how things were were not great at home . Yeah, of course. She talked to her friends about it and we just tried to be as supportive that we can. But we were on such a different level than she was, you know . Here we were still single. And she was married with a baby. So hard for us to kind of relate in that area. But i think she she knew that it wasnt going to to work, you know . Reporter after two years, the couple split. Brooke moved out and clayton stayed in the house with their son. But brookes family says she and clayton were committed to raising the child together. Well, she lived, you know, just a few doors up from clayton and they had shared custody of the baby. Was it an amicable divorce or did they fight . They had some disagreements, you know. They definitely had some disagreements. Exhusbands, husbands, spouses are always looked at . They are. Did you feel he was an important person to talk to as well . We did. Did you call him right away . We actually went and seen him. Reporter it was the middle of the night, just hours after brookes body was discovered, when investigators arrived at claytons house. Chief phillips woke him up. So what do you say to him then . We didnt tell him that brooke was deceased and and our Main Objective is to try to find out what he had been doing that evening. You want to hear his story before you talk about what happened to brooke . Thats right. Reporter clayton told investigators he had their son that weekend. He said he was at work all day saturday and then spent the evening at home. Could he have left the child and gone out . He could have. Coming up scouring the scene of the crime. Bullets and brookes phone. What would they reveal . It was very helpful to us. When dateline continues. When dateline continues brook morris was laid to rest at just 23 years old. And while her friends said their goodbyes her mother, tina, admits to being in denial about brookes death. I kept thinking, you know, shes going to call, shes going to call. I know shes going to call. And shes going to say, mom, you know, it was a big mixup, you know . I just couldnt grasp that she was gone forever. Tina had a very hard time. I remember being at her funeral. And tina was holding this picture of brooke and just crying, just hysterically. I mean, two people had to carry her to the gravesite. Reporter along with grief there was something else. How scary was it to you that whoever did this was out there . Oh, very scary. I mean, because theyve taken something from you. I mean, what are their motives for us . Reporter roane county investigators, tasked with bringing brookes killer to justice, had spoken to her exhusband Clayton Morris the night of the murder. Were you getting any kind of a vibe from clayton . You know, sometimes you read people and and, you know, people throw off body language but he just seemed like, what in the worlds going on . Reporter and despite the tension during the marriage and divorce, those who knew brooke best didnt think her exhusband was a killer. I just never entertained that thought. Clayton was a good person. So i didnt think that, you know, he would be capable of doing Something Like that to brooke. Reporter more importantly, claytons alibi checked out. Investigators cleared him. If not the exhusband, then who . Who had brooke come in contact with that weekend . Investigators retraced brookes steps, starting not with the game on saturday, but with the night before, friday. Friends told investigators they had tickets to a concert. She was super excited about going to that. So she was just like, okay, ive got to go ive got to go find something to wear. Im going to go to dinner. Reporter after dinner, brooke left her car in a Shopping Center parking lot near the restaurant, and drove with friends to the concert. She spent the night at dinas house. I called it hotel dina like everyone just stayed. Yeah. Left it unlocked for everyone, you know. Reporter the next day, saturday, was the tennesseelsu Football Game and everyone was looking forward to tailgating. But the fun day turned sour. Brooke borrowed something out of dinas closet and the girlfriends had an argument about it. And i had found out she had wore it without asking. Reporter it was a silly fight, but it stuck with brooke. She didnt tailgate for long. She had been calling all these people to pick her up to take her to her car because she wanted to change her outfit for the night, for that night. Reporter brookes friend Albert Dotson had been tailgating with her earlier in the day. So we would, like, break off, and i was with some other friends of ours at that time. So im not really sure where she was. Reporter neither dina nor albert ever saw brooke again. And with more than 100,000 football fans flooding the city for the game, finding brookes killer was like looking for a needle in an orange haystack. I thought that maybe someone had kidnapped her, you know . And we were all just trying to figure out who would have done this and why. What was their motive, you know . It was a very horrible time. Did you think that maybe it could be connected to the game . You never know. You never can you can never rule it out. Its tennesse football, and you know, she so happened to be wearing a bright orange top and if anybody knows anything about tennessee football, bright orange is the color for the tennessee vols. Reporter but brookes body had been discovered about 40 miles from the football stadium and investigators were still stymied as to how she ended up there. Did it lend itself to that she maybe was dumped here . Or did you think that she was actually shot here . Based off of everything that was here at the scene, it appeared that she was shot here. Reporter the crime scene itself yielded little physical evidence, no fingerprints, no tire marks, and no murder weapon. Only some brass, as they call it. They found spent ammo, they found live ammunition. Reporter three shell casings as well as some unfired bullets. All from a. 32caliber gun. That brass was sent to be tested in a lab, while investigators turned their attention to one item at the crime scene that could possibly provide some quick leads brookes cell phone. It was right there, unlocked and in her purse. You can find a lot out about a person within seconds of, you know, going over the persons cell phone so it was very helpful to us. Reporter in fact, brookes phone provided investigators with a major lead to pursue. Two leads, actually. Two men. Investigators wanted to talk to them. But theyd have to find them first. Its always a concern whenever you have somebody that youd like to talk to and you cant get to them to talk to them. Who were these two men . Could they help investigators unravel this mystery . Coming up we do consider people like him a person of interest. And what was their relationship to brooke . Theres still something going on that shouldnt be going on. Mmhmm. When dateline continues. S fleas through contact all month long. I mean hes a wreck without me. Advantage ii, fight the misery of biting fleas. With advil liquigels, what stiff joints . What bad back . Advil is. Relief thats fast. Strength that lasts. Youll ask. What pain . With advil liquigels. Im marlie hall with the hours top stories. A el paso, texas became the latest scene of deadly gun violence in america. 20 people killed. Shooting rampage that the governor called one of the deadliest days in texas history. The 21yearold man arrested in the attack posted a hatefilled rant online less than a half hour before he opened fire. Police say hes talking with investigators. Now back to dateline. Welcome back. Im craig melvin. With very little evidence found at the scene of brook morriss murder, data from her cell phone showed she had been in contact with two men the day she was killed. Could one of them be responsible for brookes murder, or was this another dead end . Here again is andrea canning. The brutality of Brooke Morriss murder fueled the search for her killer. We really hate that they came into our community and committed such a crime. Reporter roane county investigators had cleared brookes exhusband, clayton. But they had two other men to look at, two men whose names and numbers were right there in brookes phone. Who was brooke communicating with that day that seemed to be of potential importance . Daniel hawkins. This is a man she used to date . This is a person that we believe that she had a relationship with, yes. I think they were talking, nothing too extreme. Maybe a couple of dates. Reporter albert knew daniel through mutual friends. We would just hang out with daniel, you know. I would text him and be like, hey, man, are you coming out . And hed meet up with us. Reporter but albert hadnt and didnt know daniel and brooke had been texting each other, making plans to meet up. Investigators say they called the number listed for daniel on brookes phone. He didnt answer. You couldnt find him . Couldnt find him. Reporter investigators learned daniel lived in colorado. Hed just been in knoxville for the weekend. Were you worried that you couldnt get a hold of him and he was out there . Yeah, it makes you wonder, you know, whats going on . Are they intentionally trying to avoid you . Reporter daniel had flown back to colorado by the time he got on the phone with a sheriffs investigator. Basically interviewed him and got his whereabouts. Where was he . From what i understand, he was at the ball game. Reporter Daniel Hawkins told investigators he was at the stadium watching the Football Game, as he texted with brooke on and off throughout the afternoon. The game ended just before 7 00 p. M. Brookes body was found just after 8 00 p. M. So if daniel was telling the truth, investigators had to figure out if he had enough time to get through the crush of vols fans, meet up with brooke and make the 40mile drive here to roane county to commit the murder, all within about an hour. As investigators looked at daniels timeline, they saw he was still texting brooke long after the game ended. The last text was just a little past midnight. It read, where are u darlin . By then brooke had been dead for more than four hours. Until we clear him and rule him out, we do consider people like Daniel Hawkins a person of interest. Reporter but Daniel Hawkins wasnt the only person texting with brooke. Who else had brooke been texting with . Shawn smoot. What did you learn about shawn smoot . We found out that he ran an Allstate Office there in west knoxville. Married, children . Married, was no longer married at that particular time. Reporter Amy Denlinger is a former employee of shawns. What were your impressions of shawn . Seemed like a nice enough person, outgoing, typical sales, easy to get along with. Reporter shawn smoot, the name rang a bell with brookes family and friends. Not long after brookes divorce, shawn had hired brooke as an assistant in the insurance office. I remember the day that she had the interview. We had lunch right before, and she was so excited, you know . It was a real job. And i said theres going to be so much potential for you to move up in this company. You know . I was really proud of her. Did you feel like this was kind of the fresh start brooke needed . Yeah, we did. We thought we all thought it was going to be a good thing for her. Did she seem happy . Oh yeah, she loved it. I think there was a couple other ladies in the office that she worked with. Everybody got along, and she enjoyed it. She had formed a really, i guess, tight relationship with her boss. Reporter but brookes family had no idea how close brookes relationship with her boss shawn smoot actually was. Some of her friends did. Well, she had told me in the beginning that she had started working for this guy, shawn smoot. And a little bit down the road i had like saw them out eating or Something Like that. As things progressed in their relationship, i was like, whats going on here . I was like this guy, he seems a bit older, is he you know, does he have a family or anything like that . And she was like, yeah. Shes like, hes married. Reporter an affair with a married man. I dont really think she was, like, committed to that relationship. I think it was just her just coming through a divorce. And she had this attention from this man. But theres still something going on that shouldnt be going on . Uhhuh. Reporter brooke left the job after just a few months. But it was clear, to investigators, at least, that brooke and shawn were still in touch. Her phone showed calls between them on the day of the Football Game. And theyd been texting back and forth. Did you call him . Our attempts to call him were unsuccessful. Another one whos not around . Thats correct. Reporter detectives decided not to wait for shawn to pick up his phone. They went to his house in the Early Morning hours after brookes murder. You go over there. Is he home . He is. Reporter shawn told investigators he had seen brooke the day before. Shed called him from Downtown Knoxville asking for help. Remember, brookes tailgating plans had gone awry and shed wanted to go home and change her clothes. She needed a ride to her car, which had been left at a restaurant the night before. Shawn said he agreed to give her a lift but said they went to a bar to watch the game first. He had picked her up and theyd went to, i think, wild wings and buffalo wild wings. Its two different restaurants within the same square mile of each other. Reporter shawn said he then dropped brooke off at her car in the parking lot where shed left it. Did he say he didnt know where she went after that . He was at home. He said he didnt know where she went. Reporter so had brooke met her killer there in the parking lot or some time later . Perhaps she left to meet up with that other guy shed been texting, Daniel Hawkins. But as far as investigators knew, shawn smoot was the last person to have seen brooke alive. And as investigators checked out his story, something wasnt adding up. So is this one of the first now where this guys not being straight with us . It wasnt one of the first. It was one of the many. Coming up a secret brooke never shared with her family. Did that just give you chills when you found the manila envelope . Yeah. If was horrible. When dateline continues. Youre doing whats right, to protect your dog from fleas and ticks for a full month. Its the 1 vet recommended protection. What one little chew can do. And its safe for puppies. [ text notification now that you have] new dr. 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Advantage ii, kills fleas through contact all month long. I mean hes a wreck without me. Advantage ii, fight the misery of biting fleas. Investigators working Brooke Morriss murder case were take a hard look at two men shed been talking to the day she was killed. Daniel hawkins said they tried to meet up but never did. Were daniels friends able to back up his alibi . His alibi was verified. He was really at the game . Yes. Reporter because of the time the game ended, detectives concluded Daniel Hawkins couldnt have been in roane county at the time of the murder. He was eventually cleared by authorities. But could they verify shawn smoots story . He told investigators he and brooke grabbed a drink after he picked her up. Sure enough, heres video of them at one of the restuarants he said they went to. Here they are taking their drinks out to the patio. Another camera captured the couple leaving at about 6 30 p. M. Brooke is walking several steps ahead of shawn, something chief phillips thought was telling. Normally if people are happy and all that stuff, you think they would walk out together. And if there was something going on, maybe she was like, you know, i want to just get away from him or whatever, ill be glad when he drops me off at my car. Reporter this is the parking lot where shawn smoot said he dropped brooke off at her car. None of the security cameras around here had the car in view, but it was still sitting here the next day after brooke died. Which made investigators wonder was shawn smoot telling them the truth . And if he wasnt, where did they really go . So they decided to trace his steps. They pulled his cell phone records and found something unusual. In the 2 1 2 hours after shawn and brooke had last been seen together, there was no activity on his cell phone. And heres what also stood out. Around 11 00 p. M. His phone started pinging off towers along this major interstate heading out of knoxville. Then it looked like shawn turned around. Ard pinging in the other direction, all the way back to his house. Did he talk about why he was maybe about to leave town but didnt or why he turned around . Well, initially talking to him, he he had told us that he was home all night. So thats an inconsistency for you . It is. Reporter investigators were becoming increasingly suspicious of shawn smoot. And they werent the only ones. Brookes closest friends never really suspected her exhusband clayton, or Daniel Hawkins, but they knew her relationship with shawn had been stormy. She would just, you know, tell me Little Things here and there. Reporter her friends say shawn had a temper and kaitlyn witnessed it firsthand one night after a dinner. Shawn was drunk kaitlyn says, so she didnt want brooke to drive home with him. He did not like that. He began to get very angry. And we drove just down the street, pulled into the parking lot. And i pulled up right beside her car and she opened the door. And shawn was like right there, grabbed her by the arm. I told her, brooke, just get back in the car. And so she did. She got back in the car. And we drove off. Reporter friends say similar incidents followed. Brooke felt shawn was stalking her, showing up unannounced and uninvited when she was out with friends. Even after she stopped working for him. She definitely knew that something was wrong, you know, after he was obsessive with her, calling her multiple times and texting her and then stalking her. You know, she knew that, you know, it this man has got some issues. Ive got to try to get away from him. Reporter brooke reached her breaking point and in january 2011 did something she thought would get shawn out of her life forever. She was just, like, im done with this situation. He wont leave me alone. Im you know, im going to the wife. She needs to know about the situation. I think she was probably tired of living in this secret. You know, shed wanted to be free from the situation. The wife knows, hell leave me alone. Yeah. I mean, you know, if im honest with the wife, then maybe, you know, they can try to work out their problems. And hell leave me alone. Reporter but it backfired. Shawns marriage imploded. She was just like, ive gone to the wife. Shes getting a divorce. Shes made him move out. He lost everything after that. Yeah. Reporter and friends say shawn continued to harrass brooke. In fact, they say, things only intensified. Beyond Emotional Abuse . Was it physical . Mmhmm. Yes. She had just told me that shawn was getting violent. He broke into her apartment one night, came in through the bathroom window, threw her head up against the tile floor. Reporter brookes family didnt know about any of this. The relationship, the alleged violence. It wasnt until after her death that her family finally learned brookes secret. Did that just give you chills when you found that yeah, it was manila envelope . It was horrible. Reporter it was brittany who discovered it, as she went about the grim task of cleaning out brookes apartment. And we were kind of getting stuff in order to pack away and send. And so i went in her kitchen. And on top of the refrigerator reporter brittany opened the folder. It was an order of protection brooke had taken out about a year before her murder against her former boss, shawn smoot. And it was page after page of just crazy stuff that he did to her. And im just like, this is horrifying. Like, i didnt even know that any of this was happening. Reporter the document details a litany of alleged violent outbursts by shawn including the time brooke says he broke into her apartment and attacked her. Why didnt she just tell us, you know, that this is what im going through, i need help . Why do you think she didnt want to share with you what was going on in her life . She knew wed have a fit. I mean, i would have hunted him myself, for hurting her in any way. And i think she knew that. Reporter brookes friends who knew about the order of protection were surprised to find out she and shawn were talking on the day of the Football Game. Nobody knew that she even had contact with him. Reporter but to investigators, there was Something Different about this particular order of protection. Brooshawn to have social contact. And sure enough, they had continued to talk and spend time together. So they had to wonder if things were really that bad between brooke and shawn. The investigation dragged on for weeks. Then months. It was almost too much for tina to bear. I got really frustrated. Yeah, i did. You know, and im sure they had to hear my wrath a few times. Because you know, im a mother. And i wanted to know who did it. And i wanted him put behind bars. Reporter but a major break in the case was coming. Would a jury be able to put it all together . I said, were you directly or indirectly involved . Coming up a murder charge at last. All goes silent. Brooke morris is dead. I wanted them to envision this young woman being shot three times. When dateline continues. Start with supporting your gut health. Only activia has billions of our live and active probiotics. So, lets make this the summer of loving your gut. Activia. Love for your gut. You wouldnt accept from any one else. Why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. Flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. Most pills only block one. Flonase. And here we have another burst pipe in denmark. If you look close. Jamie, are there any interesting photos from your trip . Ouch, okay. Huh, boring, boring, you dont need to see that. Oh, here we go. Can you believe my client steig had never heard of a home and auto bundle or that renters could bundle . Wait, youre a lawyer . Only licensed in stockholm. What is happening . Jamie anyway, game show, kumite, cinderella story. You know karate . No, alan, i practice muay thai, completely different skillset. Help protect your pet, home, and yard. Ah, it ended to soon. With the advantage fleaction plan. Just look at him hes a wreck without me, ha. Owww. Fight the misery of infesting fleas. While you ponder that, consider adopting a rescue pet. There are 6. 5 million of them; they all need a forever home. It would mean the world to them, and they will love you forever. Brooke morriss family and friends had come to a heartwrenching conclusion. She had been in a violent relationship with shawn smoot. A relationship that ended with her murder. Did it just seem so easy to you that, okay, they can go arrest him now . Like we know who did it . Oh, absolutely. But that didnt happen. Mmmm. No. And you know, i kept thinking, well, surely, any day now. Any day now. Reporter investigators had their suspicions as well and they were trying to build a case against smoot. He was the last to see her alive. They had an allegedly violent relationship. He had lied to investigators. But so far they had found no physical evidence tying him to the crime. You were able to search shawn smoots apartment . We were. Reporter do you find anything . We find an empty box that once contained a firearm with some ammunition. Reporter no gun . No gun. Reporter the box was for a. 32caliber pistol. The same caliber as the murder weapon. And the ammo . It was the same style of ammunition that was found at the murder scene. Reporter but without the actual gun itself, the circumstantial case wasnt Strong Enough to charge smoot with murder. Then the crime lab released its ballistics report showing that marks on shell casings from the crime scene matched marks on a bullet found in smoots home. His missing handgun appeared to be the murder weapon. Thats a huge connection. It is pretty much the connection. Reporter in june of 2012, eight months after brooke was killed, shawn smoot was indicted on charges of first degree murder. Did you immediately identify with her just being this young woman who was clearly so vulnerable . Oh, absolutely. Reporter prosecutors bob edwards and Tiffany Starr smith saw this case as a relationship turned deadly. Were still talking about domestic violence. Were still talking about orders of protection, and all of the things that go wrong in those situations. Reporter you had no witnesses. You had no dna from your suspect. You had no murder weapon. Thats a lot of things you didnt have. If we didnt feel like we could prosecute it and be successful, we would have never indicted it. We would have never proceeded with it. Circumstantial cases are allow you to be creative. You can take a set of facts and and weave a story together for your theory of prosecution. Reporter shawn smoot insisted he was innocent. He cycled through five different Defense Attorneys and the trial was delayed again and again. It was surreal, really. You know, because it had been reset 22 times. 22 times. Reporter thats torture. It is. It is torture. Reporter the trial finally started in july 2016, nearly five years after brooke died. Robert jolley, smoots fifth attorney, believed the states case was weak for one simple reason. I dont think that they did very thorough investigations of anyone other than mr. Smoot. And even his investigation wasnt very thorough. Reporter jolley told the jury just how little that investigation had uncovered. There are no fingerprints. Theres no gunshot residue test, theres no dna test, theres absolutely no evidence that links mr. Smoot to roane county on that evening. Reporter the defense sought to prove that the evidence the state did have wasnt actually incriminating. Like the missing gun that shawn owned. Yes, it was the same caliber as the murder weapon. But there are however many million of people in this country who own guns. And this was a very common weapon. Reporter the defense also argued that the ballistics report linking shell casings from the crime scene to a bullet at smoots home had no actual Science Behind it. Theres no Scientific Evidence of that or any standard that show that, is there . Theres not currently a standard that shows that every firearm makes unique marks. Reporter as for the volatile relationship described in the order of protection . The defense pointed out that smoot never admitted to any of the allegations and he was never charged, much less convicted, of any assault on brooke. The order doesnt mean that mr. Smoot ever did anything. It doesnt mean that mr. Smoot admitted that he did anything. Reporter and the order of protection didnt prevent them from seeing each other, which they clearly did. Ms. Morris told the judge that she wanted to have social contact with mr. Smoot. Reporter jolley argued if brooke was so afraid of smoot why would she want to keep seeing him . After all, phone records showed she was the one who called him that day. She continued to treat shawn as a friend. As someone that she would do activities with. Reporter did you worry that that could be confusing to the jury . Absolutely. And i think thats the underlying question anytime that were talking about domestic violence. Why does anyone go back . Reporter the prosecutors hoped any doubt the jury may have regarding smoots guilt would be w do you swear the testimony youre about to give will be the truth reporter Amy Denlinger, who was working for smoot when brooke was murdered, says her impression of the nice outgoing man who hired her didnt last. Why did it change . He was cold. He got angry easily. Not satisfied, really, ever. It almost seemed like he enjoyed getting somebody riled up. Reporter in court she testified about what happened the monday following brookes murder. Now, on that day did mr. Smoot come into the office . He came in that morning. When i saw him the first time, he didnt see me and he was crouched down under his desk, unhooking his computer. And i asked him if he was ok, and he said, no. And i asked him if there was anything i could do, and he said, turn back time. Reporter amy had already heard about the murder, and that investigators had been to smoots house. She told the jury what the defendant said next. And at that point i asked him if he was directly or indirectly involved and he said both. Reporter did you take that as a total admission of guilt . Absolutely. Absolutely. Reporter it had taken nearly five years after brookes murder to get her alleged killer before a jury. It took the jury less than four hours to reach its verdict. We the jury find the defendant, shawn nelson smoot, guilty of premeditated first degree murder of Brooke Nicole morris. Reporter whats the emotions that youre feeling when you hear that word . Well, of course, we cant show emotion in court. Reporter okay, whats going on, on the inside . On the inside, im screaming. Im jumping for joy. I was able to give tina gregg a hug, and see her smile through all of the tears that she had over the last five years. Reporter this was the moment shed been waiting for . Yes. I think it was the moment wed all been waiting for. Reporter for the prosecutor the case was about more than winning a conviction. Theres a lesson to be learned. For a woman watching this who is maybe going through a similar situation whats the message from this story for her . Get out. Get help. Get out. Dont go back. Its not going to change. Speak out. And dont be afraid. Dont be ashamed. Because you know, its not your fault that youre being treated this way. You should never be treated that way. Reporter the jurors also had to decide smoots sentence. Thats when prosecutor Tiffany Starr smith asked them to imagine the horror of brookes last moments. Id ask that you all close your eyes for a few minutes this morning. Reporter were you hoping that having the jury close their eyes like that would have a powerful impact . I wanted them to try to envision this young woman out in the middle of nowhere being shot three times by an angry man that she was afraid of. All goes silent and at 23 years old Brooke Morris is dead. Reporter the jury sentenced smoot to life without the possibility of parole. He is appealing his conviction. That conviction and the sentence have provided comfort for brookes family. But not closure. I cant make any more memories with her. The only memories i have are past memories. I mean, its hard. Shes always in my heart. She will always be in my heart. And you know, we had i had 23 wonderful years with brooke. I wish i had 53 more. But unfortunately, i dont. But i know where brooke is. I know ill see her again. And that gives me hope. Thats all for this edition im craig melvin. Im natalie morales. And this is dateline. They were in love. They were so happy at first. Sharing a lovers first. High atop a cliff. The romance turned to danger. She fell from the edge. I would call this an accidental death. But it wasnt. She said if anything happens to me, youll know who did it. A mystery of nearly 20 years heads into court and the husband is on the precipice. Did you kill your wife . I