Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline 20200426 : vimarsana.com

Trap . These people might literally get away with murder. Hello and welcome to dateline jack jesse a doting grandkid and patriarch of by all appearances, a loving family. But when stabbed to death in his home, police wondered if the jessees werent as close as they seemed. The case went unsolved for years but those who loved jack never gave up hope, neither did the relentless detective determined to catch jacks killers. Heres keith morrison. Deadly conspiracy. Reporter the game is called mousetrap. A little ball on its track. The tiny taunting mice which, unless every lever works in unison, will not be caught. And how often things go wrong to allow the mice to get away. So odd that what really happened could so eerily mimic a childrens game. Oh how nice reporter these are the people it happened to, the jessee clan of Orange County, california. They vacation together im tired, im ready to go home. Reporter share birthdays this ones for bev. Happy new year reporter even got together for a monthly game of 10pins. What these grainy home videos dont show is what is yet to come. Which is murder, conspiracy. One branch of the family against the other. A game so twisted, mice so clever that crafting a trap to catch the plotters just might be impossible. To begin with, it was 1998. Shakespeare in love won the oscar. Monica lewinsky was freshly famous. It was a sweltering august night, hottest of the year, when cheryl deedham got a strange call from her dad, jack jessee. I was getting ready for bed and my phone rings and its my dad on the phone. What time was this . 9 20. Reporter he was worried about his wife sandra. She was missing. He thought she may have got in an accident or something. Reporter shed run to this nearby mall on a quick errand, said cheryls dad, but was gone so long. Would cheryl please find her, asked her dad. Went through there, the luckys, the burger king where she was supposed to be, walmart, back 15 minutes later. Reporter when she went back into her dads house she found one of the worst sights ive ever seen in my life. He was laying facedown on the floor in a pool of blood. It was horrible. What did you think happened . I thought he had fallen because he had a big gash in the back of his head. I went to the kitchen phone and called 911. Reporter when she rolled him over, she could see wounds all across his chest. Hed been stabbed many times. Every time i started doing cpr, every time id breathe into him, i could hear bubbling. Air escaping. Then i started to feeling it on his chest. Reporter its not often little plasencia, california, has a murder. 10 00 p. M. When i got the call. Reporter aaron wyatt was the sole homicide detective. What did the crime scene itself look like . It was pretty bloody. Evidence of a violent struggle between jack and his killer. The kind of thing that might happen if it was a home invasion, robbery, or something . Or assault between people who knew each other. Reporter protocol told him look at the person who reported the crime, daughter cheryl. The daughter, we had to look at her as a potential suspect. She was the one who found him. Reporter back at the station, wyatt interviewed all of jacks relatives, including cheryl, and jacks wife sandra, who hadnt been missing at all, just out on a shopping trip. Mrs. Jessee came to the station with us voluntarily, told us she would cooperate, wanted to help us solve the murder of her husband. Reporter she told him about life with jack, married 14 years, blended family, four kids between them. Jack was a patriarch in the jessee clan, she said, a teddy bear of a man, well liked, well to do. Jack was a very, very loving person who doted on his children, doted on his stepchildren, doted on his grandchildren. Reporter jack was ill. Housebound after colon cancer surgery. Sandra told the detectives shed been running a bit of a Mercy Mission for jack and dawdled too long at the mall. Five minutes one direction, five minutes in traffic, maybe i was on the road almost 15 minutes she was very, very specific about where she had gone, at what times, and why she had gone there. Reporter as for cheryl, she told detectives shed do anything to find out what happened to her dad in those 15 minutes she was away from the house. Her actions were very, very consistent with somebody who understands, the police are looking at me right now, i know i didnt do anything, im going to do everything i can and give full disclosure. The day after the jack jessee murder, a guy walked into a bar, sat down on the barstool, and told the bartender a story about how the murder happened, about who did it, about what the motive was. The whole story. But of course that was just a story in a bar. Detective wyatt didnt hear anything about it. And as he continued to dig for clues he hit an unexpected wall. Sandra announced she had now helped as much as she could. She was done. I was referred to her attorney and she refused to meet with us again. Reporter same thing happened with sandras kids, jacks stepchildren. While jacks blood relations practically begged to help solve the case. So what happened to that Big Happy Family in the video . A mirage, perhaps . In fact, living with sandra, said jacks daughter cheree and cheryl, was a fairy tale, the kind written by the brothers grimm. She was mean to me. She wanted me completely gone. She did everything she could to try and get rid of me. Reporter when it came to her own children, they said, sandra was indulgent, eerily so with son tom. He was a really good mamas boy, to the point it was strange, very weird. Very weird. Weird thing to watch. Theyre always walking into the other room and closing the door. Yeah. Reporter though jack seemed quite happy with sandra. Until the spring of 98, that is. Just a few months before the murder when jack was diagnosed with colon cancer. A shock, of course. But one of two shocks for sandra. And to those around her, the second seemed somehow worse. Her beloved son, tom, up and moved to arizona. And she was flipping out about it. Yeah. Just she had to go there. Reporter she demanded jack move to arizona too. That woman was off her rocker. Her tone was just scary. It was like somebody elses voice coming out of her. Reporter but surely that wasnt motive enough for murder . And with plenty of suspicion but little else to go on, wyatt spent months poring over sandra and jacks phone records, bank statements, credit card bills, searching to well, he didnt know exactly what he was searching for. But he was getting basically nowhere. We couldnt establish a pattern that was suspicious. Reporter then as wyatts investigation sputtered, sandra left. Sold jacks house here in california, moved to arizona to be near her son tom, and soon her daughter followed too. And they all lived within a couple of blocks of each other in homes sandra helped purchase with jacks insurance money and savings. When everything was said and done, she got close to 700,000. Reporter and as the months slipped past, leads failed to connect, the investigation hit one dead end after another. Wyatt was promoted out of homicide. The case bounced from the plasencia pd to the Orange Countys Sheriffs Department, where before long it became a case to avoid, toxic, an unsolvable career killer. So five years after his brothers murder, when david jessee met a detective named tom dove who said he picked up the case i said, oh, really . Well, thats great. Let me ask you a question. Yeah. What are you going to do . Are you going to get the case for three, four, five months, a year, then move up . Become a sergeant or something and move on . And tom dove says to me, listen, buddy, nobody likes me in my department. He says, im not going nowhere. He says, i got five years to put in your brothers case. He says, i retire and im out of here. He said, but ill give it my all. I will give everything to this case that i have. I looked over at him, i said, youre the man. Reporter what david didnt know but clearly sensed was that detective tom dove was the real deal, a legendary law man who seemed to have stepped out of his own primetime drama. There wasnt a whole lot to go on. There wasnt any physical evidence, there wasnt any eyewitnesses. In other words, the perfect challenge. Correct. Announcer coming up that bartender with the customer liked to talk. Now hes talking too. This person had specific details unknown to the general public. Not only that hes naming names. When dateline continues. No wonder you rub your eyes hundreds of times a day. But now, relief is just one drop away. 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But if you have sensitive teeth, you probably arent going to brush your teeth as effectivity because it causes pain. And if you see blood you should do something about it. You know, i talk to dentists every day and theyre able to recommend one product, new sensodyne sensitivity gum, to address both conditions at the same time. If we only treat one versus the other, the patients mouth is never going to be where it needs to be. Its really good dentistry to be able to recommend one product for patients that can address two conditions. Its starting to people are surprising themselves the moment they realize they can du more with less asthma. Thanks to dupixent, the addon treatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma. Dupixent isnt for sudden breathing problems. It can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. Its not a steroid but can help reduce or eliminate oral steroids. Dont use if allergic to dupixent. Serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. Tell your doctor right away about signs of inflamed blood vessels, such as rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection and before stopping any asthma medicines, including oral steroids. Du more with less asthma. Talk to your doctor about dupixent. After five years and a string of homicide detectives, the jack jessee Murder Investigation had become a thing to avoid. Then handed on to tom dofve. Give up, move on. Just infuriating puzzle, more difficult each possible year. After i reviewed the case, i had no feeling for the family, no feeling for jack jessee. Reporter so to get his hand in the game, dove met with the people closest to jack. Like his brother david. And when i met with david, he inspired me. His determination not to let the love for his brother go was a big motivating factor. Reporter but david also had some provocative information. Something jack told him after arguing with sandra about moving to arizona. If anything ever happens to me, he says, its her. Reporter not the only time jack said such a thing, it turned out. He actually told me, i wouldnt be surprised if the [ bleep ] killed me. He said that. Reporter so dove picked through all the original files, hoping he might come across something that had been overlooked. And buried inside, he found this. A simple twopage report apparently unread by any detective. Remember the guy who walked into the bar, the one who told a story about the jessee murder . Well, years later when the case had gone cold, the bartender decided to call the plasencia cops. An officer took the call, typed up the report, and stuck it away in the file where it sat unseen until tom dove came along. Two things caught my mind. When i read it. One, whoever the caller is knew how many stab wounds were involved. And two, the caller stated that the person had used a backdoor or a window to enter the residence that night. That was significant in that this person had specific details unknown to the general public about the murder of jack jessee. Reporter most of the tipsters information was frustratingly vague, like a riddle, yet another game to be played. There were two killers, though he gave no names. One had a knife, the other had the getaway car. Both worked at a Big Box Department store. The man who told the story in the bar that day had been the driver of the car and with the blood money heat bought a truck and a seadoo. But on the question of who was behind the plot, thats when the story named names, two of them. They were sandras son, tom, the mamas boy jack raised as his own. Under the direction of the mastermind herself, jacks wife, sandra. So with that new perspective on the case, dove revisited sandras old interview. The hours of mostly useless chatter. How many times did you listen to that interview . At least ten times. Reporter and then it jumped out at him. Right about here on the tape. Sandra is going through slips of paper in her day planner. She looks at one and says this is my sons friend. Reporter listen to it again. This is my sons friend. Reporter this is my sons friend. One phrase in hours of material but it got doves mind racing. If the bartender was right that the killers were friend of sandras son, could that slip of paper hold the key to the case . Dove tore through bags of evidence, and there it was. The day planner. Seized five years earlier just after the murder. I went through that day planner for probably a day or more. Went through every scratch, piece of paper, every notation, there was a small piece of note paper with the name which appeared to me at that time to say schreiber with no telephone number or no significance to it. Just said schreiber, thats all it said . I thought schreiber, yes. Reporter but where would he find this schreiber . Doug went back to sandras interview. Unearthed one more clue. When asked about detective wyatt about toms friend, sandra said the boys were once work buddies. Met him at target when they worked together. Reporter detective dove crisscrossed southern california, searching through the employment records of every target store for a guy named schreiber. But nobody had ever heard of him. We were starting to come to the end of our rope. We were getting to a dead end there. Reporter that was about the time jacks daughter cherree began getting strange packages in the mail from sandra, who said they were keepsakes jack wanted his girls to have. Like what . Little boxes of like ashtrays. His bowling ball bag. A bunch of junk. Just weird stuff that just kept coming. Reporter which seemed designed to provoke exactly the reaction the sisters felt. Hatred. More than i had before. Reporter sandra seemed to be telling them shed beaten them, got away with it, won the game. We just said, are we cursed . Is there something with this case thats just not going to be solved . Its frustrating for him putting all this work in. To think these people might get away, literally get away with murder. Oh, isnt that the reporter patty is toms wife, been together since high school, knows him better than anyone. She was used to his compulsive perfectionism. Its comforting to me, i think, to just know where things are and where were going. Reporter his nothing out of place sense of order. Hes a very stubborn man. So for him to take a case, hes going to do it and solve it. Reporter and so detective dove decided to start over. Take a different approach this time. He immersed himself in sandras old phone bills. Seized by detective wyatt years before. What i did is i went through every telephone call on those phone records looking for somebody related to this case. There had to be some communication. Hit anywhere . Yeah. Reporter what dove found that had been overlooked before was a cluster of calls not long before the murder, all short, within minutes of each other. One of those calls was to a target store, one was to a pager, one was to a boarding house. He called that last number, asked if anybody there knew a guy named schreiber. And the landlady said, nope. But there was one a tenant named schrauben, could that be the man the detective was looking for . Brett schrauben. Reporter he tracked him down to a distant suburb in the mojave desert. Parked in the drive way was a 1999 pickup truck and a seadoo, just what the anonymous bartender said. There was a huge break for us. We now have the name of somebody thats involved in jack jessees murder. Coming up often people throw away valuable evidence. Detective dove finds treasure in trash. This is too good to be true. When dateline continues. Awesome internet. Its more than just fast. It keeps all your devices running smoothly. With builtin security that protects your kids. No matter what theyre up to. It protects your info. And gives you 24 7 peace of mind. That if its connected, its protected. Even that that petcamera thingy. [ whines ] can your internet do that . Xfinity xfi can because its. Simple, easy, awesome. [ barking ] the jack jessee investigation had been six years of dead ends, bad breaks, blind alleys, now on the trail of a suspect, tom dove was about to start a new game, one where he would write the rule book. But would be complicated. He wanted more than just the getaway driver, wanted everyone in the murder. The only way we could tie them together in this conspiracy was to do a wiretap. Reporter but wiretaps are notoriously difficult to get. Dove needed permission from a judge, and to get that, he needed to prove schrauben was still in contact with tom and toms mother sandra. It was a catch22. So time to get creative. It had been my experience when i had worked in the narcotics section of the Sheriffs Department that often people throw away valuable evidence. Reporter dove asked his fellow detectives to help him because he decided to search schraubens garbage. What did they tell you when you came up with that idea . Crazy . I think their first idea was im really starting to lose it now, i want to dig through somebodys trash. Reporter so faithfully, once a week on garbage pickup day, dove got up at day break and made the hourlong adjourn tee to bretts neighborhood, where a trash truck used just for schraubens garbage brought it to a nearby parking lot. Wed have the truck dump the trash somewhat in a pile here, regardless of the size. Right on the tarmac . Right on the tarmac. Scatter everything out, open every bag, get down on our hands and knees and slowly sift through every piece of paper that looked like it might be a document of some kind. Reporter and thats how doves team found this coffeestained phone bill showing call after call from schrauben to sandras son, tom in arizona. And that number, toms number, how often would that pop up . I think the average we figured out was about 24 times in a billing cycle about a month. Anywhere from every day to every other day. Every day, correct. It was almost like going through a crime scene and finding pieces of evidence. Its an excitement that you realize, this is going to work. We are going to find what were looking for. Reporter but there was yet again a problem. Schraubens phone was in another name. Someone elses, to get a wiretap, would have to prove he was the primary user. How would he do that . What we ended up having to do was literally follow Brett Schrauben around until we saw him on his telephone. We later took that even further in that i went into the target store that he was working at one day. I noticed he was stocking shelves in a certain section of the store so i started randomly picking up items and looking like i was interested. At that point i called on my cellular phone to one of my other investigators outside and said, put a call in now to the phone. I heard him answer the phone. So i was able to say that is his phone, he talks on it. Weve put the phone in his hand. Reporter but as they continue to sift through trash week after week, they find something more important than the phone bill, something quite unexpected. This day planner. From the years 96, 97, 1998. Reporter what were the chances of that . Here, six years later, was the day planner for 1998, the year jack jessee was murdered. Crucial evidence tossed in schraubens garbage. A treasure we didnt expect to find, but what that day planner did was connected all the people back in 1998 that were associated with Brett Schrauben what did you think . This is too good to be true, i thought, good things were going to happen. Somebodys back on our side again. Reporter with this evidence, dove was able to get a judge to approve a wiretap on Brett Schraubens phone. Then as dove waited for his wiretap to go into effect, he continued to go through the trash, hed been lucky so far, maybe hed find something more. Indeed he did and it turned the case upside down. He found rental listings in arizona. Brett schrauben was moving out of the state, would be gone before the wiretap ruling took effect. And in arizona, a california warrant was worthless. This completely took all that work, and were talking probably six months of work, and just threw it out the window. Reporter the killers had slipped the trap. Game over. But the detective was not giving up. His team built a new and better mousetrap. And guess who took the bait . Coming up hey, dude, its me. You need to [ bleep ] call me asap. When dateline continues. Aleve it. 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Death toll has surpassed 53,000. New york remains epicenter, more than 280,000 confirmed cases. Now back to dateline. Welcome back to dateline. Im craig melvin. Detective tom dove had just secured a warrant to wiretap murder suspect Brett Schraubens phone, but schrauben was moving to arizona, so the detective hatched yet another plan. Elaborate trap using anonymous letters as the bait. Could he spoof his targets, spurring them to talk about jack jessees slaying or would his prey slip through yet again . Here again is keith morrison. Deadly conspiracy. Reporter after two years of relentless police work, tom doves investigation of the murder of jack jessee had generated enough evidence to fill this mail cart. All apparently for naught. The suspect and his key to cracking the case had skipped the state, and detective doves jurisdiction. We were so close. Reporter the jessee family sensed dove had been beaten and Sandra Jessee had won. Had gotten away with murder. I put his pictures away. I couldnt its tough. Because he was so he was so fantastic. Put his pictures away . I had to. It just was too much. Couldnt look at them . I couldnt look at them. Reporter at the dove home, toms wife patty began to worry about her husbands health. He tends to hold things in. You cant hold in that kind of frustration and emotion without starting to affect you. With that kind of stress, it takes a toll on them physically and mentally. Thats what you worry about . Uhhuh, exactly what i worry about. Reporter because she knew if he didnt solve the jessee case, he might die trying. Hes like a dog with a bone. Hes going to take it and hes going to do it until it gets done. Reporter dove was not alone, mind you. There was a prosecutor too who shared his dogged conviction. A man named Michael Murray who wanted Sandra Jessee and her group just as badly as dove. This case seemed to be full of obstacles. It would have been probably forgivable just to let it go at that stage . On some level . Maybe to some people. Reporter so murray and dove cobbled together a legal long shot. They flew to phoenix, presented their evidence to a state attorney general, pleaded for an arizona wiretap warrant. And they got it. The game was back on. If they could make it work. We were going to try to set a trap for three people and keep track of those three people, and i wasnt sure if it was going to work or not. If it didnt . In the back of my mind, i gave it probably a 30 chance of success. But youre giving yourself a 70 chance of being a goat at the end of the day. It had to be perfect. We were only going to get one try. Reporter so tom began to compile a team of investigators, even called darren wyatt, the first detective on the case, to see if the plasencia Police Wanted in. I said, let me fall at your feet and do what we can to help. I felt like they look, this is going to be good. Reporter the phoenix pd also provided scores of officers, so on game day dove had close to 100 cops working the case. I reminded them of that mousetrap game you played when you were a kid. In that this huge ball bearing was going to have to go through a tremendous amount of obstacles that were kind of thrown together. In order to lower the trap and catch the mouse. And anywhere along the line there could be a snag. There could be something that we hadnt planned for that could throw this ball completely off the board. Okay, so what was the plan . What was the nature of your trap, of your mousetrap . We believed that if we did something to get these people uptight, if we were able to rattle the tree, if we were able to put some fear into them that maybe the police were on to them. That they would talk about the murder of jack jessee. So what was the little piece of cheese you put into that trap . We nailed a simple copy of the newspaper article when jack jessee was murdered anonymously to Sandra Jessee, tom aehlert, and Brett Schrauben. The significance of that was they didnt know we knew about Brett Schrauben. Theyre going to know somethings up. Reporter sure enough, as soon as tom heard brett got an anonymous letter, he called his mother, sandra. Whoever was sending out all that crap sent one to brett too. Give me a break. Really. Youre kidding. No. Why would i kid about Something Like that . Sent one to brett . Yeah. Why would they send one to him . How could they even i have no clue. Reporter next, dove started poking bretts friends in california. Who of course called brett. Leave your name and number and ill get back to you, thank you. Hey, dude, its me. You need to [ bleep ] call me asap. This is no [ bleep ] joke. Some guy from the sheriff in Orange County Sheriffs Department Homicide Division was calling me, asking about you. Reporter brett in turn called tom. Hello . Hello, tom . Yeah, hey, whats up . I got a call from scott. The Orange County Homicide Division uhhuh. Called scott, they want to talk to him about me. About you . Yeah. What are you on right now . Im on my cell phone. Are you comfortable or no . No. That little mousetrap ball was making its way through the maze. After a few days of the game, sandra, tom, and brett began to wonder if they were getting played. Suspected their phones were tapped. Maybe even their houses bugged. I want to talk for a couple of seconds okay. No, id rather pick you and up go back to the church or church . Well, just somewhere outside. Oh, okay. Away from your place and my place. Okay. Not on the cell phone. Okay. When would you have time . Now. Reporter so they started meeting in shopping centers. We decided to put surveillance teams on each of the individuals, sandra, jessee, tom aehlert, and Brett Schrauben. During the duration of the wiretap, to capture some things they may do that may not be normal while the wiretap was in place. Theyd stand shoulder to shoulder in a parking lot, watching out in the parking lot, and not looking at each other. Reporter there it was, like a scene from some mafia movie. The suspects out of range of recording devices, apparently deep in conversation as they peered out into the parking lot. I think the photographs of tom aehlert and Sandra Jessee was worth a Million Words as to the depth of their involvement and how far they would go to conceal what they had done. In their minds they had thought they got away with the perfect crime. Reporter meanwhile, dove would hop on flights back to Orange County to pressure schraubens friends for information. He was, of course, relentless. Chased down anybody who knew the man. Followed one tip to another. Until dove finally encountered the man hed been hunting for years. The bartender who called in the anonymous tip years earlier. And the first words out of my mouth were, hi, mike, im here about brett. And his face went completely flush. And he said, i knew you were going to find me sooner or later. What story did he tell you . That schrauben, for whatever reason, had confided in him and told him specific details of the murder of jack jessee, including his involvement. That was a huge, huge quantum leap for us in putting this case to rest. Reporter now the time had come to spring the trap. Brett schrauben was arrested and soon thereafter Sandra Jessee herself was in handcuffs. Finally to be held accountable for jack jessees murder. That was wonderful. Best threeday weekend i had. Oh, me too. That was a pretty good day, yes. Reporter didnt last. For one thing, tom was not arrested. Insufficient evidence, said the prosecutor. And then as he rolled out the case against the others, that little ball came off the track again. This time it happened at sandras preliminary hearing. Judge ruled there wasnt enough evidence to hold her. She was free to go. Oh, i sobbed all the way home. I dont know how i made it back to marietta from santa ana. Reporter only Brett Schrauben was to face a murder trial. It was the summer of 2006, eight years after jack jessees murder. And justice . Not yet, if ever. Coming up finally, the break detectives had been waiting for. She wanted jack dead. The information that he provided would blow the case wide open. Until something slammed it shut again. When dateline continues. People are surprising themselves the moment they realize they can du more with less asthma. Thanks to dupixent, the addon treatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma. Dupixent isnt for sudden breathing problems. It can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. Its not a steroid but can help reduce or eliminate oral steroids. Dont use if allergic to dupixent. Serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. Tell your doctor right away about signs of inflamed blood vessels, such as rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection and before stopping any asthma medicines, including oral steroids. Du more with less asthma. Talk to your doctor about dupixent. Instead of using aloe, or baby wipes, or powders, try the cooling, soothing relief or preparation h, because your derriere deserves expert care. Preparation h. Get comfortable with it. Theyre out there. Thousands ofr allergensyes know in each cubic yard of air. No wonder you rub your eyes hundreds of times a day. But now, relief is just one drop away. Introducing pataday® full prescription strength pataday works right in your eyes. Right on the cells that make them itch. Fast. Just one drop, once a day means relief that lasts all day. 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While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis, the number one cardiologistprescribed blood thinner. Ask your doctor if eliquis is whats next for you. Reporter sitting in a cell, month after month, can do a lot to alter a persons take on the world. Even more so if the inmate is looking at a possible life sentence. And thats when Brett Schrauben had an epiphany. Just days before his murder trial was to begin, he said he was finally willing to testify against tom and sandra. But he wanted out now. The deal had to be for time served or nothing at all. What did you think when you heard what he wanted in order to get his cooperation . I thought it was outrageous. But its not a perfect world. And the people who are likely to have some of the best, most detailed information about what takes place inside a conspiracy is a coconspirator. We needed Brett Schrauben. So what was the story . The story was a pretty pretty detailed and amazing story. Reporter schrauben described the whole affair on tape, laid it out in all its chilling detail. Anatomy of a murder. The conspiracy was launched with a phone call from tom. He told me his mom had offered 50,000 to kill his dad. Reporter he met with sandra in a parking lot. She gave him a 5,000 deposit. She wanted jack dead and she wanted it at the house and to look like a robbery. She told me she would leave for x amount of time and thats when it would need to be done. Reporter schrauben said he hired his good friend, a local drifter, to be the getaway driver. And on the afternoon of august 13th, 1998, while sandra was out having her nails done, schrauben claimed he and his friend drove to the jessee house to murder jack. I was already having a cold feet on the way there. By the time i was walking down the street i was really having cold feet. I got in the house, im standing in the garage now. I put on a rubber glove. And reach inside the door and unlock the it and shut it. I was chicken. I couldnt do it. I called tom. I told tom, the doors locked. And he said he would call his mom and get back to me. Reporter and according to schrauben, tom called back within minutes with a backup plan. He told me his mom was going to go out that night and that they needed it to happen tonight because his mom cant take it anymore. He said we didnt do it tonight, his mom was going to do it. Reporter they returned that night about 9 00. Slub schraubens story was he dropped his friend off and drove around the neighborhood while his friend snuck inside and stabbed jack jessee to death. We had walkietalkies. Afterward he called when he was done and told him to pick him up. So im turning to go back. He had a little blood on his legs. We looked for a place to clean himself up. I believe there was a del taco we found, like an outside place. There he went inside to clean himself up. The information he provided, if we could corroborate what he said, would blow the case wide open. Reporter police questioned schraubens friend, he denied everything. He said he wasnt in the car and he didnt kill jack jessee. There was no evidence that he was involved at all. Police let him go. Investigators focused on building their case against tom and sandra by documenting money transfers, phone calls, air travel. So when you add all that together, whatd you think . I thought we were starting to put together a pretty good case. Good enough that murray had tom and sandra arrested. And in the summer of 2009, 11 years after the murder, the mother and son team went on trial for the murder of jack jessee. Going to court was like going to my dads funeral every day. It really was. Youre around people that you know killed your dad. It was a ridiculous feeling. You cant even put it into words. Just soulwrenching. Schrauben testified against them. In court it was argued sandra had a variety of motives for killing jack. She wanted his money before medical bills ate up their savings. And she couldnt bear being away from her son tom. Do you think the case had gone well . I thought the case had gone extremely well. Except once again that little ball came off the track. What happened . Dateline returns after the break. I wanted more from my copd medicine thats why ive got the power of 1, 2, 3 medicines with trelegy. The only fdaapproved oncedaily 3in1 copd treatment. Trelegy the power of 1,2,3 trelegy 1,2,3 trelegy man with trelegy and the power of 1, 2, 3, im breathing better. Trelegy works three ways to open airways, keep them open and reduce inflammation, for 24 hours of better breathing. Trelegy wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. 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In exchange for his release, he detailed show sandra and tom orchestrated the plot to kill jack. How he and his friend carried out the plan. Now the case was in the jurys hands but still surprises in store. With the conclusion of deadly conspiracy, heres keith morrison. When the jury went into seclusion to deliberate, the jessee family thought justice was just hours away. But as the sun set on the courthouse, nothing. No word. Same thing again next day. And the day after that. The problem . There was a holdout. It got very heated. Yes. In the deliberation room. These members of the jury told us 11 voted for conviction. But there was one lone juror who felt some level of compassion for sandra. She related to the Sandra Jessee concern that jack jessees illness would eat up their nest egg. I felt like she was enjoying the control she had. There was nothing. Nothing we could do or say. People were getting so heated and there was so much anger that she started to shut down even more. And that scene played out for three and a half days until the judge said enough and declared a mistrial. I was in tears. I was too. And thinking of the family and what theyve gone through. That was heartache. Just heartache. Mmhmm. I thought i was going to pass out. Yeah. It was horrible. It was just like it happened all over again. That one juror, you know, i saw her. I went and talked to her. What did you say . I said she was an idiot. It was certainly difficult for me. It was far more difficult for the family. Murray promised the family justice. Spent two years putting a new case together. And just weeks before trial, he got a call. It was from toms attorney saying his client was ready to cut the Apron Strings and testify against his mom. Theres no way that we ever suspected that tom aehlert would ever turn on his mother. He was known to be a mamas boy. But a mamas boy who decided he didnt want to die in prison. Tom pleaded guilty to Second Degree murder, got 15 to life. Besides helping connect the crime to his mother, he had somebody else he wanted to give up. That friend of Brett Schraubens, the one that brett claimed drove with him in the car and killed jack jessee. Despite the fact there was no forensic evidence, his case went to trial. In february 2013, a jury found him not guilty. Defense attorney believed he had been set up to take the fall for the conspiracy. Would a jury believe toms story. As jury deliberated and the family waited, there was no euphoria. They knew from bitter experience that anything could happen. Its a lot harder this time not knowing whats going to happen. On the second day, they got word the jury had a verdict. My stomachs in knots. Im shaking. Were just really very nervous at this moment. 13 years after jack jessees murder, Sandra Jessee was found guilty. And finally that little ball stayed on its track. The key mouse was caught. I hope that she rots in hell. I just really do. Im glad it wasnt the death penalty. I want her to stay there and suffer with all the other miserable people that go to prison. Whats it feel like to get justice finally . Oh, it feels good. It feels good, but not complete. Not complete. Lost a guy. The nicest guy i ever met. And for tom dove, hes now retired from the Sheriffs Department, and at his goingaway party his fellow detectives gave him this. It honors his commitment to the jessee case. It means more to me than any other plaque or award ive ever received in my life. And in retirement tom says he plans to set up a shelter for stray dogs. The urge to rescue runs deep. Thats all for this edition of dateline, im craig melvin. Thank you for watching. She was a person out of a 40s film noir movie. With a life full of mystery to match. She was a stunner physically. She was able to say jump and the men would say how high. Married to a wealthy lawyer. He always said she has this hold over me. But there was someone she seemed even closer to. They bought matching underwear together. They shared everything. Theyre eating together, theyre sleeping in the same bed together. Shes living at her house. Did they also share a deadly secret . It was a love triangle and one of them had to go. But was it her idea