There appeared to be a body hanging from a banister. From first look it would appear as though it was a suicide. But then they looked closer. It appeared that there was a struggle. My gut was tellin me, theres somethin wrong here. Did someone want michele dead . Was someone else willing to help . At that point, were shellshocked. A bond forged in blood. Could you cry . I might. We call it the lie and cry conversation. Betrayed by blood. What are you hoping for . Some conversation between the two of em about the death. We have an investigator look at the video, and he goes, i dont like what im seein. Are you theorizing the darkest scenario . Yes, we are. Evil. Mellow. Welcome to dateline. Michele and lloyd nigh rider were High School Sweethearts who tied the knot two years later and had three daughters. Their marriage didnt last but they remain devoted to their girls. Then michele was found dead in her home. At first, Police Suspected suicide. But soon the case took a chilling turn. At the heart of this mystery was a betrayal too twisted to be true, except that it is. Heres Dennis Murphy with the ultimatum. Reporter the long road to prima ballerina. The dreams of thunderous bravos, the cascade of roses begins for the youngest of dancers in a Ballet School of tutued tenyear olds. Stretching, stressing. Very disciplined. Reporter an athletic discipline of concentration and body control. Learning poise under pressure. It took a lot, especially when we were young, to stick with it. But, it was worth it. Reporter a Ballet Academy in upstate new york was where mina raj got to know her friend Karrie Neurauter. I met karrie when she was eight. She was very sweet, very bubbly personality. Reporter both of them were girly girls but wanted to grow up to be like their dads. Our dads were both engineers. So we were both gonna become engineers and be professional ballerinas on the side. Reporter and everyone could see that karrie was very close to her dad, Lloyd Neurauter. Every saturday hed not only drive his daughter to class in corning, new york, hed stay to help out. He was the only father there that was bringin the kids in the morning at that time. Reporter minas mom, cynthia, would see him on those saturdays but rarely his wife. Instead of doin the the childrens hair at home, he would always sort of bring them there and brush their hair out and and put these buns together. With some skill and art . Um, yes, and and he he definitely enjoyed the admiration of the other mothers around him. Reporter as their daughters rehearsed for the annual nutcracker, cynthia and another friend, rose coluccio, became friendly with lloyd. Lloyd was, i would say, eccentric. Always um, the center of attention. Of course, we eventually asked about his wife and he said that saturday was really her days off. Reporter lloyds wife michele had a full plate of her own. She had a masters degree in literature but chose to be a fulltime mom, homeschooling their kids and taking an active role in charity work. Here she is making thanksgiving dinner for the needy at their local church. It would be really odd to have thanksgiving at home. Just us and not be here. Thanksgiving is celebrating with the community, giving back. Reporter michele had met lloyd in high school. Her mom jeannie remembers a teenage boy who was smitten from the first date. I think she thought he was intelligent, and she could have intelligent conversations with him. So maybe a peg above the other kids in the school yard or her circle . Yes yes. Reporter the High School Sweethearts married when michele was just 20. Theyd later settle into a farmhouse in upstate new york and have three girls, karrie, the middle child. Micheles younger sister, also named karrie, admired her so much. Tell me about your sister as a mom. She always, like, wanted the best for her girls. She was always very supportive because of course when i had children, i asked her all my questions and looked up to her. I always looked up to her. Reporter though they lived coasts apart, micheles sister and her husband were close with the nieces. The oldest one really bonded with kevin. And karrie and i very much bonded. Reporter but, as with so many people, the neurauter family ran into lean times, diminished prospects, during the great recession. Lloyd moved outofstate to find work as an engineer. What happened is lloyd it was a tough time in corning, new york, and he took a job in new jersey. Reporter michele stayed behind with the girls out in the country in corning, but, the separation put a strain on the marriage. And, in time, michele and lloyd divorced. She was always positive. Gonna make the most of everything, and then one day, out of the blue, she called me and said, were divorced. Okay. Right. It was very random. Reporter after the divorce, michele sold the farm, and the kids split up. The oldest went to live with her dad in new jersey, while karrie and the youngest daughter stayed in corning with mom in a new house. But the divorce was hard on everyone. Karrie and her mom sometimes butted heads. The arguments could get heated. She was living with her mother, finishing high school, but it got more and more strained as the years as she approached her senior year. Reporter by late august 2017, karrie, the onetime ballerina, had left home and was a sophomore at rit in rochester. Her younger sister still lived with their mom. It seemed like a typical monday afternoon when a family friend came by the house to pick up the youngest for swim practice. But something looked very wrong. He called 911. Shes motionless, and im concerned. Reporter the friend said he glimpsed a shadowy female figure on the stairway. So shes just standing there, not moving . Kinda hard to tell. Its dark. Reporter something very dark had happened in that house, and when the curtain was pulled back, it would reveal a monstrous story, like something out of a greek tragedy with an ending no one could fathom. This is absolutely ghoulish. Yeah. Coming up there appeared to be a body hanging inside the door. Hanging from a banister. And somebody was missing. No 14 year old was discovered. So where is this child . That was one of the first concerns. When dateline continues. Here . Nah. Here . Nope. Here. When the middle of nowhere. Is somewhere. The allnew chevy trailblazer. Thewith acetaminophenctionzer. Fights pain in two ways. Advil targets pain at the source. While acetaminophen blocks pain signals. The future of pain relief is here. New advil dual action. But come ye back when su mom, dad. Whys jamie here . Its sunday. Sunday sing along. And he helped us get a home and auto bundle. Hes been our insurance guy for five years now. He makes us feel like were worth protecting. [ gasps ] why didnt you tell us about these savings, flo . Ive literally told you a thousand times. Oh, danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling im just gonna. From glen to glen im just gonna. Did you know that some aluminum free deodorants only mask odor . Secret aluminum free helps eliminate odor instead of just masking it. And is made with three times more odor fighters. With secret, odor is one less thing to worry about. Secret. Thats very common to have a gum Health Concern as well. You know, i talk to dentists every day, and theyre able to recommend sensodyne sensitivity gum. Its really good dentistry to be able to recommend one product that can address two conditions. Reporter august 28, 2017, Police Officers responded to the home of divorced mom Michele Neurauter. A friend of hers had called 911 to report a disturbing sight. There appeared to be a body hanging inside the door, about 15 to 20 feet, hanging from a banister. Reporter Corning Police chief Jeff Spaulding says his officers got in and found the body a woman with a rope tied around her neck. It was michele. Apparently a suicide. From first look, yes, it would appear as though it was a suicide. Reporter no reason to think not, huh . No. Reporter officers searched the home. They found no suicide note, and the house was empty. Daughter karrie was away at college. But the youngest, who lived there with michele, was nowhere to be found. No 14yearold was discovered. Reporter so where is this child . That was one of the first concerns. Reporter it turned out the youngest was actually with karrie at school in rochester, 100 miles away. Police learned that when karrie called them herself after a friend gave her the shocking news. They called and told me that my mom killed herself . Yeah, we are we are looking into it. Can you give me any insight into what might have happened . I dont know. I decided to go home. Reporter karrie told police she had stopped by the house that night. When i got there, my mom started freaking out. In karries words, they had a fight. Her mom went yelling and screaming. Reporter karrie told investigators she stormed out of the house, taking her teenage sister with her. Not all that unusual. Police learned that raised voices in that household were, sadly, routine. A bad divorce with kids caught in the middle. This is, as they say, a house thats known to Law Enforcement . Yes. Reporter thered been over the years, been, what, 911 calls to the location . Uh, probably in the course of two or three years, a dozen a little more than a dozen calls. Reporter so, chief, im thinking even with this brief history you have, the fragmentary history of trouble inside the house, mother daughter, somethins goin on, it does maybe give you an explanation of why shes a death by suicide. Exactly. Reporter investigators also got in touch with micheles exhusband lloyd, who lived in new jersey. He was rushing to upstate new york to be with his daughters. The last time i spoke with her, i couldnt even say. Reporter lloyd told a detective by phone he wasnt completely surprised to hear the news. He said that despite her cheery demeanor michele had actually contemplated suicide in the past. From before we were married, she made, uh she made suicide plans with high school friends. And that was something that alarmed me way back then. Reporter police continued to process the scene, while micheles body was taken to the medical examiner for autopsy. What is she finding . The words again, consistent with suicide, are used. Reporter in a round of phone calls, micheles sister out in california got the news about the suicide. When you first heard that, did it make sense in any kinda way to you, that maybe shed gotten in a bad place and i mean, i knew that she had been fighting with the girls. I i really thought, like, maybe she had a bad moment. Reporter then she had to relay the awful news to their mom. She said, michele died. And i said, no, she didnt. I said no, no, she didnt, thats a lie and dont say that. I said, dont tell dont tay say that. Reporter the friends back in corning could hardly take it in. Michele gone. And by her own hand. My mom called me. She didnt want me to see it online or on social media, before she hear i heard it from her. Reporter and you went to see her . I did. I went home. It was so shocking. Reporter as funeral arrangements began, micheles friends were haunted by a request she made just months before her death. She said, well, promise me that if anything ever happens to me, that youll look out for my daughters. And then i reassured her, naively perhaps, that she was gonna live a long life. But she was pretty persistent. And so, i said, okay. And we left it like that. Sorry. She got me with that story. [ crying ] reporter but even in their grief there was confusion, and doubt. The friends thought the michele they saw in her final days was anything but suicidal. What were her plans . Was she forwardlooking . Constantly. We were always workin on what was next. Reporter that wasnt where she was in her life . Id say shes a fighter, right. That woman was a fighter. On saturday morning, when the rest of us would be lounging around in our sweatpants, shed say, its a good day. Were gonna get up. Were gonna get dressed and were gonna make the best of it. Reporter even if michele were suicidal, they just could not see their friend hanging herself like that, in a way that her daughters could find her. I started googling means that females use for suicide. And i think it was what i could find was around 9 of females will actually hang themselves. The most popular option by far is pills. Reporter but micheles mood and statistics aside, they kept coming back to that lack of a suicide note. Michele had a masters in english as well as an mba. She was a prolific writer. Michele would have written a note of explanation. So once there was no note, i think right. Right. Yeah. We decide somethings wrong. Reporter little did they know exactly how wrong this would all turn out to be. Coming up maybe it wasnt suicide. Apparent suicide. Did that make any sense to you . My gut was tellin me, theres somethin wrong here. Maybe it was murder. Didnt seem consistent to hanging. It looked like scratch marks. Maybe shes pulling at whatever is around her neck trying to get it off. You could see her bed was pushed out of place. It appeared that there was a struggle. When dateline continues. Reporter police were investigating the hanging death of Michele Neurauter as a possible suicide. But they still needed to know more about her final weeks and days. Investigator volpe . Yup. Hey, how are ya . Good. Just cautious about how i approach a car. I dont want to startle anybody. Reporter the deceaseds exhusband lloyd, resettled in new jersey, had rushed to upstate new york after micheles body was found. Now, sitting in a police car he seemed eager to talk. How longs michele lived at at the residence over on dwight . Do you know . Its about five years. Okay. She bought that after we divorced. Reporter he told them about his early relationship with michele. We we went away to school together. We did everything together. So, i never thought like that. Like, oh, under some circumstance ill just walk away. When did you guys divorce . We divorced in august, 2012. Reporter he explained that while the divorce had been finalized years earlier their custody issues were far from settled. They were still fighting over their youngest daughter. She wanted to live with me, and her mom threw a tantrum. Reporter lloyd suggested his exwife was unstable. An emotional wreck. Michele was screaming and furious. I know of that from past behaviors that there was an occasion where michele was having a tantrum, that she would open the door and scream things down the stairs and then slam her bedroom door, and did that so many times she actually broke the doorframe from doing that. That she was just completely out of control. Reporter but lloyd admitted his information was secondhand. Hed heard the stories from his children. I dont even know if she was seeing anybody or who else she was doing things with. She really pushed me out of her life. Reporter lloyd spoke with police for over an hour. As the interview ended he had a question. When could the kids retrieve their stuff . In case i could pass a word, is there any idea when the kids get can get into the house to look for yeah. Were working on that too. Reporter if it were a simple suicide, the investigation wouldnt take long. But new york state investigator eric hurd, who was among the first on the scene, thought, not so fast. My gut was tellin me, theres somethin wrong here. Reporter it wasnt just cop intuition. There was physical evidence in his experience inconsistent with a suicide. Starting with the position of the thin nylon rope on micheles body. The way that it went around her chin did not seem consistent with a hanging. Reporter he noticed wounds on micheles head, too. On her face you you see it looks like scratch marks. Like maybe shes pulling at whatevers around her neck, tryin to get it off. Reporter and then there was micheles friend rose. Shed rushed up to the scene with something urgent to say. Apparent suicide. Did that make any sense to you . No. She had told me. Shes like , i know her. Shes friends with me. She would never do this to herself. We were just with her the other night. We were havin a great time. She wouldnt do this. Its not exactly evidence, but it its a piece. Its not evidence at that point. Reporter and when police formally interviewed the friends, they got a different picture of michele and the divorce. They said lloyd was the crazy one. Relentlessly badgering his exwife with dragged out custody fights. I was at their house, and i think lloyd had just pet served another petition for child custody of the younger child, and she was frustrated. Her life was looking very positive, and then this came up again. Reporter objective appraisal, or friends taking sides . Either way, they insisted michele wasnt a frazzled, outofcontrol single mom. She was making the best of a bad situation, and dealing with an ex who demeaned her for years. Basically everything she did was criticized. He made her feel she was really ugly. He made her feel that she couldnt make any right decisions. She was a lousy mother, that she couldnt do anything right. Reporter so homicide vs. Suicide . On the one hand, the nasty divorce may have given michele plenty of reasons to be depressed and want a way out. But it was a police photo of micheles bedroom that caused investigator hurd to think otherwise. You can see where her bed was pushed outta place. Reporter he spent hours poring over the pictures. Lookin at the wall and kinda zooming in, you can see things that maybe not are visible to the naked eye. Didnt jump out at you at the time . Didnt jump out at first to everybody. But it it looks like we see somethin that looks like blood on the wall. So that was concerning. Reporter blood on the wall, and a bed out of place. To hurd it pointed to only one scenario. It appeared that there was a struggle. Reporter he believed michele had been attacked. The suicide scene staged. At the house there was no sign of forced entry, nothing taken, and investigators theorized that a random intruder wouldnt bother arranging such an elaborate scene. An unknown intruder, the one armed man, doesnt figure in here either. Right . No, we never thought never thought that. Reporter no, they thought someone close to michele had to be responsible. So what do we do now is the question. Huh . Yes. Reporter it was time to go looking for suspects. Coming up investigators start with the obvious suspect, exhusband lloyd. And he had an alibi. Coming up, he said he had been to rochester to help his daughter move into college. Stayed in the hotel all night long. I think i have every receipt for the last seven days. Michele liked to save things, too. Could the mystery be solved from beyond the grave . I started finding screen shots of texts. My daughter documented everything. What was the narrative picture of what happened in her life. That she was constantly emotionally abused. When dateline continues. Youre not welcome here get out of my face hpv can cause certain cancers when your child grows up. G