Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline Extra 20180708 : vimarsana.c

Please oh, please how long has she been in here . I dont know. She was taking a bath. We didnt know if it was a tragic accident or something else. Questions quickly swirled about a wifes secret. What did you do today . She did have an addiction to prescription pills. And a husbands story. She just flopped on the floor. Was it an accident, or maybe murder . She said, im scared of him. The whispering started almost immediately, youre a murderer. When youre innocent, you dont think it can happen. Just wait until the spell binding moment in court. [ screaming ] it is nothing i would have ever imagined in my life. Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with the quiet one. Sometimes the fresh air of a small town can hide a lot of dirty laundry. My worst fear was all of a sudden true. Sometimes sudden death can lay bare every secret. She had felt like she was abusing it. What happened in this small town would tear apart a marriage, and at the same time, separate two families that were once united by love. Boone, iowa, on flat land just north of des moines is a company town. Headquarters for one of the largest grocery chains in the midwest. Fareway. Its a family owned company, and Rick Beckwith is a Third Generation ceo. He and his wife cindy raised a family of five here. Their youngest daughter emily, the sweet, but quiet one. Kind of a shrinking violet . The oldest sister said that she never got spanked. She didnt. She just remained silent and look at me with those big, brown eyes, and it was over. Even though emily was from a prominent wealthy family, her friend lisa says emily never flaunted it. Everyone knew that emily was a beckwith, but i never felt less of a person in the presence of emily or any one of her family. Emily was the girl everyone wanted to be friends with and every boy wanted to date. According to friends shannon and sarah. Could have had any oh, anybody. Any boyfriend. All these boys were gaga over her. I mean, she was gorgeous. Youve seen pictures of her. Even in high school, she was gorgeous. It just wasnt her thing to date. By the time she was 21, emily had moved about 200 miles south to kansas city, missouri, working in a hair salon. One night in 2001, she went to a bar and a local boy named alex fazzino spotted her from across the room. Its one of those, like, ahha moments, you might say. I was like, i have to go talk to that girl. After a few dates, alex says he knew she was the one. What did you like about her . What didnt i . She was beautiful. She was very nice. She dressed impeccably. Yeah, what didnt i . Alexs mother joanne knew something was happening when her son asked if he could bring emily to sunday dinner. He said, i have met someone. And i would love to be able to bring her over so that you all can get to know her better. And you thought, well, here we go. Yes, i did. Back in boone, emilys family heard about the boy from kansas city. She called me up and said, i met this fella. Hes italian, and she said, youre going to love his family. Theyre louder than us. And she fell in love with the whole family immediately. Emilys sister ammie could see they were in love. Her eyes sparkled. Alexs eyes sparkled when they were together. Huge smiles on both of their faces. The girl who never dated was swept off her feet. Emily and alex married may 10th, 2003. How many people . I would guess at least 400. Thats big. Yeah. I mean, for an italian wedding its maybe midsize. But the couple had a son nick, and a year later, alex took up emilys parents on an invitation to move to boone. It was an open offer if he wanted to come and work for fareway. Her father offered alex an opportunity as a Family Member to move way up the ranks and at my husbands encouragement, he went. Alex took an entry level job as a Fareway Store near boone. The beckwiths gave the couple this house, just a fiveminute drive from their own. Soon, there were two more additions to the family, ricky and coco. All emily ever wanted to be was to have a family and be a wife and a mother. It all seemed perfect. Until the night of january 29th, 2012. It was close to the kids bedtime. Emily had gone up early to take her nightly bath. And alex was doing things his wife normally did. I was helping with laundry. I helped with the kids with their bath. Alex says he heard emily start her bath as he and the kids watched peter pan. I mean, there was a lot of sword fighting and things like that and music and it was really loud. And when it got quiet, i could hear the water still running. Alex says the water was running for about 20 to 30 minutes. So he went upstairs to see what was taking so long. And came upon a horrible scene. Emily was submerged in the tub unconscious. I tried as hard as i could to get her out of that tub, as fast as i could. She slipped out of my arms. I started screaming help. I ran to the phone to call 911. And all i could say was help. 911, whats the location of your emergency . Help help help whats going on . Whats going on . It was the worst seconds of my life. But there was much more to come. Two lives, and so many secrets. Would soon be put under a microscope. What had happened upstairs in that bathroom . When we come back please, help me. How long has she been in here . I dont know, she was taking a bath. What did you think this was . We didnt know if it was a tragic accident or something else. Its the addiction, you know . Its the addiction that did it. Addiction . The mystery was just beginning, door bell rings its open hey. This is amazing. With moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, are you okay . Even when i was there, i never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. So i talked to my doctor about humira. I learned humira can help get, and keep uc under control when other medications havent worked well enough. And it helps people achieve control that lasts. So you can experience few or no symptoms. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Be there for you, and them. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, control is possible. And now for the rings. Im a fouryearold ring bearer with a bad habit of swallowing stuff. Still wont eat my broccoli, though. And if you dont have the right overage, you could be paying for that pricey love band yourself. So get an allstate agent, and be better protected from mayhem. Like me. Can a ring bearer get a snack around here . This should have been a routine night at home in small town usa, boone, iowa. Instead, alex fazzino was telling a 911 operator how he just pulled his wife emily out of the bathtub. Please honey, wake up. Wake up it got worse. The kids wandered in and saw their mother on the bathroom floor. Guys, go away. Kids. Please. Please. On the tape, you dont sound like you think theres much hope of reviving her. Me personally reviving her, no, i didnt. You dont know cpr . No. But with the operators help, alex tried. Tilt her head back. Okay. Did you do that . Yeah. Sergeant john wiebold of the Boone Police Department got the call and arrived at the house with two other officers. His body camera was rolling as alex led them to the bathroom. As we entered the master bathroom, emily was laying on the floor, faceup, and she had a bluish tint to her. Please. Please. How long has she been in here . I dont know, she was taking a bath. Could you tell whether she was still alive . I checked right away. I checked for pulse and breathing. Didnt feel any, so i instantly started cpr. How long . I dont know. Shes freezing cold. Blood . No blood. No blood anywhere. She did have a big bruise on her forehead. What was around . Anything . The bathtub was full of water. And there were oil droplets on top of the water, like bath oil. Theres music playing from an ipad on the sink area. Emts loaded emily into an ambulance and raced to the hospital. When her mother cindy got the call, she went straight there. And they told me she was in emergency room, and he called and he said shes gone. Emily fazzino was dead at the age of 32 and no one knew why. When you went home that night, what did you think this was . I didnt really know. It was a suspicious death, for sure. We didnt know if it was a suicide or a tragic accident or something else. Around midnight, police asked alex to give a statement at headquarters. I pulled her, and she just flopped. You know, she just flopped. On the floor. You went in in those initial interviews, youre not represented by an attorney. No. And you talked to the police and you handed over your phone. Yes. Almost as if you had nothing to hide. I didnt. He also told Police Something very few people knew. His wife had a dependence on prescription drugs. Alex said he was sure emilys addiction had killed her. Its really not my wife that did it. Its the addiction. What did you think had happened . I didnt know if she had took a handful of pills. I was having a hard time trying to reconcile if she killed herself or she just overdosed. You thought overdose either deliberate or unintentional. Yeah. Thats i thought it was a reasonable assumption. Reasonable, because alex said he had been dealing with his wifes addiction for more than a year, when he discovered she had stolen pain pills from his father. And then a few months later, alexs own doctor asked a strange question during a checkup. He says, and hows your shoulder . I said well, its fine. Why do you ask . He says, i wanted to make sure the vicodin i prescribed you were working. And i mean, i started crying. You hadnt asked for any vicodin. Correct. Vicodin is an opioid. A powerful pain medication that can be highly addictive. Emily had asked for the prescription saying it was for alex. He says she ended up taking the pills herself. Alex says he confronted emily. I said, youre going to have to choose between your family and this medicine. I said, im not going to stay married to you if you continue down this road. And she said . She said okay. She said it and she may have meant it. But alex says in the months before she died, emily would seem okay one day, but not the next. I could see in her eyes they like a glaze. She and then she would be fine for a period. Finally, in december 2011, two months before her death, emily reached out to her mom for help. Did she say shed become addicted to the painkiller . I dont know if she used the word addiction, but she had felt like she was abusing it. And alex was upset about it. Emilys doctors had recommended inpatient rehab. Instead, she decided to detox at her mothers house. And to hide it from alex and the kids by saying she had mono. The reason is because they were scared of what it would do to their image. Is the reason that you put out this cover story about emily having mono, is that because sending her to rehab would have been some kind of embarrassment to your family and you didnt want your name tarnished . Absolutely not. Weve always done the best thing for our children. And it was emilys desire to keep it from alex. Emily went cold turkey. Cindy says the first couple of days, her daughter hardly left her bed, suffering from severe headaches. But after only four days, emily went home. Did you think she was clean, off drugs, that that problem was behind her . I knew that she was still tired. But no longer addicted . No. You were convinced that it had been dealt with . Yes. Alex didnt find out about the detox until much later. But he says in the weeks before she died, emily still had a stash of pain pills. How many times did you say to your wife, if you dont get off the drugs, im going to have to leave you . At least three. But she wouldnt do it . She would fall back into her old habits. She would never agree to rehab . No. She told me that all her doctors are on the same page. Everything is fine. So alex was telling everyone that his wife was a victim of her own demons. But soon, new evidence would emerge that would send this case in a more sinister direction. Coming up the results came back clean. So it wasnt an overdose . It wasnt an overdose. What could it have been . What could have killed emily . She was scared. There was something wrong. When dateline continues. [ drum roll ]. Emily lapier from ames, iowa. This is emilys third nomination and first win. Um. So, just. Wow um, first of all, to my fellow nominees, it is an honor sharing the road with you. And of course, to the progressive snapshot app for giving good drivers the discounts no, i have to say it for giving good drivers the discounts they deserve. Safe driving my dai need my blood sugarrs the dito stay in control. E. I need to shave my a1c. Weekends are my time. I need an insulin that fits my schedule. Tresiba® ready announcer tresiba® is used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. Dont use tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Dont share needles or insulin pens. Dont reuse needles. The most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause dizziness, sweating, confusion, and headache. Check your blood sugar. Low blood sugar can be serious and may be lifethreatening. Injection site reactions may occur. Tell your prescriber about all medicines you take and all your medical conditions. Taking tzds with insulins, like tresiba®, may cause serious side effects like heart failure. Your insulin dose shouldnt be changed without asking your prescriber. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing, fast heartbeat, extreme drowsiness, swelling of your face, tongue or throat, dizziness, or confusion. Ask your Health Care Provider if youre tresiba® ready. Covered by most insurance and medicare plans. Tresiba® ready with my bladder leakage, the products ive tried just didnt fit right. They were very saggy. Its getting in the way of our camping trips. But with new sizes, depend fitflex is made for me. Introducing more sizes for better comfort. New depend fitflex underwear is guaranteed to be your best fit. Overwhelming air fresheners can send you running. So try febreze one. With no aerosols and no heavy perfumes. So you can spray and stay. Febreze one. Welcome to holiday inn thank you wait, i have something for you every stay is a special stay at holiday inn. Save up to 15 when you book early at hollidayinn. Com alex fazzino had lost his wife emily. Despite his grief, he still had to be strong for his children. What did you tell your kids . I remember hugging them. I remember just telling them that mommy went to heaven and she cant come back. As two families mourned and said goodbye, alex had to come to grips with the fact that he was now a single dad with three kids under the age of 7. Its sickening to know that if emily would have got the help she needed, she could still be here for my kids. And probably for me. While emilys family tried to cope with their loss, state investigators dan schnitker was operating on the assumption that her death was linked to her addiction. She did have a drug problem. She had an addiction to opiate pills. An overdose would mean no crime. Just a regrettable accidental death, or even a suicide. But then six weeks later, something that changed the entire focus of the investigation. Emilys toxicology report came back. Results came back clean. She wasnt under the influence of opiates at the time of her death. So it wasnt an overdose. Wasnt an overdose. No trace of the opioid pain pills emily had been abusing. There was nothing in her system that would have killed her. There was no alcohol in her blood. So now investigators had to take a new look at the case, starting with the photos of the bruises on emilys body. Remember, police saw a bump on her head, but during her initial exam, the medical examiner found more. She had areas of trauma to all four sides of her head. So the front of her head, both left and right side of her head and the top of her head. Possible those injuries could have occurred while alex was dragging his wife out of the tub . I dont think so. And there were bruises on emilys neck. She had strap muscle bruising to muscles to her neck area that were of concern that maybe she was possibly held under the water by her neck. Remember, alex said he tried cpr on emily. Those injuries couldnt be caused by somebody trying to do cpr . Even somebody who really dont know what they were doing with cpr . Our feeling is no. How could emily have gotten those bruises . Well, i know she hit her head when i was getting her out of the bathtub. Or when i picked her up, i mean, i heard it. I heard it hit when i was pulling her out. Her head hit. The side of the tub . The floor . I dont know. I was heaving her out it was so hard to get her out. Would you have bruised her neck doing that . I dont know. The agent wanted to know what might be going on behind closed doors in the fazzino marriage. He listened to another 911 call. And hes taking everything of mine and trying to take pills, too. One week before her death, emily called 911 to complain about alex. Hes, like, trying to take property that is not his. Emily came home inebriated the night before. And i had it. Id had it. And i grabbed whatever pills i could grab. And i was going to flush them down the toilet. And she got angry . She got angry. She called 911. No one was arrested or charged in the incident, but it seemed to be the breaking point. The next day, emily filed for divorce. Then alex did the same. Both asked for full custody of the children. And both were still living in the same house. A few nights later, emily called her father rick. The words were saying one thing. The voice was telling me something different. What was the voice telling you . She was scared. There was something wrong. They hung up around 6 00 p. M. Two hours later, emily would be dead. I will never forget that phone call. Because that was the last time i heard her voice. For investigator schnitker, a new picture was emerging. A marriage in shambles. A husband pushed to the edge. Maybe this wasnt an accident or suicide. Maybe it was murder. It seems hard to believe that alex would kill his wife, and his kids are just a couple of rooms away. But thats if youre thinking that, this is well thought out. You know, oftentimes couples get in arguments and they escalate and somebody dies. You had seen your wife endanger her life. You werent angry at your wifes inability to kick her habit . No. I was disappointed in her. I was disappointed that this happened. But angry, no. I was never angry with emily. But emilys family and friends say they were angry at alex. The beckwiths and the fazinos, once so close, were now splitting along family lines. Coming up they just kept claiming over and over he murdered her. Youre a murderer. Thats what they were saying. Thats not all they were saying. Did you say that alex and his family are in the mafia and that women who try to divorce them wind up dead . We do whatever it takes to fight cancer. These are the specialists were proud to call our own. Experts from all over the world, working closely together to deliver truly personalized cancer care. Expert medicine works here. Learn more at cancercenter. Com welcome to holiday inn thank you wait, i have something for you every stay is a special stay at holiday inn. Save up to 15 when you book early at hollidayinn. Com and im still going for my best even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. So if theres a better treatment than warfarin, im up for that. Eliquis. Eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. Plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. Eliquis is fdaapproved and has both. So whats next . Seeing these guys. Dont stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. 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. Cardiologistprescribed blood thinner. I we worked with pg eof to save energy because wenie. Wanted to help the school. They would put these signs on the door to let the teacher know you didnt cut off the light. The teachers, they would call us the energy patrol. So they would be like, here they come, turn off your lights those three young ladies were teaching the whole school about energy efficiency. We actually saved 50,000. And thats just one school, two semesters, three girls. Together, were building a better california. Rumors were flying around the town of boone, iowa, right after Emily Fazzinos death. Family and trends thought alex fazzino had killed his wife. They just kept saying over and over, he murdered her. He murdered her. The whispering started almost immediately . Yes. In a day. Youre a murderer. Thats what they were saying. And not just a murderer. Emilys sister ammie told investigators alex was also a mobster. Did you sigh that alex and his family are in the mafia, in organized crime, and that women who try to divorce their way out of the fazzino family wind up dead . That was information that emily had told me. Ammie doesnt realize that of my moms six siblings and my dads one sibling, there have been 11 divorces. Those people all still alive . Theyre not all still alive, but none of them were killed. But they werent murdered. Right. So the fazzinos are not some hooked up organized crime family. No, and i resent her saying that. Alex insisted the allegations were ludicrous, and thats also what investigators determined. Did you pick up in your investigation any indication that the fazzino family is involved in organized crime . No. You didnt find any evidence that that was true . No. Or that that played any role in emilys death at all . No. To get away from all the finger pointing, alex took his kids to kansas city and moved back in with his parents. We all suffered. Our family as a whole suffered with the accusation that my son was a murderer. Four months later, the investigation took another turn when the medical examiner released the final autopsy report. She ruled the cause and manner of death undetermined. Meaning she couldnt say how emily died. Prosecutors dan kalasha and scott brown had been assigned to the case. The fact that you couldnt say for sure and the medical examiner couldnt say for sure, that makes this a bigger mountain to climb, doesnt it . This is a difficult case based upon the evidence. It doesnt mean that it didnt need to be prosecuted. Just because we have an undetermined call doesnt mean we dont push forward. So they asked a different medical examiner to look at the case. A south dakota pathologist, dr. Brad randall. And dr. Randall gave an opinion of the injuries suggestive of a struggle, and ruled it a homicide. Homicide. And there was only one suspect. In april of 2013, 15 months after emily died, alex fazzino was arrested and charged with his wifes murder. They said youre under arrest. And i was in complete shock. When youre innocent, you dont think it can happen. You think, theyre going to come to their senses. Theyre going to see it. But no. He spent three weeks in jail before being released on bond. The truth will come out. Alexs sister marguerite says her brother was charged with murder because of small town politics. What was it that you think kept the state sort of moving forward with the idea of prosecuting . Well, i think it was the beckwiths. I think the power that they have in that community, and i believe that they were putting political pressure on the state to prosecute this. The suggestion that there was some sort of political pressure that was put on my office to push this case forward or to charge it is absolute nonsense. It didnt happen. As alex waited for trial, things got worse. His 5yearold daughter coco was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a bone marrow transplant. His daughters illness took a huge toll on our family. But i will say this about my son. I saw him as very strong. You know, he was handling things that i dont think most people could. It had taken four years after his wifes death, but finally, alex fazzino went on trial for her murder. Please rise. Because of pretrial publicity and the highprofile beckwith name, the case was moved out of boone, 200 miles away to decorah, iowa, where the fazzinos and the beckwiths were now separated by much more than the courtroom aisle. The prosecutor told the jury that after a deteriorating relationship and with divorce papers filed, alex lost it that night and killed his wife. Alex had everything to gain by emilys death. He had everything to lose by emily being alive. Alex would lose his kids. Would lose his job. Would lose his house. And lose his money in a fight. For a divorce. The state started its case using alexs own words. Help help 911, whats the location of your emergency . Prosecutors said this wasnt grief, it was remorse. In that initial 911 call, alex sounds pretty genuinely traumatized to me. He doesnt sound like somebody whos faking it. Part of the argument to the jury is that it has to be a horrific thing to commit a murder. So what were hearing is his horror at having just committed a murder of someone who was close to him. That would be a way to characterize it, yes. Prosecutors claim that in that 911 call, alex had already concocted a story that emily committed suicide, or died from a drug overdose. My wifes killed herself my wifes killed herself even at that Police Interview a few hours later, prosecutors said alex was pushing his theory that emily had somehow overdosed. Maybe she didnt kill herself. Maybe it was an accident. Then the prosecution called the state medical examiner to tell jurors about that key piece of evidence. The toxicology report. Did you also have testing done on the body, fluid and blood that was taken from Emily Fazzino at her autopsy . Yes. I had many, many toxicology tests. She told the jury emily had no drugs in her system that would have killed her. The drug tests that were done did not show opiates in her system at all. You think it didnt play a role . I dont think it played a role. And even though she initially ruled the cause of death undetermined, the state medical examiner had a surprising change of heart on the witness stand. Which manner of death do you favor over the others . In this case, im much more strongly leaning toward homicide than any of the other manners of death. And that second pathologist said there was no doubt about his conclusion. Bruises, front, back, left and right of the head would be consistent with a homicide. Bruises along the side of the windpipe and larynx would be consistent with a homicide. Murder by strangulation. Prosecutors now called family and friends to testify that emily felt threatened by her husband. Her sister ammie. How would you describe the relationship in the months leading up to her death . Sad. Why was emily sad . Because she wanted to get away from alex. The childrens nanny also recounted a conversation with emily just before her death. I asked emily two questions, the first one was if she was scared of alex. What was emilys response . Her response was yes. What was the second one . I had asked her if she was worried that alex would harm her or kill her. What was emilys response . She nodded her head yes. Less than a week later, Emily Fazzino was dead. Prosecutors said there was only one conclusion, alex murdered his wife. The only explanation here, after looking at all the evidence, all the circumstances, the head injuries were inflicted, and who would have done that . Alex fazzino. Now it was the defenses turn. This was to be a trial of two emilys. Coming up did you drink a lot tonight . No, i had three cocktails. The surprise evidence alex had up his sleeve. Whats the matter . What did you emily under the influence . When dateline continues. woman so beautiful. man beautiful just like you. woman oh, why thank you. [both scream] burke coupe soup. And we covered it. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum booking a flight doesnt have to be expensive. Just go to priceline. Its the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40 . Just tap and go. For the best savings on flights, go to priceline. Ive been making blades here at gillette for 20 years. Theres a lot of innovation that goes into making americas 1 shave. Precision machinery and highquality materials from around the world. Nobody else even comes close. Now starting at 7. 99. Gillette. The best a man can get. By this time, the love that had once joined the beckwitt and fazzino families was long gone. In an iowa courtroom, both families had listened for a week. Alex fazzino murdered Emily Fazzino. As prosecutors painted alex fazzino as a monster who brutally killed his wife in a fit of rage. Ive got to ask you this straight out. Did you play any role in killing your wife . Physically, no. I mean, i ill always feel a little responsible that i couldnt get through to anybody to get her help. And ill carry that with me for all of my life. Defense lawyers bill kutmus and trevor hook insisted there was no murder here, or any crime at all. This case should have never been prosecuted. That was where you came down, from the very beginning, was that this case should never have been brought. Absolutely. I took that position because of the lack of evidence. Alex fazzino was totally innocent. Theres no more pressure than if you have an innocent person trying to defend on this kind of a charge, firstdegree murder. Kutmus says that from the beginning, prosecutors targeted alex and refused to consider anything else. They reviewed all the information, the toxicology reports, Everything Associated with her death. They concluded we dont know what the cause of death is. We dont know the manner of depth. And what happened almost a year and a half later . The state finds some guy from sioux falls, south dakota, a pathologist who said that the manner of death was a homicide. They found this person. Kutmus stated his case to the jury. Emily fazzino passed away as a result of an accidental drowning, and that will relate to her addiction. He said the only crime was that emily never received the help she needed. The defense called emilys mother to the stand to show that detox at her house was at best amateur hour. You have no certificate or any license. No, i dont. Are you telling this jury that you know all the subtleties of withdrawal . Absolutely not. Kutmus tried to cast doubt on the claim that emily had gotten completely clean before she died. Were you in denial at that time about your daughters absolutely not. To drive home that point, the defense called witnesses who say they saw signs emily was still abusing those pain pills and alcohol in the weeks before she died. One of them was alexs mother. She was argumentative. Agitated. And she didnt really seem to comprehend sometimes what we were talking about. Signs, the defense said, that are evident in this video. What did you do today . It was a facetime call alex said he recorded less than two weeks before emily died. I cant i dont know. Why, why, why does it matter . What did you do today . What . Why did you record that facetime call . To ensure id get custody of the kids in a divorce. You wanted proof that emily was sort of impaired in the course of her daily life . Right. Its hard to argue with whats plain to see on video. Did you drink a lot tonight . No, i had three cocktails. The defense theory . Just before she died, knowing she was facing a child custody battle and would be tested, emily took herself off the drugs one final time. She goes cold turkey. What happens . Its clear. Withdrawal happens. Two or three days later. Withdrawal happened. What does withdrawal do . Seizures, fainting, dizziness, unsteadiness, weakness. She could have fallen in the bathtub. Unable to even lift herself up. That also explains why there werent any drugs found in her system. Correct. Exactly. Could Emily Fazzino have simply drowned accidentally in the tub . Alexs attorneys were hoping to plant that thought in the minds of jurors. But what about those bruises . They called their own pathologist who said he didnt know what had caused them. Do you know if they made a determination where they could conclude how that particular injury occurred . No, sir, its unknown. To them and to me. Unlike the tv shows, you cant just look at that and tell exactly how it happened. No expert, they argued, could say for certain that there had even been a murder. I do not know the cause of death. I do not know the manner of death. Thats not an intellectual failure. Thats intellectual honesty. And the defense was all too happy to remind jurors that even the states own m. E. Had come to the same conclusion in her original report. The cause of death, undetermined. Well, is there anything in the doctors original autopsy report that you take issue or disagree with . No, sir. I actually agree with it wholeheartedly. At trial the doctor testified that she favors homicide. Would you agree with that . No, sir, i would respectfully disagree with that. The defense conclusion, it wasnt alex who killed emily. It was what was in those pill bottles. This is the marital issue. This is what he screamed about. And he howled about. No one would listen. Do justice to alex fazzino. Find him not guilty. Jurors would now have to decide if alex fazzino was a killer or a wrongly accused husband who had tried only to save his wife. Coming up you prepared for a guilty verdict . Yeah. Two families on edge. For years of questions. And the verdict its the ultimate courtroom drama. Four years after emily from ames, iowa. This is emilys third nomination and first win. Um. So, just. Wow um, first of all, to my fellow nominees, it is an honor sharing the road with you. And of course, to the progressive snapshot app for giving good drivers the discounts no, i have to say it for giving good drivers the discounts they deserve. Safe driving for giving good drivers the discounts they deserve. With my bladder leakage, the products ive tried just didnt fit right. They were very saggy. Its getting in the way of our camping trips. But with new sizes, depend fitflex is made for me. Introducing more sizes for better comfort. 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Go your own way get your first prescription free at anoro. Com. Four years after Emily Fazzinos death, her husbands fate was finally in the hands of a jury. Alex says he was confident during the nearly threeweek trial. But says doubt crept in during those final minutes. You prepared for a guilty verdict . Yes. I wrote a note to my children. Whats it say . Nick, ricky and coco, i loved your mother, and i never hurt her. I would never leave you. Like your mom is always in your heart, i will be, too. You kids are the light of my life, all my love now and forever, dad. The first day the jury went home without a verdict. As the hours ticked by the next morning, still nothing from the jury. In the afternoon, alex got a phone call the jury had reached a decision. When they called me and said the jurys in, i could barely breathe. Emilys family and friends rushed to the courthouse. Prosecutors were confident. Did the best that we could in putting on the evidence that we had. And hopefully the jury would see it our way, and convict him. The Defense Attorneys were confident as well. We had the facts, we had the experts. But you never know. But you never know. Good luck, honey. Love you. Both sides couldnt be any more raw or more on edge. Alex was facing life in prison. And finally, after four long years is this the verdict that each and every one of the members of the jury here it was. In the matter of the state of iowa versus Alexander Joseph fazzino, we, the jury, find the defendant not guilty. Not guilty. The words alex and his family had been waiting to hear. Even his veteran Defense Attorneys couldnt hold it together. I held off crying until bill started crying. He started it and thats what sent me over the edge. And one never cries if you think your client is guilty. You dont. God bless you. On the other side of the courtroom, emilys family and friends could barely move. With the verdict, the divide between these two families became complete. Celebration across the aisle became too much for emilys mother to take. Shut up i went in shock. Alls i can remember is people jumping up and down like cheerleaders. I didnt know until afterwards that i told them to shut up. As they left the courtroom, the reality of what had happened sank in. Back inside, alex says he felt far from victorious. Theres not much to be excited about. Emily is still gone. And my kids dont have their mother. I felt completely unchanged. I was innocent when i walked in the courtroom and im innocent when i walk out of the courtroom. So whats there to high five about . You know there are people that are never going to believe youre innocent. Yeah. Im very aware. Youre okay with that . Im not okay with it. I cant let it bother me. Im not going to let what somebody says keep me from holding my head up high. Emilys parents are among those who still believe in alexs guilt. But strangely enough, something that sounds like acceptance crept into our conversation. This isnt easy for me to say. I hope that the rest of his life, he spends doing as much as he possibly can for his children. We dont have bitterness inside or hate. Or hate. He was found innocent. Its over. Were walking down the road of life. Their granddaughter coco is dancing down that road. She turned 7 years old, cancer free. But alex says big moments like these will forever be tinged with sadness. Graduating from kindergarten, my sons first big hit, every one of those moments for me, its not the happiest because emilys not there. Shes not there for them. And for me, to share in it. Its hard. Thats all for now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us