Inferno. It was to the right of the mattresses that we found the remains of julie. Shocking as the blaze was, it was nothing compared to what investigators found in the embers. Its a bullet . Yes. So this womans been shot to death . Yes. The obvious suspects, neighborhood thieves. There were half a dozen house burglaries unsolved. Investigators also dug into a favorite theory. The husband did it. I was angry. I felt that the detectives were on a manhunt and they were after my dad. Then, up popped a text that might have been a clue. He is over 200 miles away. And then, up popped a text that might just be a clue. I physically start shaking. I want to know why. Welcome to dateline. Julie griffith was a loving wife and doting mother. Then, a blaze ripped through her home and she was gone. Was this an accident . A bungled burglary . Or was it Something Else entirely . Heres Dennis Murphy with consumed. The Canterbury Hills subdivision in paducah, kentucky, is a good place to raise kids. Tidy homes kept by neighbors living ordered lives. So as the front porch lights winked out on just another day, what happened one cold january night in the wee hours was especially alarming. A roaring, allconsuming fire was devouring one of the nice homes. It was awful. Half of the house was gone. What would rise from those ashes was far more than a fire marshals investigation into cause. There would be a probe into the deepest roots of a treachery beyond most peoples comprehension. Its not true. No way. What had they all missed . A monster. A liar. A cheater. Hes destroyed my entire family. Before it became charred rubble, the house was home to a longtime paducah couple, keith and Julie Griffith, church going, golf playing, High School Sweethearts, 36 years into a marriage that had produced two sons. Aaron the older. They were very supportive parents. They were loving. They loved my kids. Aaron took after his dad, athletic, easy going, level headed. Younger brother zach was more of a firecracker like his mom. There was the time, for instance, in the sixth grade zach grabbed a shovel and started digging a hole for a koi pond in the backyard. My parents come home. Theyre like, what are you doing . Im like, were going to have a pond. Were they okay with it . Yeah, they were fine. They were kind of like, well, this is going to be a nightmare. When aaron and zach flew the nest, the griffiths lives seemed to only get busier. They joined a motorcycle class through their church, frequently were golf foursome with friends, craig and temple bradley. Everybody that knew keith loved him. Great guy. Did he become your best friend . Yeah. Definitely. One of my very best friends. Temple felt that way about julie, too. She had a heart of gold. Shed do anything for you. But she also wasnt afraid to tell you exactly how it was, either. Did she get peoples feathers ruffled . Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah but everybody loved her. After early retirement from the water company, keith found a second career as a traveling lawnmower salesman, which left julie to spend a lot of nights home alone in the house. But keith never worried for her wellbeing in a safe neighborhood. Their own door watched over by their beloved great dane cleo. Aarons wife ali. They would leave and go to dinner or go to town and leave the door unlocked. Because cleo was the guard dog. Fulfilled as the griffiths lives seemed to be, keith and julie were transformed when aaron and ali brought into the world their first daughter, aria. When i had that first child, it was a greatest day of her life i think. Julie lived for my little girl. She wanted to be a part of everything that she did. And julie was there for ali when she went into labor for their second daughter analiese. Her white knuckled dash to the hospital earned julie the affectionate nickname nascar nana. The flashers were going and honking the horn. What is she saying to you . Talking to you. Dont have a baby in my car. Keep your legs crossed. Dont have the baby in the car. Everything seemed to be going great for the griffiths in 2013. Keith had weight loss surgery and dropped more than 100 pounds. Julie was over the moon with two granddaughters. But also that year came the rift. Zach disclosed to his very religious conservative parents he is gay. Was definitely hard. We went from my mom was my best friend and going from talking to her multiple times a day to just being completely just completely shut off. Julie visited zach that fall. They tiptoed around the elephant in the room but the time together gave zach hope. Was that the step as you look back to patching things up between you and your mom . Yeah, yeah. There was a way forward . There was definitely a way forward. We just needed more time. But then came that cold night in january. 911, where is your emergency . There is a house on fire in canterbury, and theres not a fire truck here. A deputy drove toward the griffith home, his dash cam recorder catching this quick glimpse of the blaze. Then the fire trucks arrived. Mccracken county sheriffs detective matt carter received a call in the middle of the night. Its a bad fire . Very hot. That whole left end of the house was just completely consumed with fire. It took about an hour for firefighters to knock down the flames. Hours more for them to make their way through the blackened wreckage of the house to what seemed to be the heart of the fire. The master bedroom. Ghastly what they would discover. Investigators make a pair of discoveries and realize theyre dealing with both a tragedy and a mystery. Coming up he had discovered a projectile. A bullet . Yes. When dateline continues. You got it from your parents. And they got it from theirs. Its your skin, and it can protect you from millions of things. So were here to help you protect your skin. 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As firefighters carefully walked through, what appeared to be the fires epicenter, the master bedroom, their worst fears were confirmed. Julie had, in fact, been home that night. It was to the right of the box mattresses that we found the remains of julie. They were unsure initially that it was human remains. We knew that there was even with all their experience . Yes. Everything was just consumed by fire to the point that things were unrecognizable. As for keith, he was away calling on customers in indiana. Word of julies death spread almost as fast as the fire had raced through the house. Im getting ready for work, have the tv on in the background. Were live in the Canterbury Hills subdivision on tudor boulevard. Then temple bradleys phone rang. It was a friend who also knew julie. She said, you know theres a fire. I said, yeah, i saw it on tv. She said, yeah, it was keith and julies house. And i just sat there. Did she know at that point that julie, in fact, was gone . She knew. So she told me. Temples husband immediately tracked down keith as he was making the threehour drive home from indiana. He said, im on my way. Im probably, you know, two hours away. I said, are you all right . He goes, yeah, yeah. I could tell he was in shock. The news hit Zach Griffith particularly hard. Since coming out to his mother, his relationship with her had been strained. And now this. I guess youre just beating yourself up something terrible that you had been sideways with her. Yeah. And i know that if we were just given more time, that we would have been close again. That we would have been, you know, that mom and son duo that we were. But we just we didnt have the time. It was ripped away from us. And we never get it back. Aaron, the elder son, had more of a takecharge reaction. Got to take care of my brother, i got take care of my dad. Youve got logistics. Before the grief that you can absorb. Yeah, for me, its just kind of the way my brain is wired i guess. Within hours, the griffiths would head from all directions toward what used to be an anchor in their lives, the family home. Just gave my dad a big hug and we were both crying. Were like, i cant believe this. You know . What happened . Keiths good friend Craig Bradley was there to lend his support. How is he doing . This was the first time youve seen him eyetoeye . I could just tell he was shaken. As if the news couldnt get any worth, their great dane cleo along with a second pet daisy had also perished in the flames. Craig and keith walked the property, surveying the damages. We get to the koi pond. Got to get those fish out of there. Julie would kill me if something happened to those fish. I was like, you know, lets not worry about that right now. Overwhelmed by loss, the griffiths were faced with the question, how could this have happened . The first thought was that it was the new heating and air unit. It had just gone in. The unit had been installed just days before the fire adjacent to the master bedroom. That was my very first thought, that somehow the new heating and air unit wasnt put in properly. Faulty installation . Yeah. As for the cause of julies death, that was left to the county coroners office. Deputy coroner ben bradford. What were you working with . A very charred body. I could not very well identify it being a person. The cause of death seemed obvious. But just to be sure, julies remains were sent on to the medical examiner for an autopsy. What he discovered was as deeply troubling as it was unexpected. He had recovered a projectile in the remains. A bullet . Yes. Suddenly what was thought to have been death by smoke inhalation was now a homicide. Closer examination revealed three bullet holes in all in julies torso. The deputy coroner immediately called the sheriffs office. I said, we need to get some people back to that house because this is going to be a homicide. What did you think . Wow . Absolutely. Lady in a nice neighborhood, good house. Right. Now shes got three bullet wounds. Thats right. On a whodidit crime. Back on 307 tudor boulevard, Fire Equipment pulled out as sheriffs cruisers pulled in. Would the charred wreckage of the home once filled with joy and laughter, now hold clues pointing to a killer . Coming up, this detective spies what could be a critical clue on someones phone. When dateline continues. Paying too much for insurance you dont even understand . Well, esurance makes it simple and affordable. In fact, drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved an average of 412. Thats auto and Home Insurance for the modern world. Esurance. An allstate company. Click or call. Paying too much for insurance that isnt the right fit . Well, esurance makes finding the right coverage easy. In fact, drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved an average of 412. Thats auto and Home Insurance for the modern world. Esurance. An allstate company. Click or call. Esurance. An allstate company. Are you ready to take your then you need xfinity xfi. . A more powerful way to stay connected. It gives you super fast speeds for all your devices, provides the most wifi coverage for your home, and lets you control your network with the xfi app. Its the ultimate wifi experience. Xfinity xfi, simple, easy, awesome. The theory that julie died by accidental fire had collapsed as suddenly as the griffith house itself. For detective matt carter, a. 45 caliber slug recovered from Julie Griffiths torso turned the charred rubble into the scene of a homicide. Im guessing your day changed a whole lot, detective. It changed a lot. Despite more than a decade on the job, the detective had his work cut out for him. No hair fiber, bloody footprints, none of that stuff. Right. Youve got an arson that destroyed any chance of obtaining any of that from the scene. For detective carter, the most obvious theory, this homicide was the work of a home intruder. A burglary gone bad. Somebodys looking for the laptop or whatever, jewelry, and thing goes down. Right. We had had some burglaries within a few miles of this area. Within weeks or months . Within weeks. Within weeks. As police canvassed the neighborhood for leads and witnesses, the investigator also had to consider the perpetrator may have been someone julie knew. Youre not ruling anyone out or in. Youre simply going through the motions. Youre speaking to the immediate family first. Working your way out. The Sheriffs Department did not tell the Griffiths Julie had been murdered. We were not told anything by the police at that point. But anyone at the scene might have guessed foul play was somehow involved. There was just cops all over the property. You said, why the cops . Exactly. Yep. Naturally the first person detective carter interviewed was julies husband, keith. First of all, we are sorry for your loss. Appreciate that. At first, keith talked about what everyone perceived was the cause of the inferno, an accidental fire set off by a new newly installed heating unit. You had it installed tuesday . It was a whole new system. Keith explained the contractor was a friend of his who had done the work just a few days earlier. They put a rush on it. I mean, you know, thats kind of what friends do for each other. Okay. And i hope to god that this problem is not his. But eventually without giving details, the detective revealed julies death was no accident. The investigation shows that foul play is involved. I do not believe at this point in time that this was any kind of an accident. I want to ask your cooperation on several things. Okay . Okay. One of the first things detective carter asked about was how keith and julie were getting along. Any problems at all that you all had . Anything like that whatsoever . Shes my best friend. I mean, i know it. That woman loved everybody. The investigator also asked keith for details about his business trip to indiana. Didnt leave the hotel . I did leave the hotel about about 11 00 i went and got something to drink. And i left again about 4 00 and just went and got a doughnut and a coke. Like i say, i get up pretty early. And what about weapons . Did keith have a gun . I have a. 45 acp in my work truck that i just got. Its never had any its never been loaded. As part of standard protocol, the detective asked for keiths clothes. They would be tested for gunshot residue. What youre wearing now, is that was that fresh clothes from this morning, whenever you this is what i wore yesterday. Before wrapping up the interview, the detective took a look at keiths cell phone. While im reviewing his phone, i see that he obtains a text message, an incoming text message, from a lady by the name of deanna james. Ping, up comes a text message . Thats correct. The message read, did you make it home okay . Keith was quick to point out his relationship with deanna was completely platonic. Shes more like a guy friend. No big deal . Nothing sexual. No big deal. Thats right. After that, keith was released to go and grieve with his family. Detective carter, meanwhile, set out to verify keiths story. He had a receipt where hed stayed. So that puts him three hours away from this house fire. Correct. And the death of his wife. Right. It showed his checkin time and checkout time. A quick check of keiths gun showed he was telling the truth about it, as well. The gun looked as though it had never been fired. So maybe hes not the guy . He may not be. So then, who was . Coming up, the detective sits down with deanna. Was she really like a guy friend to keith . You could say, what, maybe shes driving events here . Maybe she wants to get rid of the wife . Thats correct. When dateline continues. The moment you realize your paint isnt laser proof. At lowes we have the right paint for every family. 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Com. harmonica interrupts sighs and chuckles sorry, are you gonna. harmonica interrupts everytime. Geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on car insurance. After spending saturday playing golf in scotland, President Trump will be heading to helsinki, finland, on sunday, ahead of his meeting with vladimir putin. Tensions saturday after the Fatal Shooting of a man, police say the man was stopped on suspicion being armed. A confrontation ensued and a man was shot. A weapon was found at the scene. P an investigation into the shooting is under way. Now, back to dateline. Julie griffit