Had five years to put steve democker at the scene of the crime, but they cannot. reporter: anybody paying attention to the bizarre murder case playing out in fits and starts here in prescott was apt to be a little suspicious of steve democker s behavior after the killing. getaway bag? fake e-mail? defense attorneys craig williams and greg parzych could see that as well as anyone. but was he guilty of murder? no, they said. rather, he was the victim of some detective s tunnel vision, beginning with a sloppy investigation. there was kind of cavalcade of people roaming through this scene that they didn t lock down, tromping through footprints and tromping through the house. and they didn t seal it off correctly. to me, when somebody shows up on the scene and immediately points the finger at the ex-husband, and then that s all they ever did. it s always boom, right on him? it was always on him.
Murder, american flags were draped in ancipation of the annual rodeo. and june 3, the county attorney opened his case against steve. by ticking off the reasons why in his view steve deserved to spend the rest of his natural life behind bars. by this time pretrial legal rulings had taken the death penalty off the table though the attorney told the jury the case was no less condemning. i will ask you to find the defendant guilty of first degree premeditated murder. first he said steve had motives and not just that $6,000 a month in alimony. no, carol, said the prosecutor, was worth a lot of money dead. the evidence will show that at the time of her death, that steven democker was the owner
Then, former boyfriend jacob about the weird business of the golf club cover. the golf sock that appeared in a photo in steve s garage, night of the murder, but was gone when detectives returned with another search warrant. the implication, of course, was that the cover fit the club, never found, that killed carol. jacob said that after the detectives left he talked to steve. what was that conversation? the golf head sock cover was found after they had left. he said, he had found it? yes. did he say what he was going to do with it? he didn t know whether or not to turn it into the police or give it to his lawyer. reporter: implying, said the prosecution, that steve knew the golf sock could incriminate him, and didn t know what to do with it. but just as the case seemed to be building momentum, two weeks into the trial, judge thomas lindberg left the bench at lunch break and suddenly collapsed.
That is his in the house. how can you convict him of murder? reporter: but in july 2013, by this time a full five years after carol s death, steve was still in jail, and the case finally went to trial again. new defense attorneys. a new prosecution team. who, it soon became clear, had, during the long delays, spent some quality time honing their argument against steve. carol kennedy had no enemies. this was not a burglary or a robbery, no valuables are missing. the overwhelming evidence in this case points to the defendant and at the close of that evidence we will ask you to return verdicts of guilty on all charges and especially first-degree murder. reporter: and now the prosecution had more evidence. like steve s google searches during the month before carol s death. damaging, to say the least. there was some information for the term how to kill and make it look like suicide, and there was some information on the term how to make a homicide
The story out, and investigated. the death penalty was still on the table. so, steve was terrified. we were terrified. i can certainly appreciate when you re terrified, maybe you do some stupid things. well, it s when you start making mistakes, and that was a doozy of a mistake. uh-huh. reporter: and uncovering that fraud led investigators to what they thought was another, even bigger one. remember carol s life insurance money? $750,000 worth. steve s defense attorney talked about it during his opening statement. he disclaimed, he signed over any interest to the girls and the money was paid out to the girls. that s what happened in this case. reporter: that statement caught investigator mike sechez by surprise. we had made contact with the life insurance company several times throughout the investigation and we had been informed that the life insurance had not been paid out to anyone. reporter: so, had the insurance paid out or hadn t it?
I m dara brown. pentagon officials have confirmed the explosions and fire board the russian flagship were the result of a ukrainian missile strike. it ultimately sunk. and more than 150 palestinians were injured following clashes with israeli police friday at a holy site. violence taking place over the ramadan and easter. now back to dateline. reporter: it had always been an issue in the case against steve democker: that one fascinating clue that could break the case wide open. who was mr. 603 ? that s what people were calling
And the court. the case looked strong, the prosecution rested. your honor, the state would rest. reporter: now it was time to hear from the defense. and, no surprise, it had a quite different theory about carol kennedy s murder. a theory that had nothing whatsoever to do with steve democker. coming up that man in the guest cottage. it wasn t a little bit of evidence that we had on mr. knapp. it was a mountain of evidence. he got to the point where he was lying about having active cancer and asking people for financial help. i m wondering what was this man capable of? was he going to hurt me or hurt my family? i was scared. when dateline continues. ws
That you don t know what it is. yeah, and you have no control over it. uh-huh. strangers are gonna decide. uh-huh. who don t know your brother? uh-huh. reporter: this family of highly educated professionals knew the case for and against steve as intimately as any attorney. on the third day of deliberations, there was nothing for them to do but sit together. watch their phones. and then, as they prepared to leave a coffee shop in prescott news. the jury had reached a verdict. but it was 4:00 in the afternoon. apparently quitting time. and the judge decided they d all have to wait until morning to hear what the verdict was. katie and charlotte, comforted by steve s parents, his siblings, had another night to wait and wonder what did the jury decide? it was rough on everybody. it is. and it s just horrible. with that nervous energy then is to the you can t sleep. we were thinking, well, are they just stretching this out? was it torture? well, sure, i mean, we we
That was a doozy of a mistake. uh-huh. when dateline continues. hu. when dateline continues these are the mowers i was telling you about. and right now, you ll find everything your lawn and home needs this season. [ food sizzling and happy family chatter ] at great prices for the season. stop by lowe s now, for your happiest spring.
reporter: mr. 603, it turned out, was another dead soul, the man lying on the autopsy table before carol got there. it was his dna. maybe on one of the coroner s instruments that ended up under carol s fingernails. mystery solved. one more doubt removed, said the prosecution. but for steve s defense team, it was further proof of a shoddy investigation. contamination. we found out not only potential contamination, there was actual contamination in this case. how can you trust anything after that? exactly. reporter: defense attorney craig williams said the case against steve had an even bigger flaw. you cannot put steve democker in that house where there was a horrific murder, a bloody murder, you can t put him in the house. no dna at all. no dna, no blood. you don t find any dna of carol s on him anywhere. you don t find any dna, fingerprints, blood, anything