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Probably, the most overarching motive was just jealousy. despite the fact that she was conducting an affair of her own, i think that she was just completely enraged that sam started stepping out on her as well. reporter: but in order to prove that in court, fraivillig felt she would need something she didn t yet have a statement from michael saying danielle acted as his accomplice. so she waited, thinking time would compel him to come forward and admit danielle was involved. he never did. michael maintained danielle played no role in sam s murder. was this possibly a twisted act of chivalry? i think that certainly one of his motivations, if not his sole motivation, was trying to protect the woman that he loved. reporter: did you say to him, why are you protecting her? yes. and he said i m not. he said, i m not protecting her. we were hoping he would contact us through his lawyers and said, hey, i want to tell ....
As for how he proposed, the firefighter didn t disappoint. he had hired a sand sculptor to build a rather large sand sculpture of a treasure chest and then he had placed the engagement ring in the box. so there was some real pirate booty in there? right. he pulled the ring out, got down and proposed to her. sam is a romantic. isn t he. the newlyweds would become equally successful at work. sam rose to the rank of lieutenant at the young age of 33. he loved the fire services. absolutely loved it. loved being a paramedic. danielle was just as ambitious, finding her stride in the administrative office of a local hospital. she became the regional marketing director for the whole hospital corporation. sam and danielle didn t have children but they had the next best thing, sam s great niece aubrey cake. you re like the daughter we never had. they always told me that. ....
she was living with a firefighter as a matter of fact. one of my brother s supposed fire brothers. reporter: what s your advice to this guy, this firefighter? watch your back, you know. the last two guys involved with danielle one s dead, one s in prison. reporter: as for dianne, she s now left to reflect on a life with sam that could have been. did you two talk about marriage? yes. reporter: and was that in the cards? oh, absolutely. reporter: did you ever feel like, i m being punished for having an affair? oh, yes. i might have said those exact words myself. reporter: it all started in a club with an innocent conversation. mm-hmm. reporter: was it all worth it? falling in love with sam? i would never change having met sam. reporter: was he the one? ....
When i heard that, i knew that i was never going to see him again. reporter: sam s great-niece, aubrey cake, didn t make to it the hospital in time, but she made sure to be at sam s funeral. the bagpipes, i still remember to this day. reporter: did it make you really proud in that moment? yeah. i m still proud of him. reporter: full fire department honors were bestowed upon the admired young lieutenant. it was like the whole community came out to pay their respects. it was very humbling, very, very humbling. reporter: but along with the tears, there was tension. by now, sam s family and friends had learned danielle s lover had shot sam. no one could believe it, that she even had a boyfriend, or that it was her boyfriend that killed him. people didn t even want her at the funeral. reporter: but the drama didn t end there. sitting not far from danielle was the other woman. was that awkward with danielle ....
Even talking about it with you now i have chills. reporter: those texts, she said, proved just how much danielle hated sam and wanted him out of the way. and she s convinced danielle manipulated michael to feel the same way. do you think that danielle had anything to do with your brother s death? was she somehow directly associated? i think she is. i hold danielle dreher as much if not more responsible than the man that actually shot him. reporter: cindy told detectives she believed hatred wasn t danielle s only motive, that she was also driven by that age-old incentive. i believe it was the money. to divorce him and split half of it is one thing. but to get all of it? i think it was money. i think it was always money. reporter: just over a million dollars, in fact. there was a substantial amount of money that she was going to gain if sam turned up dead. and that s exactly what happened. ....