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to and why? here's dennis murphy wit indiscretion >> she was a bubbly woman in her early twenties, just looking for a clean break. the heidi bernadzikowski, baltimore pool league ace, had in recent years under some tough times. but now the shots were startin to drop. a steady job as receptionist, boyfriend she could take to be the parents, top even of a summer wedding in las vegas. and then, it was game over for heidi. just like. that >> someone had made their way into her role house on a thursday night in april back i the year 2000, and killed he in the most brutal fashion >> baltimore county 9-1-1. >> migrants been murdered. >> what happened was she shot, or - >> she's cut her throats cut. >> any parents opens a doo exam, there's two cups-ing
evidence, in this whole entire trial that points to stephen other than the confessed murde and these detectives with thei belief >> when it came to motive, the turned the case on its head. the defense version. this isn't about stephen searching for a contract kille online but rather, heidi looking for love on the dating website and finding alexande bennett. you surprised her by showing u to baltimore >> we thought that he met he online, came here to be with her, he rejected him, and he killed her it made sense to us, it made sense with the forensics, it made sense with the physical evidence >> to backup theory, the defense pointed to this police photo of heidi's keys and bag. if, as bennett testify, he jumped or what you walked in the door, how did her door key and makeup bag and up tightl on the kitchen table in anothe room >> so the bag on the kitchen table is not a trivial thing for you. >> no, i think she made it t the kitchen. i don't think he attacked he
caught the eye of a guy holdin accused tech it was steven cook >> they were shooting agains one another, and he nursed hiding in the bar. >> kim's steven cook sister. >> the first night, they actually went home together an three days later they moved in together back >> fast romance >> it was really fast, reall fast >> steven was five years older than heidi his sister says he could b quiet and shy, put alway wanted to be around heidi. >> they did everything together i don't think that they really did much without each other. look >> and i tonight, stephen heinie moved to this renta down a house and done do maryland steven's dad, steve senior says after living together for nearly two years, the couple was talking about taking the next up. >> was it your understanding steve, that they were gonna ge a hitch? yes, in vegas. every time i talk to them, tha was their plan that never changed he loved her >> the timing seemed good.
here >> the last time he what's bee in jail for his own deeds. >> the defense argued anothe glaring hall with th prosecution's case was the lac of any physical evidence tying stephen to the crime the computer in the house that stephen and heidi shared was never taken as evidence. >> it's a digital crime at heart. >> not in this case. >> not in this case. >> what happened >> heidi in steve did have a fairly new desktop computer an that was never seized by the police >> so, to this day, we have no idea what that hard drive at home on the computer shows >> so you guys being charged with a contract killing, but nobody can produce the contract? >> no. >> not only did investigator not have any computer records, they did not have a record o bennett's plane ticket, phon records, credit card receipts, eyewitnesses who saw bennett and cook together. not even the murder weapon steven sister, kim, all yo have as a confessed murderer's words. that's all there is not one piece o
their. you know less. docket >> it was a murder case that wasn't going to be solved in a few hours or a few weeks. or even a dozen. nick >> the heidi moor investigation would go stone cold until one day, and matter of hours really everything became clear and ho strange and terrifying it al turned out to be thank >> when donna and walter up bernadzikowski miniatur social, top of a family even proceeded the engagement ring. >> he used to scare the girl away by saying that he wante 12 children, and i said wow want to have 12 children he said oh my god. >> he did have 12, but thi devout roman catholic couple i did raise their five in baltimore maryland suburb. heidi, the only girl in a se of brothers. >> when i hear that, i think for. heidi >> yep >> growing up with all those boys >> she wasn't treated like she
a heart to heart with hi mother had convinced bennett t spill everything prosecutor derrick glenn >> he basically told alexander if he did this, it was time to come clean, and jesus woul forgive him. >> a come to jesus moment. >> then it confessed that he killed heidi, but he hadn' acted alone, he said he had an accomplice and that persists was who else but the states star witness. >> he and grant luis, as in th bomb scheme, had developed a idea as being contractor murderers. >> so grant luis is the brains of this operation? >> he has a lack of brains >> grant lewis had been sittin in a hotel room preparing to testify. now, detectives brought him in and turn the tables on him at first, luis tonight involvement. but as the detective revea details from alexander's confession, he started to open up
bennett. >> you really had to believe this guy, then it. your case was going to rise an fall on that >> he was going to be the star witness against steven cook. >> bennett told jurors thi dame story that he tol investigators, how he killed heidi. video cameras weren't permitted, but then it's testimony wa audiotaped he decided to confess, he says because of his faith, and fo how this family. >> the question still remained if he had done the murder, why did he do it according to steven, they were 11 wanted to marry but some of her friend testified that she was s miserable in the relationship, she had been preparing t leave. >> she lost a friend of hers for a small loan for an easy
>> it's not everything, bu it's a start it does mean something >> as for how these family their days are all about the kids and grandchildren and parents, who believe devoutly in the hereafter, always remember, of course heidi. >> did you talk to heidi >> oh yes, i did >> what did you tell her >> i said, sweetie, we finally got the answers we've been praying for. and justice will be served >> that's all, for this editio of dateline. i'm craig melvin thank you for watching >> as we begin a new hour, the high court speaks for. now the judge has tried to
republican governor of florida trump's stealing pages from the biden pelosi playbook, repeating lies about social security. here is the truth from governor ron desantis. we're not going to mess with social security. as republicans, trump say, entitlements ever be on your plane point they will be. we will take a look at that democrats not lie about governor desantis. pretty interesting stuff. we showed that ad. i want to have full disclosure here because i showed the pudding add that trump is doing the trump super pac is doing against desantis. i showed it twice because i think it's so funny. so at a fat of fairness, we ran that entire ad. but heidi, this is interesting stuff there. really? i mean, desantis isn't even a candidate. he has the benefit of knowing what doesn't work, which is in 2016 standing back, saying i'm taking the high ground and being attacked as low energy as a little or in this case of putting pilfer and so he's doing what he's also in a very precarious position right
feelings to hospitalizations, two attempted suicides. he says it has happened in the united states, britain in several other countries with widespread use of social media. the rising anxiety , depression and attempted suicides among teenage girls is particularly frightening. and these numbers are getting worse by the year. the timing makes sense when you consider that the early 20 tens is when teens were trading in their flip phones for smartphones loaded with social media apps. and that 2009 is when facebook introduced the like and twitter introduced the retweet feature that mimic the dark trainers treats so by 2012 . the year facebook board instagram and its user base exploded. a large number of teens were hooked. heidi is working on a book on this topic and on his sub stack after babbled. he maintains an ongoing database of scholarly studies and commentary on the studies. i