Page 5 - Put Beard News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> reporter: investigator matt lambert was assigned to run down the michael beard lead. >> reporter: what did you know about michael beard's background? >> he actually was a pretty well-respected employee until september 17th, when -- when tom had fired him. >> reporter: why did tom fire him? >> stealing from jobs and drinking, i think, on the job and that he fired him on the 17th because there's maybe some complaints from other employees at servpro. >> reporter: so there's some issues there? >> right. >> reporter: but beard was polite and cooperative when the investigator knocked on his door....

Not wanting to be home alone if he was there. you know, he -- he was civil. he was nice. but i'd -- i don't think she wanted to be left home alone. >> reporter: now, molly told investigators that her uncle tom had recently fired beard. >> michael beard was fired september 17th. and then kelley was murdered the, like, night of the 28th, 29th. so it wasn't long at all. >> reporter: was it possible that beard was angry about losing his job and that kelley's murder was some kind of revenge? molly went through her cell phone and her facebook contacts and gave investigators beard's address. >> i gav...

The prosecutor knew he couldn't use beard to testify against tom. >> even if he came forward and said, "i want to testify now," he had lied so many times. he had lied at his own trial. >> beard had changed his story so much at his own trial that he wouldn't have been a credible witness. >> reporter: tom and his lawyer pounced on that, telling reporters that beard acted on his own. >> this is purely mr. beard's doing, what we do know is that mr. clayton had nothing to do with the death of his wife. >> reporter: and tom's lawyer didn't stop at michael beard. he went after the investigators. he s...

>> did that seem odd to you? >> that did seem odd. he denied having any type of conversation. he said he didn't even remember receiving it, and he wouldn't have answered a call that wasn't -- that he didn't know the number. >> reporter: and when investigators looked at beard's phone, there was no sign of a call from linda miller's cell. >> it had been, uh, erased. he explained that away by saying that he, the night before, had to recycle his minutes on his phone. it was a little bit suspicious to me. >> did you start to come down really hard on him? like, i don't -- we're not buying your story...

>> reporter: and he seemed determined to profess his innocence to anyone who'd listen. >> he said, i'd like to tell you my side of the story. i said, i really don't want to hear it. i don't want to get any more involved. and he's, like, partially crying and he's saying, you know, i wouldn't do that. >> reporter: months went by as the state prepared the case against each man. michael beard was the first to go to trial. in court, he recanted his confession and changed his account of the murder. but prosecutor weeden wetmore said evidence put beard at the crime scene. >> his dna was found where s...