Page 8 - Venus A News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> like busch gardens? yeah. >> best place on earth. >> reporter: doug had found a job as a truck driver. and home was an apartment on the ninth floor of this building. >> she wanted to live in a skyscraper. it had always been a dream of hers. >> reporter: so things were okay, if you look back at may 2009? >> things were better than okay. they were better than -- it was the best year of our marriage, the best year of our life. >> reporter: but doug and venus' problems ran deeper than anything an amusement park ride could paper over. and, before long, there were screaming arguments again. and a...

He said that he called venus' parents' house in michigan and said that he was the mailman, he had a package for her and she came outside. >> reporter: just like that, ricky's virtual world had turned real. game over. he was displaying emotion on the stand for the first time. doug was showing nothing. >> and he jumped out. and he said that there was a scream, she only screamed once, and that she tried putting up a fight. but he was able to get her in that headlock and a drop of blood came from her nose and that was it. i asked him if it was worth it. and he said it was, to protect his kids and ...

>> venus hoped and prayed for two little girls. i hoped and prayed for two healthy babies. we both got our wish. >> reporter: so did venus like being a mom? >> oh, she loved being a mom. that was her number one priority. >> reporter: but stay-at-home mom wasn't in the picture for venus, not right away. they were too reliant on her check from the bank since she was the family's bigger breadwinner. so you became mr. mom? >> absolutely. and it was -- best years of my life. >> reporter: when he kicked back, mr. mom enjoyed his xbox. thanks to the game's live feature, he would talk in real time to ...

>> reporter: you're checking to see if he's got any offense reports, if there's a sheet on him? >> sure. >> reporter: he's coming up clean. >> yep. his dad has his own veterinary clinic. they're well to do. the mother and father are both extremely caring. he has siblings. >> reporter: it didn't make sense. why would a college kid from delaware have anything to do with an older ex-military man from michigan and virginia? in mid-june, eight weeks since venus went missing, michigan detective criger and his lieutenant, chuck christensen, decided to find out. they got in the car and headed east. de...

>> yeah, doug's driving us into court trying to get his girls back and there was no way he was getting custody of those girls. >> reporter: doug's claim is he's the father, he's around but the mother isn't so he should have custody of his children not venus' parents. hanging over the hearing of course was the strong suspicion that doug was the reason why the children were motherless. venus's father didn't pull any punches. >> i asked him if he'd murdered anybody lately and it was something that popped out of my mouth. >> reporter: the judge scheduled another hearing for three weeks later. but ...