Show full transcript 1:02 You're listening to the Dateline story meeting 1:04 murder still top count. 1:06 The team is catching up on breaking crime news. 1:09 He said the whole case was based on speculation. 1:12 The story changes after his confession gets tossed out. 1:15 He's got multiple women in his life. 1:18 Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly. 1:21 I'm NBC News Senior Legal Correspondent Laura Jarrett in 1:25 for Andrea Canning. 1:26 It's October 8th and here's what's on our docket. 1:29 In Northern Virginia, a man is on trial 1:31 for the murder of his wife, a beloved nurse, 1:34 even though her body has never been found. 1:37 They start finding video of Nuresh 1:40 traveling around town and throwing out 1:43 dark plastic bags. 1:45 And emotions run high at the sentencing 1:48 of former American Idol contestant 1:50 and now convicted murderer, Caleb Flynn. 1:53 I stand here before God, who is my ultimate judge. 1:59 I am not one. 2:02 What I say, I did not for my wife. 2:05 Plus, the cat and mouse game between a dateline producer 2:08 and a man accused of murdering his sixth wife 2:12 is at the center of the widower, till death do us part. 2:16 Netflix's latest true crime documentary. 2:19 That producer, Dan Slepian, will be here to tell us all about it. 2:23 You know, this is a guy who has a certain kind of charisma and charm 2:27 that hides a real menacing nature. 2:33 But before that, we're heading to Upstate New York, 2:35 where disturbing revelations about an alleged sexual assault two years ago 2:40 have thrown an Ivy League campus into crisis. 2:44 A warning to listeners, this segment contains discussion of sexual violence. 2:49 Please take care while listening. 2:54 Last month, the idyllic campus of Cornell University with its rolling hills and stone 2:59 buildings was thrust into the national spotlight by news of a civil lawsuit filed by a former 3:05 student. 3:06 Jane Doe filed a lawsuit accusing members of the Khai-Fai fraternity of drugging 3:11 and sexually assaulting her. 3:12 The lawsuit spans 100 pages, and in it, this former student, she's going by Jane Doe to 3:19 protect her identity, lays out in vivid detail what she says seven students did to her at 3:25 a frat house in October 2024. 3:28 She accuses the university of failing to properly investigate. 3:32 Over the past few days as more details emerged about this incident and its aftermath, protests 3:38 have swelled as current students speak out on campus. 3:46 Here to bring us the latest is NBC News correspondent Maggie Vespa, 3:50 who's been reporting on the ground in Ithaca, New York since the very beginning. 3:54 Maggie, thank you so much for being here. 3:57 Of course, of course. Thank you guys for having me. 3:59 So just describe the scene because it feels like it has gotten increasingly tense. 4:05 It's been incredibly tense. You know, we had a march on Monday. 4:10 I would say close to 2,000 people, easily 1,000 people. 4:14 Students had like an organized list of demands. 4:16 They want all of the seven accused fraternity members 4:21 either expelled or if they've already graduated, which some have. 4:24 They want their degrees revoked by Cornell. 4:26 Some are asking for administrators to resign. 4:29 I mean, this isn't the first time they've disappointed us. 4:32 And if we can't trust them to support and protect us now, 4:35 why would we trust them to protect us in the future? 4:36 We now have, for the first time, faculty speaking out, introducing a resolution of no confidence in administrators here. 4:45 They're not specifically calling on anyone to step down. 4:48 In fact, the sponsor, Professor Ortiz, told us we specifically didn't name anyone on purpose, 4:53 but we don't believe that the school is capable of protecting students here. 4:58 And we've heard from too many students with too many experiences similar to Jane Doe. 5:02 They feel like the lawsuit's like the tip of the iceberg. 5:04 I want to go back in time and lay out some of the basics of what we do know because a 5:10 lot has come out in just the past couple of weeks. 5:13 Jane Doe's civil lawsuit lays out her version of events. 5:16 What exactly does she say happened that night? 5:19 Yeah, so it was October 2024. 5:21 She was a member of a sorority and she and her sorority sisters basically went out 5:25 drinking. 5:26 Then as her suit puts it, she stumbled alone to the Kai-5 rat house to see a friend 5:32 and who seems like pretty quickly suggests per the suit that they have a threesome with 5:38 another guy. 5:39 Once that's happening, there are drugs brought into the picture. 5:43 She says she was pressured to do ketamine, which on top of being drunk from partying 5:49 earlier in the night, she says really eroded her ability to consent and her just like 5:54 physical capacity to be aware of what was happening with her body. 5:57 Yeah. 5:57 For people who don't know, I mean, ketamine is a strong, strong, strong drug. 6:01 This is not like a little bit of weed from college students, and while this is all sort 6:06 of transpiring, they're also sending messages within the, let's call it the frat group chat, 6:14 basically beckoning other guys to come to the room. 6:17 Oh yeah, one guy asks, shops still open? 6:20 Guys are told to whip it out with a picture of her. 6:23 And there are more than 50 members of the frat in that group chat. 6:28 her attorney is called that screenshot of that group chat a quote-unquote 6:33 smoking gun that it speaks to they were aware that they were bringing more men 6:39 into the room than this girl had consented to and they were kind of 6:43 coordinating behind the scenes without her consent or awareness at the time. 6:49 Now the guys tell a very different story and this is according to disciplinary 6:54 documents from the university, Title IX documents that lay out the investigation Cornell conducted 7:00 at the time, that the men said that they were checking in several times and she seemed thoroughly 7:06 okay. 7:07 She eventually gets out of the room. 7:09 She reports the incident to police a few weeks later, and you've mentioned something 7:13 known colloquially sort of as Title IX, but that's for people don't know is a federal 7:17 law that actually requires schools to conduct an internal investigation, essentially to 7:23 protect student civil rights, right? 7:24 You have a right to be free from sexual assault 7:27 on college campuses. 7:28 What do we know based on your reporting 7:30 about what the school found in their Title IX investigation? 7:34 We know it was expansive. 7:35 The investigation, more than 50 interviews 7:38 per the documents we reviewed with more than 30 witnesses 7:41 and those witnesses are everyone from the roommate 7:43 who saw her as soon as she walked in, 7:45 coming back from that, saying that she looked stunned. 7:48 There were multiple members of the fraternity, 7:50 obviously including the accused, 7:51 But other members of the fraternity as well and other students who came forward both to the university and to campus police 7:57 So there's one conversation Jane Doe has and it's this interview with campus police and a title nine 8:04 Investigator and there's been a lot made of that particular sit-down 8:07 CBS News reported that according to the transcript of that interview Jane Doe says I can say with 8:14 100% confidence. I was raped Maggie. What do we know about the context in which that was said? 8:19 We know it was weeks later. We know that immediately after that night, she, per these Title IX 8:26 documents, had texted with some of the accused saying that everything that happened was legal, 8:32 that people need to be more open-minded. The attorneys for the members who were accused 8:37 are pointing to those quite a bit saying, see, this is proof it was consensual. Her attorney 8:42 says no, it's not. It's a very standard grieving process and emotional process that victims 8:47 of sexual assault go through they deny it at first they try to make it okay at first because 8:52 maybe admitting that you're a victim of sexual assault changes your life it's incredibly dark 8:56 in the weeks that follow she continues to process it continues to talk to friends also sees some 9:00 online rumors about it and a lot of women saying this sounds like it could be assault by the time 9:06 almost three weeks later she talks to police makes the report you're right she drops that 9:09 quote which made massive headlines i can say with 100 confidence i was raped what do we know 9:15 about the punishments that were handed out to these men after the Title IX investigation. 9:24 In the end, the university and their Title IX investigation determined there was a variety 9:28 of things that the men did in that room, which ranged from sexual assault down to drug 9:33 use or viewing her in a state of undress without her permission. 9:37 So what we know is that two of the seven accused Kaifi members were expelled from 9:43 Cornell. 9:43 Two were temporarily suspended and then one who had already graduated by the time these 9:49 decisions were made. 9:50 He was barred from campus for three years. 9:53 The remaining two were told to have no contact with Jane Doe. 9:58 They were told to study sexual harassment and then write what the Title IX panel referred 10:04 to as reflection papers about the alleged incident. 10:09 At least one of the men is still on Cornell's campus. 10:12 He is. And there's now an infamous video of a woman confronting him on campus. 10:17 Everyone in Cornell is ashamed of you. Like, that free chat is f***ing disgusting. 10:21 I have nothing to do with you. 10:22 He, in the video, basically tells her, I don't know you. I wasn't involved in the Snapchat conversation. 10:29 I'm not gonna talk to you about this. 10:31 His attorney said, effectively, this is the danger of sort of trial by social media in the modern era. 10:37 He's never been found guilty of a crime, and now he's getting accosted on campus. 10:41 this, but he, to your point, is here continuing his education. Jane Doe's attorney, in the 10:48 meantime, points out she has had to withdraw from Cornell. He said she couldn't take it 10:53 anymore. She was deep in throws of depression and panic attacks here in the wake of this. 11:00 So she's, her education is on hold. 11:02 I think it is that contrast that perceived disparity in what the outcomes have been 11:09 for somebody who says they were assaulted versus somebody who allegedly participated 11:16 in the assault is what fires up a lot of anger in these cases. 11:20 NBC has also uncovered a fair amount of text messages between the fraternity brothers once 11:27 they learn that this has sort of turned into a real investigation. 11:32 What did the text messages show? 11:34 So it shows that in the aftermath, the frat is temporarily suspended. 11:38 you see text messages where one of them says the F word and then asks if he 11:47 should call Jane Doe. From there the president of the fraternity responds via 11:52 text and says no not yet, meaning don't call her. Another guy responds, says Jesus 11:59 Christ. There's another woman who said that she was told by somebody in 12:04 that they were going to have a meeting to get everybody on the same page. 12:10 Everybody in the fraternity as far as what they were going to tell police. 12:13 So this is just the type of thing that an outside law firm is now going to have to look into. 12:20 So Cornell has commissioned this firm to conduct an independent investigation. 12:24 They want to be able to say, look, we've turned to the outside. 12:27 We know that we can do better. 12:29 And so the university president released this video message over the weekend. 12:32 We must do everything we can to prevent what happened to Jane Doe and everyone before her 12:40 and anyone after her from ever happening again. 12:44 So we've been talking about the college piece of this case, which is obviously huge, but 12:49 let's talk for a second about what's going on on the criminal side of this. 12:53 You had the district attorney, the lead prosecutor, Matthew Van Houten, who decided 12:57 back in 2024 that there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against any of these 13:03 seven men that we've been talking about. And he said that he based that decision on Jane Doe's 13:08 sworn statement, which was given to him by campus police. But why didn't he ever talk to Jane Doe? 13:15 The DA says he didn't get all the evidence from campus police, including Jane Doe's initial 13:19 interview where she says, I can say with 100% confidence I was raped. He says I got a six 13:25 page condensed statement. Like it was really whittled down. She said it was consensual. 13:31 The governor has stepped in and said, why didn't you ask to talk to her yourself? Why didn't you ask 13:35 for more evidence? Based on what I know about how this investigation went down, she doesn't trust 13:40 the DEA anymore. So now we have the Attorney General, Leticia James, taking over. And she's 13:45 said a couple of key things. This is going to take a lot of time. I know that everyone 13:51 And Juan Juan's answer is so do I, but we have seven potential defendants. 13:55 We have a number of stories, dozens of witnesses, a lot of evidence to look through, including 14:01 the Title IX evidence we've been discussing. 14:03 Jane Doe's attorney has championed the fact that the attorney general has been brought 14:07 in. 14:07 But he basically said, we would have loved this amount of enthusiasm two years ago, 14:10 because guess what? 14:11 A lot of the evidence is probably gone. 14:13 The passage of time obviously makes things more challenging for prosecutors and investigators. 14:18 but one thing that has not changed here and has gotten a fair amount of criticism is the law. 14:24 New York's law, like more than a dozen other states, actually makes it really tough to bring 14:30 a successful case of rape when you have consumed alcohol, at least in the eyes of the law, 14:39 voluntarily. Yeah, so New York state's law says that if you voluntarily drank, 14:45 bank, use drugs, basically you got voluntarily drunk or high, you can't blame, in effect, 14:51 being too drunk or high to consent on the person you're having sex with and then claim 14:56 that you were assaulted because you inebriated, incapacitated yourself in the first place. 15:01 Pretty much everyone involved has acknowledged that this law is incredibly limiting, if 15:07 not a problem. Like the governor in conjunction with assigning the attorney general said, 15:13 And I also, next breath, I'm also going to throw my weight behind changing this law. 15:18 As of the time that you and I are talking here, Maggie, NBC News has reached out to all seven 15:23 of the accused for comment, either through their attorneys or through direct outreach to these men. 15:28 What is the status of that so that we aren't just treating them as one group? 15:33 Sure. So three effectively have responded in some form and denied the allegations against 15:39 them publicly. Scott Kretschmar via his attorney has denied the allegations and said that he 15:46 welcomes the new criminal investigation. They called the lawsuit intentionally dishonest. 15:53 An attorney for Gillio Lopes, the one who was seen in that video being confronted on campus, 15:57 he told me that his client acknowledges that he had a sexual experience with Jane Doe but 16:03 says that it was consensual and he full-on denies any allegations of sexual assault. 16:08 And then, there's a third man whose attorney gave a statement to ABC News denying that 16:13 he engaged in any sexual activity or drug use. 16:17 Maggie, it's a tough case. 16:19 It's an important case. 16:21 We're so grateful for you being here and walking us through all of your amazing reporting. 16:26 Thank you. 16:27 Thank you for having me. 16:28 If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, call the National Sexual 16:32 assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit rain.org. That's R-A-I-N-N.org for more resources. 16:46 Coming up, prosecutors argue a northern Virginia man killed his wife. 16:52 His attorneys say that without a body, there's no proof. 16:58 An extraordinary holiday starts at Paragold, the destination for luxury home. 17:05 Elevate the season with unique heirloom quality decor and gifts, hosting essentials, and more 17:11 from design's best brands. 17:13 Their largest ever selection has something for every celebration and style. 17:17 Shop in store and online at perigold.com. 17:22 Perigold Luxury lives here. 17:25 Many people think a camera or video doorbell is home security. 17:29 But the truth is, those can only record a break-in. 17:32 They can't stop one. 17:33 That's the difference with SimplySafe. 17:36 When an intruder steps onto your property, SimplySafe's AI-powered cameras detect the 17:41 threat and alert a live US-based agent who intervenes to stop them before they ever get 17:46 to your door. 17:47 Because it's not just your house or valuables that you need to be worried about, it's 17:52 a stranger getting anywhere close to the people you love. 17:55 Join the more than 6 million people who entrust SimplySafe with their home security. 18:00 Right now, save 60% off with professional monitoring when you visit simplysafe.com 18:06 slash dateline. 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Progressive 18:43 Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurers not available in all states. 18:51 In the summer of 2024, police at Manassas Park, Virginia, 18:55 showed up at the door of a young mother 18:58 named Momta Khaflay Bhatt. 19:00 Police officers asked her husband, Nuresh, 19:02 where she might be. 19:04 Their conversation was captured on police body cam. 19:17 At that point, Momta had only been missing 19:20 for just a few days, 19:22 but her friends and her family were convinced 19:24 something sinister was going on here. 19:27 And they organized rallies outside the police station 19:29 calling on investigators to take a closer look. 19:32 We have been working literally around the clock 19:34 since August 5th to put pressure on the police 19:37 and get tips generated. 19:39 Three weeks later, Noresh was arrested 19:41 for concealing Mamta's dead body. 19:44 He went on to be charged with her murder. 19:46 Noresh has pleaded not guilty. 19:49 His defense team says there's no proof she's even dead. 19:52 Momta's body has never been found. 19:56 Now, after a series of delays and legal battles, 19:59 Nuresh Bot's trial is finally getting underway. 20:02 Dateline producer Marianne O'Donnell 20:04 has been following this case very closely. 20:07 Marianne, hi. 20:08 Hi, Laura. How are you? 20:10 Great. 20:10 So before we get into the nitty gritty, 20:13 give us a sense of just who Momta was. 20:16 Right. 20:17 Even from her photos on social media, 20:19 she looks like this vivacious young woman, 20:21 28-year-old woman. She's originally from Nepal, but she is a pediatric nurse and she's really 20:27 admired by her colleagues. She is married to a man named Nuresh. She's an IT consultant. 20:35 They've been married about three to four years, but they're about to celebrate the first birthday 20:40 of their young daughter, and that's when really all this begins. 20:46 So what prompted authorities to do that welfare check when police show up? 20:51 Yeah. It's really her friends, her colleagues from work are like, wait a minute. Suddenly 20:56 she doesn't show up. That is not Manta, first of all. She's going to be reliable, dependable. 21:01 She's going to be here. But also, she's so excited about the daughter's birthday. I 21:08 mean, that's the daughter's all she talks about. They're like, where is she? Something 21:12 is wrong. And they immediately go to the police. 21:16 So police go to the home, and they talk to Nuresh, and he said they were separating? 21:22 So what he says is that they had been having trouble, that she just took off, destroyed 21:29 her phone, but other than that, he doesn't seem to be overly concerned, and he's saying 21:35 this to the officers as he's holding his soon to be one-year-old daughter, just 21:41 that, you know, she took off and don't know where she is. 21:45 Did the police officers seem concerned? 21:48 They said, listen, if you could try to get in touch with her, let us know. 21:51 But other than that, they just pretty much left. 21:54 Now, Nuresh did report Mom to missing a few days later. 21:58 And this is a pivotal moment because police could have just taken his word for it. 22:03 She's an adult. 22:04 She's not vulnerable. 22:05 There's nothing to suggest something sinister or foul play, but then the officers 22:09 start digging. 22:10 Why? 22:11 Why? 22:11 Well, really, because the friends, her friends are saying, listen, we know she was unhappy 22:17 in this marriage. 22:18 She claimed he was abusive to her, at least verbally, if not physically. 22:24 But here's another thing. 22:26 So he files the missing persons report, okay? 22:30 And then he goes a few days after that, goes on social media, and he says, you know, 22:36 But thanks to everyone for trying to help find Manta. 22:40 And then the message ends with, 22:42 I appreciate your unconditional support 22:44 and hope to get help down the road in future days. 22:48 Take of that what you will. 22:49 Take of your wife has gone missing 22:50 and you have a baby at home in future days. 22:54 There are no future days right now. 22:56 So red flags right there. 22:58 Where is the sense of urgency in finding your wife 23:02 and that really tipped off police as well. 23:04 So as you mentioned, her friends are putting a ton of pressure on investigators, right? 23:09 They're holding rallies, they're handing out flyers, and we should say that the police said 23:15 they were keeping things close to the vests on purpose, not to tip their hand, which is not unusual. 23:20 Of course. 23:22 We've started to really see the prosecution's case take shape in these various pretrial 23:27 hearings. What do they say investigators uncovered about Noresh's movements around the 23:34 time of Mamta's disappearance. 23:36 We have found a couple of key things. 23:39 One is that water usage in the home spiked for one hour. 23:46 I mean, an incredible spike for one hour on July 31st around the time prosecutors believe 23:52 she was either killed or just after she was killed. 23:55 But here's something else. 23:57 police also find that he has been seeing buying knives and cleaning supplies so 24:05 and we're talking like a day before that spike in water usage so what's going on 24:11 there they also have video that they start finding of Nourish traveling 24:18 around town and throwing out dark plastic bags in dumpsters and trash 24:26 compactors in just random places in town random places in town and in fact in 24:31 one it was a donation bin of clothing they're able to retrieve what looks like 24:36 a bath mat and it has tested presumptive for blood not clear who's 24:41 blood that is now I mentioned about the water usage dogs a stiffer dog came 24:48 in the house. They could see there was a presence of blood. So what's starting to take shape is 24:52 this man to police has killed his wife. He has now dismembered her in their home. He has put her 25:01 remains in several bags. He has gone around town to dispose of the bags. What does the defense say? 25:09 How do they explain why he's moving bags around in various random locations? 25:14 They really haven't. 25:16 I mean, what they're saying thus far is, excuse me, there is no body here. 25:22 You don't have a body. 25:23 You can't say this woman is dead. 25:25 Got it. 25:25 Therefore, our client should not be facing trial for her murder. 25:29 What if prosecutors say the possible motive would have been here? 25:32 They're not saying that yet. 25:34 But one thing that has been reported was that in the months leading up to her disappearance, 25:40 Nuresh's electronic devices show searches related to starting life anew without her. 25:48 They're general searches, but prosecutors are going to be saying, listen, this wasn't just 25:53 a sudden argument that this couple had in the heat of a moment. 25:57 They may be trying to argue that, no, no, this is premeditated. 26:01 So Nuresh has been behind bars for a long time now. 26:05 The trial was supposed to happen last year. 26:07 What happened? 26:07 He's been saying that he needs more time for his defense. 26:10 In fact, I think he just recently was saying, 26:12 no, I'm not ready for trial. 26:14 Sure. 26:15 He's trying a couple of different delay tactics. 26:17 He's even tried to get the judge kicked off the case 26:19 and recused. 26:21 He said basically, he thought she was biased against him 26:24 and he wanted her to recuse herself. 26:26 And she was basically said, yeah, I'm not gonna do that. 26:29 Not gonna happen. 26:30 Obviously, jury selection is a big undertaking. 26:33 That selection process began this week. 26:36 like Marianne, how's it going so far? 26:38 It is a high profile case, so finding jurors, people who are not familiar with the case, 26:44 don't have a bias toward it is kind of a Herculean task. 26:49 And the judge is concerned, very concerned because she, though she's not sequestering 26:54 the jury, she has had strict rules in place about their cell phones. 27:00 They have to turn off their notifications, they can't be having sudden headlines pop 27:04 up. 27:04 You see the judges struggling with how to do this in the modern age when everybody is so much more difficult 27:12 Well, they're bombarded yeah images and stories and headlines and push notifications 27:16 And so it's interesting to see a judge be that proactive 27:19 It also sounds like no rash has been proactive coming up to sidebars with his attorneys 27:24 He is very involved in his defense. Well, it's it's great to have you on it Marianne. We're gonna keep following this one 27:32 it's fascinating. Thank you for your coverage. Thanks so much, Lore. 27:39 A few hours after we taped this conversation, a jury was seated and heard opening statements. 27:44 We'll have more on that for you next week. 27:48 Up next, former American Idol contestant and convicted murderer Caleb Flynn 27:53 speaks at his sentencing. 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Banking services 30:20 and chime card provided by China's bank partners. 30:23 Qualifying direct deposits required, 30:26 terms and limits applied, 30:27 go to chime.com slash disclosures for details. 30:37 Welcome back, everyone. 30:39 This week, instead of doing our usual date line roundup, 30:42 we wanted to bring you up to speed 30:43 on the final chapter in a case 30:45 we've been following from the beginning. 30:47 The murder trial of former American Idol contestant 30:50 Caleb Flynn. 30:52 Last week, a jury convicted Caleb 30:53 of murdering his wife Ashley and staging the scene 30:57 to look like a break-in. 30:58 They found him guilty in less than three hours. 31:01 On Monday, Caleb was back in court for his sentencing 31:04 and we actually heard him speak for the first time. 31:08 Then it was his daughter's turn to give their statements. 31:12 Joining me now to tell us what they said 31:14 is Dateline producer Marissa Meyer. 31:16 Hey Marissa, let's start here with Caleb. 31:19 Hi Laura, thank you so much for having me. 31:21 So he was incredibly emotional from the start and he addressed pretty much everyone in his life 31:27 Starting with his two young daughters. I have so many thoughts and dreams of raising you 31:34 And seeing you grow up to be my women of God 31:39 Unfortunately, I can't 31:41 That's why I'm sorry 31:43 Caleb also addressed his parents and he 31:47 Apologized for the life that he's going to miss out on 31:51 by going to prison. 31:52 I'm sorry I won't be able to have 31:54 a morning coffee and emotions. 31:56 Not yet. 31:59 I'm sorry I can't gather any just with the girls. 32:03 Not yet. 32:06 I'm sorry I can't take care of you both. 32:12 I'm sorry I won't miss so much, 32:13 but no, I love you with all my heart 32:15 and thank you for the greatest parents in this world. 32:18 At the same time, Ashley's family is there too. 32:21 Did he have anything to say to them? 32:23 Well, Ashley's family, they had sat through days of testimony when Caleb's lover, 32:30 Aliyah Botner, had read text after text message that Caleb had sent her in which he said he hated 32:36 his wife, Ashley. He called her names and expressed a desire to kill her. 32:42 So that must have been so heart-wrenching for them. 32:45 And in his statement in court, Caleb, he apologized to them for his behavior 32:49 and the things that he'd said about Ashley. 33:06 Now, Marissa, on the killing of Ashley itself, what did Caleb say? 33:13 So when it came to the murder itself, Caleb vehemently maintains his innocence. 33:18 He was practically shaking as he said this. 33:22 He even glanced at the prosecution table 33:24 and said that he did not kill his wife. 33:27 Let's take a listen to that. 33:29 But as I stand here before God, who is my ultimate judge, 33:35 I am not one. 33:38 When I stand, I did not kill my wife. 33:45 I will continue to fight for my innocence 33:47 as long as the Lord allows me to. 33:50 as I did not kill my wife. 33:55 Ashley's family also gave victim impact statements. 33:59 What did they say? 33:59 I know they focused a lot on the kids. 34:01 Yeah, their biggest focus was on Caleb 34:04 and Ashley's daughters, Alyssa and Ava. 34:06 And Ashley's sister, Kayla and her brother-in-law, 34:09 Matthew, are now raising the girls. 34:11 Matthew said Ashley and Caleb's daughters 34:14 visit their mother's grave nearly every day. 34:16 and sometimes they even lay on the grass 34:19 next to her headstone just to feel closer to their mother. 34:23 And the kids were not there in court, Alyssa and Ava, 34:26 but they actually wrote letters addressing Caleb, 34:29 which were read out loud by their grandmother, 34:32 Ashley's mom and brother-in-law. 34:34 That must have been just gutting. 34:36 It really was. 34:38 And I think something to remember too, 34:41 Alyssa and Ava are 12 and 10 years old right now. 34:43 So they're also at an age 34:45 where they have a real sense of the loss of their mother, too. 34:49 And in her letter, Ava addressed Caleb as daddy, 34:53 but she asked him how he could have done this to her mother. 34:57 She was my best friend. 34:59 I miss her so much, so, so, so much. 35:03 You have no idea. 35:05 I cry and cry every day 35:07 and my heart breaks to see the people I love hurt. 35:10 I've seen images, pictures and videos of you everywhere on YouTube. 35:14 my heart aches to see you hurt but then I think it was your choice. It was your 35:21 choice to have an affair and it was your choice to kill the only mother I've ever 35:25 had. Unfortunately that was a choice that cannot be erased even though I really 35:30 wish it could. Caleb's other daughter Alyssa didn't address him as dad she 35:36 called him Caleb and she asked how he could throw away his life or quote a 35:42 girl half his age and she also had some pretty I would say pretty starkly honest words for him too. 35:50 You truly don't understand how much you hurt my life and I wish you could feel the pain I have been 35:58 through. Something so tragic and to know that with my father was just shocking. You made me feel 36:09 like an idiot thinking that I could trust you, but God has been working through me 36:17 and I have changed. And through all of what you put me through, God is going to work something out 36:24 for good. And by the way, I don't plan on coming to see you, Alyssa Flynn." 36:32 Marissa, what sentence did the judge end up imposing? 36:35 So the judge sentenced Caleb Flynn to life without the possibility of parole for 36:40 aggravated murder. And the judge also ordered Caleb to pay $20,000 in 36:45 restitution for Ashley's funeral expenses. It's such a heartbreaking case. 36:51 We're gonna keep an eye out for any appeals. Marissa, thank you so much for 36:55 catching us up. Thank you so much, Laura. For our final story this week, we 37:01 are taking you behind the scenes of the Netflix true crime documentary, The 37:06 a whitterwort till death do us part. 37:08 Produced by library films and NBC News studios, 37:11 the documentary unpacks the story of Thomas Randolph, 37:15 a Las Vegas man accused of orchestrating 37:17 the 2008 murder of his wife, Sharon, 37:20 and then gunning down the hitman he hired to kill her. 37:25 But Sharon isn't the first of Randolph's wives 37:28 to die in mysterious circumstances. 37:31 Part of what makes this documentary so compelling 37:34 is the dynamic between Randolph and Dan Slepian. 37:37 He's the senior investigative producer at Dateline 37:40 who spent 15 years investigating the case 37:43 and interviewing Randolph more than 10 times. 37:46 It's a journey he documented on video and audio tape. 37:49 And believe me, you cannot look away 37:52 when Randolph and Dan are talking. 37:55 Who in America has stood trial 37:57 facing the death penalty twice, 20 years apart? 38:01 I would absolutely agree with you. 38:03 And again, you must remember, didn't kill anybody. 38:08 And joining us now to tell us all about it is Dan. 38:11 Dan, welcome to the show. 38:12 Hi, Laura. 38:13 Hi, okay. 38:14 So first off, I think congratulations are in order. 38:18 I know you're not comfortable being the subject 38:20 of all of this success because you're the reporter, right? 38:23 You're used to just being the investigative guy, 38:25 but you have to take it in at a little bit, right? 38:28 A little bit, but the reality is 38:30 It was certainly never my intent to become part of the story. 38:33 My objective was to observe and document a homicide investigation as it unfolded. 38:38 But Thomas Randolph is the one that changed that. 38:42 Most people accused of murder would run from a guy like me. 38:47 For Randolph, it seemed to be a lifeline of sorts. 38:50 This is a guy who has a certain kind of charisma and charm that hides a real menacing nature. 38:59 And so I think what he was trying to do was to suck me into his narrative, and I was aware of that the whole time 39:07 Well, it's interesting you would say that because I was one of the things I was gonna ask you is 39:11 Whether there were times where you did feel like you were a mark 39:15 But before we get to that we got to start at the beginning the timeline starts on May 8th 39:21 2008 39:22 Thomas Randolph calls 9-1-1 to report the murder of his wife at their home in Las Vegas 39:27 Take a listen to some of that 39:40 So what was Randolph's initial version of what happened? 39:45 His version has never changed since that night. 39:48 What he told police and what he has always said is that he was taking his wife Sharon 39:53 out for a Mother's Day dinner that night at a local casino. 39:56 They came home, he let her out of the car first. 39:59 She goes in, he follows in with the car and he says when he walks in to that door, 40:04 Or he sees Sharon dead at the other end of the hallway with blood coming out of her head. 40:09 He sees a masked intruder. 40:12 He reaches into an office that he has off of the hallway. 40:16 He grabs a gun and says as the intruder is running past him, he shoots him five times 40:21 and kills him. 40:22 But there were red flags, shall we say, for investigators early on. 40:27 There were. 40:28 Well, first of all, the intruder was actually his handyman. 40:32 Police came to believe that Randolph hired his handyman to kill his wife and then ambushed him 40:38 to make it look like a botched burglary because they were going to share the proceeds of life 40:42 insurance payout. But there were some problems at the scene. The scene was not aligning to Randolph's 40:49 version of events. He said that he started shooting in the hallway. All of the bullet 40:53 casings are in the garage. None of them are in the hallway. There was a bullet in the
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