conviction could guarantee no chance at parole. >> he's never going to get out. second-degree, there is that possibility. >> so that's what was at stake when the murder trial of stephen grant began here in the courtroom ten months after his arrest. would he get life in prison, meaning exactly that? or would the jury find him guilty of murder in the second degree leaving the door open for him to walk free at some future date? despite his legally airtight confession, grant had pleaded not guilty. >> you strip it all down, it's a domestic violence murder. somebody has to speak for tara and that was our job. >> the macomb county prosecutor, eric smith never, for a minute, believed grant's story he and tara had a fight about her traveling so much. >> it was about sex. it was about stephen grant wanting to replace his wife with his au pair. something that was really telling in this entire case, the first thing he did after murdering his wife was pick up the cell phone and text the au