toby say that incident was overblown. far more important to brittany than toby's past behavior was the fact that he had not once tried to stop her from investigating her mom's death. in fact he'd been her champion. >> i knew the truth, you know. i didn't do this. >> reporter: brittany believed her dad was innocent. as a grown up, she says she could finally understand what she'd failed to see as a child. >> my dad's had a really bad life. he's had a really tough life. and now that i'm older, i see why. i couldn't -- i mean, i know how hard it is on me and i don't even -- quite frankly, i don't know her and, you know -- >> reporter: he's been in and out of prisons, i don't know what his demons are but he's had a tough time of it. >> uh-huh. well, i think with everything that happened, my mom was the love of his life. and obviously knowing the background and hearing the stories, you know, he couldn't cope with it. >> reporter: it's been 30 plus years, toby. you still miss her? >> tremendously. she was the love of my life.