remember, on the night it happened, former deputy brian spencer saw tom roaming around freely with blood and other potential evidence all over him. >> police 101, a very basic thing. any scene that you respond to, you want to treat it as the highest level of what it could possibly be. >> sure. so he would be a suspect. >> and he needed to be preserved. he needed to be controlled. >> reporter: but none of that was done at the scene. pretty soon, ashley's parents began to suspect there was a cover-up to protect tom, perhaps the so-called blue wall of silence, looking out for a fellow law enforcement officer. it's a hell of an accusation to make, though. >> it is. it is strong, but that is how we feel. >> reporter: mind you, the evans police department strongly disagreed. both the coroner and the crime scene investigator issued reports concluding ashley's death was indeed suicide. and remember, tom told the police she had expressed suicidal thoughts before.