Barbara is in the middle. Buried secrets. Thanks for joining us. Im lester holt. For years the woman in this story lived in the most painful kind of limbo. Her son disappeared and there wasnt a shred of evidence what happened to him. She may never have known his fate if not for a quick thinking detective whose tools were the internet and plain old common sense. To solve the cold case she needed the help of a killer. Heres keith morrison. Its a strange thing that happens among the marshes and the soft soil in coastal florida. Things have a way of coming up. Things buried in the ground in the past. Or both. It was july 2003, beaches quiet, snow birds back up north. No one noticed it first what was starting inland a little in a town called Pembroke Pines where donna just three months a detective, a rookie really had been assigned to a brandnew cold case unit. The sergeant came into the office and dropped a box of papers right on my desk and said here, see what you can do with this. I began to wonder, hmm, is this a test to see can she really do this . The case was a challenge was an under statement. All the forgotten mystery, the disappearance of a young man named David Jackson 15 years earlier and the file offered no hints or pointers, nothing beyond the basic bio. To unearth the truth, even the rookie cop said she would have to learn about the victim. She began with something easy. She found David Jacksons mother, judy carlson. Judys son who called his mom. He said are you sitting . I said yes. They said they reopened davids case. The detective and the mother talked about david for hours. It wasnt a problem for judy. She loves talking about her boy. Even now to us. David was my first child. He loved everything and everyone. Happy birthday to you he walked in the room and everybody would be a magnet to him. He was the eldest of judys three children and mark jackson idolized his older brother. He looked out for me. He was out with his friends and everybody. Bill brown was one of those friends. In 1982 after high school, brown and David Jackson worked together at a burger king where david became a manager. Brown had a front row seat to the budding romance between jackson and a pretty 16yearold coworker named Barbara Britton. If you can find love, thats what we all want. All these years later, the detective paid a visit to the woman who was the girl who had fallen in love with David Jackson. Happy to help, she told the detective. Same when we called on her to talk about the david she knew. He was a very goodlooking man. We had an attraction for each other and started talking. He swept me off my feet. He was a good guy. As she talked, it became clear, deep emotions would not stay beneath the surface. I was young and still going to school. This was my first love. Two youngsters in love and then, well, things happen, dont they . Mom, i have something to tell you. Barbara is pregnant. Judy was surprised and worried maybe. No one near as worried as barbaras parents. Her dad was an eczema rene who was not impressed with mr. Jackson. Mr. Britton did not like him. I dont know why. His mother was walking on air. He said mom, i am going to have to sell the truck. I said why. He said im going to be a father and a husband and its not appropriate. The pretty girl and the handsome boy got married. A big wedding even though they were just kids and parents to a son, john jackson and they fought, made up, fought again, babies having babies is no easy thing. We were just too young. To have a baby all the time, you know, it was difficult for him. It was difficult for me. Who was the first person to say you have to get a divorce . My dad. How did david take it . He was just kind of like lets just find some lawyers and do what we have to do. That was that. The two divorced in 1985 and david arranged weekend visits with john. How were they together . Wonderful. Johnny clung to him. They loved each other. They all moved on. A couple years later, barbara married again. Michael wolf, an exmilitary man like her dad. About the same age as your dad. Your dad and new husband saw eye to eye a lot. They sure did. They had a lot in common and talked a lot. Wolf took barbara to live in arizona. David wanted to be a part of his sons and he traveled out west to see the boy. They saw johnny for three days. They were in an old western town and everything. Maybe it was something about the distance that barbara. David and i became good friends out in arizona. We used to talk a lot. What she felt deep in her heart never did go away. I always loved david. And then it was june 25th, 1988. Davids brother mark was flying into town to visit the family. David was to pick him up at the airport. When mark arrived, he waited and waited. No david. Mark jackson had a terrible feeling. No matter what, he would have been there for me. I knew something was wrong. I knew something bad happened. Oh, yes. Very bad. As the rookie poked around deep in the past, that something was reaching up through the mud. To tell her its longneglected story. When we come back, just maybe nature could do some of the work. With the crazy weather and the water table we have, if you were ever buried along the line, you are going to pop up. When buried secrets continues. At cepacol weve heard people are going to extremes to relieve their sore throats. Oh, okay, you dont need to do that. But i dont want any more of the usual lozenges and i want new cooling relief ugh. How do you feel . Now im cold. Hmm. This is a better choice. New cepacol sensations cools instantly, and has an active ingredient that stays with you long after the lozenge is gone. Ahhh. Not just a sensation, sensational relief. Activating protection, bear the more you move, the more it works [ roars ] [ screaming ] new long lasting degree with motionsense help me keep running help me wooohooo. Hahaahahaha oh. There you go. Wooohooo. Hahaahahaha im gonna stand up to her no youre not. I know. You know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. How happy are they jimmy . Happier than a witch in a broom factory. Get happy. Get geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Until its completely clean. Lysol toilet bowl cleaner gives you maximum coverage from the rim down to the water line to kill 99. 9 of germs. And removes stains better than clorox toilet bowl cleaner with bleach. So if you want to do the whole job, lysols got you covered. Lysol. Mission for health. And for an incredibly clean and fresh bowl with every flush, try the no mess automatic toilet bowl cleaner. It was june 25th, 1988. Fort lauderdale, the day the mystery began when a young man named David Jackson failed to meet his brother mark at the airport. A gut feeling something was wrong. I knew it. 15 years later Donna Velasquez relived that drama. Barbara, remarried and living in arizona got a call from davids worried mother. Ba barbara said she wasnt worried. Not then. He was with one of his girlfriends and she was like no, we are doing a missing persons report. I said no. He is going to call me in a couple of days. I know he is. He never called. He never called. One day turned into the next. Police, family, everybody tried to find him. Couldnt. We started looking. Searching. The pipes and little bridges on the dirt roads. Anywhere. You see a car that looked like his, you did a uturn and chased it. How long did that go on . Until they found his car. Which more than three months later turned out to be at the airport. Did he just take off . His Close Friends didnt think so. If he got on a plane and wanted to do something different, no, he wouldnt do that. David had been preparing for the arrival of his 5yearold son, john. This was a big one, a month long summer visit. He was preparing for this visit . Oh, yes. Wanted everything to be perfect . And he vanished . Didnt make sense. The days turned into weeks, months, years. Not a sign of david. The police went on to newer cases, but his mother never let up, phoning, nagging, writing. She knew david was out there, somewhere. We had letters to americas most want and i said maybe we can have the semi, put a picture of him in the back of the semi. A list of the Trucking Companies and the letters. It took me a long time to finish any letter about him. Because i didnt want the ending to be like i thought it was. It was a horrible limbo. A piece of her hoping for good news. Part part of her mourning a loss. I found a therapist and she said take like 20 minutes out of every day and scream and cry in the morning or at night. Can anybody understand what its like for a mother to lose . No. The investigation was back in high gear. Judy told the detective in a corner of her heart she hoped david may turn up safely some day. The detective was not inclined to false hope. She did not for a minute think he was still alive. Had he died accidentally, surely a sign of him would have appeared. No, she believed when bodies are not found, someone intentionally has hidden them. But David Jackson might show up, just not alive. My wheels started turning and started thinking we live in florida with the crazy weather we have and the water table we have. If you were buried anywhere, somewhere along the line, you are going to pop up. Maybe, the detective thought. Remains had popped up. After all, it had been a decade and a half since he disappeared. She googled unidentified remains. It led her down an endless internet trail. Probably going on 11 or 12 00 and my husband is saying where in the heck is that old girl. Until she got to one created by a Florida Medical examiner. Exhausting. Im typing away and typing and typing and it pops up about 100 matches. She was determined. She got it down to a possible three. One really stands out that said white male over 6 feet. He is a tall guy and a white male. Possibly. Those particular bones, just a few partial skeleton turned up in construction of a walmart parking lot not far from the place where david lived. Surfaced a year after david died had been gathering dust in storage for 15 years. The detective went to see a forensic anthropologist and when the doctor measured the bones she said no, its looking like he is only about 59. Still she had a hunch that she had found David Jackson. She wasnt the sort of person to give up on a hunch. I said can we please do this more time. She said i was wrong the first time. This person is anywhere between 59 and 61. I said oh, my gosh, i think i hit pay dirt. She got dna and waited for the lab to compare the sample. Ten days letter, the detective called. She comes to the phone and said i hope you are sitting down. You have a 100 match. Oh, my gosh. I said what . Im not believing i am hearing what im hearing. 15 years after he disappeared, David Jackson had been found. The question now was, what happened to him . How did he end up here . Coming up, a strange coincidence. Or was it . Its an eerie feeling that he was in that area, but it was good detective work that identified David Jacksons earthly remains, but pure chance that the partial skeleton was found at all as davids brother mark found out. They were getting ready to build a walmart and the construction worker came across bones and reported it. They dug up a bunch of bones. Theyre put the bones somewhere and forgot about it. They were found about a year after he disappeared and sat in the morgue for 15 years. Sat there all those years and even as those who loved him held out hope that he was alive somewhere. As far as i know he was disappeared. He was missing. Now detective velasquez had a hard truth to tell. David jackson was dead, not missing. The way he was hidden made it clear he had been murdered all those years ago and most likely before his friends or family noticed he was gone which put a final period on his mothers lingering hope for his return. And apparently an exwifes what ifs. Were you seriously thinking maybe some day i will get back together with him . When its your first love, you always think, you know, wow. Could it work . What if. Strange how things turn out. Barbara moved back to florida, remarried, again, had a daughter, took a job at walmart. Still held a candle for david even as he lay under the ground practically lay underground at the walmart where she worked. Its an eerie feeling he was in that area. I didnt even know about. Such an odd coincidence. Too odd maybe . Time for a chat. The detective called barbara and got herself invited to barbaras house. Barbara seemed to have no problem talking about david. She cared about him a lot. I say, well, how was david as a father . Well, david became abusive towards johnny physically and emotionally, verbally. This was a whole new wrinkle. Up until now everything was squeaky clean in his history. As an investigator and as a mom, i began to say, did you ever call the police . She said oh, no. I never called the police. She said i just thought he would change. She proceeds to tell me that i documented the injuries with photographs. Never produced any photographs for me. For us, barbara changed her story and said it was her father and not her who accused david of abusing her son and she questioned the allegation. My dad was looking to counsellors and having him evaluated and stuff like that. I would just be like this is david. What are you talking about . Of course the dkd couldnt talk to his father about abuse or murder. Harry britton had been dead for years. She recalled a troubling conversation she had with david. At the time david was working for cocacola, delivering the product. He told me someone was placing drugs on his cocacola truck. Through his route they were being taken off of the truck. I said wow. Thats pretty serious. She said yes. Interesting. Very. To detective velasquez that sounded like a made up story, almost as if she was trying to divert suspicion away from someone. An exwife would qualify as a person of interest in this kind of case, but as velasquez and we learned, barbara had an alibi, she was not anywhere near florida, she said, when david disappeared. I was not in florida. I was in arizona. In the apartment. I was nowhere around here. Lacking further evidence, the detective was stalled, dead in the water. Unless maybe the man barbara was married to at the time knew something. Michael wolf. Checking revealed she was married seven times. Number six, a woman named nancy graham lived in alabama. Velasquez called her. I said i am investigating the disappearance of David Jackson. She said to me how much evidence do you have against him . I said i cant discuss the evidence with you, but i can tell you its enough for me to put him away right now. I was totally bluffing. I had really nothing. I am throwing it out there, fishing that long line and if something bites, im reeling it in. She said honey, let me call you back. The minutes ticked by and velasquez waited by the phone. When nancy called back, what she said blew the case wide open. She started telling me about who was involved and how it happened and where it happened. What they did and how they did it and how they planned it. They . Yes, they. By the way, beware of the sting of an exwifes tale. She said i am going to tell you everything you need to know. When we come back, the exwife ready to spill. The first time didnt kill him. He had to shoot him again. When buried secrets continues. Okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Id stay clear of that cleaner, too, if i were made of wood and granite. Why dont you try pledge . Pledge multisurface. 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Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. David jackson was murdered. In 1988 in florida. That much Donna Velasquez could say for certain. The rest . After more than a year of phone calls and late nights, all velasquez had come up with was a web of stories and relationships. David jackson was married to Barbara Britton and her father harry disliked him. Barbara was the fifth wife of a man named michael wolf. They divorced and he later married two more times. But now, finally one of wolfs exwives named nancy was sitting with the detective saying she knew everything about what happened to david. Can you me again . How he was killed. What they did was how did she know . According to the ex, michael drank a lot. Every night he was almost downing the whole bottle of scotch. I guess he needed to talk. The story wolf told according to the eximp waited more than himself. Heres what happened. Wolf and Harry Britton, barbaras father rented a motel room on that long ago july night and invited david to a meeting. When are he gets to the hotel, they have a small conversation and michael shot david in the head. After which as nancy related in the story they did take his car to the airport and left it there. They took him over to an empty lot there. Thats where he buried him. He did not spare the details, said nancy. Here poured something corrosive, i think it was lye from what he said. Sure enough, that was consistent with the investigation. Along with that story came with what sounded like a motive. David disappeared as he prepared for a visit with his 5yearold son, john. David needed to be gotten rid of. They never wanted him to be in johnnys life. David was murdered to keep him out of hissons life . Boom, it clicked for me. Wow. Thats over child custody. Thats why he is not here today. That was the motive. That was the motive. Was wolfs confession to an exwife a true story or alcoholfuelled bravado. No way to know for sure. It was enough to bring about the arrest on october 2004 of michael wolf, now living in ohio. An arrest is not a conviction. As Michael Wolfe cooled his heels in a jail, he protested innocence to anyone who would listen, including the local police. To whom wolfe sent a letter and claimed all he knew centered on a conversation with barbaras father, harry a few months before the murder. A reporter writes for the broward palm beach new times read the letter. All he would admit to is meeting harry in a park near the walmart overlooking the place where davids phone would later come out of the ground. He said he pointed over to that plot of land and said if you needed to bury a body, that would be a good place to do it. He concluded the letter with i dont know if he had listened or not. Apparently he did. If Michael Wolfe had really not known anything beyond that point, it would get him off the hook and leave it in the hands of Harry Britton. Michael pinned the murder on no one but harry who was safely dead and could tell mow tales. Now the detective believed she had enough evidence to bring Michael Wolfe back to florida to stand trial for the murder of David Jackson. We did the arrest warrant and within a couple of days, we were flying out to ohio to extradite michael wolf back to florida. How did he react . He said pretty harsh words. You can see it. Im [ bleep ]. Velasquez had her moment. After 15 years, she made sure someone would be held accountable for the death of David Jackson. It was the culmination of 16 months of a long, gruelling, up and down, tiresome investigation and nights of not sleeping and days of going to work and living off of coffee. I thought you know what, this is what its all about. It was november of 2007 when Michael Wolfe went on trial for murder. After so many years, any physical evidence that might have tied him to the crime was long gone. What prosecutors did have was the verbal confession, that drunken story his exwife said he told her. Then, check mate. Another exwife told police virtually the same story. He said he shot him in the head. He told me that he had a silencer on the gun. She too was called to the stand. That was enough. The jury was out less than an hour. The verdict was guilty. After sentencing, in prison, David Jacksons family confronted Michael Wolfe. Not just to condemn, but to ask a question because there was a piece missing. Something that still didnt make sense. What was david doing in that motel room the night they killed him . Why did he walk into that trap . Why a motel room . He was ten minutes down the road . David is not a stupid child at 24. Why would he top the see him in a motel . You know what they demanded . There would be no justice unless everyone involved was held accountable. Outside the courtroom, davids brother encountered the states attorney. He said he is not going to tell me anything. I saw it in his eyes. Then we got it. In fact it was just two days later when wolfe finally confessed the true measure of his guilt. He gave police firsthand his unedited version of events the night he said they buried David Jackson in the shifting florida clay. Was someone else involved . Oh, yes, said Michael Wolfe. She certainly was. Coming up, what made david go to that motel . It was a woman on the phone. David takes the phone and comes out and he is spruced up ready to go out. When are dateline continues. Whats a powerful way to cut through everyday greasy messes . [ male announcer ] sponges take your mark. [ female announcer ] one drop of ultra dawn has twice the everyday grease cleaning ingredients of one drop of the leading nonconcentrated brand. [ crowd cheering ]. To clean 2x more greasy dishes. Dawn does more. So its not a chore. 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Sure, he said he was the trigger man and yes, his father in law was determined to get rid of david permanently, but to set the trap and to lure david to the motel, they needed bait. That bait, said wolfe, was barbara. Barbara who did not require persuasion. Quite the contrary, said mr. Wolfe. Barbara was in the middle. He would have never gone to that hotel room to meet Harry Britton. He would have never gone to meet Michael Wolfe. He agreed to meet barbara. The woman who wept tears of love for her long lost david and held a torch all those years was the same woman who called david on the phone and enticed him to go to that motel room to be killed. They needed to use barbara because david had feelings for barbara. Evidence . David had a roommate and that room maid heard david take a phone call before he went out that night. He was pretty sure it was a woman on the phone. David takes the phone and goes to his room. Comes out a little while later all spruced up and ready to go out with a smile on his face. Combing his hair and putting on his cologne and David Jackson left the apartment at that point. That was the last his friends saw him. What really happened in the motel . Wolfe said he hid in the bathroom when david arrived. Barbara answer and he walked in and they sat down on the edge of the bed. Barbara had a stun gun and hit him with the stun gun. The stun gun malfunctioned. Wolfe stepped out of the bathroom with his gun. He had the gun wrapped in a towel and he showed me like this and i fired one shot and about that time, Harry Britton came into the room and said hes not dead yet. She still breathing. Shoot him again. I shot him again and he said that shot killed him and they put davids body in the back of harrys vw and transported it to the site where they predug the grave and all they had to do was lay his in and cover him up. That was not the end of wolfes tale. A year after the murder, he got a call from Harry Britton. Here learned they were going to build a new walmart at the corner where they were there. Where the bones were. Harry told him you have to come back down here and move the bones. Almost as an order. Wolfe flew back to florida. He said he went out in the middle of the night and collected what he could find and put him in a trash bag and then he went back to barbaras familys house and put the bones out for a trash in a plastic bag. Michael wolfes story seemed to tell it all and cast Barbara Britton in a leading role. Once she heard that story, the detective was convinced barbara, determined to keep david away from their son was a full partner in his murder. What are the chances either Michael Wolfe or Harry Britton forced her to take part in the scheme . Forced . Yeah. We dont have to force a willing participant. You believe she was willing . Yes. The dkd couldnt help remembering what she said when she heard the bones were identified. Strangely enough the first thing she said was how many bones do you have . Come on. She had participated in retrieving the bones and they thought they got them all when they left about 50 behind. All this time said the detective, she knew barbara had been lying and now she had the goods. We asked barbara about her exhusbands allegations that she was deeply involved in the murder. She denied it. You were no part in killing david . No, i did not. I had no knowledge. I had no part. Little lies here and there that might keep changing his story. I think its psychotic. Its psychotic for the things he said. I was 21 back then. I dont think i could plan much. Im not stupid, but im not that smart. Now, said barbara, it was all exhusband Michael Wolfes doing. His guilt made sense of his strange behavior during their time in arizona, particularly the weekend david disappeared when barbara said her exhusband was not with her at home. He would always go on business trips and every time i asked, he would tell me dont worry about it. I got business to take care of. She knew nothing at all about the murder. She insisted. Until the penny dropped during a conversation years later with her father. I wonder what he is doing. I wonder if he is coming back and where he is at. What happened. He would be like you dont have to worry. Hes not around to bother you. What was that like to deal with . Very, very rough. He was my dad. My dad. I couldnt accept it. What satisfaction did it get . Did it satify him . It didnt satify me. Detective velasquez got what she wanted and worked hard what to prove what she believed to be true that barbara was in the plot to kill David Jackson. Now Barbara Britton was arrested and charged with murder. Now perhaps the jury could answer the question. Do you believe this woman . The woman whose hands literally shook and tears flowed at mere mention of her departed exhusband . Do you believe the things she said . All the time. Its always been hes missing. Coming up, could barbaras exhave a reason to lie about her role in the murder . She said yes. He held a grudge against her. They make you pay the price . Then her day in court. I do. Barbara britton, the woman who sobbed at the mere mention of David Jacksons name is now in jail awaiting trial for killing him. Exactly where barbara belonged, said Donna Velasquez. She made it happen. She was the instigator as well as being the in the middle. No doubt in my mind she was the catalyst. Barbara meanwhile maintained her innocence, claiming there was a certain reason Michael Wolfe lied about her that way. It was pay back, she said, for something that happened when they were married. Here came another one of those odd stories. Earlier, remember there was the one suggesting drug running on davids delivery truck. Now a story about michael and gun running. I was putting away laundry one day and i saw a bulge in a dress shirt pocket and there was quite a bit of money there. When he got home from work that night, i confronted him on it and he told me he was doing gun runs to haiti. Barbara said she told the police about wolfes alleged gun running. He got mad and told a cellmate of his thats it. Interesting, but true. Wolfe has not commented. Barbaras defense attorney said wolfe had a practical motive. Michael wolfe was offered a 15year plea bargain to take 15 years to testify against whoever the a comp polices might be and after he was convicted of firstdegree murder, there was an option to get the 15 years back. That was his motivation. In other words, said barbaras attorney, wolfe would sell out barbara any way he could to get a reduced sentence. There was the fact of the two unprompted confessions he made to his exwives where he portrayed barbara has a black widow intent on having david killed. There two versions that he gave to each exwife. The stories were not entirely consistent. Besides, barbara was at home in arizona the night of the murder. How does he know that . The phone bill from her mothers home placing calls that night where nobody else could have been there. Who is a phone bill of that age doing around where it can be grabbed for evidence . The father was a record keeper. What is to say that wasnt an Answering Service . Michael wolfe testified they had no answering machine. Could have been somebody else in the house. We questioned mr. Wolfe about that. He said there was nobody there. As the defense prepared for trial in december of 2010, something changed. There was new evidence discovered. Lany is a prosecutor who inherited the case. The new evidence is what we consider a jail house snitch. He stated that Michael Wolfe said he fabricated the entire story about barbara participating in the murder of David Jackson. That snitch was wellknown for the false information he provided. Still after three years in jail, it was enough to get barbara release and placed on house arrest, pending trial. Then they met Michael Wolfe to ask him about testifying against barbara. Didnt go well. The blows came to me when he said what am i getting in return. What will my sentence be reduced to. Now the state reassessed its option. Worry any case, you are taking a 5050 chance. The lack of forensics and the lack of physical evidence that a jury wants to see, but most importantly again the fact that you have a codefendant who is giving the testimony which was the foundation of this prosecution who wanted something in return. The people who conducted the investigation, deep down in their guts are sure that she was at the center of this. Did you think so too . What i think is a person and what i think as a prosecutor, i have to keep them separate. While i may have believed that barbara was i full participant in this, what i can prove is totally different. You made an offer . We made an offer. Barbara britton was offered two more years of house arrest and years of probation. She would avoid trial, but she had to plead guilt to accessory after the fact in davids murder, meaning she acknowledged knowing about the crime after it occurred. Something she always denied. You have to remember, i had the option to go to trial and take it. Its just taking a chance with 12 to 14 others. Jurors who would hear the story about a control freak who very cleverly manipulated men to get them to do this awful thing. Right. They know what you are there for. There you are going to have another opinion. Even though she accepted the deal, barbara was not happy. True, there was no prison time, but she was a felon now. You have a title over your head. It is lifechanging. Very lifechanging. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Yes, i do. The detective joined difds family at barbaras sentencing. You are okay with the fact that its a guilty plea . For the record, David Jacksons mother would like to speak. Davids mother read a victims impact statement. Because of you i cried endlessly for 24 years. I wanted to die myself to be with david. Her gaze fixed on the woman her son once loved. You are guilty. Michael is where he should be in prison. Your father is where he should be and you will join him one day because that is where you should be. In hell. Davids brother was not at all sure that justice was served. If you lose in trial, thats gods will. You cant control that. I think it should have gone to trial. I think society in two years when she comes off of house arrest needs to worry. We have a picture of david. His mother there was justice. She is say felon now for life. She has to live with all that. I dont. Every time i get out of bed in the morning, one leg said guilty and the other says felon. As for the detective who pursued the case who now thinks a murderer got away at first i was disappointed and i had to make peace with it. When i put my head on the pillow at night, she is a felon. Mentally in prison here, do you ever escape that . As for barbara . She is spending her house arrest in her fathers home. The old vw where they allegedly carried off the body the night he was killed is still parked outside. Her days surrounded by the curse of her fathers alleged sins and many still feel cursed by the part she played in murder. So the allegations that you took part would suggest that the two of you were living together and equally aware of your mutual guilt. Thats what it would suggest, but thats not how it is. It would occur. You are surrounded by it. I am surrounded by it. My dad passed on and moved on. Im living it. Thats all for now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us. This morning on meet the press, less than two weeks to go. The president in Battle Ground virginia. Hoping to keep the gender gap in his favor among women. By attacking his opponent. Governor romney wants to take the policies more suited to the 19 fiflts. This president has failed americas women. They suffered in terms of getting jobs. Looking at the record and looking forward. What will tomorrows final showdown mean for the final days . We hear from both campaigns this morning. For governor romney, senator marco rubio from the all important state of florida. For the president , david axelrod, republican senator rob horton. Romneys debate sparring partner, joining us live from the debate site. Our round table weighs in. From the times, tom friedman and white house correspondent, helene cooper. Strategist mike murphy and press secretary for president clinton, dee dee meyers. Ne cooper. And former white hous e from nbc news in washingto meet the press with david gregory. Brandnew in morning, the latest nbc news poll on where this race stands. Lets go right to my colleague chuck todd. This is significant. This is among likely voters. 4747. Not all races are equal. The president at 47. If this was the sunday before election day, there would be a lot of concerns in chicago. If they want to be at 48 or 49. Sitting at 47 is a good number for a challenger and not an incumbent. Lets go inside the numbers. The gender gap among men, romney with a 10point lead. To women, this is