Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20140322

With a woman in his life. He had broken off his engagement with one. I just found out he was dead this morning. Now, i feel like im a suspect. And there was somebody else nobody knew about. I was lonely. Just needed someone to talk to. Did it also get a little steamy, mary . Yes. Passion and a secret that the wrong person discovered. Her face looked like she had seen a ghost. When she said sheriff stay with me. I have a phone call i think you need to take. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres dennis murphy. Reporter winter comes early and stays late in far western new york. The farmlands near commit to be wa late, tilled by amish and dutch families, are encased in snow and ice for months a at time but in this place of frozen stillness, the hottest of passions, boiling chelsea came to call one day and tiny clyburn, 1700 residents in the southwest part of the country, is still shaking off the shock of it all. Joe gear raissi is the longtime sheriff. My 35 years in Law Enforcement, can you ever remember a homicide in clymer . Never. Reporter it began quite simply. The new School Superintendent in town went missing one weekend, just a few weeks into the school year in september 2012. Keith reed, 51 years old, was a long time educator who landed in the sweet spot of his professional career. Parents and if a. Ly members, do you believe our graduates . Reporter up until then School Principal had applied for the top administrative job in the clymer district with his big brother, kevin, urging him on. Says theres this Little School up in Chautauqua County called clymer. I said i dont know whether i should apply there. I said apply. You were the nudger. I nudged him. And i knew what he wanted and once he was there, it was over. Reporter you might think a closeknit Community Like clymer would be standoff i shall to new come birr parents and students quickly embraced a handson mr. Reed. His eldest daughter, caitlin. Greeted the kids in the morning, coming off the bus, he talked to them during the day he was in the hallways. He really loved teaching and working with kids and he was wonderful at it. Reporter new superintendent had three grown daughters and a painful divorce behind him. But hed never let lifes difficulties distract from his primary role, dad. Megan is the middle child. He loved to have fun. He would always dance crazy with us, like pick us up in the air and slide us between his legs and throw us up. Reporter and the old family snapshots, hiking in hawaii, disney world, all the christmases seemed to show a dad over the moon with his three girls. Cates lynn was a star volleyball player and allamerican and knew without a doubt when her father was in the stands on game days. You could hear him . I could. Yeah. Everyone could. Reporter her dad was in a longterm relationship with a single mom named kimberly roush. He had three daughters and i had two boys and a lot of our time was spent being involved in their sporting events. Reporter they had been on again off again for years, but no sooner had they decided to take one of their periodic romantic timeouts from one band back together. Boyfriends like keith were hard to find. A song would come on and woe pull the car over, take me out of the car and dance along the side of the road. Being with him was amazing. Reporter and now that his girls were grown, keith reed was at long last finding his special place, feeling comfortable. He bought a big house in town, a sign that the superintendent wasnt just using clymer as a career stepping stone. He found where he wanted to be. Finally. After years and years of looking. They would have to pry him without a bar. Reporter but on saturday morning, september 22nd, when clymers School Principal, ed bailey, drove past his friend and colleagues house, he was surprised to see both of keiths vehicles still in the driveway. The superintendent was meant to be across the state at an educators conference. I just made a mental note, i was going to be coming back by and i thought if both vehicles are there, ill stop in and see whats going on. Reporter when all looked the same on his return trip, principal pulled into the drive. Actually went in the door of the house and yelled, yelled his name. And, of course, there was no answer. Reporter someone else who started to wonder what was up that saturday was caitlin. The two spoke by phone every day. He didnt answer my phone call on that saturday and so i thought that was a little strange. But i was really busy so just kind of forgot. Reporter by sunday, his daughter, megan, had become very concerned. She hospital heard from him either, worrying. Okay, like answer the phone, its time to answer your phone, i was confused, he always just answers the first time we call. Reporter that sunday night, her uncle kevin, a former fbi agent of 20 years, was being called to the house in clymer by a school official. Said we cant find your brother. What do you mean you cant find my brother . He is supposed to be at a conference in albany, accident check in at the hotel. Both his cars are still at the house. Okay, so were coming. Reporter kevin was hoping for a simple explanation that theyd come upon his brother on the property, hurt and maybe unable to get up. My hope was that he had gone out back. Theres a huge trangt of land behind his house, and had fallen down and was laying out there and couldnt get home. Reporter but when he walked into the house, the former fbi man didnt like what he saw. I started looking around. And heres 600 in his wallet, suitcases partially packed. I came back downstairs and said, everybody out. Everybody out. What are you talking about . Just go out in the garage. This is not going to end well and this is a crime scene. Reporter principal ed bailey was taken aback by kevins comment. I understand we have an issue here that keiths not where we thought he should be, but what do you mean its not gonna end well . Reporter the principal had called the Sheriffs Office to report keith missing. Deputies had responded to the scene. Nothing added up. He had a bag packed. It looked like he was preparing for his trip, but nothing else was out of place. Reporter deputies broke out flashlights and searched the house, the grounds, but no luck. Keith reed was flat out gone. And its ral mystery to them when they leave the house . Correct. Reporter sunday night ended in drenching rain, darker than usual around the house. They hadnt yet figured out why the exterior lights by the garage werent working. They hadnt talked to the neighbors about some loud voices they heard. Where was the School Superintendent, mr. Reed . This was a man who was responsible and respected, didnt seem the sort to just take off without telling anyone. As the search continues, police make a startling discovery. So your missing person case has back homicide . Correct. And it was like, wow. Life with Crohns Disease or Ulcerative Colitis is a daily game of what ifs. What if my abdominal pain and cramps come back . What if the plane gets delayed . What if i cant hide my symptoms . What if . But what if the most important question is the one youre not asking . What if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation . For help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisinfo. Com to get your complimentary q a book, with information from experts on your condition. Its on. In this corner, the newcomer citrus lime sirloin and in this corner, chicken shrimp tequila tango 2 of the best, now on applebees famous 2 for 20 menu. Applebees. 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We like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. So you have time to focus on the things you love. Ink from chase. So you can. Over the course of the next decade, more than a million of our best teachers are gonna retire. And for our nation to remain a worldclass leader with worldclass talent, we need the next generation of worldclass teachers. You may want to become a teacher. The more you know. \ s s one down, mr. Bailey, dont forget this. The snipper of cell phone video shows superintendent keith reed at the end of the first day of school, september 2012. In three weeks time, the highprofile educator would be reported to the Sheriffs Office as a missing person. The School Superintendent that everybody loved, kids loved him, he was there every morning greeting them as they got off the bus. Reporter keiths last known whereabouts was dinner with a friend on friday night. A Security Camera caught him leaving the restaurant around 8 30 p. M. The next day, he was a noshow at a big state edge katers a conference across the state. His brother, kevin reed a former fbi agent had a bad feeling about things when he arrived at his brothers house sunday night. I went right into fbi mode. I didnt didnt have time to get emotional. Reporter his brother, grounded, stage, reliable, was no ones candidate to just one day go missing, especially not then. Why just a few weeks before, he had had the moment every dad lives for, walking his eldest daughter, kate lip, down the aisle. It was one of the most momentous days of his life. He was just i have never seen him that happy. Reporter at the reception, he even busted out his Signature Dance moves. Lived it up on the dance floor. Avenues very happy guy . Yeah, he was. In 2012, hmm . Mmhmm. Reporter but now as dawn broke a month later, monday morning, september 24th, keith reed had vanished. The sheriffs people were dispatched again to do a daylight search of the grounds. It wasnt long before a k9 handler reported back. Keith reed, his body, this been found. Immediately, the dog and he found the body in the shrubs. Reporter keiths girlfriend, kim buehrle, was driving to a new job that morning when she got the news. She couldnt believe what she was hearing. Hes dead. They found him. And i just started crying and i said, no, thats not possible. Reporter but tucked into the hedgerow about 50 feet from his driveway lay keith reeds body. He had been shot three times, twice in the back, once in the chest, all at close range. It was like, wow. How could this happen . Who could have done this . Why would they do it . Reporter those same questions were so roaring through the halls of keiths school. Principal ed bailey had gotten the news from the Sheriffs Office. I just about dropped the phone. Just couldnt believe it. We were talking about keith reed . Yeah. My friend. Reporter along with the shock in the Community Came an unnerving question, given the National Climate of schoolrelated shootings, could keith reed have been targeted because of his work leading the district . An angry student . A disgruntled parent . Was any of that even remotely possible . Im thinking and going back through, did he have any enemies . Who possibly could have been upset enough or crazy enough to do Something Like this, you know . Did you come one any pos sfwhilts. Well, there was one incident that i know that the family was very upset with him. Schoolrelated beef of some kind . School related. But you know, nothing out of the ordinary, you know . Nothing that should have ever rose to this level. Reporter neighboring districts were understandably on edge, too. Were they next . My phone blew up from other schools r we in danger . Is this the beginning of something bigger . Theres a lot of people worried. Reporter and concern only height heightened, the sheriff said, when an unknown man stopped by keiths school around noon on that friday, asking to see mr. Reed. He told them that he was applying for a job as a substitute teacher, came in from connect looking for work. Reporter the man seen here was captured on School Surveillance cameras. Was this visitor a piece of the puzzle . Detectives didnt know, but given the potential nightmare of schools and children in jeopardy, it was more important than ever for the sheriff to have all hands on deck at the crime scene. County District Attorney david foley was there and a doortodoor canvas turned up a critical clue for the timeline. A neighbor couple had heard gunshots, three gunshots, friday evening, somewhere around 9 p. M. Reporter on the property itself though, detectives found themselves frustratingly short of clues, but they did recover in the grass a soggy piece of paper that looked like a receipt. It would be work for the lab to figure out. And around the garage, investigators took notice of something perplexing, three exterior lights, the bulbs were missing. Why are the bulbs gone . This is odd. This is really odd. So somebody had done some planning. Rang the door bell, cant see whos out there flips the light on, nothing happens, opens the door, theres his assailant. Reporter so the shooting of the superintendent for a grievance unknown became one here to troy pursue, but detectives were about to hear a story that would make them look at the crime scene in a completely different way, something more traditional. It was possible that keith reed was the victim of a bad romance . As it happened, a candidate for a suspect, someone on again off again, about was to pull into the drive. Coming up, angry texts put a girlfriend in the hot seat. I just found out and now i feel like im a suspect. When dateline continues. These dont look clean. [ doorbell rings ] the johnsons stall them. 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Best day ever. Some of my best work. Everything you need to get ready for spring. Save money. Live better. Walmart. The body of keith reed, the admired School Superintendent, had been found in a hedge by his house. He had been shot three times. Kaets brother, kevin, a Law Enforcement veteran, had cara n caravanned to the house monday morning with his 80yearold parents, expecting to search for a missing person. The sheriff broke the news. So now ive got my mother wanting to go and cover him up with a blanket, cause hes cold. Try that some time. Its a crime scene, mom, you cant go up there. Reporter as the reed family struggled to make sense of the horror, investigators would put the we do keiths daughters did they know of anyone who would have a reason to hurt their dad. We could not think of anyone to tell them. No one. Everyone was just no. Reporter a name occurred to their uncle kevin. He suggested they look at his on again off again girlfriend of many years, kim letterly roush. I said the first thing you need do is talk to kimberly. Where did that come from in you . Experience. And knowing the relationship. Reporter they learned that the superintendents relationship with kimberly had at times been rocky. They had been engaged to be married but keith recently called off the wedding. By the time summer was over, no, were not doing this. Reporter was this what is the crime scene was all about, a deadly confrontation between a man and his lover, upset over a c canceled wedding. Kim buehrle, who was almost two hours away, raced to the house. I said, kevin, what happened . I said, did he have a heart attack or something . And he said, no. Somebody shot him. And i just started sobbing and i started to go down to my niece in the road. Reporter investigator randy bolin was assigned to talk to her. She is crying and very, very, very emotional. So, i immediately go and speak to her but i give her some moments. Reporter but in the investigators eyes, kimberly quickly went from grieving girlfriend to potential suspect. He asked for her phone. I said, okay is there a reason why . I just was kind of shocked. Reporter it turns out keith had asked kimberly to join him testimony katers a conference that weekend. She said they had never finalized the plan but should been mad at him for not returning her calls. She gets very upset in her Text Messages back, like, i cant believe youre not talking to me. You know, and they are like halfviolent, like why are you why are you not calling me . Really flaming stuff, huh . Yeah. Reporter and Something Else. In keiths bedroom upstairs, crime scene analysts noticed this picture frame. It was toppled over and taken apart on a bookcase. Whatever picture had been in it was gone. You can put a story together with that pretty easily, huh . The pieces of the puzzle were just starting to come together. Reporter investigator bolin brought kim ber any for a formal taped interview. She was read her rights. Im still in shock. I barely have my head around that he was killed and now i feel like im going right from that into are you the one that killed him . I just found out that he was dead this morning and then i show up and i found out he was shot. And now i feel like im a suspect. Reporter kimberly told investigator bole. She had been three hours away at her parents house at the time that keith had been shot. She did admit myth while he did get angry with him, she would never hurt him. It never in a million years no matter what he said or did did i ever consider or conceive of the thought of harming him or hurting him or living without him. I remember feeling absolutely terrified and i thought i have two little boys at home. I need to get home. They dont even know hes gone. But in through some of your messages, you displayed the people say things in anger. Anger. Anger. You know what i mean . Have i been angry . You bet i have been angry. Anybody would be in certain situation that doesnt make them a killer. Reporter but had there been a trigger leading up to friday night . The investigators saw in kimberlys Text Messages that she was intent on getting back from reed a high school diploma, something she thought might be at his house. The fword and i said im sure youre obviously youre there with another woman and i dont even care. I just need my [ bleep ] diploma. Why wont you just pick your [ bleep ] phone up . You think im gonna show up and shoot him over my missing diploma i cant find . I would just go there, look through the bins, find it, take it and leave. Reporter but what about that picture frame . Detectives thought it might have been toppled over during a fight. No, weve never broken pictures of each other so i really had no idea what they were talking about. Reporter investigator bolin confronted kim berly a working theory, thinking keith was away, she stormed over to his house with a male friend to get her diploma back, only keith was still home, an unhappy surprise. Theres an issue here where theres two males going at t did you see something you didnt want to see . I wasnt there. Seriously . Not at all . Not at all. They were thinking i was guilty of this. And i loved him so much. I could never have even thought of doing anything like that. Reporter nearly threehourlong interview was over. Kimberly was still in the crosshairs and the thought was terrifying to her. Am i gonna go to jail for something i didnt do . Reporter but investigator bow land had her doubts she had anything to do with keith reeds death. She didnt lead my suspect list but at the same time, she she seemed genuine that she didnt she would never do Something Like this. Reporter meanwhile there had been a very Puzzling Development in the investigation. The sunday night the superintendent was reported missing, the cop also asked the phone company to ping keith reeds cell phone to ask if the technological question, where are you . The phone answered back electronically, im in harrisburg, pennsylvania. This man is dead in the hedges by his house and his phone is in harrisburg, p. A. . Yes. Hours away . Hours away. Reporter a School Superintendent dead at his home. His phone more than 200 miles away. What was going on . Coming up, things get way more complicated when a second woman makes a phone call to the sheriff. I dont know. Okay, just relax. She was very, very upset. [ male announcer ] lets do a brandnew day. Lets step away from the bland and let the color fly. Lets get to the one store with more numberone choices and match this or this without using too much of this. Then lets crack open a can and get to it. Paint . No. Lets do pow. Lets do this. More saving. More doing. Thats the power of the home depot. 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Returning to our story, a School Superintendent in upstate new york has been found murdered. Without much to go on, police have questions about his former fiancee, but a phone, and a phone call, will soon take detectives in a new and unexpected direction. Here again is dennis murphy. Reporter of the many details concerning the homicide of wellliked School Superintendent keith reed, perhaps none was more perplex thank the murdered mans cell phone. Why was the phone company reporting its location as harrisburg, pennsylvania, four hours south of the crime scene . I thought maybe it was a mistake. No one knew of anyone he would know in harrisburg. Reporter in the hours after keiths body was found, relatives frantically called that phone, desperate to get a voice on the other end. Ed sheriff was shocked on monday when one of them hit pay dirt. I just called keith reeds phone and somebody anticipated. I said what . Thats holy cow moment. Oh, yeah. Reporter it turns out the person saying hello was a construction foreman on a bridge near harrisburg. The phone had been found on some scaffolding, which suggested to detees someone in a car had tried to toss the phone into the river. It landed on a bridge deck that was had been set up to do repairs to the bridge. It was a very lucky break for us. What are the odds . 1 in a billion. Reporter while this recovered cell phone was on its way to the fbi lab, crime scene analysts spent the next day at keith reeds house, scouring the property for clues. District attorney david foley knew the clymer community, on edge about a schoolrelated shooting, was anxious for the case to be solved, but an arrest looked a long ways off. Be nice to announce an arrest very quickly but you cant. You cant calm people down, can you . No. Reporter but then wednesday afternoon, something totally out of the blue happened that turned the investigation upside down. The sheriff was in a closeddoor meeting when his secretary interrupted. I thought it was a family emergency. Her face looked like she had seen a ghost. She said, sheriff, you have a phone call i think you need to take. Reporter a panicstricken woman was on the phone, she needed to talk to the sheriff immediately. The sheriff returned to his office so he could take the phone call. I dont know. I dont okay. Just relax. Im so scared. Reporter her name was mary tagliane it. Ti, she was calling from virginia. No one in keiths life, including her daughter, megan, heard of her. That name mean anything to you, mary . No. That name didnt ring a bale belle . No. Reporter caitlin didnt know the name either but realized this woman was a woman her had dad had taken to dinner in 2010 during an off period with kimberly. I remember him saying he was going out to dipper but, yeah nothing ever came from it. Reporter but now mary was on the phone. She was very, very upset. [ crying ] stay with me. This is gonna be okay. Relax. I kept her on the phone purposely, as long as i could, and while we were talking, i had my staff scrambling to get somebody in Law Enforcement to her home. Reporter almost 400 miles south, officers in virginia brought mary to an Interview Room. She was the second woman in three days investigators were speaking to about the murder of the superintendent. Im glad they have these here. I just might need them. Oh, okay. Reporter mary says she and keith first developed a relationship on match. Com. Shed separated from her husband and bhofd her four children to upstate new york. After 11 years of marriage, she says she was trying to figure out how to get back into the dating game. I was lonely and just needed someone to talk to, friend. Reporter mary says she was intrigued by the superintendent and responded when he sent her a message saying hello. And i said, you know, youre really good look bug we started talking and we had some things in common and then he asked if he could call me. Reporter they talked on and off for a couple of months, she says. Keith, who always had a soft spot for someone in need, provided emotional support as she struggled to find her footing as a newly separated woman. I kind of felt lost, you know . I didnt know what to do or where to go next and he was great. He was he was really encouraging. Reporter it was some time in the summer of 2010, she told the detectives, that she met her online match for their one and only date. He took me to dinner and we had a night together. Reporter it was little more than a onenight stand. Mary says she decided to try to make things work with her husband. Keith reconciled with his girlfriend. We both just kind of said good luck to each other. So, it was like a handshake and goodbye, huh . Pretty much. Yeah. Reporter but a couple of years later, mary says, her marriage was once again coming undone. In the spring of 2012, she tried to friend keith on facebook. He didnt accept the request, but the superintendent did write her a message. He sent me a message back asking me how i was and i told him that i wasnt happy. And things werent going too well. Reporter she says they started calling each other on the occasional evening. Keith, struggling with his relationship, and mary, lonely in hers, confided in each other. Was that something nice in your life at that time, mary . Yes. What was it doing for you a piece of happiness, like i felt a little more fulfilled. Reporter but she says their phone conversations did, at times, get sexual. Was it high, how are us, but did it also get a little steam mir, mary . Yes. Reporter still, it hardly seemed like a bigdeal relationship. Could a single date and some suggestive phone calls really add up to murder . In mariers a mind, yes. But she hospital called the sheriff to confess to the crime, nor had she called to point her finger at a potentially jealous girlfriend. No, mary had someone else entirely in mind and the clue to who killed the superintendent could be found on his computer. Coming up, the secret comes out. Trying to give you everything that i can. It was this long thing about dont dont you dare contact my wife ever again and if you do, youre gonna be sorry. When dateline continues. [ male announcer ] at ragu, our mission is to make dinner more delicious. With eleven plump tomatoes in every jar, our sauce is now richer, thicker, and more delectable than ever. And bursting with so much taste, it brings families together. Ragu. Make dinner taste better. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat . Campbells healthy request soup lets you hear it in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ mm. ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. 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Reporter mary who had struggled through the pain of separation once, now decided to try to keep her family together. I was really thinking about the kids and i just thought you know, they deserve to be in their home with the father and the mother. Reporter but her husband was adamant, she says, if he was going to stay there was a condition attached. Shed have to hand over her passwords. Mary told detectives he later logged on to her email account and fired off a blistering message to reed. But it was this long thing about dont dont you dare contact my wife ever again and if you do, youre gonna be sorry because i have the emails and ill post it all over your school. Reporter the superintendent responded simply and directly. Back off. Stay away from me or ill take action and tell your wife the same. And that should have been the end of things . It should have been the end of things. But it wasnt . No. Reporter after reading keiths email, mary says rob started getting dressed. She asked him where he was going. And he said where do you think im going . I said your going to go see keith . And he said, well, i guess you know me. Does he take off in the car . He leaves, late, 11 00 at night. Reporter that all happened, she said, the night before investigators suspected keith reed had been killed. I had thought in my mind, like, theres no ways gonna go all the way up there just to try beat this guy up. Thats what you thought this was, confrontation, a fist fight . Oh, yeah. He had gotten in fist fights before. Reporter for the past few years, mary says, she had been concerned about her husbands trip wire anger. We have episodes where i would be afraid of him or the children would be afraid of him. Reporter it had caused their separation two years before and now she worried her husband had lost all perspective. I hear you saying it may have been a love triangle, only in robs mind . Yes. That is not what was going on . No, it was more like a connective friendship and it was flirting. Reporter she says she emailed keith several warnings and tried to reach her husband throughout the next day, but her calls went straight to voicemail. I was just thinking i was gonna get a phone call from the police saying your husband was acting like an idiot, but accident hear anything from anybody. Reporter mary says rob returned home saturday morning telling her keith had been out of town. Instantly, i was like, oh, good, i was so happy. Like, i was so relived. Reporter relieved she told the detectives, until four days later, when she ran an internet search to see what her husband could have found out about the superintendent. There it was. Keiths picture saying 51yearold keith reed shot to death. I couldnt believe it. Like, i lost my breath and i was shocked. And i knew right away that it had to be rob. Reporter to investigators looking for the killer in upstate new york, marys husband made more than a lot of sense. There was keith reeds cell phone found off this bridge in pennsylvania. Harrisburg is on the way to virginia. See, now that makes sense, too, that piece of the puzzle. Reporter and Something Else clicked. Remember that man whod appeared asking to speak to the superintendent . Investigators e saent freeze frame from the schools Security Cameras down to the Interview Room in virginia. Does this look like him . Yes. Thats him . Yes. Mary identifies those stills being her husband. Now we know it is him in the school. Reporter now authority also a suspect but where was he . Mary said a few days after her husband returned shall, he told her he got a new job and quit his position as an historian at the marine base in want comb up some things and taken off, leaving behind a cryptic note about going on a camping trip to clear his head. At the time, it hadnt made sense to her. I didnt understand why he didnt want to take us, you know, if hes gonna take a couple of weeks off for vacation, why wouldnt he take his family . Reporter but now, everything added up. The authorities issued bolo, a rob taglianetti, a manhunt is under way. We are actively looking for this individual to pick him up for questioning and we consider him to be armed and dangerous. Where flu is where are the children . We were at a hotel. They were worried that he was going to try to come back and look for us. Reporter as the authorities search for rob taglianetti, keith reeds family up in new york state gathered to say their goodbyes. The church in his hometown was too small for the hundreds of mourners, all the people whose lives the educator had touched. Brother, kevin, was a pallbearer. Did you speak that day . I couldnt. My son had to hold me up. You were a wreck at that point . Oh, yeah. Completely. Reporter keiths three daughters, though did find the strength to speak. Years before, they had almost lost their father in a motorcycle accident. He had persevered. Now, they were determined to make him proud. I knew that he wouldnt want us to be sad and depressed. I knew he would want it to be a celebration of his life. Reporter it was that same afternoon that taglianettis gold buick was spotted speeding down a road near a National Park in virginia. Make the plate, pull it over and take him into custody without incident. Reporter anthony rob tagly yannetti was charged with the seconddegree murder of keith reed. To the prosecute, the theory of a jealous husband killing his perceived rival connected all the dots. But wait, the defense said, the real story of who was to blame had yet to be heard. Rob tagly yannetti was merely the pupet, the defense would argue. It was his wife, mary, a cunning and manipulative woman who had pulled the strings. All she wanted was to be with keith reed, which means shes got to get rid of rob tagly yannetti. Shes got to get him out of the picture. Coming up, an angry husband, or as the defense argued a scheming wife. This is the story about manipulation and exploitation. Who was really behind keith reeds death . What you wear to bed is your business. So, if youre sleeping in your contact lenses, ask about the air optix® contacts so breathable theyre approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. Ask your doctor about Safety Information as serious eye problems may occur. Visit airoptix. Com for a free onemonth trial. Im bethand im michelle. And we own the paper cottage. Its a stationery and gifts store. Anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. So you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the Game Changing app from ink. We didnt get into business to spend time managing receipts, thats why we have ink. We like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. 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Reporter more incendiary emails, too, a flurry of them prosecutors said, sent to keith reed the night of the murder, capital letter stuff, exclamation points. Im gonna get you. Im gonna take care of you. You dont mess with me and my family. Reporter and all but say good night forensic evidence found in it. Aglianettis car. In the case under the driver seas seat was a. 357 revolver. It was wrapped in a printout of the wifes steamy email. Blood not only on the barrel but in the barrel, that was the gun pressed up against keith reeds back. Reporter and a big surprise found on tagly yannettis laptop, the prosecution said, an exit strategy. Hours before his arrest, rob tagly yannetti bought a oneway ticket to israel. His ultimate idea was to get out of the country. Reporter but as convincing as the prosecutions case appeared, the defense attorney, ned barone, told the jury it was not what it seemed. This is a story about minuteman nip lation and exploitation. Reporter rob tagly yannetti, he said, was as you marine with a sterling record, a devoted husband who loved his wife and you wanted nothing more than to keep his family together. His wife, mary, on the other hand, was a master manipulator, he said, dead set on destroying the marriage any way she could. Rob tagly yannetti she wanted out of her life. Keith reed, she wantsed to be with him, she did whatever she needed to do to accomplish both those ends. Reporter take robs discovery of his wifes sexual email. The defense suggested mary left that email open on purpose. Why . Maybe because a confrontation between the two men was her goal. Why else, he said, would she not have alerted the authorities to her husbands impending showdown with the superintendent . If youre really worried of what your husbands going to do to another individual, wouldnt you call the officials . Wouldnt you call thely . She waits literally dies Law Enforcement. Reporter mary tagly yannetti, a prosecutions witness, says she is appalled by the defenses theory and calls it preposterous. How is killing reed and getting her husband thrown in prison suppose issed to solve problems . Accident do anything on purpose. Did you willingly provoke him, as the attorney suggests, even leaving open that email to light the torch . No, i wish i never would have left that email open. Thats story the jury is hear bhg you, that youre driving the events. Yeah, these not true at all. Reporter but the defense attorney went even further, maybe those blistering emails from tagly yannetti to reed had been written by mary . While she deny it is, it could be a way for her to frame her husband, showing he left the house with murder on his mind. Theres no corroborating evidence whatsoever of marys testimony that rob authored those emails. Reporter to try to prove that point, the defense attorney cited a phrase in one of those messages that he said rob tagly yannetti would never have used. A marine doesnt refer to himself as a former marine. Once a marine, always a marine. Reporter as for what happened on keith reeds property the night he was killed, the defense did not concede that rob tagly yannetti was there, but if he had been, he said, maybe the superintendent was the aggressor. After all, he argued, it was his reputation that was at stake if the phone sex with mary was exposed. When someones confronted with that situation, who knows what they could do . Too many unanswered goes justify a guilty verdict, the defense told the jury during closing arguments. The prosecutor has failed to establish this case and every element of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. All rise. Reporter but it didnt take the jury long, just three hours to come to its decision. How does the jury find the defendant . The jury finds him guilty. Reporter guilty of the Second Degree murder of School Superintendent keith reed. Rob tagly yannetti received 25 years life in prison. He declined to interview with dateline. In a pretrial motion, his attorney argued that rob tagly yannetti suffers from bipolar disorder and he hoped to make extreme emotional disturbance part of the defense. He says it will be an issue in the upcoming apale. State of mind of the accused here is going to be an area to investigate, huh . Thats crucial. Absolutely. Reporter outside, kevin reed embraced his niece. A brother and father killed by the husband of a woman he had dinner with one time. So overwhelming . I thought i would feel relief or happy, but it just it wasnt. It was tough. Reporter among those thinking about keith reeds family is mary tagly yannetti. My heart goes out to them almost every day. And its a tragedy and my heartbreaks. Reporter the reed family is far from the only victim in this case. Kimberly roush had nothing it whatsoever to do with the crime, yet she says she had to endure being questioned as suspect while simultaneously struggling with the grief of losing a man she loved and as mired. He is an incredible man who loved life. His girls always came first. He was a wonderful father figure to my children as well. Reporter keith reeds three daughters now face a future without their dad. He wont be there to walk the two younger girls down the aisle or be a loving granddad to their children or take their daily phone calls. When do you miss your dad the most . When i drive home from work, i always grab my phone to call him. Its just hard without that person there that i talk to so often. Reporter it has been close to impossible for his family to understand it, a devoted educator who did so much good for so many students, ripped from their lives for something so mundane, some online flirtation, a single dinner date, more flirtation two years later, and then three quick shots. It was a complete waste. Lives of kids he could have helped. Who knows what path they would have taken if they had contact with him. Reporter homicide brewed in cyberspace may sound perfectly modern, but the combustibles are as timeless as the Winter Fields here. One woman, two men, and a jealousy that was allconsuming. Thats all for this edition of dateline. We will see you again next friday at 8 7 central. And ill see you tomorrow on today. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, good night. Previously grimm. Have i done something wrong . Actually, yes, but its not too late to make it right. Have you heard from sebastian . Ive been trying to contact him for two days. No does he know where you are . Not exactly, but he can point them in the right direction. I suggest you move, and the sooner, the better. Well, thats not gonna be easy. Theres three of us now. The only thing you have to worry about now is that we find them. Still warm. They cant have got far. Will you marry me . Will you marry me . Yes. [laughs] now, every so often, something appears that is so horrible, so vicious, it cannot be tamed, for this beast is the demented turmoil of man himself. [people screaming]