I loved david. Or a black widow . Barbara briton is in the middle. Buried secrets. Thanks for joining us. Im lester holt. For years, the woman in this story lives in the most painful kind of limbo. Her son had disappeared and there wasnt a shred of evidence of what happened to him. She may never have known his fate if not for a quickthinking, rookie detective, whose tools included the internet and some plain old common sense. To solve this case, she would need the help of a killer. Here is keith morrison. Reporter its a strange thing that happens among the bogs and marshes, the low soft soil here 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, snowbirds back up north. So no one noticed, at first, what was starting inland a little, in a town called pembroke pines, where Donna Velasquez, just three months a detective, a rookie really, had just been assigned to a brand new 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. And i began to wonder, hmm, is this a test to see, could she really do this. Reporter that the case was a challenge was understatement. A now allbutforgotten mystery, the disappearance 15 years earlier of a young man named David Jackson. And the file offered no hints, no pointers. Nothing, really, beyond the basic bio. To unearth the truth, even the rookie cop knew shed have to learn about the victim. And so she began with something easy. She found David Jacksons mother, judy carlson. Found judys son, actually, who called his mom. And he said, are you sitting . I said, yes. He says, they reopened davids case. Reporter 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 was just loved everything and everyone. Happy birthday to you he would walk in the room and everyone would just be a magnet to him. Reporter David Jackson was the eldest of judys three children. And mark jackson idolized his older brother. He looked out for me. And he was that way with his friends, with everybody. Reporter 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 also had a front row seat to the budding romance between jackson and a pretty 16 year old coworker named Barbara Britton. They were together, and thats awesome. I mean, if you can find love, i mean thats what we all want. And so, all these years later, detective velasquez paid a visit to the woman who had been the girl who had fallen in love with David Jackson. Happy to help, she told the detective. Same thing when we called on her, to talk about the david she knew. Well, he was a very goodlooking man. You know, we just had an attraction for each other and started talking. Sweet, nice, kind, just swept me off my feet. He was a good guy. Reporter and as she talked, it became clear, deep emotions would not stay beneath the surface. I was young. I was still going to school. This is my first love. Reporter two youngsters in love. And then, well, things happen, dont they . Mom, i got something to tell you. I said, what . He said, barbaras pregnant. Reporter and judy was surprised, a little worried maybe. But nowhere near as worried as barbaras parents, particularly her dad, an exmarine, who was not very impressed with young mr. Jackson or so judy heard. Mr. Britton did not like him. I dont know why. Reporter still david, said his mother, was walking on air. He came home one day and he says, well, mom, im gonna have to sell the truck. And i said, why . He said, im going to be a father and a husband and thats not appropriate to have a truck when im gonna have them. Reporter so the pretty girl and the handsome boy got married. A big wedding, too. Even though they were just kids, and very soon parents also, to a son, john jackson. And they fought, made up, fought again. Babies having babies is no easy thing. We were just too young. And to have a baby all the time, i you know, he it was difficult for him. And it was difficult for me. Reporter so who was the first person to say, you got to get a divorce . My dad. Reporter howd david take it . He was just kind of, like, okay, lets just reporter get it over with. Lets just find somebody, some lawyers and, you know, see what we have to do. And that was it. Reporter the two divorced in 1985. David arranged weekend visits with john. How were they together . Oh, wonderful. Johnny just clung to him. They loved each other. Reporter and they all moved on. Couple of years later, barbara married again, Michael Wolfe, an exmilitary man like her dad, about the same age as her dad, too. Your dad and your new husband probably saw eyetoeye a lot . They sure did. They had a lot in common. They would talk a lot. Reporter wolfe took barbara and john to live with him in arizona. But david wanted to be a part of his sons life, so he traveled out west to see the boy. He went out there with a friend of his and they saw johnny for three days. I got pictures of johnny in, like, the old western town and everything. Reporter and maybe it was something about the distance, said barbara. David and i became very good friends when i was out in arizona, and we used to talk a lot. In fact, what she felt deep in her heart, she said, never did go away. Ill always love david. Reporter 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. But when mark arrived, he waited. And waited. No david. And mark jackson had a terrible feeling. No matter what, hed have been there for me. I knew something was wrong. I knew something bad happened. Reporter oh, yes, very bad. And as the rookie detective, Donna Velasquez poked around deep in the past, that something was reaching up through the mud to tell her its long neglected story. When we come back, maybe nature could do some of the work. With the crazy weather and the water table we have, if he was ever buried anywhere somewhere along the line, youre going to pop up. R insurance. Everybody knows that. Well, did you know the great wall of china wasnt always so great . Hmmm. What should we do . Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Put pantene to the test. Healthier hair . When hair loses protein, it splits. Pantene helps stop split ends before they start. So your hair passes the needle test. Get hair so healthy you shine, with pantene. People are using lysol in hundreds of ways. Whats jennifers story . I have two kids and my home is my childrens playground. My goto product is lysol disinfectant spray. I really use it in every room, on every surface and it allows me to get to all the hardtoreach areas. All of the different nooks and crannies and places that little hands like to go. It makes me feel comfortable and confident that my home is fresh, its protected, and that ive killed the germs and bacteria. One lysol, hundreds of uses. Start healthing. One lysol, hundreds of uses. Nothing will keep you from magnum. Made with silky vanilla bean ice cream, rich caramel sauce and belgian chocolate. Discover magnum chocolate pleasure. You just cantider a 4star know the name . P to 60 off, just no name . Until you book. Um. Yeah, id do that compared to a dry duster, a can of pledge picks up more dust and cleans 100 of messes. Pledge multi surface. Dusts better. Cleans more. Pledge multi surface. Save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. D Everybody Knows that. Well, did you know pinocchio was a bad motivational speaker . I look around this room and i see nothing but untapped potential. You have potential. You have. Oh boy. Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Reporter 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. It was a gut feeling. Something was wrong, and i knew it. Reporter but here it was, july 2003, and detective Donna Velasquez relived that puzzling time. Davids exwife, barbara, by then remarried and living in arizona, as she told detective velasquez, got a call from davids worried mother. Barbara said she wasnt worried. Not then. I thought, well, okay. He was with one of his girlfriends. And then she was like, no, were doing a missing person report. And i said, no, hes going to call me in a couple days. I know he is. Hes gonna call me in a couple days. And he never called. He never called. One day turned into the next. Police, family, everybody tried to find him. Couldnt. Started looking, searching. Through canals. Swam in through pipes, under the little bridges on the little dirt roads, anywhere. You see a car that looked like his go by, you do a uturn and you chased it. Reporter how long did that go on . That went on until they found his car. Reporter which, more than three months later, turned out to be at the airport. So did he just take off . His close friend didnt think so. Maybe he got on a plane and he maybe he wanted to do something different. And then i was like, no, he wouldnt do that. Reporter for one thing, david had been preparing for the arrival, in two weeks, of his 5yearold son, john. This was a big one, a monthlong summer visit. Reporter he was preparing for this visit . Oh yeah, for johnny. Yeah. Wanted everything perfect. Reporter and right in the middle of preparations, he vanished . Didnt make sense. But 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. I wrote letters to oprah winfrey. I wrote them to americas most wanted. And then i thought, okay, maybe i can have the semis put a picture of him on the back of the semis. So i got a list of all the big Trucking Companies and did all the letters. But it was 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. Reporter it was, she said, a horrible limbo, a little piece of her still hoping for good news, part of her mourning a loss. I found a therapist right away. She said take, like, 20 minutes out of every day either scream and cry in the morning or scream and cry at night. Reporter can anybody who hasnt been in your shoes understand what its like for a mother to no. Reporter now, years later, the investigation was back in high gear. Judy told detective velasquez that in some corner of her heart she still hoped david might just turn up safely some day. The detective, however, 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 arent found its because someone has intentionally hidden them. But David Jackson might show up, just not alive. And my wheels started turning and i started thinking, you know, we live in florida, with the crazy weather that we have and the water table that we have, if he were ever buried anywhere, somewhere along the line, youre going to pop up. Reporter maybe, the detective thought, remains had popped up. After all, it had been a decade and a half since hed disappeared. And so she googled unidentified remains. It led her down an endless internet trail. And its probably going on 10 00, 11 00 oclock. And im sure my husbands saying, well, where in the heck is that ol girl . Reporter one site after another. Dead end. Until she got to one created by a Florida Medical examiner. Promising. But exhausting. Im there typing away and typing and typing. And it pops up about 100 matches. Reporter but she was determined. She finally winnowed it down to a possible three. And one of them really stands out for me in that it says, white male. And it says, over six foot. Davids a tall guy and hes a white male. Possibly. Reporter those particular bones, just a few, a partial skeleton, turned up during construction of a walmart parking lot not far from the place where david lived, surfaced just a year after david died. Had been gathering dust in storage for 15 years. The detective went to see a forensic anthropologist, but when the doctor measured the bones so she comes out and she says, no, its looking like hes only about 59. Reporter still, velasquez had a hunch that she finally found David Jackson. And she wasnt the sort of person to give up on a hunch. And i said, can we please do this one more time . And she comes back and she goes, honey, she says, i was wrong the first time. She says, this person is anywhere between 59 and 61. I said, oh my gosh, i think ive hit paydirt. Reporter she got dna from davids mother, waited for a lab to compare the samples, and ten days later, detective velasquez called the testing facility. She comes to the phone and she says to me, well, i sure hope youre sittin down. I said why . You got a 100 match. Oh, my gosh. I said, what . Because im not believing that im hearing what im hearing. Reporter 15 years after he disappeared, David Jackson had finally been found. 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, you know, that he was in that area, that i didnt even it was good detective work that identified David Jacksons 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. A construction worker came across some bones. He reported it. They went out and they dug up a bunch of bones. And put the bones somewhere and forgot all about it. They were found about a year after he disappeared and they sat in the morgue for 15 years. Reporter sat there all those years. Even as those who loved david held out a shred of hope that he was alive, somewhere. As far as i know, he was disappeared. He was missing. Reporter but now, detective velasquez had a hard truth to tell. David jackson was dead, not missing. And the way he had been hidden made it perfectly clear, he had been murdered all those years ago, most likely before his friends or family even noticed he was gone. Which put a final period on his mothers lingering hope for his return. And apparently an exwifes what ifs. Reporter were you seriously thinking, you know, maybe someday ill get back together with him. When its your first love, you always think, you know, wow, you know, would it work, what if . Reporter strange how things turn out. Barbara had moved back to florida, remarried again, had a daughter, took a job at walmart. But still held a candle for david, even as he lay under the ground practically next door to the very walmart where she worked. Reporter what did that do to you . Its an eerie feeling. You know, that he was in that area, that i didnt even know about. Reporter such an odd coincidence. Too odd, maybe . Time for a chat. Detective velasquez called barbara. Got herself invited over to barbaras house. Barbara seemed to have no problem talking about david. She said she cared about him a lot. And i say, well, how was david as a father . Well, david became abusive towards johnny physically and emotionally, verbally. Reporter wait a minute. This was a whole new wrinkle. Up to now, everything about davids history had been squeaky clean. As an investigator and as a mom, i begin to say, did you ever call the police . She said, oh no, i never called the police, she says, i just thought he would change. She proceeds to tell me that i documented the injuries with photographs. Never produced any photographs for me. Reporter for us, by the way, barbara changed her story. Says it was really her father, not her, who accused david of abusing his son. And today, she questions the allegation. My dad was looking into counselors and having him, you know, evaluated and stuff like that. Because i would just be like this is david. You know, what are you talking about . Reporter but, of course, the detective couldnt talk to barbaras father about abuse, or murder, or anything else. Harry britton had been dead for years. But barbara had more information for the detective. She recalled a troubling conversation shed had with david. At the time, said barbara, david was working for coca cola, delivering the product. And he told me that someone was placing drugs on his coca cola truck. And through his route, they were being taken off of the truck. I said, wow. I said, thats pretty serious. And she says, yeah. Reporter interesting. Very. Reporter 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, of course, as a person of interest in this kind of case, but as velasquez and we learned, barbara had an alibi. She wasnt 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. Reporter and, lacking any further evidence, detective velasquez was stalled. Dead in the water. Unless maybe the man barbara was married to at the time knew something. Michael wolfe. A little checking revealed wolfe had been married seven times. Number six, a woman named nancy graham, lived in alabama. Velazquez called her. I told her, im investigating the disappearance of David Jackson. And she said to me, how much evidence do you have against him . And i said, i cant discuss the evidence with you, but i can tell you that its enough for me to put him away right now. I was just totally bluffing. I had really nothing. Im just throwing it out there, you know, fishing that long line, and if something bites, im reeling it in. And she says, honey. She says, let me call you back. Reporter the minutes ticked by, velazquez waited by the phone. And when nancy called back, what she said blew the case wide open. She started telling me about who was involved, how it happened, where it happened, what they did, how they did it, how they planned it. Reporter they . Why yes, they. And, by the way, beware the sting of an exwifes tale. She says, im gonna tell you everything you need to know. When we come back, the exwife, ready to spill. The first shot didnt kill him. Shoot him again. When buried secrets continues. No problem. You want to save money on rv insurance . No problem. You want to save money on motorcycle insurance . No problem. You want to find a place to park all these things . Fuggedaboud it. This is new york. Hey little guy, wake up aw, come off it mate geico. Saving people money on more than just car insurance. [ doorbell rings ] stall them. [ imitates monkey ] stop stalling. Cascade platinum fights cloudy residue 3x better than the competing gel and helps keep your dishwasher sparkling. Cascade platinum. And helps keep your dishwasher sparkling. Something happens when you giveair. R hair. You get a natural look without the gray. Only just for men has airactiv. The only technology that uses oxygen in the air to get rid of gray while leaving the natural variations in your hair. No ammonia. No peroxide. No overcoloring. Just air. Just you. And the look you want. Just for men. Thats why theres a listerine® product for every mouth. One to clean your whole mouth. One for those hard to reach places. One to protect kids mouths from cavities. Even one to freshen breath onthego. With over 100 years of innovation in oral care. Theres a listerine® product for every mouth in your house. For cleaner, healthier mouths go beyond brushing alone. Listerine®. Power to your mouth ™. Compared to a dry duster, a can of pledge picks up more dust and cleans 100 of messes. Pledge multi surface. Dusts better. Cleans more. Pledge multi surface. Great rates for great rides. Geico motorcycle, see how much you could save. Reporter David Jackson was murdered in 1988 in florida. That much detective Donna Velasquez could say for certain. But the rest . After more than a year of phone calls and late nights, all velazquez had come up with was an increasingly complicated web of stories and relationships. David jackson was married to Barbara Britton. Her father, harry, disliked david. Barbara went on to become the fifth wife of a man named Michael Wolfe. They divorced and he later married two more times. But now, finally, one of wolfes exwives, a woman named nancy, was sitting with kdetective velasquez, telling police she knew everything about what happened to david. Can you tell me again . Because i know how he was killed and what they did with him. Reporter how did she know . According to the ex, michael drank. A lot. Every night he would almost down a whole bottle of scotch, and i guess he just needed to talk. Reporter and the story wolfe told, according to the ex, implicated more than just himself. Heres what happened, as nancy heard it. Wolfe and Harry Britton, barbaras father, rented a motel room on that long ago july night, invited david to a meeting there. When he gets at the hotel, they have a very small conversation and michael shot david in the head. He told me he had to get so drunk to do it. And that the first shot didnt kill him. He had to shoot him again. Reporter after which, as nancy relayed the story they did take his car to the airport and left it there. Then they took him over to i mean, there was an empty lot there. And thats where they buried him. Reporter he did not spare the detail, said nancy. He did tell me he poured some corrosive, and i think it was lye, is what he said, over the body. And sure enough, that was consistent with the investigation. Reporter along with that story came what sounded like a motive. David disappeared, remember, as he was preparing for a visit from his 5yearold son, john. They decided that david needed to be gotten rid of. Because they never wanted david to be in johnnys life. Reporter david was murdered in cold blood just to keep him out of his sons life . And, boom, it clicked for me all of a sudden. I said, wow. I said, thats over child custody. Thats why hes not here today. Reporter that was the motive . That was the motive. Reporter but was wolfes confession to an exwife a true story or just alcoholfueled bravado . There was no way to know for sure. But it was enough at least to bring about the arrest in october of 2004 of Michael Wolfe, now living in ohio. But an arrest does not a conviction make. And as Michael Wolfe cooled his very sober heels in an ohio jail, he protested his innocence to anybody who would listen, including the local police, to whom wolfe sent a letter, in which he claimed all he knew of the crime centered on a conversation with his exwife, barbaras father, harry, a few months before the murder. Reporter stefan kamph writes for the browardpalm beach new times. And read michaels letter. All michael would admit to is meeting harry in a park near the walmart, overlooking the place where davids bones would later come out of the ground. Michael wolfe said that he had basically pointed over to that plot of land and said, well, if you needed to bury a body, that would be a good place to do it. And then he concluded his letter with, and i dont know if he had listened or not. Reporter apparently, he did. If Michael Wolfe had really not known anything beyond that point, it would get him off the hook, and it would leave it all in the hands of Harry Britton. Reporter so michael was pinning the murder on no one but harry, who was safely dead and could tell no tales. But now detective velasquez 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 kettering, ohio to extradite Michael Wolfe back to florida. Reporter how did he reac he said some pretty harsh words. Its not very ladylike if i say it, though. Reporter you can say it. He said, im [ bleep ]. Reporter this was it. Velasquez had her moment. Finally after 15 years, she had made sure someone was going to be held accountable for the death of David Jackson. It was the culmination of 16 months of such a long, grueling, up and down, tiresome investigation, of nights of not sleeping, of days of going to work and living off of coffee. And 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. But what prosecutors did have was the verbal confession, the drunken story his exwife said he had told her. And then, checkmate. Another exwife told police virtually the same story. He told me he shot him in the head. And he told me that he had a silencer on the gun. Reporter now she, too, was called to the stand. That was enough. The jury was out less than a hour. The verdict was guilty. At the sentencing, life in prison. David jacksons family confronted Michael Wolfe. Not just to condemn him, but to ask a question. Because there was still 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 would he go to a motel to meet mr. Britton when mr. Britton was ten minutes down the road . I mean, david is not a stupid child at 24. Why would mr. Britton want to see him in a motel . Reporter tell what you know, they demanded. There would be no justice, they told wolfe, unless everyone involved was held accountable. Outside the courtroom, davids brother encountered the states attorney, and said hes going to tell you. And he said, hes not going to tell me anything. I saw it in his eyes. Hell tell you. And then we got the real story. Reporter in fact, it was just two days later when wolfe finally confessed the true measure of his guilt and 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 who was on the phone. David takes the phone. Comes out a little while later. All spruced up, ready to go out. When dateline continues. Because once theyve try finish, they cant keep it to themselves. Im switching for good wow finish is seriously good cant believe how great it works love love love finish its a shine thats sweeping across america. Finish delivers an unbeatable clean and superior shine versus cascades leading detergent. Look no ugly spots. And see that shine . Youve got to try finish. So take the finish challenge. Switch and see the difference. In pampers cruisers. They adapt at the waist, legs and bottom, with up to 12 hours of protection for all the freedom to just play. Pampers. You fifteen percent or more on huh, fiftcar insurance. Uld save Everybody Knows that. Well, did you know words really can hurt you . What. . Jesse dont go jesse. No im sorry daisy, but im a loner. And a loner gotta be alone. Heee yawww geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Jesse . Liher favorite princess dress. N but once a week i let her play sheriff so i can wash it. I use tide to get out those week old stains and downy to get it fresh and soft. You are free to go. [ dad ] tide and downy together. Reporter in november of 2007, the man who shot David Jackson to death was found guilty of the crime and sent to prison for the rest of his life. But a couple of days after he was sentenced, wolfe sent out word he was ready to tell the rest of the story. Sure, he said, he was the triggerman. And, yes, his fatherinlaw was determined to get rid of david permanently. But to set their trap, to lure david to the kill site, the motel, they needed bait. And that bait, said wolfe, was barbara. Barbara, who did not require persuasion. Quite the contrary, said mr. Wolfe. Barbara britton is in the middle. From what i was able to learn about david, he would have never gone to that hotel room to meet Harry Britton. He would have never gone to that hotel room to meet Michael Wolfe. He debride come meet barbara. Reporter the woman who wept tears of love for her long lost david, who professed to have held a torch all those years was the very same woman, said wolfe, who called david on the phone and enticed him to go to that motel room to be killed. They needed to use barbara as the lure because david still had feelings for barbara. Reporter evidence . David had a roommate, reported journalist stefan kamph. And that roommate heard david take a phone call just before he went out that night. He was pretty sure it was a woman who was on the phone. David takes the phone, goes into his room, comes out a little while later. Hes all spruced up, ready to go out. Hes got a smile on his face. Hes combing his hair. Hes puttin on his drakkar noir cologne. And David Jackson left the apartment at that point. That was the last that any of his friends saw him at that point. Reporter what really happened in the motel . Wolfe said he hid in the bathroom when david arrived. Barbara answered and he was glad to see her. He said they walked in. They sat down on the edge of the bed, and barbara had a stun gun. And barbara hit david with the stun gun. Reporter but the stun gun malfunctioned. So wolfe stepped out of the bathroom with his gun. He said, so i had the gun wrapped in a towel. And he showed me like this. He said, i picked the gun up and i fired one shot. And about that time, Harry Britton came into the room and said, hes not dead yet. Hes still breathing. Shoot him again. So he says, i shot him again. And said, that shot killed him. And they put davids body in the back of harrys vw and transported it to the site where they had already predug the grave, so all they had to do was just lay his body in there and cover him up. Reporter but that wasnt the end of wolfes tale. A year after the murder, he said, he got a call from Harry Britton. He had learned that they were going to build a new walmart right there at the corner where they were reporter where the bones were buried. Where the bones were. And harry, Michael Wolfe said, told him, you have to come back down here and move the bones, almost as an order. Reporter wolfe flew back to florida. Michael says that he went out there in the middle of night and collected what he could find and put em in a trash bag. And then he went back to barbaras brittons familys house and put the bones out for the trash in a plastic bag. Michael wolfes story seemed to tell it all, and to cast Barbara Britton in a leading role. And once she heard that story, detective velasquez was convinced. Barbara, determined to keep david away from their son, was a full partner in his murder. Reporter what are the chances that either Michael Wolfe or Harry Britton forced her to take part in the scheme . Forced . Reporter yeah. You dont have to force a willing participant. Reporter and you believe she was willing . Yes. Reporter the detective couldnt help remembering, she said, what barbara told her when she heard that davids bones had been identified. Strangely enough, the first thing she said to me was, how many bones do you have . Reporter come on. She had participated in retrieving those bones. And they thought they had gotten them all, when they had left about 50 behind. Reporter all this time, said the detective, she just knew barbara had been lying. And now she had the goods. We asked barbara about all this, of course, about her exhusbands allegations that she was deeply involved in the murder. And she denied it. And you had no part in killing david . No, i did not. I had no knowledge, and i had no part. And, you know, little lies here and there that mike keeps changing his story. I think its just psychotic. I think he its just psychotic for the things that he has said. I was 21 back then. I was very, like i dont think i could plan much, you know . I mean, im not stupid, but im not that smart, you know . Reporter no, said barbara, it was all exhusband Michael Wolfes doing. His guilt, she said, made sense of his strange behavior during their time in arizona, particularly the weekend david disappeared. A weekend when, barbara says, 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. Its you know, dont worry about it. I got business to take care of. Reporter but she knew nothing at all about the murder, she insisted, until the penny dropped during a conversation years later with her father. Im like, i wonder you know, i wonder what hes doing. I wonder if hes coming back. I wonder, you know, where hes at or what happened. And he would just be like, you dont have to worry. You know, hes not around to bother you. Reporter what was that like to deal with . Very, very rough. Thats my dad. Thats my dad. I couldnt accept it. What satisfaction did it get, you know . I mean, did it satisfy him . Because it sure didnt satisfy me. Reporter still in december of 2007, it was detective velasquez who got what she wanted. She had worked hard to prove what she believed to be true, that barbara was an integral part to the plot to kill David Jackson. And finally now, Barbara Britton was arrested and charged with murder. And now, perhaps, a jury could answer the question, do you believe this woman, a woman whose hands literally shook, whose tears flowed at the mere mention of her departed exhusband, do you believe the things she said . All that time, we thought he was its always been hes missing. Come up, could barbaras ex have a reason to lie about her role in the murder . She says yes, he held a grudge against her. And for you to now pay the price . Yes. And then her day reporter Barbara Britton, the woman who sobbed at the mere mention of David Jacksons name, was now in jail, awaiting trial for killing him. Exactly where barbara belonged, said detective Donna Velasquez. She made it happen. She was the instigator as well as just being the one in the middle . I had no doubt in my mind that she was the catalyst. Reporter barbara, meanwhile, maintained her innocence. Claimed there was a certain reason Michael Wolfe lied about her that way. It was payback, she said, for something that happened when they were married. And 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. And when he got home from work that night, i confronted him on it. And he told me that he was doing gun runs to haiti. Reporter barbara said she told the police about wolfes alleged gun running. And he got mad and he even told a cell mate of his that thats it, you know . Reporter ill make you pay the price. That i was yeah. Reporter interesting, if true. Wolfe hasnt commented but keith seltzer, barbaras defense attorney, suspected wolfe had a much more practical motive. Michael wolfe was initially offered a 15year plea bargain, to take 15 years and testify against whoever his accomplices might be. Reporter sure. And, lo and behold, a week after the jury convicts him of firstdegree murder, there was an option at that point to maybe get that 15 years back. That was his motivation. Reporter in other words, said barbaras attorney, wolfe would sell out barbara any way he could to get a reduced sentence. Of course, there was the uncomfortable fact of the two unprompted confessions hed made to his exwives. Confessions in which hed portrayed barbara as a sort of black widow, intent on having david killed. Well, there are two versions that he gave to each of those exwives. Reporter the stories were not entirely consistent, said attorney seltzer. Besides, he said, barbara was at home in arizona the night of the murder. How does he know that . A phone bill from her mothers home placing calls to her home in arizona that night when nobody else could have been there. Reporter and whats a phone bill of that age doing lying around somewhere that can be grabbed for evidence by the defendant . The father was a meticulous record keeper. Reporter whats to say that wasnt an Answering Service that picked them up . Michael wolfe testified in his first deposition that they had no answering machine. Reporter could have been somebody else in the house. We questioned mr. Wolfe about that, and he said that there was nobody there. Reporter but as the defense prepared for trial in december of 2010, something changed. There was new evidence discovered. Reporter laney bandell is the prosecutor who inherited the case. And that new evidence was what was consider a jailhouse snitch. And he came forward and stated that Michael Wolfe told him he had fabricated the entire story about barbara participating in the murder of David Jackson. Reporter that particular jailhouse snitch was well known, the d. A. Says, mostly for the false information he provided. Still, after three years in jail it was enough to get barbara released and placed on house arrest pending trial. And then . Prosecutor bandell met Michael Wolfe to ask him about testifying against barbara. Didnt go well. The blow came to me when he said, what am i getting in return . What will my sentence be reduced to . Reporter now the state reassessed its options. I think with any case, youre taking a 50 50 chance. The lack of forensics, 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. Reporter the people who conducted the investigation, you know, deep down in their guts, are sure that she was at the center of it. Did you think so, too . What i think as a person and what i think as a prosecutor i have to keep them separate. And while i may have believed that barbara was a full participant in this, what i can prove is totally different. Reporter so you made an offer . We made an offer. Reporter Barbara Britton was offered two more years of house arrest and eight years of probation. She would avoid trial, but she had to plead guilty to accessory after the fact in davids murder. Meaning she acknowledged knowing about the crime but only after it occurred, something shed always denied. You got to remember, i had that option to go to trial and take it. Its just, taking a chance with 12, 14 other reporter jurors who would hear a story about a mata hari control freak who very cleverly manipulated men to get them to do this awful thing. Right. They already know what youre there for, you know . So theyre already going to have somewhat of an opinion. Reporter 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. Its lifechanging. Its very lifechanging. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth . Yes, i do. Reporter detective velasquez joined davids family at barbaras sentencing hearing. Youre okay with this stipulation and the fact that its a guilty plea . Yes. Judge, for the record, David Jacksons mother would like to speak. Reporter davids mother read a victims impact statement. Because of you, barbara, ive cried endlessly for 24 years. I wanted to die myself, to be with david. Reporter her gaze fixed on the woman her son once loved. You are guilty. Michael wolfe 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. Reporter davids brother, mark, was not at all sure that justice was served. If you lose in trial, thats gods will. You cant control that. But i think it should have gone to trial. Have a picture of david. Reporter but his mother . There was justice. Yes. And shes a felon now for life. Shes got to live with all that. I dont. Oh, my god. Every time i get out of bed in the morning, one leg says guilty and the other one says felon. Reporter and as for the detective who so doggedly pursued the case, who now thinks a murderer got away . At first i was disappointed. So, i had to make peace with it. And when i put my head down on the pillow at night, at the end of the day shes a felon. Mentally when youre in prison here, do you ever escape that . Reporter barbaras house arrest is now over, but when we talked to her, she was spending it in her fathers home that old vw, the one in which they allegedly carried off davids body the night he was killed, was still parked outside. She was surrounded by the curse of her fathers alleged sin and, many still feel, cursed by the part she played in murder. Reporter 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. Reporter bit of a curse, huh . It seems like it. Reporter youre surrounded by it, even now. Yeah, im surrounded by it. My dad, hes passed on and moved on. And im living it. Every minute. Thats all for now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us. Next on meet the press, the racial divide in america. New developments this morning as the slaying of an unarmed black teenager by a white Police Officer turns a st. Louis suburb into a combat zone. The search for answers and the National Debate over race and policing that prompted president obama to weigh in once again. Ill be joined by the governor of missouri and key voices from Law Enforcement and the political world. And taking on the isis threat. Does president obamas refusal to intervene in syria doom attempts to stop the terror group from taking hold in iraq and beyond . And how deep is the risk between Hillary Clinton and the president on the use of force in the middle east. Plus, remembering comic genius