Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20150911

Its only a matter of time. Suddenly, rachel disappeared, and a desperate search began. You can see the vastness and all the various places that you could conceal a body. Reporter months went by. The case stalled. Then investigators learned that the plot might be bigger and darker than they ever could have guessed. This is a very tantalizing thread that comes together. Absolutely. Reporter whispers that rachel was the victim of something out of a hitchcock movie. A moment of pure evil. He had a look in his face i had described as satan. Reporter and, just maybe, a second woman in the crosshairs. If the stories were true, then you had married a stranger. Exactly. Reporter im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Dennis Murphy with secrets of the snake river. Reporter in country so beautiful as the palouse, the wheat and bean fields running up and down the bumps and hollows of Eastern Washington as far as the eye can see, its hard to imagine anything bad happening out here. But gaze and listen closely, and sometimes youll uncover secrets in the shadows. Murder and betrayal, as close as the stranger sleeping beside you. Here in the city of clarkston, a 40yearold single mom was raising her two young sons. She also had two older daughters. Rachael anderson was her name, just fivefoot and a bit, and how susie jeppson enjoyed her company. We were just friends from the getgo. She was just spunky and fun, and she just loved to laugh. Reporter her grown daughters were out of the house. Amber. She was my hero. She was my everything. She just had a really fun spirit about her. Reporter ashley. She raised us, gave us everything we needed, taught us everything we needed to know. Reporter rachael had been married and divorced three times when, by the spring of 2009, a new man had entered the picture. She told me that shed met somebody. Theyd gone out on a date and that she was very impressed because he wanted to have a blessing over the food that he and she thought that was just wonderful. Reporter a publicly christian man with a notorious gangsters last name, Charles Capone. I asked her out for dinner and we went to dinner, and we found each other attractive. Reporter what made you laugh about her . How she looked at life, everything is to be absorbed. Everybody should have a good time. Nobody should fight. Reporter what was going on in her life . I thought she was a brilliant woman. I thought, oh, this womans focused, got direction, awesome. Reporter rachael told her daughters about charles, how devout, kind, and handsome he was, and successful. He owned a busy Auto Repair Shop up the road a ways in moscow, idaho. He did service on peoples cars for no charge to help, you know, people who didnt have the money in the community. Reporter the new couple were soon regulars at sunday worship. And charles found himself with a new business partner. She started helping me with the shop. She had that office totally changed around and working more efficiently and saving me money in just a matter of, you know, two months. Reporter rachael and charles dove headlong into a whirlwind romance. Introduced in may, they eloped in november. The newlyweds made their home at rachaels place, about 30 miles south of charles auto shop. Rachaels, sons, 6yearold gavin and 10yearold aiden, lived with them. We took the kids fishing. They had never been fishing before. Shed throw on camo and go hunting with the guys. Reporter but the thrill was gone not more than a month after the wedding. The couple went their separate ways. A lonely charles moved into his shop for a while until a friend offered him a place to stay. Separated but their lives remained curiously intwined. Were talking all the time. Were either getting along or not getting along. We could have one phone call that was, you know, just enjoyable, you know, talking about things that need to be taken care of. And then we have one phone call where were just just going at each other. Reporter as winter turned to spring in 2010, rachael and charles did have something to talk about. Strange, unsettling things were happening to rachael. She told her friends someone was stalking her. We were talking late at night, and she got real panicked and she said, i think theres somebody outside. Reporter and then came a rash of disturbing phone calls. No caller i. D. , disguised voices. Its funny you just dont get it. Reporter she gave her friend Jennifer Norberg the lowdown. What kinds of things were going on with her . Phone calls. Distorted voices. Reporter creepy movie kind of stuff . Knowing where shes at in her house, which lights were on. Not just, i know where you are, but i know in the bedroom right now . Umhmm. I know what time you came home last night and what time you left today. And just watching her every move. Its only a matter of time before we get your cell phone number. Reporter charles, meanwhile, told rachael he was getting the same kind of disturbing calls. And in april, it got worse. Rachaels vehicle was vandalized more than once. Tires slashed, windows broken. Charles volunteered to fix her car, even though they were living apart. He gave her a loaner suv to drive. Rachael was pretty sure who was behind all the scary nonsense, a guy shed gone out with a few times and had developed, she thought, an unhealthy thing about her. Rachael went to the county Sheriffs Office and told her story to captain dan hally. She was extremely frightened. She believed an individual that she had dated for a couple weeks by the name of William Slemp he was the one stalking and harassing her. Reporter so when rachael left that day, what was the plan . She was going to essentially put together the information that she had, and then we were going to meet again that friday. Reporter did you see her again, captain . I talked to her on the phone, but i never saw her again. Reporter not long after leaving the Sheriffs Office, rachael applied for a restraining order against William Slemp. It was the weekend. The two boys had visitation with their dads. It wasnt until midmorning the following monday that people began to realize that something had gone very wrong. Rachaels daughter amber got a message that her mom hadnt shown up for work as a medical technician. Totally unlike her . Yeah. I knew immediately that it was bad. Amber got word to sister ashley, and they raced to their moms home. When there was no answer at the door, they called the police. Captain hally dispatched his lead detective Jackie Nichols. There was several people in the front yard, rachaels daughters, and they were frantic. I searched the house looking for any types of evidence. Reporter nothing, huh . No. The last time i seen her, she said that, i think this will end in my death. Where was racael anderson . An allout search of about to set off a string of alarm bells. When we return, the first ominous clues. It vehicle was left unlocked with her purse in plain sight with the keys sitting in plain sight. What woman leaves her purse behind . It was a bad sign. Reporter Rachael Andersons loved ones were filled with dread when she failed to turn up for her job as a medical technician that monday morning in 2010. She would have never left her children. She would not have left her sons, not for a minute, not for a day. Reporter investigators had a few bare facts to work with. They knew rachael had canceled that friday meeting with Asotin County sheriffs captain dan haley about the stalking incidents. Detectives could find no atm or cell phone activity since a voicemail rachael left at 8 09 friday night. That meant rachael had been off the grid nearly three days. I knew there was something very, very wrong. Reporter youd swung into action . I had about 1,000 fliers printed at staples. Reporter monday afternoon Law Enforcement pinged rachaels cell phone and got a weak echo just across the snake river from her home. We got a lot of people out into that field that night. Also, used a bloodhound to do a live search. We were looking in trash bags, and tarps, and under bushes. We searched all night. By the time i got home, my knees were bloody and my hands. Reporter the search was futile. Early the next day, tuesday, captain hally formed a regional missingperson task force. So whats on your white board . Whats on your agenda . This William Slemp. Reporter the former boyfriend. Yeah. We went down and other exboyfriends, exhusband. Family. There had been a neighbor that lived across the street from rachael that had some suspicious behaviors. Hed asked rachael out on a date and shed turned him down. And then he left town very abruptly. Reporter i mean thats certainly suspect. Is he involved . Well and were checking hospitals, travel information. We checked every bus ticket that was sold that weekend. Reporter an early lead may have come when rachael talked to sheriffs captain dan hally the week before. She told him that day she was terrified of the slemp guy messing with her. But the captain had a different stalking suspect in mind after rachael told him she was divorcing charles. So an early stop for investigators was the charles shop. So whos the guy you met . Easygoing. Very cordial. He was being cooperative. I didnt have anything to hide. What was i going to hide . Here they come, driving up. Im like, come on in. Reporter charles assured police he had nothing to do with the stalking or damaging of her car. But youre not vandalizing the vehicle . Youre not scary walking her house . Absolutely not. Reporter did you slash her tires . No, absolutely not, and i reporter did you break out the back windshield . No, absolutely not. Reporter in fact, charles told the cops he was helping rachael get to the bottom of the harassment. He said the estranged couple together went looking for the obsessed exboyfriend to sort him out. She tells me about him. And then we go driving over to his house because theres a pay phone right near his house thats one of the pay phones that was making phone calls to her. Reporter you thought slemp was the stalker . I just thought he was still involved with her because he had this huge crush on rachael. He tells me he was, you know, being the helpful guy, and then hes trying to help her figure out whos stalking her. Reporter charles went on to tell the investigators he hadnt seen rachael since that previous friday night when shed stopped by the garage to pick up her car. It wasnt ready. He described how she was upset, because, you know, hes workin on her car. Reporter charles said rachael then left to buy a computer. She couldnt find what she wanted but returned with a sixpack. They drank a few of the beers, he said, and she left. Whats the picture thats coming together for you . Im trying to keep all options open in my mind. Because i was concerned that she mightve been impaired that evening and couldve driven off the road. Reporter a benign kind of explanation for why shes gone missing . Right. Reporter but a few hours later that theory was doused when they located rachaels loaner suv at a Convenience Store that doubled as a bus station not far from her house. The vehicle was left unlocked with her purse in plain sight with the keys sitting in plain sight. Reporter what woman leaves her purse behind . It was a bad sign. Reporter and the detectives had to consider another scenario. Had pretty 54 rachael, 120 pounds soaking wet, offered an easy target for an abduction by a stranger unknown . While detectives were doing their official thing, rachaels loved ones were widening their increasingly desperate search all across the palouse. We were up handing fliers from here to colfax, east, west, north, south. We were out every available minute. Reporter it was as though the palouse had just swallowed her up. Coming up finally a break. Police learn there was somebody else with Charles Capone the night rachael disappeared. Something doesnt add up. Reporter Rachael Anderson, a mother of four, had vanished and it was the job of captain dan hally and the missing Persons Task Force to find out what had happened to her. Rachael has not hopped a bus . No. Reporter shes not in anybodys emergency room . No. Thats correct. Reporter you suspect foul play . Absolutely. Right. Reporter the investigators started working their way through a list of suspects, starting with the men who wanted to be in rachaels life. There was the neighbor whod tried to take her out and been turned down. He had an alibi. That left the old boyfriend named slemp, the one rachael said she was afraid of. But he could account for his whereabouts when rachael went missing. The former boyfriend was not playing out. Correct, yeah. Reporter you had to follow all those trails . Absolutely, yeah. Absolutely. As these threads started, we would follow them as we could. But Charles Capone was the one that never was a dead end. Reporter captain dan hally had been suspicious of charles ever since rachael stopped by to make a stalking complaint about the exboyfriend. But that same day rachael had also told the captain she was in the midst of divorcing Charles Capone. The grounds . She said hed tried to choke her. Well, that was a huge red flag. Captain hally advised her to get a restraining order right away against her estranged husband. Rachael didnt want to hear that. She was agitated because im telling her, its your soontobe ex, charles, doing this, not slemp. Two gays days later, the captains phone. She said she was going up to tell him they were done. What did you tell her . I sid it was dangerous. Dont go up there. As the cops suspicions grew after charles decided to stop cooperating. They suggest maybe you should go down and have a more formal. I talked to my attorney. He said, have them contact me if they have any more questions. You dont have to go down there. The car mechanic had a secret he knew the police would come over. The publicly pious, pray over his pancakes christian had a past rachel and his family knew nothing about. A back story that included prison time for bank robbery and assault. The onetime felon had apparently changed. Im going doing everything a normal person does i always feel like ipaid my debt and let me go on and move something good and constructive. Your paying your taxes and mooing the lawn sf. It is nice to go and walk around with your head up. The cops werent so sure. They were chasing down his friends, his good balance, david stone, a married High School Baseball coach and an employee at the moscow, idaho maintenance department. To the investigators astonishment, david volunteered that hed been hanging out with charles and rachael at the garage the friday night she went missing. Its absolutely huge. Reporter now you got another guy, someone with information. Somebody with information. It immediately raises the question, why didnt Charles Capone ever mention david stone to me during the entire time i interviewed him . Reporter threedays after rachael was reported missing, the Task Force Detectives sat david stone down and grilled him. He provided a timeline for that evening, and it was different than Charles Capones timeline. Reporter the husbands friend told the cops rachael came by the shop about 5 00 p. M. And waited for charles to finish her car. David stone says he then left to get some food at an a w. When he got back to the garage around 8 00, rachael was gone. Stone said he drove charles to a local bar, swung by his home for a while, then went out later to pick up charles at the bar. Many of the investigators knew david stone and his wife alisa. She worked in Moscow City Hall as a grants writer. Who was your dave, personality, character . Yeah. Someone that was very caring, was a really good stepdad. You know, was on the volunteer fire department. Reporter Charles Capone, were they friends . Yes, yes. Reporter did you know rachael . I knew her only from church. Reporter alisa knew her husband was at the garage that friday night and said nothing seemed amiss. What did he say was going on . He said he dropped charles off at mingles and that there had been some interaction with rachael that wasnt happy. And charles said he wanted to have a drink. And so he dropped him off and was going to go back, and pick him up and hed be home. Reporter intriguing perhaps, but the two friends mismatched stories did nothing to advance the cops case. Rachel still missing, there was no evidence an actual crime had even occurred. All they had were their suspicions about david stone and Charles Capone. So now you got two different versions of friday night. Two different versions. They were supposedly together, but theyre telling two different stories. Reporter tangled somewhere in the differing accounts, the cops thought, there must be a buried clue about what had happened to rachael. Meantime, her heartbroken daughters did what they could to fill the awful hours. Organizing searches, building a webpage, and pressuring the police. We searched ditches. We searched, gosh, abandoned buildings. We searched. Abandoned mines. We put yeah, we put fliers in towns, hoping that someone would see her passing through. Their mom meant so much to them. And they did not want this to just become another cold case. Reporter the investigation was heading that way until the detectives revisited an early lead. A nefarious scheme, if true. Hard to believe that something as evil as that could happen in the palouse. This is a very tantalizing thread that comes together this is the stuff of the movies. Absolutely. Coming up, the case is about to go in an unthinkable direction. With the clock ticking, police realize another woman may also be a target. We wanted her to know that she was potentially in danger herself. Reporter the high and low search across the eerily beautiful palouse country for any trace of Rachael Anderson was turning up nothing. Months after her disappearance detectives were convinced they had identified their prime persons of interest, rachaels estranged husband charles and his churchgoing buddy, david stone. But the investigation had stalled and was at an apparent dead end. No secret what the biggest obstacle was for lead investigators captain dan hally and detective Jackie Nichols. Its an axiom in Law Enforcement, no body, no crime. Its a challenge. At this point, we dont even know for sure that we have a death. We believe that in our gut. Reporter as the cops dug deeper into the background of the husbands friend david stone, the case suddenly became way more complex. A mind blowing theory, maybe this wasnt just about one wife, rachael, maybe it was about two. The investigation had led them to the city maintenance yard where stone worked. A fellow employee there had related a conversation hed had with david stone a while back. It surfaces that there had been some conversations between david stone and this individual about a plan to kill stones wife for 10,000. Reporter then stone, the story went, came back sometime later and told the maintenance yard guy to forget theyd talked. Hed arranged a plan b for murder. And that later that deal was canceled because stone had reached an agreement with Charles Capone that they would kill each others wives. Reporter ill kill your wife if youll kill mine . This is the stuff of the movies. Right. It is, absolutely. Lets say that that youd like to get rid of your wife. Reporter to be specific, a 1950 Alfred Hitchcock thriller titled strangers on a train. In the movie two strangers each agree to commit a murder for the other. They swap murders. Reporter did capone and stone each agree to do in the others wife . Could that be . Do you believe it . I think there was something to it because the yeah, i definitely think there was. Reporter mrs. Stone is alive and well and among us. Did you talk to her . Yes, we did. Reporter boy, what a table conversation, huh . We wanted the cops are telling me that youre trying to kill me . We wanted her to know that she was potentially in danger herself. Reporter you get some devastating news but you continued to share a house with him, huh . I did. I remember many times when i would question david and say somethings not right. Reporter david stone was able to convince alisa that the cops had dreamed up the murder plot story as a way to put pressure on him to turn him against his friend. And putting pressure on that friend, Charles Capone, is what happened next. Hed been found in a possession of a gun, a big nono for a former felon. Capone was placed in the county jail while awaiting federal charges on a firearm violation. In a cell, the visiting detectives had his full attention. And i get this interesting visit from dan hally and Jackie Nichols. I essentially opened it up with, today, charles, youre going to tell me you killed rachael and where her body is. And his response was, well, you only got one of those right. But i didnt kill her. Reporter if charles didnt kill her, who did . The investigators landed hard on david stone, the only other person known to have been with rachael that night. And we confront him with, stone, we know you got blood on your hands. His response was he just sat back, and he said, i need a drink of water. Never denied it. But thats when then he wanted his attorney after that. Reporter with no reason to hold him, david stone was free to go home to wife alisa, the woman cops feared he wanted dead. But not charles. He was about to be put on ice. Five months after rachael disappeared, he pleaded guilty to the federal firearms charge and was sentenced to almost threeyears. So capone wasnt going anywhere. But still the Task Force Investigation focused on him and stone, appeared to be at a dead end. The missing womans daughters were in limbo, too. It just went on for years, years of one nightmare. Reporter as happens, rachael became old news and the case receded from the headlines. Fresh cases demanded the attention of detective Jackie Nichols. No problem, she took to looking for rachael on her days off. As you look around here, you can see the vastness of the countryside here and all the various places that you could conceal a body. And going up into the mountains, coulees and gorges. Mountains, ravines. We even did some searches based on psychic visions and dreams. Reporter oh, really . Rachaels family, at as much of a dead end as the cops, also turned desperately to the supernatural. We did some pretty extreme things to find her. I even got hypnotized, once, to try to communicate with my mom, not alive, to have her to tell me where she was. I did everything i could possibly do. Reporter the hunt for the slightest trace of rachael continued for years. Meanwhile, david stone was on the street, and by 2013 his fellow suspect, buddy Charles Capone, was about to be released from jail. We said, now is the time. We have to charge these guys. We have to charge them both. We know that they did this crime. This case wasnt going to get any better. Reporter the idaho latah county prosecutor agreed and on may day 2013 three years after rachel vanished david stone and Charles Capone were charged with her murder. They pleaded not guilty. This case is all about smoke and mirrors and convincing people from day one that i murdered my wife. Everyone, please rise. Reporter in the preliminary hearing, prosecutors laid out their theory of the crime, producing that maintenance yard worker who told the story about charles and davids alleged you kill my wife, ill kill yours plan. Stones wife alisa hung on every word. Frightening connections were being made in her head, and with that came the sudden awful awareness that the Sheriffs Officers may have had been right after all. Her husband did want her dead. She immediately filed for divorce. The pieces all came together for me. Reporter and theres this account of him going to a coworker and saying, ill give you 10,000 bucks if youll kill my wife. What do you think of that story, that he was soliciting someone to kill you . Yeah, ill never know. Reporter this is beyond marital deceit. Oh, yeah. Reporter if the stories were true, then you had married a stranger. Exactly. Reporter who is dave stone . Its a mystery to me at this point. Some of the things that came up in that preliminary hearing, i looked like a monster, and im not. Coming up, david stone tells a chilling tale of what he says happened the night racael disappeared. I said, what the [ bleep ] are you doing . He looked at me, had a look on his face that i had described as reporter almost fouryears after that weekend Rachael Anderson never came home, her family believed they might finally get some answers. Police had arrested her estranged husband Charles Capone and his pal david stone in connection with her death. But in september, 2014, it was only Charles Capone in the latah county courthouse facing a murder charge. We are convinced that you will find the only possible verdict, finding the defendant, Charles Capone guilty of first degree murder. Reporter as the trail opened, the states case had zigzagged another unpredicted turn. The maintenance yard worker had backpedaled on his murder for hire story and wouldnt testify to it. So now the jurors wouldnt hear of a juicy you kill my wife, ill kill yours plot, but rather a straightforward and nonetheless terrifying story of a lousy marriage turned fatal. County prosecuting attorney Bill Thompson and deputy prosecuting attorney mia vowels knew they had their work cut out for them. Our approach was convince the jury through the evidence not only that rachael was dead, but theres only one person in this world who could have been responsible for it, and thats Charles Capone. Reporter what was the biggest hill to climb in this . Because we didnt have a body, it was mostly a circumstantial case. Reporter mia vowels took the lead and called a parade of witness to convince the jury that rachael was indeed dead. A good mother. Had a good attitude toward family. Reporter her exhusband, dennis plunkett, had missed a call from her at 8 09 that friday night. And that was the last contact i ever had with her. Reporter rachaels two sons testified theyd never seen their mother again after that friday. Have you seen your mom since . No. Reporter to show jurors just how nasty charles and rachaels divorce was, they played back some of those eerie stalking phone calls. Its funny. You just dont get it. Im very concerned for her safety and wellbeing. Reporter captain dan hally testified that the defendant had been behind those headgame calls all along. Capone even admitted as much to him. He told me that he had been involved in the stalking and harassment. Yeah, i know she was afraid. Reporter ashley and amber, the daughters, recounted the terror of their moms ordeal. She had the feeling like her life was going to end, a dreadful feeling. Reporter the prosecutors zeroed in on charles character. Jennifer norberg recalled what her friends neck looked like after charles allegedly attacked rachael four months before she disappeared. I observed that she had some red, dark colored marks on her neck. Reporter then, prosecutors produced a business neighbor, an actual eyewitness, who saw charles arguing with a woman outside his auto shop that fatal night. She jumped out of the car, flailing her arms right up into his face. Raise your hand and be sworn please. Reporter so far, the testimony was all appetizers before the prosecutors main course. Their headsnapping all or nothing star witness, none other than charles good buddy david stone, no longer a codefendant for murder. Now the man pointing the accusing finger. Stone. Reporter stones journey to the witness stand began a year earlier during that preliminary hearing when capone whispered something to him. Charles leaned over to me and said, you shouldnt even be here. And i thought, how right you are, you son of a bitch. Reporter a shaken stone listened to the states mounting case against him and decided he wasnt going to take the fall for charles. The prosecution did a real good job of in making me out to be a monster, and im not. Reporter they told you something like, we know there is blood on your hands here. That was one of the things they said. Reporter in cop talk, they flipped you. They flipped you against him. They were going to give you consideration in exchange for your story. The cops had nothing to do with me telling the story. Reporter stone says there was no deal with the cops, rather his pastor convinced him to come clean. Throughout numerous visits, we prayed in closing prayer that the truth would set me free. Reporter maybe so, but the prosecution counted on his testimony to put away his former friend for a long, long time. Do you know the defendant, Charles Capone . I do. Hes sitting next to mr. Monson. Reporter once on the stand, stone set off on his tale about the events of friday, april 16th, 2010. I was inside the shop, and id heard a noise. What kind of noise . Kind of like a thud or a bang or just something kind of loud. Reporter when he looked outside, a struggle. When i came around closer toward the back side of rachels car, rachael was on her back, and charles he was on top of her strangling her. Was rachel moving . Very little. What did you say . I said what the [ bleep ] are you doing . And he turned around and he looked back at me, had a look in his face i had described as satan. And he told me to shut the [ bleep ] up, you get a hold of myself. Youre in this with me now. I know where your familys at. Why didnt you intervene at this point . Fear. What were you afraid of . Im watching somebody kill his wife. I dont know what hes going to do to me. Reporter the two men moved rachels body into the shop. David stone testified they ditched the loaner vehicle rachael was driving at the Convenience Store bus depot near her home and then returned to stones garage. After that, stone said he went to his job site and rounded up some old truck tire snowchains, like these from his jobsite, and they wrapped up rachaels body. Once we placed rachels body in the chain, we rolled her across the chains. Reporter then he said the two put rachels trussedup, weighteddown body into his suv. With david stone at the wheel, they drove south and onto the red wolf bridge over the snake river. He just said stop i put the durango in park, got out, opened the hatch. We pulled rachael out, went to the side of the bridge and threw her over the side. Reporter prosecutors interrupted stones narrative to play for jurors a recording made at the bridge. He was pulling the package out and i assisted him. And we proceeded to the side of the wall here and threw the package over the side. And what was in the package . The body of Rachael Anderson. Reporter into the fast moving river never to be seen again. What would the jury make of this man giving them such critical evidence, the play by play of the crime itself . You know theyre going to hate this guy . Thats the reality of the case. Reporter did it matter whether the jury sat in moral judgment on your star witness, mia . No. They wont like that he didnt intervene and that he helped dispose of her body, but that doesnt change the fact that he witnessed what he did. Reporter as the state rested, it looked, ironically, as though its star witness would prove to be the best thing the defense had going for it. David stone, would the jury believe a word he said . Coming up, and what about the other man at the center of the case . Though he wont take the stand, Charles Capone takes the tough questions from us. This whole thread of this thing, ill kill your wife if great change comes from doing the right thing. Like the radical idea that health isnt an industry. Its a cause. So we do things differently. We combine care and coverage. And believe prevention is the most powerful of cures. So forgive us for not going with the flow. We just think the flow should go with us. Which makes us rebels with one cause. Your health. Happen . You may find yourself in a quandary about as to what actually happened. Reporter Charles Capones defense team had to convince the jury that their client hadnt strangled his estranged wife, rachael, and tossed her body into the snake river with the help of his friend david stone. Charles had maintained his innocence. This just cant be whats going on in life right now. I cant be, at this point right now, sitting here with a guy from dateline. Reporter and the guy from dateline is here because of what is believed to have happened by the authorities on that friday night. His attorneys strategy was threefold. Discredit the buddys damning eyewitness testimony. Sow reasonable doubt about the states evidence. And offer alternate suspects. Right off the bat they suggested to the jury that there was another person who just might have had a hand in rachaels disappearance. Maybe that infatuated onetime boyfriend William Slemp. Slemp died before the case came to trial, so the defense attorney asked daughter amber what she knew about him. Did you also, in your conversation with your mother, consider another person as being the suspect . Yes. And was that William Slemp . Yes. Reporter and was the boyfriend perceived as a menace . The defense produced a request for a restraining order against slemp that rachael had filled out. During crossexamination the defense got detective Jackie Nichols to concede another connection between rachael and slemp. I recall seeing letters from William Slemp. Reporter after seeding the thought with jurors that maybe someone other than capone did it, the defense team turned its sights on the cops, all the things they hadnt found in their investigation. For starters, there was no physical evidence recovered at charles garage. You didnt see any signs of a struggle outside . Thats correct. Reporter and when cops recovered rachels vehicle, there were fingerprints, but not capones. They didnt match anybody that was in the system. Reporter but attacking the evidence wouldnt be enough. Everyone, please be seated. Reporter just as for the prosecution, the defense case lived or died on the credibility of david stone. During a grueling, daylong crossexamination, charles lawyer attacked david stones veracity and his motives. David claimed he helped dispose of rachaels body and then kept quiet all those years because he was in fear of his life from charles. And yet they continued to pal around. Why did you keep that contact every day . Well, i kind of like to know where someones at if im concerned about my safety. Reporter capones lawyer suggested that david stone was only out to save his own neck. And were you hoping for some leniency . And still am. Reporter hour after hour, the lawyer hammered away at david, who had easily admitted to lying his way through any number of police interviews. Did you feel that your word might not be real good . I mean, based on the fact that i had been lying for three and a half years, wouldnt you . Reporter in the defense close, it came back again to a central question, could the jury believe david stone . At the end of the day, what stone is telling you, it cannot be true. There is no physical evidence of any foul play anywhere at or near that shop. Reporter Charles Capone declined to testify in his own defense. And you feel comfortable in that decision . Yes, sir, i do. Reporter prosecutor Bill Thompson had the final word for the state. Rachaels gone forever. He insured that her body, her physical essence, is also gone forever. But we cant let that allow him to escape responsibility. Reporter after seven days of testimony, the case went to the jury. Let me ask you that cut to the chase question. On friday that night at the garage, did you get her down on the ground . No. Reporter did you throttle your wife and kill her . I can tell you honestly, no. Its a lie. Its been portrayed as stuff that absolutely didnt take place. Ive done many things, you know, that im not proud of, you know . Paid my dues, moved on, you know . Tried to be a better person. Reporter this whole thread of this thing, ill kill your wife if youll kill mine, did that happen . I cant answer that for you right now. Reporter you cant answer it . I cant. Reporter capone says hes made mistakes along the way, but did not kill rachael. I dont have that in me. I dont have that i want to care about people. I want to love on people. I dont want to take somebodys life. You know, one officer, she says im a sociopath and i have no heart, and i dont care, and i havent suffered from this. Yeah, okay. Reporter are you a sociopath . No, i dont believe so. Ive seen my share of psychologists and stuff like that. And i think im pretty normal. I mean, i think, like most men, i just make poor decisions. Charles was on top of rachael, strangling her. Reporter why does he tell the story in court that he does . Because he sinks you. Because hes going to get charged with solicitation of murder. How much time was he going to do for trying to hire somebody to kill his wife, you know . Wouldnt you have tried to get out of that . Reporter it took the jurors nine hours to decide whether they believed david stones story. There was a verdict. Rachaels family and friends were called back to the courthouse. When the jury came in and we stood there, it seemed like for an eternity. Madam clerk, if you would read the verdict for the jury. You know, our hearts were pounding. Is the defendant Charles Anthony capone guilty or not guilty of murder in the first degree . Reporter the clerk read the jurys verdict. Guilty. It was like this weight just was lifted from everyone. Reporter rachaels daughters had waited 4 1 2 years for this day. So, you hear the words, huh . Umhmm. Its just bittersweet. Reporter youre not getting your mom back. No. Reporter at the end of this. Huhuh. All it is protecting other women and children from being harmed by him. Reporter Charles Capone was sentenced to life without pa floel february. Because of his prior convictions, he faces life without parole. David stone, who ultimately pleaded guilty solely to failure to notify authorities of a death, was sentenced in october to three to seven years. I want to apologize to rachaels family. Reporter with good behavior, and credit for time served, he could be out in 18 months. Its a day that i think about every day. And i will the rest of my life. If i could change it, i damn sure would. Reporter why didnt you go get your phone and call 911 . You knew you had just witnessed a murder. I froze. And all the way up to that point, i thought he was my friend. Reporter did you solicit a hit on your wife . Never. Reporter did you want her dead in those days . No. Reporter so where did this story come from . Thats a good question. Reporter david stones former wife alisa still doesnt know for sure if he wanted her dead. I bet there are very few people on earth that could put themselves in your shoes and even understand what youve been through, alisa. You know, ive been through a lot, but nothing compared to what rachaels familys been through. I dont think my pains comparable to what her daughters and sons have been through at all. Reporter ever since the day in november 2013, when david stone gave his horrific tale to the cops, there have been intensive searches made of the snake river below the red wolf bridge. Captain dan hally enlisted multiple agencies including the coast guard and volunteers with specialized sonar to help. But the depths of the swiftmoving snake have yet to surrender rachaels body. Is she gone forever . I know were not going to give up. Hopefully, we might still find her remains. Reporter for the justice system, its case closed, but for those rachael left behind you know, theres no true justice. It doesnt bring her back. Reporter is there a new chapter opening up for you . Its just begun. Because when i found out my mom was missing, i fought tooth and nail. So did ashley. Thats what we did. And so at this point it feels like the fight is over. The grieving process for me has just begun. Because theres nothing left to fight for. Thats all for now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us. Nbc bay area news starts now. I couldnt see them through the haze. A rock band skai escapes a fiery limo ride. Tonight the driver tells us exclusively how you knew something was round. Plus well give you a new look at the moments after the ban got out safely. Good evening. That hummer limo caught fire right on the freeway during rush hour. This was right near Valley Fair Mall in the