Transcripts For KNTV Dateline NBC 20151212

This man sent my dad a bomb. We were there for a surprise phone call from another. [ phone ringing ] can i get it . Reporter its Josh Mankiewicz from dateline. Is there anything you wanna say . No shortage of suspects. Just a shortage of detectives. Reporter all kinds of things go wrong in Murder Investigations, but the Police Department running out of money is usually not one of the things you think of. No. I pressed on. I did what i had to do. Would she ever find justice . Its your father. Your father was murdered, youre not gonna give up. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with Something Sweet. Reporter the course of true love takes some strange twists and turns, particularly when it flows out of an Online Dating site. Occasionally, a cyberfling blossoms into a marriage. This is the story of one of those marriages what went right, and what did not. Back in 2002, ray kotomski was a 60yearold, happily retired, former corrections officer, living comfortably by himself in a house in the pennsylvania woods after his 36year marriage had ended in divorce. Ray had three grown children. Monica is his middle child. Tell me about your dad . A mans man. He was he loved outdoor kind of stuff. He loved hunting, fishing, stuff like that. A hard worker. He had a heart of gold. Reporter after his divorce from monicas mother, ray was lonely. The next step was as close as his keyboard. So he tried Online Dating. Yeah. Reporter yeah, did you make that face when he said he was doing it . Yes, absolutely. I did, yes. Yes, i did. You said, you never know who youre gonna wind up with. Thats right, yeah. Reporter and one day he tells you he met someone. Well, he just said that he liked her, he was gonna go on a few dates with her. Reporter the woman ray met was Teresa Bowers lovin. She lived one state over in ohio. A 43yearold nurses assistant, teresa had three kids herself a grown daughter and son, and a younger son at home. Ive kind of known her my whole life. Reporter beth burcham is a friend of teresas who grew up with teresas daughter sara. The three women all went to meet ray on that first date. She was, like, well, im gonna go meet him. Do you guys wanna go with me . Reporter so what can did she think about him . I liked him. He was smartmouthed and just fun. Reporter so what did she think about him . Shes, like, oh, i really like this guy. Im gonna see him again. Reporter and see him again she did. Soon, teresa was driving two hours to be with ray on weekends. Teresas son josh was a high schooler when his mom and ray got together. He made my mom happy. She definitely hadnt smiled like that in years. Reporter whatd she like about him . My mom was a Big Country Music fan. I think that was her kenny rogers in the making there. Reporter she thought ray looked like kenny rogers . That was kind of like what we joked with her about, but i mean, she definitely thought he was handsome. Reporter things were clearly clicking for joshs mom and ray. In may 2004, they got married. Friends and family say ray couldnt do enough for teresa, starting with an elaborate wedding. Your dad kind of doted on teresa. Yes. Reporter spent a lot of money on her. Did whatever she wanted. Took her out. Pampered her. Absolutely. Reporter sounds like he was sort of an oldfashioned gentleman type. Yes, he was. Reporter it seemed a match made in cyberheaven. The newlyweds bought a house close to teresas family in Ashtabula County, ohio. But happily ever after did not last. In october 2006 came a terrible blow. Teresas daughter sara was killed in a car crash, leaving her infant daughter and toddler son without a mom. Roy lovin, jr is teresas older son and sarahs brother. She was 21 years old, on her way to work one morning and i guess hydroplaned, swerved, and hit a tree. Reporter parents are not supposed to bury their children. No, and then the fact that she had two little babies two little kids and the fathers were not really in the picture, somebody had to step up and take them kids. Reporter and that was your mom. She was the first one with her hands out ready and willing to take them. Reporter teresa and ray transitioned from the joy of handthemback whentheyrecrying grandparents to the daily grind of surrogate parents to twoyear old gavin and baby helana. Then, not long after teresas daughters death, another bodyblow. Teresas granddaughter helana was diagnosed with cancer. Ray kotomski did the right thing. He and teresa were soon spending alternating weeks in a cleveland hospital where baby helena was being treated. Ray even shaved his own head when the little girl lost her hair from the chemo. It sounds like he really sort of bonded with helena. Absolutely, yeah. He had mentioned to a Family Member that he felt that god put him here exactly at that time for a reason, and it was to take care of her. Reporter helenas cancer went into remission, but ray and teresas relationship suffered collateral damage. According to teresas family, the strain of becoming a father again had made ray toxic. He was, they said, angry and drinking more beer than usual. Mom was scared, so mom couldnt tell him to cut back on his drinking. He was stressed out, or something was going on there. Reporter sounds like a pretty unhappy guy. Totally. Reporter rays family says he was fine, and that his drinking was never a problem. But by early august 2009, teresa apparently had enough of ray. She and the grandchildren moved to an apartment in a nearby town. On tuesday, august 11, a few days after she moved out, teresa and and ray reconciled enough to take the grandkids to lunch, and to feed the fish at a state park. The following day, teresa left the children with her friend beth and went back to the house to do laundry. What teresa said she found when she got there midmorning was a clearly sick, nearly naked, somewhat incoherent ray. He refused to let her call a doctor. Teresa told beth about it. She said he was acting so weird, when she came back to get the kids, and he wasnt feeling good. Reporter the next morning, when she couldnt reach ray on the phone, teresa asked her mother, who lived near ray, to check on him. When teresas mom got to the house, she found ray unconscious. She called teresa, who alerted 911. Is everything okay . No. I need an ambulance. Okay. Man down. Umm, barely not, um, its my husband all right. Ill send the ambulance. All right, thank you. Reporter teresa phoned beth and raced to be with ray. And what did she say had happened . That her mom had found him on the floor, naked, unresponsive. Reporter the ambulance arrived at the house around the same time as teresa. Emts scrambled to stabilize ray. Teresa rode in the with her husband to the nearest hospital. There, an Emergency Room Team struggled to revive him. But whatever ailed ray, it was too serious a case for the local hospital. He was taken by to a leveltwo Trauma Center in erie, pennsylvania, and he was barely clinging to life. A medical crisis, but also a mystery, what had happened to ray . I didnt know what the think. But when investigators look a little more closely, they find it a little more suspicious. He had to crystals . He did. [ male announcer ] pain not sitting too well . Burning to feel better . Itching for relief . Preparation h offers the most maximum Strength Solutions for all hemorrhoid symptoms. From the brand doctors recommend most. Preparation h. Dont stand for hemorrhoids. Give the gift of the better network. Save up to 50 on our hottest android smartphones like the Motorola Droid turbo 2. Get the best deals and the better network. Toysrus has themost awesome toys. Like us yeah, i bet we get snatched guess ill pick up where he left off. I bet we get as he was saying, i bet yeah, wassup . Get 10 off your 50 purchase of barbie dolls play sets and accessories online and in our whole store of. Awesome time in the service. Community college. It matters. Its why we, at university of phoenix, count your relevant work and College Experience as credits toward your degree. Learn more at phoenix. Edu. So i wanted you to have the ring to match. At jared, we only sell one piece of jewelry. The Engagement Ring you had designed just for her. And its waiting for you. At jared. This weekend at jared, create your own, oneofakind ring. And receive get set in diamonds rewards. Up to a thousand dollars toward a beautiful setting when you buy your diamond at jared. The one ring thats unlike any other is waiting for you. This weekend only. At jared. Reporter a worried family converged on Hamot Medical Center in erie, pennsylvania on antifreeze. But it looked as if they figured it out too late. Even in small amounts, just a few ounces, antifreeze is almost always fatal. Rays daughter monica was with her dad. He was just laying in bed. How did he look . Horrible. What were you thinking . I didnt know what to think. Because nothing was making any sense. Reporter ray kotomski had missed the narrow window in which antifreeze poisoning can be reversed. End of life discussions with doctors began. As his wife, it was teresas call. Three days after he was admitted to the hospital teresa told the doctors to let him go. Her son josh watched teresa make that agonizing decision. She was devastated. Absolutely devastated. I could see it in her face. Hard to do . Uhhuh. Reporter rays death was referred to dr. Eric vey, the medical examiner in the Erie County Coroners Office. By the time mr. Kotomski got to you antifreeze poisoning was already suspected. So you were looking pretty specifically for that . My job at autopsy was just to confirm the presence of the oxalate crystals in the kidney which clearly indicated that he had Ethylene Glycol on board. And he had those crystals. There was no question. No question. Slam dunk. Reporter the medical examiner determined the cause of death was Ethylene Glycol poisoning, but the manner of death was listed as undetermined. Teresa said ray told her he drank Something Sweet around the time he got sick. And, antifreeze had a very sweet taste. She also told the er doctor in the Ohio Hospital that ray had been threatening to kill himself. It was looking like suicide. Rays children didnt buy it. What were you thinking . The only thing i was thinking was i didnt believe the whole, he drank Something Sweet, it was antifreeze. My dad would never do that. All of us knew that. Reporter and so when ray kotomski died, the wheels of justice began to slowly spin. Taylor cleveland is a detective with the Ashtabula County sheriffs office. We received a call from the Erie County Coroners Office they wanted to give us the earliest heads up that they could that there was probably something in this case ray kotomski death, that was not natural, something that was quite possibly a homicide. Reporr if this was homicide, investigators had plenty of work to do. Raymond had been a corrections officer. Yes. And had unquestionably during his career dealt with some pretty bad guys who were locked up. Yes. Reporter cops started looking into rays past to see if someone was settling an old score. Three days after his death, techs processed teresa and rays house as a crime scene, but it had been cleaned by the time they got there. Rays bedding was in an outside trash can; there were numerous crushed beer and dr. Pepper cans, and, in the garage, right where youd expect to find them, were two containers of antifreeze. One sealed. One open. And that told investigators nothing. Because there were no fingerprints or dna on either container. How long after raymond died did you speak with teresa . A couple of days after. Typically when investigators start looking back at somebodys marriage they see either a great marriage or a bad marriage or something in between. This was what . According to teresa this was not a good marriage. She admitted that . Yes. So, she had to be a suspect pretty much right from the getgo . Unfortunately, wives kill their husbands. And we see that quite often. So you have to at least look at her. Reporter teresa laid out for investigators her actions in the days leading up to rays death. She again said shed tried to get ray to seek medical assistance when he first got sick but he refused. She said ray had been miserable and unhappy, and she speculated that he committed suicide. This was detective work 101. Teresa, the suspect spouse, had means, motive, and opportunity, but when detectives dug deeper into the strange life and times of teresa and ray kotomski, their case took a headsnapping turn in the direction of a totally new suspect. Coming up. A blast from the past. This man had gotten a bomb. Turns out, there was someone who had tried to kill ray once before. When dateline can continues. vo new tidy cats lightweight with glade. All the strength and freshness, now easy to lift half the weight, smells great. Find the litter that works best for you. Every home, every cat. Theres a tidy cats for that. During red lobsters ultimate seafood celebration. With jazzed up new dishes like the decadent grand seafood feast and the ultimate woodgrilled feast why wait to celebrate . So hurry in, it ends soon. Now earn 10 cash back at amazon with chase freedom. Through december. Chase freedom. The card is for the essentials. The cash back is for the fun. Learn more at chase. Com freedom. Chase. So you can. Happy holidays switch to Cricket Wireless and for a limited time, choose from four smartphones, now free after mailin rebate cricket visa promotion card. And get more 4g lte coverage nationwide than tmobile or sprint. Woohoo only from the merrier carrier. Cricket wireless. Something to smile about. Reporter ray kotomski was dead. And his wife teresa believed it was suicide. But Law Enforcement thought this smelled like a murder. That someone had poisoned ray with antifreeze. Detectives looked for his killer among the thousands of the worst of the worst criminals ray had spent a career guarding in pennsylvanias maximum security prisons. Raymond was not the corrections officer that all the inmates hated and, you know, vowed to get even with once they got outside . Quite the opposite, that raymond and the people that raymond associated with during his time at the prison were generally respected and did not run into a lot of problems with inmates. Reporter so to cops, it didnt look like anyone from back in the day had it in for ray. But there was someone from his, and teresas recent past who had once wanted ray out of the way, if not dead. Detectives learned that in the winter of 2003, when ray and teresa were first getting to know one another, she was also seeing another man shed met online, a fellow by the name of Robert Reichard, and she left ray for a few weeks to be with robert. When teresa went back to ray, robert did not take that well. Not at all. Robert was infatuated with her, and wanted teresa to leave ray. To leave ray for him. Reporter reichard stalked the couple. He vandalized teresas car. And then it really escalated. Robert decided to try and remove raymond from the equation, sent raymond a letter bomb. Reporter a real bomb . A real bomb, a functional, working bomb. Reporter raymond went to his mailbox, found a package that looked odd and brought it to the state police barracks. The bomb squad detonated it. If raymond had opened that package would he have been killed . He would have been severely injured if not killed. Reporter robert said at the time that he had wanted to be with teresa and that he thought that raymond was in the way. Now, when i look at teresa i guess i dont see the femme fatale that guys wanna kill for. Neither do i. Reporter but its there. In some fashion, yes. Reporter rays daughter monica remembers a phone call from her father about the bomb. His voice was shaky, it was something ive never heard before. Reporter whatd you say . Whatd you think . I didnt know what to think. I i think at first i couldnt believe it. Reporter Robert Reichard pleaded guilty to manufacturing a firearm and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was paroled just months before ray kotomski became mysteriously ill. Reporter did you wonder whether he had anything to do with it . Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, teresa was the last one with him. But this man sent my dad a bomb. Reporter monica wasnt the only one wondering about that. When you discover that somebody else tried to kill your victim, and is now out of prison, that changes everything. It does. We had one of two options in this case. Either it was a wife killing her husband, or some elaborate plot to finish what mr. Reichard had started and was unsuccessful with. Reporter detectives tracked down their new suspect. He was living what appeared to be a normal life in western pennsylvania. You or other investigators probably spoke with his employer, coworkers, family . Investigators from our office spoke with a lot of People Associated with Robert Reichard. Reporter could you track mr. Reichards movements . He was not on gps monitoring at the time, no. Reporter so, if he was going to see teresa or if he was gonna stalk raymond nobody wouldve known about it . Be a fair assessment. Reporter he certainly wouldve had access to antifreeze. Everybody has access everybody has access to antifreeze. Reporter while detectives were trying to find out if teresas ex boyfriend turned letter bomber had anything to do with rays death, they dug deeper into teresas past. But the investigation went slowly. Weeks became months. Rays family counted the days. It just felt like we were getting swept under the rug. Reporter some people would of given up in that instance. How could you . Its your father. Your father was murdered, youre not gonna give up. Reporter so whatd you do . I pressed on. I did what i had to do. I made sure that there was justice. Reporter that was easier said than done. Hard times were coming to Ashtabula County. Coming up the case goes cold because instead of looking for killers, detectives are looking for work. All kinds of things go wrong in Murder Investigations, but the Police Department running out of money is usually not one of the things you think of. No. Earn once when you buy, and again as you pay. Thats cash back now, and cash back again later. Its cash back deja vu. The citi double cash card. The only card that lets you earn cash back twice on every purchase with 1 when you buy and 1 as you pay. With two ways to earn, it makes a lot of other cards seem one sided. [ d[ bark ] ] there it is [ gasps ] oh no look, the skys awake that. Was. Epic [ bark ] reporter in america, our doityourself culture extends even to killing. There are more than 40thousand suicides each year in the united states, far more than the number of homicides. And that was the issue. There wasnt any question what killed ray kotomski. That was antifreeze. But by whose hand . Rays widow teresa and her family maintained a despondent ray killed himself when teresa left him. Rays children and the cops thought it was murder. Two theories and if murder two possible suspects. Teresa, the grieving wife. And teresas freshfromtheslammer exboyfriend whod once tried to mail bomb ray out of the way. But his story was checking out. We just couldnt find anything other than his Prior Association with raymond that would suggest that he did this. Reporter im guessing now she and Robert Reichard changed places in the suspect pantheon . 100 . Reporter shes at the top of the list . Yes. Reporter but the investigation into the death of ray kotomski was about to turn as cold as Ashtabula County in february. For a very odd reason. Shortly after this case was investigated by our department there was a financial collapse and we laid off about 90 of our officers. Reporter the county, what, ran out of money . Yes. Reporter and the result was. Murders were not getting solved. Reporter ray kotomskis case was one of them. His children were not happy. I wasnt trying to be a pain in the butt. I didnt want them to drop the case. Reporter then the county runs out of money. Yes. Reporter i mean, all kinds of things go wrong in Murder Investigations, but the Police Department running out of money is usually not one of the things you think of. No. Unhuh. Reporter and, for almost two years, nothing happened. Yeah. Reporter monicas two children were out of the house. She was able to take time off from helping her husband with his Construction Business and devote hours to her mission. I sent letters to everybody. And i was constantly calling the sheriffs dept for new information and whatnot but i wasnt getting anywhere. Reporter and meanwhile, back in Ashtabula County life went on. Reporter what was teresa doing during those 18 months that you werent able to investigate . She was filing for Life Insurance, collecting Life Insurance from raymond kotomski. Reporter some of the 150thousand dollars in insurance went to buy a house where teresa was raising her grandchildren. And, about a year after rays death, there was a new man in her life. Tim schumaker was an overtheroad trucker when he and teresa found each other. Reporter howd you and theresa meet . On the internet. Reporter whatd you like about her . She was attentive. Just a sweet lady. Reporter before long, tim and teresa were living together. Tim gave up Long Distance trucking for a job closer to home. Reporter she tell you she was a suspect in a Murder Investigation . She told me. Reporter and she said, i didnt do it. I didnt have anything to do with it. She didnt have to say that she didnt do it. I knew she didnt do it. Reporter Ashtabula Countys investigation may have been frozen in red ink but rays daughter monica was still in action. Emailing, cajoling, pleading. I wrote letters to the Ohio Attorney general. Then i got a phone call and they said they were looking into it. Reporter Ohio Attorney general mike dewine had recently started a cold case unit and, in september 2012, three years after ray kotomskis death, dewines office reopened the case, with teresa the prime suspect. I didnt want her to get away with murder. My prosecutors and detectives didnt want to see that happen either. Reporter those investigators were glad to be back in business. There were reasons they liked teresa for rays murder. One had to do with a story they heard about her first marriage. Her previous husband, roy lovin, told us that teresa had put rat poison in his mashed potatoes. Reporter and he knew that how . Roy said that he took two bites and fed some to their son teresa reached into her sons mouth, pulled out the mashed potatoes. Roy said that he got pretty ill after that. Reporter the son was okay . The son was okay, yes. Roy said that the only other thought that he gave that was when his German Shepherd was poisoned. Roy said that he never connected the two until raymond was poisoned. Reporter teresas son from that first marriage is roy jr. , and he says that never happened. Reporter theres a story out there that your mom tried to poison your father. Its all lies. Reporter why would your father lie about this . Maybe he is jealous. Maybe he maybe he feels that she ruined his life. I dont know. Maybe this is his way of getting back at her. Reporter and, there was a polygraph exam she took she took early in he investigation. The examiner had asked teresa two questions did you poison ray with antifreeze . And, do you know who poisoned ray . Teresas answer to both no. Which was also the answer to whether teresa was telling the truth. She failed her polygraph test. Reporter that lie detector failure was inadmissible in court but helped convince cops they were on the right track. They turned the heat back up on teresa. And they told her that they know that she snapped, and she she killed him. She needed to confess, so they kind of threatened her. Reporter she didnt bend to that. No. She goes, well, i want a lawyer. Reporter teresas family and friends like beth burcham rallied around her. They felt rays family just wouldnt or couldnt face the fact that he committed suicide. I think they dont wanna believe that ray would do that. I really do. Reporter you think theyre just looking for somebody to blame. Yeah. Other than ray. Reporter but on march 28, 2014, five years after rays death, officers surrounded teresas house. We knocked on the door early in the morning, told teresa that we had a warrant for her arrest and she was under arrest for the murder of raymond kotomski. She didnt look surprised. She kissed me as she was going. She almost started bawling, but something, god come over her, and and she was okay. I was crazy happy. It was like, wow, we finally got somewhere. Reporter after a few days in jail teresa was released on bond. Law enforcement officials knew the case had problems. Ohio attorney general mike dewines people gave rays family a depressingly realistic appraisal. We told them all along, this is gonna be a tough case. Be prepared. Be prepared for a loss. Reporter we might not win this. Reporter we might not win this case. Reporter coming up proof teresa is innocent or proof of the perfect crime . Reporter did you find any dna on the part of mrs. Kotomski . No we found no dna. Reporter and you found no fingerprints correct . Thats correct. Reporter when dateline continues. Our hearts will see a world where men are free. We swing it like that . Someday all our dreams will come to be. Someday in a world where people are free. Maybe not in time for you and me, yeah but someday at christmas time. Someday at christmas time. Yeah, give ourselves a hand. During red lobsters ultimate seafood celebration. 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Side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ask your doctor about otezla today. Otezla. Show more of you. Reporter it was july of 2015, almost six years after ray kotomskis death, when his wife teresa went on trial. There were two charges contaminating a substance for human consumption, and murder, both part of the accusation that teresa poisoned ray with antifreeze by somehow slipping it into something he ate or drank, like beer or soda. Teresas lawyer, veteran Trial Attorney paul hentemann, was confident. Theres no question in my view she was absolutely innocent of the crime. Reporter prosecutors offered teresa plea deals which would have resulted in little jail time. She was absolutely, categorically convinced that she did not commit the crime. And she felt that god was in her corner and she was not going to be convicted of of any crime. She did nothing wrong. Reporter another twist attorney hentemann asked for a bench trial no jury. Judge gary yost would alone rule on teresas guilt or innocence. If she killed ray, or if he committed suicide. In her opening statement, prosecutor Emily Pelphrey attacked the idea that ray killed himself. He was planning for his future. He loved his grandchildren. Reporter the doctor who treated ray in the hospital where he died testified teresa herself said ray was not suicidal. She had indicated that he had not mentioned anything about feeling suicidal at that time. Reporter no, the state argued. This was murder. Medical examiner dr. Eric vey testified that antifreeze killed ray. He died as a result of complications of Ethylene Glycol toxicity. Reporter but exactly how antifreeze kills was critical to the states case. When somebody ingests antifreeze, either deliberately or because somebody else gave it to them, whats the progression of symptoms . Well, initially theyll appear to be drunk or stuporous. And then theyll become progressively lethargic, and then become comatose. And then theyll start to have congestive Heart Failure and pulmonary edema, and then theyll start to go into renal failure and then eventually die. Reporter you can sort of estimate when they ingested the antifreeze based on where their symptoms are at that point . Thats exactly right. Its possible to get a rough estimate of when the ingestion occurred. Reporter the keystone of the states case was the progression of symptoms that prosecutors contended would show when ray ingested the antifreeze. You were able to establish a timeline . When the ems arrived at his residence he was already lethargic and almost comatose. So we already know from his clinical presentation at that point that hes probably 12 to 24 hours in. Reporter the m. E. s estimate dovetailed with the prosecutors timeline that ray must have ingested the antifreeze the day he and teresa took that outing with the grandchildren. To support their timeline, prosecutors introduced this voicemail. Ray left it for a friend several hours after the state says teresa poisoned him. Im sorry, im sorry, im sorry. Reporter on the tape, the prosecution argued, ray sounds drunk have i told you i think youre a nice person . Call me back if you can. Okay, bye. Reporter prosecutors say he was really in the stuporous early stages of antifreeze poisoning. We contend that thats when the ethyl glycolene, or the antifreeze, was ingested. Reporter and, they argued, it had to have been teresa who gave it to him, because no one else was with ray then. And how did they know that . Well, from what she told this fbi agent. She stated that over that week she he did not have any visitors and she was the only one there. Reporter in addition to their sciencebased timeline that put teresa in the bulls eye, the state wanted judge yost to consider teresas behavior while ray was dying. In the gallery, monica wept as her younger sister kimberly testified how teresa ended life support for their father without consulting rays side of the family, and the terms she said teresa dictated for releasing rays body to her. The conditions were that i had to have him cremated and that she wanted to make sure i wouldnt be the beneficiary. Reporter it was all part of a pattern, prosecutors argued, that added up to murder. The state contends there is absolutely no evidence that it is at all reasonable to conclude that anyone other than the defendant, mrs. Kotomski, is the one who provided that ethyl, that antifreeze to her husband. Reporter when the defense had its turn, attorney hentemann told the judge the state had no case. Not a scrap of evidence. He got the fbi agent who took teresas initial statement to concede she may have been confused about whether she was even with ray on the day the state says she poisoned him. She may have been wrong about that, correct . She could have been wrong about that. Reporter this was suicide, he argued. Not murder. And what practically proved it, according to the defense, was the fact that ray did nothing to save himself. And one could conclude that, if someone gave you poison and you became ill, what would be the first thing you would do . You would call the police or you would call a hospital. That never occurred. Reporter hentemann then attacked the states most glaring weakness, a total lack of physical evidence connecting his client to containers of antifreeze. Lead detective Taylor Cleveland was crossexamined about the absence of any forensics. Did you find any dna on the part of mrs. Kotomski . No, we found no dna, mr. Kotomski or otherwise. And you found no fingerprints of mrs. Kotomski on the can, correct . Thats correct. Reporter teresas attorney went after the prosecutions timeline. He got one of the states medical witnesses to concede she couldnt tell exactly when ray drank the antifreeze. You dont how long he suffered from it nor do you know how much he had ingested . Correct. Reporter under crossexamination, the m. E. Admitted he couldnt answer the question at the heart of the case. You dont know whether it was a homicide or you dont know whether it was a suicide. Is that a fair correct . That is correct. Yes. Reporter hentemann produced his own Expert Witness to refute the states toxicity timeline as suspect science. Its impossible to determine when the Ethylene Glycol may have been ingested because it may have been ingested as one dose or at one time or several smaller doses over an undermined period of time. Reporter in his close, attorney hentemann suggested all of it amounted to at the very least, reasonable doubt. Im suggesting to you that its a suicide. And if the facts dont add up, then you have to rule in favor of the defendant. Reporter teresa never testified. Her family and rays waited, as judge yost retired to his chambers to make his decision. Coming up i was so afraid that she was gonna get away with it. I have faith in her. Reporter the verdict. And [ phone ringing ] reporter a surprise phone call. Can i get it . Yeah, yeah. Okay. They have no evidence on me. They have none. I love it eat special, feel special. Discover more ways to eat special. With special k. Its the toysrus 2 day sale this friday and saturday, beatbo. You can save 30 on toys that really wow whoa no no, wow. [beatbo] who . [smart bear] never mind. The toysrus 2 day sale. Save big storewide and get 30 off toys that wow. Awwwesome time in the service. Community college. It matters. Its why we, at university of phoenix, count your relevant work and College Experience as credits toward your degree. Learn more at phoenix. 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Malo la mayoria de la gente thursday, july 30,2015. Judgment day in Ashtabula County. Judge gary yost had reached his decision. The families of accused murderer Teresa Kotomski and her dead husband ray made their way to the courthouse. By the time i got to the courthouse, my whole body was literally shaking. I was so afraid, like, i worked up to that almost six years. And i was so afraid that she was going to get away with it. Reporter it looked as if rays daughters fears were justified. The court finds the defendant, Teresa Kotomski, not guilty of contaminating a substance for human consumption. Reporter the judge reads the first count, tampering with food. Yeah. Reporter not guilty. Umhm. Reporter and you think, well, thats it. Yeah, were done. She got away with it. Reporter it is a moment monica will look back on for the rest of her life. Were you looking at teresa. Yeah. Reporter and thinking what . I had hate. I did. Reporter judge reads the second count. The court finds that the state has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Teresa Kotomski, is the person who administered the antifreeze to raymond kotomski. The court finds the defendant guilty of murder. Ms. Kotomski, do you wish to make a statement at this time . Your honor, i want you to know i did not hurt my husband. I did not give him poison. I did not give him anything to harm him at all. I loved my husband. I swear before god. I never, ever, would hurt anybody, especially my husband. The sentence was mandatory. Which has an indefinite term of imprisonment of 15 years to life. I love her. I want to be with her. I have faith in her. I dont think shes guilty. Reporter while teresas attorney appeals her conviction, tim shumaker, teresas boyfriend of five years, is standing by his woman. Hes raising her grandkids. And not long after teresa began serving her sentence, tim asked her to marry him. Teresa said yes. You meet this woman. Shes already a suspect in a Murder Investigation. And then shes arrested, and tried, and convicted. You could find somebody who wasnt locked up. But you dont want anybody else. You want her. Yeah, i want her. Reporter why is that . Because i love her. And i want to spend the rest of my life with her. I think i think shes an awesome woman. Shes everything that a man looks for in a woman. Reporter while we were talking with tim, he got a call. She went into detail. Oh, can i get it. Reporter it was teresa calling from behind bars. She and tim caught up for a few minutes. Then he put her on speaker. Theresa, its Josh Mankiewicz from dateline. Hi. Reporter hi. How are you . Could be better. Could be worse. Reporter okay. I understand you and tim are engaged. Yes we are. Aint that awesome . Reporter congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Reporter is there anything you want to say . Well, i just want everybody to know that, you know, im innocent. I didnt do what theyre accusing me of doing. I loved my husband. Someday well know why he did what he did. Reporter you think he killed himself deliberately. I think it was an accidental suicide. I think he took in that antifreeze enough to make himself sick, and called me out there thinking that i would feel sorry for him because thats the type of person i am. This call is originating from an ohio correctional facility. Reporter i just wanna be clear. You think ray took the antifreeze deliberately, to make himself sick, and get you to come back to him . Yes. Yes. I believe that his intention was to get me to come back. Reporter do you think youll be out of there one day . I believe im going to be out of here. I believe that the truth is going to set me free. Im hoping that somebody really goes over this and finds out that i had no part of that. Because they have no evidence on me. They have none. Because theres no evidence there. I love you. Were going to get cut off, babe. Thank you for using yeah. We got cut off. Reporter okay. Well, thank you for letting us talk to her. We wanted to interview teresa in person but our request was denied by the department of corrections. Teresas hypothesis, that ray took antifreeze so she would come back to him, is one that her family and friends are on board with. They see teresa as a decent person who somehow attracts men who, through no fault of hers, become obsessed with her. Let me make sure i understand. One guy, mr. Reichert, wants to kill to have theresa. Another guy, roy, makes up a story that shes a murderer because he doesnt want anybody else to have her. And ray tries to kill himself to get her to come back. Have i got that about right . Yeah. Reporter do you know anybody else around here who leads that kind of life, who drives men to do those kind of things . No. No. Not at all. Reporter whats her secret . I have no idea. I think shes just a good woman. Reporter thats pretty much the opposite of what rays daughter monica thinks. For her, this was all very personal. This was my dad. This was this was justice. This is the way it should be. You killed my father, somebodys going to pay for this. And damn well right shes going to. Thats all for this edition. Next at 11 00, the search is on, the hunt for a man accused of trying to kidnap schoolgirls. Every morning these men ate a tired breakfast and had a tired day. They werent lumberjacks, they were slumberjacks. Then one day jack showed up with a breakfast burrito powered by jalapenos. It didnt just change their morning. It changed everything turning these tree loggers. Into tree lovers. Spicy jalapenos, chipotle sauce with grilled bacon, eggs and cheese. The jalapeno bacon breakfast burrito. Only at jack in the box. Right now at 11 00, his first victim with a woman and two girls near a school. This man is wanted and dangerous. Im raj mathai. They need help. Heres the sketch. Campbell Police Looking for a predator targeting wn