But every object just so. Everything from coins to arrowheads. He had probably 10 to 15,000 books. Hes big into gold and silver, gem. Bayonets from world war i, lead cannon. But did these collectors have a less discerning eye when it came to sizing up people . And that go towards explaining the dreadful toll in the house that evening . I said, hes off in some way. I dont know. He could be a psychopath or something. I said, it scares me. On april 30th, 2014, did they fall prey to someone they believed could be trusted . I had to be lowered to the ground. And i started crying and screaming. Oh, such good people, why . Springfield, missouri is called the queen of the ozarks. A church going, neighborly city of midsize with good colleges. Gary tyrell grew up poor on a farm not far away and knew early on that his adult life would be all about education. Teaching kids in his classrooms by day. The history book in his lap at night. He and his wife jan raised two kids. A girl and a boy who sadly died young of a brain cancer. Jan kept the house mainly, and sold Avon Products parttime. They designed their house themselves. Life in missouri was good for the two. They loved each other very much. Daughter jessica remembers how extraordinarily close her parents were, joined at the hip. If my dad went shopping, my home went with her. They talked on the phone several times a day if they were apart. They really were for the ages. Yes. Yes. Personalities . Gary was the fun, outgoing one. He was a jolly man, kind of like a santa claus. Jan, a little more reserved. It might take a little bit more to know her. Once she warmed up to you, she was very alive. When gary retired as a beloved assistant school superintendent, he suddenly had all the time in the world to visit civil war battlefields, scour flea markets, and pore over his antique catalogues. But there was a lucrative sideline to his obsession over memorabilia. Garys brother, larry tyrell. He constantly collected coins, bought and sold trinkets. And did well at it . Gary was a good businessman. The gold and silver went into one of the five safes were in the house. He had indian jewelry, quality pieces that he loved. What was his favorite piece . Probably the walrus tusks. He loved those. They were rare, each worth around 10,000. How would he find these things . Im not really sure. They did go to flea markets and garage sales and things like that. Any time i would ask him, you know, where did you get this, he would say, oh, in my travels. In 2013, jason murray became one of the family when he and jessica got engaged. He remembers the walrus tusks as well as all the other unusual items in the tyrell home. There was so much stuff in that house, yet it was immaculate. It was like an off beat museum. Jessica and jason lived almost 300 miles away in Oklahoma City. But jessica spoke with or texted her parents several times a day. But that all changed on may 1st. I had called my mom on my way to work, like i always do. And she didnt answer. So i thought, well, maybe shes in the bathroom, maybe shes outside. And i called back and i still did not reach her. By noon, jessica says she still couldnt reach her. She called the Springfield Police and asked them to go by the house. When the officer did that, what did he report back to you . That nothing seemed out of place. They couldnt see anything inside the house. All the doors were secure. Absolutely no signs of forced entry or that anything appeared to be out of place. The officer had no cause to force his way into the house, and left. But jessica says she was still worried. So she and jason jumped in their car to make the fivehour drive to springfield. They arrived at the house around 7 00 p. M. As we were coming around the corner to the house, i hit the garage door button. And both their cars were in the garage. That was bad news for you. Yes. What did that imply . That there was something terribly wrong. Jessica called 911 without ever going past the garage into the house. Two officers arrived within minutes. They entered the home. And then another officer arrived, and then another, and then another, and then another. And youre waiting outside. Im waiting outside. No one said a word to jessica and jason. They noticed police blocking off the area with crime scene tape. I kind of grabbed on to the officer and i said, what is going on . Why are they calling for crime scene tape . And he kind of, you know, held me and said, i dont know whats going on. All i know is there are two people in the house that are deceased. Chilling words outside the tyrells house. But they were nothing compared to what investigators would find inside. When we come back it seems to be an element of personal anger. It definitely seemed to be personal, the brutality involved. Involved. Folks out there whose diabetic nerve pain. 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I had no details had no idea what had happened. Im thinking, this is horrible. And also, hoping its like carbon monoxide, something along something. But not benign, but something explainable . Right, right. Reporter but inside, officers quickly grasped the cold, stomachchurning truth. Jan and garys deaths were not accidental. It was gonna be a long investigation. Reporter detective neal mcamis was one the first detectives on the scene. That night, he entered the home through the garage door and saw gary first. We could see that there was a deceased male in the hallway of the home. His pants were pulled down. What did you make of that . We didnt know. The only thing that we could think of was hes trying to get away from somebody, that theyre grabbing a hold of him. Reporter or was the killer rifling his pockets for something . A key, maybe . A combination . In garys office downstairs, the detective saw jan. She was on the ground. She was lying face down. But it was it was obvious that there was severe trauma to the back of her head. Reporter so was this a violent Home Invasion . Jan and gary had more than a half a Million Dollars worth of valuables in the house for the grabbing, so a botched robbery was a likely scenario. And in the garage, police did find strange marks and scratches on a tornado shelter that was also used as a safe. It appeared that somebody had tried to pry the lock open. There were some marks that that were by the the lock on the on the door of the tornado shelter. They didnt get inside. And it did not appear that they did, no. But that would suggest somebodys looking for something. Yes. Reporter but if robbery was the plan, the killer had left the oddball museum strangely intact. Nothing appeared tossed or out of place. And the nature of the killings gary was shot as well as beaten, spoke volumes to the prosecutor assigned to the case, todd meyers. It seems to be an element of personal anger in this thing, todd. This close quarter killing of somebody with with a weapon in your hand. Yes, it definitely seemed to be a personaltype killing, just the brutality involved. Reporter investigators determined jan and gary were likely killed the night before. But search as they might for the murder weapons, the gun and the bludgeoning instrument. Officers came up empty handed. But they did recover some unusual evidence. Around jans body there were small white flakes of a substance that were obviously either from the murder weapon or on the murderers body. There were similar flakes found by the wound to garys head. Reporter so they bagged them and sent them off for testing. And the crimescene techs recovered Something Else that could be a crucial piece of evidence a discarded latex glove. So a latex glove on the floor jumped out at you. Totally outta place. And from talking with everybody, that there is no way that gary or jan would have left that glove there. It was right in the middle of the floor for everybody to see. Reporter did it belong to the victims or the killer . No one knew. So its collected. You dont know what it means. We dont know what it means. And it was collected. Sent to the Highway Patrol crime lab. Reporter they had no idea. No working theory yet of why the couple had been murdered. But they did have a sequence that made sense as to the order of deaths. It is hard to believe that gary is shot upstairs if jan is still fully functioning and mobile that she would not have called 911, would not have tried to intervene in some way. Speculation, but common sense tells you, shes the first victim. Shes the first victim. Yes. Shes bludgeoned to death downstairs. Gary arrives at some point later. And most likely he arrives either while that is ongoing, or the killer is waiting for him. But yes, it appears that she would have been the first to have died. Reporter a big question early on for detectives was understanding their crime scene. How did the killer gain entry to the house . There were no signs of forced entry. Windows havent been forced. The doors are all intact. How did the killer get in . There are only two ways the killer could have gotten in. One would be to have their own access device, whether its a key, a garage door opener, some way that would open the doors up. And then upon leaving, be able to lock it that way. Or, to have been let into the house by either gary or jan. Reporter it didnt appear to the cops to be a random Home Invasion but rather that the killer or killers had been someone the couple knew. Was it a person gary encountered in his antiquing travels . Or terrible to think about it was the perpetrator someone much closer to home. Was this all in the family . I was shocked really confused, and baffled. Coming up who had a motivate to kill the tyrells . Investigators have at least one idea. 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What will you be able to do in a Jeep Renegade . Lost souls in revelry pretty much anything you want. And i said hey, hey hey hey living like were renegades the most capable small suv ever. With available selecterrain traction control that can be adjusted to take on mud, sand or snow. Get 0 apr financing for well qualified buyers plus 500 bonus cash on 2015 Jeep Renegade models. Reporter two dead. The wife beaten about the head downstairs. And yet, at first glance, nothing appeared to have been taken. An early supposition was their killer was likely someone close to them. And no one was closer than daughter jessica. She is the person who could benefit here from this crime in terms of getting money. She had the most to gain. Shes the only child and who had from parents that are very well to do with a lot thats gonna be left to her. So, shes gonna be questioned hard. Yes. Reporter so that night, detectives asked jessica and fiancee jason down to the station to answer a few questions. The cops didnt let on they were talking to them not just as grieving relatives. But also as potential suspects. Im obviously going to take a few notes, obviously, as were talking. So dont let that, uh, dont let that bother you. Reporter the interviewer withheld details about the crime scene. A standard investigative tactic to see if a subject knows more than they should. He even threw out a theory that wasnt true murder suicide. One of the things we have to look at is as to whether or not that one of them wouldve injured the other and then maybe themselves. Reporter jessica seemed to go with it. Do you think thats a possibility . My dad, since his mom died, has been super depressed and has made comments. And my mom called the doctors office, and i told her if he did if he said something stupid before, again, that she needed to call the police. Like get the [ bleep ] away from him and call the police. Reporter and as they continued talking, police had another reason to be suspicious of the daughter. Shed driven 5 hours to check on her parents. Then didnt go inside the house. And you wonder why she would do that . Yes. People sometimes that commit a crime or know a crime thats been committed, you know, they dont wanna see the bodies in there so they call somebody else. Reporter detectives pressed the couple about their movements that day what they did or did not do at the scene. Had they tampered with that tornado shelter in the garage. You guys didnt do anything to try to get inside . Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean i pushed my hand on the handle, it was locked and that was it. Did you think, are we looking at maybe having a situation here where we gotta call a lawyer or be careful about what we say . I did, a little bit. Reporter but neither jason nor jessica asked for a lawyer and offered the detective more detail about what was in that tornado shelter that had been tampered with. The safe room was full of gold, and silver, and gold bars and i dont even know we actually dont know what alls in there. I dont, i dont i mean he has books that are signed by president s. He has indian peace medals. Reporter for investigators, the entire interview was a test. How are you gonna hold up . Are you gonna give answers that we can go back and verify . Are you going to respond appropriately so you intend to sweat them . Yeah, that was the detectives intent to the degree of just trying to make sure we get the truth. Reporter so had they passed the investigators test . Detectives let them go but held onto jessicas car to test it for potential evidence. Why did they have a reason to look in your car . I didnt really know. I assumed it was just because my car was there. Reporter now jessica had to call family and friends to tell them the news about her parents. Her uncle larry, her fathers brother, was at his law office when he got the call. She said that mom and dad are gone. I said, what do you mean . Are they out of town . And she said, no, theyre theyre deceased. Well, i collapsed on the floor. You were a mess. I was a mess. The unknown was terrifying because i didnt know what had happened. Reporter but larry wasnt shocked or outraged to learn his niece was being looked at as a potential suspect. He was, after all, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. I knew she had to be eliminated. I understood that due to the fact that she was the only child. I mean she just had to be eliminated so that the case could move on. Reporter and the case did keep moving but after a full week of investigating, the daughter and her fiance were not eliminated. Rather, detectives called them back to the station, this time interviewed separately. Jason first. Cops by now had figured out that the murders took place the night before the bodies were discoveredso where exactly were he and jessica then . We went to the pizza hut on i dont know, probably 5 30 or Something Like that, then came back home, and stayed home. Reporter home, five hours away in Oklahoma City. Do you remember how you paid for the pizza hut stuff . Im sure its on my card. Credit card. Im sure its on my card. Reporter then, right to the point. You have any reason to wanna harm gary or jan . Not at all. Didnt do anything to hurt them . No sir. Didnt go into the house . Anything like that . Everything youre telling me is the truth . Absolutely. Reporter next jessica was in the chair, answering questions about her relationship with her parents. Were they paying any of your bills, cars . They they pay my at t bill for my cell phone. They pay my car insurance. And i think thats it. Im just gonna ask. Did you have any ill feelings toward your folks . Anything that you would have been mad mad at them for . Any reason to want to harm them or anything like that no. My parents were my life. To better, better your financial situation or anything like that . No. I mean, if i needed something, all i had to do was call and ask. So youre a suspect right. In your parents double homicide . Yes. Yes. How do you deal with that . You havent even buried them yet. I wasnt really dealing with it. It was more just going through, and saying i, you know, i didnt do it. Reporter police asked both jessica and jason for dna samples, then set out to verify their alibis. My boss and i took a trip to Oklahoma City and we went to employers. Spoke with fellow employees. With jessicas boss. And we went to the pizza hut to see if we could see some surveillance video. Reporter would it all check out . Or would an unexpected lead send the investigation in a new direction . This was a huge bingo moment. It was. Coming up garys best friend offers detectives some clues, including texts he says he saw on garys phone. Some guy that was asking for money. Did someone need cash badly enough to kill . Enough to kill . I have asthma. One of many pieces in my life. So when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my longterm control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. Oncedaily breo prevents asthma symptoms. Breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a longterm asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. Breo wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. Breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. Breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a longterm asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. 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Reporter the outpouring of love and support was a huge comfort to jessica at a time when she needed it most. Word had gotten out that cops were looking at her. Yeah, lots of rumors that i did it. Thats tough to go out every day and say, i didnt kill my parents. Right. And it got very tiring to hear, you know, someone say, well, you need to look at the daughter. She did it. She has the most to gain. And they did take a hard look. Yes, they did. They think the daughter has killed him in order to get the money, that shes in cahoots with her fiancee. Isnt that awful . You might not have believed it, or your circle of people didnt believe it or knew my circle my circle was not believing that. Reporter and behind the scenes, police and prosecutors had come to the same conclusion jessica and jason were innocent. Everything that jessica and jason were telling the police, the police were able to corroborate and verify. And they went through everything. They went through the phone records. The alibi was checked out top to bottom. It was. Reporter and when the dna results came back on the latex glove, neither of them was a match. It belonged to an unknown male. Was that a relief for you . Yes, i mean, we knew we didnt do it, so, i mean, it was, like, okay, well, now you need to find who did it. Reporter and the couple felt they could help the investigation with their own amateur sleuthing. For instance, when jason went back to jessicas parents house for the first time, he noticed something was missing. There was a display of little ivory pieces and multiple walrus tusks that, you know, kind of engraved art type things. And they had been moved. Walrus tusk, jason. Are we talking about like like so . The big one was about yay big. Right. The larger one was not where it was supposed to be, and the other one was not there at all. Reporter jason told police that one of garys prized tusks could be the murder weapon, the source of those mysterious white flakes. And jessica noticed something, too. Someone had been at her dads desk where he sorted coins. He kept them around his desk in coffee cans, and bags you know, that and he would be sorting them, or organizing them. Reporter and a container with what would have looked like loose parking meter change was missing its actual value around 20,000, according to her dads records. The killer would have known the real value only if he moved in the same antique circles as gary. At least thats what the brother suspected. Perhaps someone he gary had went to buy some gold or silver and that someone had set him up and that had someone follow him home and got the drop on him or jan and had robbed him and killed him. It sounds very plausible. That was a big worry i had. Reporter but as they dug into garys business dealings, no potential suspects emerged. Few people had any idea how wealthy they really were. They did not show that type of wealth to people. It was always kept very quiet. The people that he would interact with, as far as selling the gold were always very reputabletype people. Reporter and because there was no forced entry to the home, larry offered up the very limited list of people who had access to the house, a handful of local contractors. I assume you were asking the garden guy, and the cabinet maker, whoever might have been in that house from larrys list of people to give dna. Right. Reporter at the same time, officers were reaching out to others in the couples inner circle. Garys closest friend was mark porter, a married father of two, prominent guy in town and former school superintendent. Its just a wise thing to do to clean the floors. He was handsome. He looked good. He dressed good. When he first came to the district, he drove a jaguar. Reporter nancy worked with both gary and mark. They seemed to get along really well, worked well together. I thought they were friends at school and off of school. Reporter so mark went down to the Police Station to talk with investigators. All right mr. Porter. Is it its mark . Correct . Yeah. Do you mind if i call you mark . No, thats good. Okay. I just want to kind of touch base with you and talk to you a little bit about how you, how you know them, how long youve known them. Well, gary, since probably maybe 15, 20 years. He was my assistant superintendent. I was i was the superintendent. Reporter mark knew a lot about garys coin business. Hed started dabbling in it as well. He told detectives details that suggested a fellow collector could have targeted the tyrrells. Hes got people all over the missouri that collect for him, and i know he goes to hotels, and meets people and hes he runs ads in the paper. Reporter according to mark, gary set up one of those meetings around the time of his death, and it involved a lot of money. He was actually going to sell 50,000 of gold for cash. It was it was actually a buyer who was going to give him 50,000 cash. Thats all i know. Reporter he also mentioned Text Messages hed seen on garys phone from some other guy. Gary asked me to read him some of his Text Messages and there were five in a row from some guy that he had taught in a class that was asking for money. Okay. And i have no idea you dont remember . Was there a name attached with the text . Was it just from a number . I cant remember. Reporter and remember, gary was shot as well as beaten. Could it have been with one of his own guns . Gary has guns everywhere. Gary has guns in in every drawer of the house i think. I mean, he likes his guns. He loves guns. Reporter but then, mark gave detectives a detail that took them completely by surprise. He was supposed to meet me actually 8 00 on, uh wednesday, and didnt show. Reporter wednesday, the night of the murders. It was the first police were hearing of gary having plans that night. What else did the best friend know . Coming up, mark gives a detailed account, one that troubles investigators. There were several things about that story that raised questions. Then larrys brother reveals who he thinks had a motive for murder. I know he had some sort of bad financial issue. When dateline continues. When dateline continues. Fortifying the gravitydefying. Adventurecollecting. Friendconnector. Fortifying the goingplaces. Offtotheraces. Dayseizing. You. Youre strong. And were here to help you stay that way. New special k nourish. Multigrain flakes with quinoa, apples, almonds and raspberries. New special k nourish. Fortify. She pretty much lives in her favorite princess dress. 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. Tide and downy together. Lease a 2016 lincoln mkx for 399 a month only at your lincoln dealer. Choose, choose, choose. But at bedtime . Why settle for this . 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I went back to the house, knocked on the door, nothing, didnt answer so i thought he had either gone or he had left, cause sometimes, cause hell leave. Hell go and say, oh man i forgot, my uhm my bad, im, im in kansas city, so i had no clue. Reporter mark told detectives that gary had stood him up before. No big deal. So he went back to his office at ibm to do some work. Now, there were several things about that story that raised some questions. Like . Like, why would you wait 45 minutes for someone and not pick up your phone and give em a call, and say, hey. Whats up . Whats up . Did you forget . Reporter but what seemed really strange was that mark porter had just admitted to going to the house the night of the murders, with a story that just didnt ring true. Why drive across town if he wasnt all that concerned about his friend missing dinner . So he drives a few miles across town to go knock on the door, when his office is across the street, when it doesnt appear that gary is showing up. So he puts himself at the house . He puts himself at the house but with a benign explanation, huh . Yes. Reporter inside the interview room, the detective decided it was time for a break. Give me just a couple seconds ill go back there and see if theres anything else. Can i get you anything . Coke, water . Anything . No. Reporter trying to make sense of it all, including this bit of information. Garys brother had told police that not long ago mark asked gary for a loan put the request in writing and not just a little bit til payday but an eyepopping 250,000 dollars. Thats the kinda money if you can get it out of your house as a second mortgage maybe youre youre lucky. Right. Right. What did your father make of it . Did he consider it even for a heartbeat . No. Not at all. When he was talking to us about it he was kinda laughing and said, you know, i i dont know where he thinks i would have this kind of money. Reporter strange, since not only would mark, garys former boss, have had a nice pension as a former school superintendant, he was currently earning a six figure salary at ibm. Brother larry had suggested mark might have a gambling problem. I knew he had some sorta bad financial issue. Reporter when the detective came back to the room, the tone of the interview had changed completely. Have you ever had to ask gary for money yourself . Uh only, no. Only for uh only uh in trade or buying. Reporter suddenly, mark porter was in the hot seat. So if i was getting information from somebody who told me that maybe you had a large gambling debt that you were ask for i do not have a large gambling debt. Gary for. No. For maybe some assistance with . No. Thats false . Yeah, thats not true. Reporter he denied asking for the loan said the only time he discussed large sums of money with gary was about a real estate deal. Because he, hes always looking for investment, whatever. Reporter then detectives asked him the question theyd asked everyone else would he offer up a dna sample . All i have is just like a cheek swab that i would ask if youre fine to do that while youre here today. No im gonna wait. Okay. Any particular reason . I just i dont know, i dont know the legalities. I dont want to, i dont want to do something and my attorneys say i shouldnt have done that. Okay. Why would you not give us a dna sample . Hes your best friend. Were trying to find his killer. Hes your best friend. Were doin everything we can to try to find who brutally murdered your best friend. And youre tellin us that youre not sure youre gonna give us a dna sample. Reporter the refusal wasnt evidence of marks guilt so police let him go. But the investigation suddenly shifted away from the workers at the tyrrell home and toward mark porter. Some detectives hit the pavement to check out his alibi while others continued mining other avenues for leads. One cop thought to check a local database of pawn shops to see if any of the missing items from the tyrrell house had been recently sold. That search led them here to r k coins. Tell us how your business ended up bein very important in a Murder Investigation in springfield. Yes, sir. Reporter it was just two days after jan and gary were killed when Kelly Eddington was working behind his desk and a guy with a tub of coins walked in. What were you seein in him . Was he okay . Was he normal demeanor he just looked like any average guy to me. I didnt, nothin actually stood out about him at all. He had piles of dimes, quarters, 50 cent pieces. When you added up the face value of that stack of money, ho wh what was it worth . He had 1,200 and 1,210 in face money. But the meltdown value of the metal itself was worth what . I paid him 18,351. Reporter 18,351. A lot of money and not far off the value of the coins jessica reported missing from her parents home. When he walked in and stacked his coins and you did the transaction, your security cameras caught it all, huh . Sure did. So who was it . Coming up, how an mcdonalds coffee cup was about to blow the case wide open. Does your dashboard just light up when you hear that . I cant even describe the emotion of it. And finally, a family learns the truth. I remember falling to the floor. Floor. S lloyd. To prove to you that the better choice for him is aleve. Hes agreed to give it up. Ok, but i have 30 acres to cover by sundown. Well be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. Yeah, i was ok, but after lunch my knee started hurting again so. More pills. Yep. Another pill stop. Can i get my aleve back yet . For my pain. I want my aleve. Get all day minor arthritis pain relief with an easy open cap. The flame is out. Ugh. Today the flame is out, tomorrow my attitude. Your mother. Antonio. Antonio. Que . The stove. Its not working. Campbells microwaveable soups. Made for real, real life. Switch and get a brand new Cricket Wireless lg risio for 19. 99, or take a spin with the Samsung Galaxy grand prime for 29. 99 Cricket Wireless. Something to smile about. What hand paired with even getmore lobster . Ked, you get hungry. And you count the seconds until red lobsters lobsterfest is back with the largest variety of lobster dishes of the year. Like new dueling lobster tails with one tail stuffed with crab, and the other with langostino lobster macandcheese, its a party on a plate and you know every bite of lobster lovers dream lives up to its name. Hey, eating is believing. So stop dreaming and start eating. Detectives finally had a major break in the investigation. Silver coins worth around the same amount as the ones taken from the tyrell home had turned up in a local coin shop. Surveillance cameras caught the transaction on video. The man certainly looked familiar. But if there was any doubt, he left a copy of his i. D. Mark porter. Mark edward porter. Thats a real license. Thats him. But selling a load of coins didnt prove mark porter was guilty of murder. Remember, mark also had an interest in the coin business. His explanation was these were coins he had, it was just a coincidence he happened to sell them the day after the tyrells were schooled. By all appearances a pillar of the community was now a prime suspect in the murders of jan and gary tyrell. I never did like the guy. I didnt trust him. I thought he was something of a fake. Garys brother larry always had a bad feeling about mark. And he was convinced if mark was the killer, the motive was money. I felt he was befriending and grooming my brother so he could gain access to his money. I think over a period of time he saw jan as an obstacle. When jessica learned detectives were looking at mark, she wasnt surprised. She didnt show up at the funeral. Conspicuous by his absence . It was pretty obvious at that point that there was something going on. His former secretary said she hated working for mark porter. Ended up quitting her job to get away from him. Hes off in some way, he could be a psychopath or something. You used that word . I did. But what bothered police was his lack of cooperation. He wouldnt give dna. He wouldnt take a polygraph. Add to that the suspicious pawn shop transaction, and the story about stopping by the tyrell house the night of the murders. She had talked about making a couple of phone calls to mark and she couldnt get ahold of him, didnt know where she was or what he was doing. But police still needed physical evidence. A dna sample to match to the latex glove found at the scene. We had undercover officers that were constantly doing surveillance for weeks and weeks and weeks to try to somehow obtain a dna sample from him. But nabbing a sample approved to be more difficult than expected. In all those weeks, officers continued to come up empty. They watched him eat his lunch. They watched him get a togo cup. They were all excited because they thought they would be able to get the straw he used only to see him leave with the straw. So he knew that you guys had eyes on him . Its difficult to know what he knew at that time. Then three months after the murders, an undercover officer followed mark into an Automobile Oil chain shop. He goes inside. Mark has a coffee cup he had gotten from mcdonalds. He drinks from the coffee cup. He strikes up a casual conversation. The suspect and the undercover cop. The suspect and the undercover cop. He leaves behind the coffee cup. Police had their sample. In less than 24 hours, they had the results. Its confirmed, its a match. The same dna from the coffee cup and the same at from the latex glove. Does your dashboard light up because of that . I cant describe without emotion that well be able to tell the family that we have some news. How do you take that . Did he say youve got the wrong guy . Absolutely not. He said, okay. Thats all he said. Jessica was at work. Two of my very good friends were with me. He said, hes been arrested. I remember falling to the floor and just being so overwhelmed with relief that he was finally caught. Even the former secretary who didnt like him was horrified. I couldnt believe it. I mean, oh, i thought, no. No. Investigators went back to marks wife and told her that her own husbands story put him at the scene of the crime. You really need to help us out here. When does mark say he was there . At the time they were killed. No. Yes, maam. Yes, maam. Still circumstantial. And thats exactly what mark porters defense attorney argued. Mark hired one of the best to plead his case. A spotless record, five college degrees, has an outstanding past of good reputation. At a bond hearing, the defense revealed its strategy. They would argue there was nothing suspicious about marks dna inside his best friends house. He was a regular visitor to the house, he would get with gary, they would put on their gloves and handle the old coins and objects and thats why the glove was there. Jurors, its benign. Is that how it works in the real world of Court Room Drama . Potentially, yes. What about the suspicious coin sale . There was no way to know they had come from garys house. And as to mark porter being a compulsive gambler . Did he owe money to people . There was never any evidence we found that led to that. So the case, a potential Death Penalty one, was not airtight. When mark hired new attorneys who asked to talk about a plea deal, the prosecution was willing to listen. What are we willing to risk . To try to get the Death Penalty, can we achieve what we need to achieve without the risk of going to trial . He could walk. Theres a chance of a hung jury and you have to do it all again. Or they could come back on a lesser crime. Both sides agreed. Mark porter pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and he was sentenced to prison. No eligibility of parole until age 82. Im shocked and sad. I have a lot of relief that mr. Porter is finally going to be behind bars for presumably the rest of his life. He has to live every day with what he did. Every day he has to think about what he did. And all of the lives he destroyed. Youre saying you have to live with remorse, but you havent seen any sign of remorse. That is the only bad part. But he still has to sit there. Today, jessica is doing her best to move on. In february of 2015, she and jason finally got married. We got married on valentines day. It was a great day. It was also very sad. My parents werent there. Larry took his brothers place and walked her down the aisle. She asked me to give her away. It should have been my brothers job. Kind of a bittersweet moment . Mmhmm. Thats true. I was honored to do it but i didnt feel right doing it. To keep her parents memory alive, jessica has set up a scholarship in their names. As for their offbeat museum of a home, its still there, with a loving daughter as caretaker. I still feel them there. They loved that house. My mom built that house. I grew up there. And so i cant let that go. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Well see you again friday for an allnew twohour dateline at a special time, 9 00, 8 00 central. And of course ill see you each week night for nbc nightly news. For all of us at nbc news, good night. Night. Male announcer tonight, the stars of televisions greatest comedies come together to celebrate tv director james burrows, with special tributes from the cast of cheers. I needed to reach down and rearrange myself to get me into that jock feel. You are an exjockstrap. Exjock. You announcer will grace. Do you have a favorite jack and karen moment . [laughs] so many. How much time do we have . [laughter] announcer frasier. I couldve played jac oh, my god, cher . Cher [laughs] whos got the best talk show in seattle . We do, we do. All right announcer the big bang theory. Where did bazinga come from . Was that yours . Oh, god, no. Sheldon, come here bazinga. Bazinga. Announcer taxi. Wah i need your opinion here on which is the best aftershave. Oh, please. [laughter]
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