Was there a connection . I was afraid for her. Lynn was months away from her wedding when she vanished, leaving behind a young son and a mystery. Any sign that someone had broken in and abducted her . No. The search continued on land and at sea. No bag, no body, no case. I didnt have anything that would show she was actually dead. Decades go by and the mystery is almost forgotten, but not by everyone. They knew he was the bad guy, they just couldnt put him in jail. All they needed was a miracle or a witness. Wasnt april fools, there was a body. I am lester holt and this is dateline. Here is Dennis Murphy with what lies beneath. You dont need a moon over miami for it to be beautiful by night. The skyline reflected in biscayne bay will do fine, but it is not for everyone. I am so, so worried about you. Some people are scared by the dark water, afraid of the creatures that lurk down below. Afraid of the creatures above who scuttle through the night on secret errands. I have no idea where you are. You just may share those fears after you hear the story of a woman named lynn fremt. None of this makes sense to anyone that knows lynn friend. Local news caster told the story of this good neighbor. She was that all american girl, blue eyes, beautiful smile from here to california. The good mom. She adored her son, they were inseparable. Little did anyone suspect that for the next 20 years the story of lynn friend would haunt a young mans life, and the mystery of what happened would be unsolved she hasnt been seen in days. What happened to lynn that put her in the cross hairs of miami tv news was that she was missing. Just flat out gone. No one could imagine lynn friend, a responsible hospital administrative aide just snapping and walking out on her life, least of all on her fiveyearold son christian. One thing is certain. Jennifer snell, a reporter in miami, covered the disappearance. For her to disappear without leaving word for her son was just something that everyone knew would never happen. Esther sanchez met lynn when she came to work at Parkway Hospital in fort lauderdale. At the time, lynn was still living with her fiance, a Business Owner named clifford friend. When the two married in 1989, esther was maid of honor. She wanted what every girl dreams of getting married, having a beautiful wedding, looking forward to having children, the goal of the white picket fence. When baby christian came along, lynn the proud mom made her boy one of the most photographed children in south florida. Over the moon with being a mom, less so at being mrs. Clifford friend. I thought they were a poor match. Within a year of christians birth, the marriage was flounldering. Lynn and her husband parted ways and later divorced. She was upset that her dreams had fallen apart but she was very happy with the fact she was a mom. Disappointment abounded, but baby christian wasnt part of it. He was her number one priority in life. She lived for him. Consumed with being a mom meant men were out of the picture for the foreseeable future, but then along came ed odell. A consultant from nashville working on a construction project at her hospital. He set eyes on her right away. He was a southern gentleman and he would walk in, say hi to her and leave. That went on for i think a year. Then one day she said i think im going to go out on a date with ed. And that one date turned into a whirl wind romance. Within months, lynn and ed gotten gauged and mapped out a got engaged and mapped out a future together in nashville. He was very fond of the boy, looked forward to them all being a family together. Lynn had been awarded custody of the child, although she ensured christians father clifford had generous visitation rights. She had agreed to everything that clifford wanted to try to play nice. She said if this is what you want, well do that. In august, 1994, the clock was counting down to moving day. Lynn was home packing when ed called from nashville about 8 00 on sunday night. She told him she would be running out a few minutes but would call him back as soon as she returned home. Two hours went by and no lynn phone call. The fiance left a message on her answering machine. Hello, its me. Its about 9 15, im a little worried about you and hope everything is okay. Close friend esther lived in the same condo complex as lynn. When esther noticed her friends car was gone late at night, she became concerned. Esther started calling, too. I am very worried, you didnt tell me you were going anywhere. Unanswered messages piled up through the night. Hello hello. It is 10 30 and i had hoped i would hear from you by now. I am so, so worried about you. I have no idea where you are. Call me. Bye. The next day a neighbor spotted lynns car abandoned about a half mile from her home. A front tire was flat. Soon the cops arrived and esther let them in lynns condo. What i noticed that was very odd, shes meticulous, very neat, and very frugal. The television was on. The lights were on. The air conditioning was on. Lynn appeared to have closed the door of her townhouse north of miami on a sunday night and vanished into the thick night air. So this has become very ominous for you. So now it is very, very scary. What in the world had happened to nice lynn friend . Law enforcement officers from all over south florida were looking for any trace of her. Coming up empty. A wedding, a move, a new job. Lynn was facing enormous changes and stress in the days ahead. Is it possible she just took off . And if she was a runaway bride, had she run into trouble . Did you think maybe she got cold feet, was taking a time out somewhere . Without her son, never. I wasc toothbrush really cleans. Better than a manual, and my hygienist says it does. But. Theyre not all the same. 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I know, i saved a ton of money on car insurance. Thats what im talking about geico also gives you 24 7 access to licensed agents booooyah. Good game, you really crushed it. No son, geico crushed it. 48 hours of protection. I dont have to reapply this. Not once its really soft and almost velvety. As you put it on. Its like reaaally soft. Try dove advance care. For softer, smoother underarms. School lunch can be difficult. Cafeteria chaos. One little struggle. Can lead to one monumental mishap. Not with ziploc easy open tabs. Because life needs ziploc. Sc johnson. Reporter days passed, and clues were few in the disappearance of lynne friend. The missing mother of a 5yearold boy seemed to have gotten in her car on rainy sunday night and never come home. Lynns friends and fiance, ed odell, pleaded for help. All i want is lynne back. I just want to marry her and take her away and live happily ever after. Missing friend of ours reporter they handed out flyers and searched the residential area where her car was found abandoned. Honestly, i was very afraid. Reporter a townhouse she left with the tv still on. Ed royal, an investigator assigned by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was perplexed by what he didnt find at the condo. There was no sign of struggle at lynns house. Lynns house was exactly as you would expect it. She was two days from moving. She boxes ceiling to floor. Reporter any sign that someone had broken in and abducted her . No. Reporter cops also came up empty when they searched her abandoned car with a flat tire. Inside they found a waste pouch with her drivers license. There was no evidence, no fingerprints, no foreign dna in it. Reporter forensically youre not coming up with this aha kind of clue. No, were not. Reporter that says this explains everything. No. Reporter so what did happen to the 35yearold single mother . With all too few forensic clues to examine, the investigators became biographers, learning just who this missing woman was. When they peeled back the layers of lynns life, what they saw right away were big stressful changes on her horizon. A new marriage and a new city, a new life altogether. Had it all become too much . Her best friend, esther sanchez. Did you think she got cold feet about moving to tennessee and was taking time out somewhere . Without her son . Never. Lynne would have to be dead to not have christian. Reporter and what about her son, christian . Could he help fill in any pieces of the puzzle . Reporter sensitive thing. The child here is 5 years old. Maybe he has a story to tell. No, i dont know how much a 5yearold child could provide at that time. Reporter in truth, precious little, the night lynn disappeared christian had been with his father for the weekend. Like lynne, her ex, clifford friend, had also met someone since his divorce two years before. He was engaged to a woman named janet miriam. She lived in texas and learned of lynns disappearance long distance. Cliff had called me and said he had i believe had received a phone call stating that lynne had disappeared. They found lynns car, and they didnt know where she was. Reporter this is a very traumatic thing thats gone. Hes lost his mother. Did you shield him from it okay, the news, we shielded christian as much as possible. This area reporter meanwhile, the massive investigation into lynne friends disappearance had one goal to find her or at least her body if she was, in fact, dead. Are you prepared to deal with the worst . No. No. I cannot think that. I will not think that. Lynne is lynne is the woman that im going to marry. She is my life. I think he really wanted to hold it together and to be dignified. Reporter Jennifer Snell was a reporter for miamis nbc station wtvj. I thought that as the word would come out of his mouth, he will realize what he was saying what that the love of his life was dead. I have to believe for christians sake that shes still alive because hes just a 5yearold child, and he needs his mother. And he loves his mother so much. Reporter ed odell was driven. He would not give up trying to find the love of his life. He called on everyone, even the president , to ask for help. Ed odell started a campaign writing to president clinton, and lo and behold, we get a call from the fbi that said they would now like to join the investigation. Reporter but even with the top Law Enforcement agency in the country in on the search for lynne friend, there was still no break in the case. Then out of the blue, the deep, dark blue, a chance encounter produced a lead from a most unlikely place in the case of a missing woman. Coming up, a federal agent on the lookout for drug runners runs into something strange. I tell one of my crew members, light em up. As soon as he lights up the boat, the chase is on. [ sirens ] when dateline continues. Reporter the waters off miami beach are where the valley original is the waters of miami beach are where the vigil ant agents of the u. S. Customs and Border Control agents go to work every night. And here the catandmouse game of Law Enforcement pursuing cocaine cowboys and their gofast boats was the reality back in the 1990s. Customs agent, tim stellhorn, remembers it well. In 1994, drug smuggling of very prevalent. Reporter on that longago sunday night lynne friend disappeared, agent stellhorn and crew left their dock at dusk. They knew nothing of the missing person case. Their focus was intercepting drugs and smugglers. They headed out into the dark, open ocean waters that lead to the bahamas, a hotbed of smuggling. About three miles out, they idled and doused their running lights. It was a beautiful night. The ocean was calm. We had the engine shut off and were listening for boats in the area. So i hear this boat coming out, and through night vision goggles, i could see that there was two people on board. That two people on board were in dark clothing, goggles, bandanas around their heads. Reporter it around 11 00. Stellhorn and crew running dark tailed the boat surreptitiously, but quickly the element of surprise was lost. I watched the passenger turn around, and he spots us, i think. I tell one of my crew members, light em up with a spotlight. As soon as he lights up the boat, i notice the passenger roll a large duffel bag off the side of the boat. The chase is on. [ sirens ] i think we have a narcotics case, a smuggling case that went bad. And at some point, they just stopped their boat, and both put their hands straight up in the air. Reporter the two were zipped up during the questioning that followed. Agents returned to the spot where the bag was dumped, but it had already sunk. And with no drugs found on the boat, agents released the two. Their boat was seized for a followup investigation. Just another night in the office in the war on drugs, or so agent stellhorn thought. So a week goes by. Sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. On one of the back pages is a story of a missing woman, lynne friend. Friend is an unusual last name, so of course it registered that i just stopped a boat a week prior with a guy named friend on board. Reporter it was clifford friend, lynns exhusband. With him was a miami beach man named alan gold, coowner of the boat. The bottom of the article was the detectives name and phone number. I called the number. At first he didnt believe me. He thought it was a prank call. Reporter hardly. Light bulbs clicked, missing pieces fell into place. A missing exwife, a former husband busted dumping something off shore on the very night. Leslie dambrosia is an agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Thats a fortuitous matchup in this case. The customs officers in this case did such an amazing job. Is there anything that you want to say . Reporter now ten days after lynns disappearance, investigators and the media laser focused on clifford friend. Janet miriam, still his fiancee at the time, was caught in the whirlwind that followed. There was cameras wherever cliff went. Do you expect to be charged in the murder of your exwife . Trying to tell cliff in front of his child that he was guilty of the disappearance of his exwife. Reporter and then there was this investigative nugget. Ed odell reported to the cops that the night lynne disappeared she told him that she was going to cliffords house to pick up a Child Support payment. When detectives heard that, they got a search warrant for cliffords place. They seized some items and his car but found no evidence of foul play anywhere. I never gave thought that he had anything to do with lynns disappearance. Reporter but investigators werent so sure so they turned their attentions to the area where customs stopped cliffords boat. With waters 1,000 feet deep, agent ed royal asked the u. S. Navy for help, but there was a little problem. The u. S. Navy is precluded from providing assistance to Law Enforcement without reimbursement. So they were willing to provide us three days of searching for 48,000. Reporter you were going to get a bill at the end of it. We had to pay up front actually. Reporter two months later, the fee covered, the u. S. Navy was ready to join in the search. The ship was fitted out with side scan sonar that could image the ocean floor. No gym bag . No. No bag, no body. The experts told us that it was beyond a needle in a haystack. Yeah. Reporter the navy said it had to pull the plug when the money ran out. But lynns fiance, ed odell, stepped in. And ed odell wrote a check to the navy for another 13,000 to extend the search one more day. Reporter the extra day bought one promising sighting. We saw what we thought was a black bag on the ocean floor. Reporter grappling hooks were sent down. Searchers deck held their breath, but it wasnt what they were looking for. A plastic garbage bag. Reporter what was in the garbage bag . It turned out to be beer cans. Garbage. Reporter the navy search had fizzled out. Detectives were back at square one, and they would already ruled out one of the people closest to lynn. What about ed odell . Do you have to suspect the fiance . Not at all. He was in tennessee at the time all of this occurred. We have the phone records. Reporter so after months, detectives were no closer to solving the case. They had no dna, no forensics, no blood spatter, nothing to help them. And despite their suspicions about clifford friend, Law Enforcement couldnt say definitively what happened to his exwife, lynne. We didnt have the body, and we didnt have any eyewitnesses. Reporter back in 1994, katherine fernandezrundel had been the miamidade state attorney for two years when the case came into her office. She was determined lynne friends name would not end up in some cold case file. This was not the easiest case, as you might imagine. Reporter couldnt say if she was dead. She might have metaphorically taken the Midnight Train to georgia. Nobody knew. Thats correct. We didnt know she was missing. We believed it. We had a little boy. We didnt know what he was going to say. We didnt have access to him. Really what you had was very little. So you had to really build it, you had to stay tenacious. Reporter tenacious indeed. Because clifford friend actually had an alibi. [ sirens ] reporter one he wasnt proud of, perhaps, but it explained what he was doing that night and why there were two men in a boat. Coming up, an undercover sting that didnt quite go as planned. He said, oh, i took the recording device and dropped it in her diaper. 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Clearasil rapid action begins working fast for clearly visible results in as little as 12 hours. But can it fix this teens skateboarding mishap . Nope. So lets be clear clearasil works fast on teen acne, not so much on other teen things. School lunch can be difficult. Cafeteria chaos. One little struggle. Can lead to one monumental mishap. Not with ziploc easy open tabs. Because life needs ziploc. Sc johnson. Crsugar is everywherets sugar shield and crest complete has a sugar shield to protect teeth from sugar found in everyday foods. Crest complete. Shield your teeth from sugar. So sugar may visit, but its not sticking around. Reporter months had passed, and with no success in finding lynnes body, Police Appeal to the public for help. They put together a Crime Stoppers reenactment video that aired on local tv showing two men dumping a bag in the ocean, then trying to evade customs agents. A reward was offered, but the tip line stayed mostly silent. Neither clifford friend nor alan gold would tell police directly what they were doing on the boat that night. Customs agent tim stellhorn thought he knew when he ran a background check and found cliffords priors. Through the investigative findings, we learned that clifford friend did have a criminal history. Part of that criminal history was in drug smuggling. Reporter while the other man, alan gold, had no history of drug arrests, was clifford friend, a known smuggler, dumping drugs into the ocean that night . His attorney said clifford friend was committing a crime that night, but it wasnt murder. They were running drug deals together. Reporter attorney peter heller says thats what was in the bag clifford dumped. Drugs. Youre saying he was dirty. He had a dirty history he did, and they knew that. Reporter clifford also owned a pawn shop in the miami area. According to his lawyer, cliffords drugrunning career ended when lynne disappeared. He wanted to turn his life around. He had a little boy to take care of. Husband and wife reporter and he would take care of christian with his new bride. A year and a half after lynne disappeared, clifford and janet married. Alan gold, with the waistlength braid, was there, too. The investigators never really go away. Youre putting together your new life with this man, and yet youve got to deal with all that stuff. After the first couple of years, the first two years, it really disappeared. Reporter as the case receded from the public eye, clifford and janet friend focused on raising young christian. Does he remember his mother . I never wanted him to forget who his mother was. So i always made sure that he had pictures of his mother in his room, and he was allowed to ask any question that he ever wanted. Reporter you had become the only mom he remembers in his life. You are mom. I am mom, and he calls me mom. He understands i am not his biological mother. Reporter what kind of dad was cliff to christian . He was a great dad. They went and played ball together. They went fishing together. They went on travels together. Cliff is a phenomenal father. Reporter meanwhile up in tennessee, lynnes onetime fiance, ed odell, had moved on with his life, too. Married now with children. The dwindling friends of lynne thought they would never see an end to the case of the missing woman. There was one person in particular who didnt like to see the dusty jacket of unsolved cases in his files. It has to be murder. Reporter in 2010, one of miamis most experienced prosecutors, makal von zamft, took over the case. What did you think the biggest problem was . I had no body, no witnesses. I had nothing to indicate she was actually dead. I think that especially now in 2014, juries with have high expectations. Reporter the csi speech that so many prosecutions give in jury selection they expect physical evidence. They want to see a body. Reporter the two reexamined the 16yearold file and took a fresh look at a lead from back then that had never panned out. An acquaintance of cliffords, someone named robert missey, told police about a disturbing conversation he had with the exhusband not long before lynne went missing. He said it happened over breakfast at this ihop. Clifford told them, well, shes never leaving the state with my child. Shes going for a boat ride, and shes never coming back. Reporter this is dynamite for an investigator. It was great. We managed to convince missey that he should become our ally. Reporter in other words, a snitch. Missey, a convicted felon on probation at the time, agreed to wear a wire and met clifford again a few weeks later. There was something worrying the pawnbroker about their earlier breakfast meeting. My biggest concern is the conversation that we had at i hop. I want to make sure you didnt talk to anybody. Oh, no. I had no conversations. Okay. Ever. And that gave us confirmation that there had been an actual conversation at the ihop. And there was probably a discussion about the disposing of lynne friend. Reporter missey turned out to be a hapless, technologically challenged informant. At another meeting, missey wanted to make sure clifford didnt discover his concealed wire, so he used his own baby as cover. We asked him, what was wrong with the baby . We couldnt hear, the baby was screaming. He said, oh, i took the recording device, and i dropped it in her diaper. Reporter youre kidding. The reason she was screaming is because those things get kind of hot. And we were just all appalled that he had done that. Reporter investigators did believe the initial ihop story, but after missy was caught out in a lie on something else, he was quietly retired from the investigation. Now 18 years after lynne friend went missing, prosecutor von zamft decided to tell the ihop story to a grand jury absent missey himself. We used that as part of the basis for the indictment. Reporter marginal evidence maybe, but nonetheless a good prosecutorial strategy. The grand jury indicted. Are you clifford friend . Yes, maam. Reporter in 2012, prosecutors charged clifford friend with firstdegree murder. His attorney was flabbergasted that prosecutors would dare to build a circumstantial case with no body, mind you, on the expected star witness testimony of a very shaky informant. Our investigators had done tremendous amount of work on robert missey. We had boxes of files of dirt on robert missey. Reporter but what the defense didnt know was that prosecutors were putting up a straw man. Missey wouldnt be their star witness at all. We were never going to use him at trial. Our whole intent was to use him and have the defense running around looking for him and everything they could find on him. Reporter and while the defense did just that, spinning its wheels, prosecutors were quietly working on reeling in another prize another better witness. One clifford friend could only hope hed never see again. Coming up, the other person on the boat that night brakes a promise and 20 years of silence. He said, we have to dump the bag. When dateline continues. Wha woof eeh woof wuh [silence] [engine roars to life] [dog howls] dramatic opera music swells from radio [howling continues] they carry your fans shpassions, hopes, and dreams. S. And maybe, a chance at greatness because shoulders were made for greatness. Not dandruff. School lunch can be difficult. Cafeteria chaos. One little struggle. Can lead to one monumental mishap. Not with ziploc easy open tabs. Because life needs ziploc. Sc johnson. Im joy bauer, and as a nutritionist i know probiotics can often help. Try digestive advantage. It is tougher than your stomachs harsh environment, so it surivies a hundred times better than the leading probiotic. Get the digestive advantage. Its so delicious. I cant believe it has 40 fewer calories than butter. I cant believe its made with real, simple ingredients. I cant believe were on a whale. I cant believe my role isnt bigger. Oh, its real. Real ingredients. Unbelievable taste. Go ahead, enjoy. 48 hours of protection. Unbelievable taste. I dont have to reapply this. Not once its really soft and almost velvety. As you put it on. Its like reaaally soft. Try dove advance care. For softer, smoother underarms. Hey team, i know were tight on time, but i really need a. Sick day tomorrow. Moms dont take sick days. Moms take nyquil severe the. Nighttime sniffling,sneezing, coughing, aching, fever best. Sleep with a cold, medicine. School lunch can be difficult. Cafeteria chaos. One little struggle. Can lead to one monumental mishap. Not with ziploc easy open tabs. Because life needs ziploc. Sc johnson. Clearasil rapid action begins working fast for clearly visible results in as little as 12 hours. But can it fix this teens skateboarding mishap . Nope. So lets be clear clearasil works fast on teen acne, not so much on other teen things. Reporter 20 years after lynn friends disappearance, clifford friend, looking more jowly banker than killer, was on trial for his exwifes murder. The motive, prosecutors say, was sitting directly behind him. The son, christian, now 25. Clifford, the prosecutors theorized, killed lynne to stop her from taking the boy out of state to nashville where she was to remarry. For the last 20 years, christian had always been in that place, right behind his father, never questioning his innocence. In court, it showed the jury his continuing support of his father even as he was about to hear until now untold family stories. The truth, the whole truth reporter among the first witnesses was ed odell, lynnes onetime fiance. Odell described his last call with lynne. Her call waiting beeped, and she put him on hold. She said it was her exhusband, clifford, on the other line asking her to come to his house and pick up some money he owed. When you hung up with her, that was the last time you ever spoke to her . That is correct. What did you do when you didnt hear from her . I tried to call her and did not get through. And did you call her excuse me a minute. Mr. Odell, would you like to take a break . No, i would like to get finished. All right, sir. Reporter to prove clifford killed lynne to stop her from taking their son away, prosecutors called her divorce attorney. He testified that one week before her disappearance, clifford went ballistic in a Family Law Court when a judge approved the boys move to nashville. He was angrily yelling at his lawyer that nobody nobody will take christian away from me. Reporter but these outbursts were at best purely circumstantial evidence. The prosecution would need a lot more than that. Remember, lynnes body had never been found. However, the night his ex disappeared, clifford and his pal, alan gold, were spotted in a speedboat dumping a bag overboard. The state believed lynnes remains were in that bag. Alan gold had kept his mouth shut all these years. The key was finding a way to force alan gold to cooperate. Reporter prosecuter michael von zamft made the other man in the boat an offer he couldnt refuse. He was subpoenaed to testify and given a grant of immunity with it. If he didnt testify, the hammer would come down hard. Then ill have the judge order you to testify, and then ill let you sit in jail until the trials over. Reporter at age 68, gold didnt like the prospect of years in jail. He chose the door marked cooperation. Stetson in hand, alan gold limped into court with a certain bravado. He passed by his former friend, clifford, moments away from telling his version of that fateful night 20 years before. He testified that when he went to cliffords house, the son, christian, who was supposed to be spending the weekend with his father, wasnt there. It turned out, clifford had dropped the boy off at a babysitters. Gold said he right away noticed a large canvas bag on the floor. When he pointed to the bag or told you about the bag, who did he tell you was in the bag . Lynne. Reporter gold says clifford told him he and lynne had argued, and then things got out of control. The next thing he knew, it was over. He had lost it. He knocked her down and choked her out. What did you take that to mean . It means that she was in the bag. She wasnt coming back, and that was of the end of lynne. Reporter clifford said hed need the 30foot gofast boat they owned together. It was docked behind golds condo on miami beach. He wanted to use the boat, take her out, pretty deep water, and dump her. When he told you that, did you immediately turn and run out the door . No. Reporter gold said, go figure. He decided to help his buddy out of a jam because of his son, christian. I basically didnt want to see the kid fatherless, and i figured it was the lesser of the evil. I figured it was just a tragic accident that happened, and why make it worse. Reporter first gold said they got rid of lynnes car. At the house, the two picked up the bag with lynnes body. Did you as you tried to lift this bag, say anything to clifford about why did it weigh so much . I did. What did he tell you . Its weighted. Reporter once on the boat, gold says clifford weighted it down even more. He disengaged the anchor from the anchor line and stuffed that in, as well. Reporter customs agents who stopped them confirmed the boat anchor was missing. They also found cement blocks and rope. Gold recalled the moment out at sea when he gave clifford a heads up that customs was following. He said, we have to dump the bag. He jumped in the back, grabbed hold of the side of the bag. I grabbed the other, and it went over the side. [ sirens ] reporter after a short chase with armed federal agents, gold said they had no choice now but to surrender. About peed my pants. Other than that he basically wanted to know what went overboard. I told him that a towel blew over. Basically you lied . Oh, yeah. I dont really want to tell anybody i just got done dumping a body in the atlantic. Reporter gold was asked why now, 20 years later, did he finally stop covering for his pal clifford . You had basically told me if i refused to answer that you would put me in jail. Certainly youre not here out of the goodness of your heart. No. Were there any other considerations that kept you from coming forward . I made a commitment to the guy 20 years ago. I didnt see any reason to break it. You broke it. Only because you put me in a box, and i dont have any choice. Reporter a compelling witness for sure, but was he credible . Hes a character. He is despicable, but hes believable. Reporter prosecutors had one more witness to go. A jailhouse snitch named andre scarsia flores. The judge ordered us not to show his face. Flores testified that one night he and clifford were watching a spanish tv soap opera when they were in the same jail. Ironically, the plot was about a drug dealer who killed his wife by throwing her off a boat. [ splash ] do you remember in english what he said to you . Wow. Remind me of what i did. Its like deja vu. Reporter more damning testimony, or was it . You were absolutely certain you and mr. Friend were watching that show . Reporter the defense had done its homework and was ready to pounce. Coming up, the judge explodes at the prosecution you put on a jailhouse snitch, and you didnt check any further into his credibility . I dont want a response to that. And a son defends the man accused of killing his mother. I know that he loves me too much to hurt me by taking my mother from me. Make the most of a few minutes with instant moisture from ky ultragel. We need to be ready for my names Scott Strenfel and r im a meteorologist at pg e. We make sure that our crews as well as our customers are prepared to how weather may impact their energy. So every single day were monitoring the weather, and when storm events arise our forecast get crews out ahead of the storm to minimize any outages. During storm season we want our customers to be ready and stay safe. Learn how you can be prepared at pge. Com beprepared. Together, were building a better california. Reporter the defense was behind on points after alan gold, the states star witness, spun a hypnotic story about helping his buddy, clifford friend, dump his exwifes body in the ocean. But one person wasnt convinced. Christian friend, the boy who lost his mother at the age of 5, listened to two weeks of damning evidence that his father killed her. Every night he came home feeling more and more confident that his father was innocent. Reporter was innocent, not going the other way . Not getting shaky about oh, he wasnt shaky at all. Reporter did you have any moments where you wavered, janet . Never. Reporter say, maybe ive been married to a stranger, maybe theres things i dont know about this . Absolutely not. Reporter and the reason you stayed with him so four square behind him is what . We had a great relationship. Reporter while his son and wife still believed in him, how would the defense get the jury to buy its case . An excellent place to start was the jailhouse snitch. He told the damaging story about him and clifford watching a soap opera together about an oceangoing wifemurdering drug dealer. Clifford allegedly blurted out something like, thats what i did. The prosecution when she told me, she says, peter, you cant make this up. I said, yes, you can. It turned out he did. Reporter during crossexamination, attorney peter heller caught the snitch in a lie that sent the whole trial reeling. Private investigators working for the defense uncovered evidence the state didnt know about. It turned out clifford never did watch that Spanish Language tv program with the snitch. The problem with the story was i immediately pulled our phone records. And cliff and i were on the telephone when this episode was aired. Reporter the snitchs story unraveled, to the prosecutions great humiliation and unhappiness. After that oops, the judge ripped into the state. Seriously. You put on a jailhouse snitch, and you didnt check any further to his credibility . I dont want a response to that. You want an answer i made a mistake. I made a mistake. Reporter shouldnt have gone with it . At one point i turned to marie and said, sometimes when its too good to be true, it probably is. Reporter the judge called in puzzled jurors and told him to disregard the snitchs testimony. Reporter here of the point of the defenses newly energized argument jurors, if the state would put on a big, fat liar like the jailhouse snitch, what did that say about alan gold, the star witness . Prosecutors were concerned. That was the key, to say if they put on one liar, theyd put on the other. Reporter the defense tried to prove that like the snitch gold was a liar also. And that the reason he decided to tell prosecutors what they wanted to hear was that he was afraid of being charged with murder, too. No statute of limitations on firstdegree murder is, there i didnt whack the broad, so i didnt care. Is that what it was, whack the broad . Is that what she is . I watch the sopranos a lot. Reporter it didnt take much prodding to show the court how little respect gold had for the entire proceeding. You fine this whole thing to be comical . Absolutely. Why is that, sir . Took 20 years to get here. So thats its funny . Your sense of humor is different than mine. Reporter the judge limited the defense from offering its drugsmuggling alibi, and the suggestion that it was drugs, not lynnes body, in the bag clifford dumped. Still, the defense was able to shoehorn in the thought that gold and clifford were on a drug run that night. Isnt this true that you needed to meet him to get drugs, isnt that true . [ bleep ] reporter with no body found, no dna and no physical evidence in clifford friends house to prove lynne was murdered there, gold admitted he couldnt with absolute certainty say that lynnes body was in that bag. Could you tell from your own sense that there was a body in there, yes or no . It wasnt april fools. There was a body. You didnt look in there . No, no. Reporter with the state and defense resting their cases, closing arguments boiled down to one thing would jurors believe alan gold. You know, alan gold was about as unrepentant a sinner as youre ever going to see. The state put him on because he knew things that only he would know. You cannot believe what alan gold says. He has an agenda. He fabricated because of his agenda to save his own life. Reporter the 20yearold murder case was now in the hands of the jury. Jurors deliberated late into the evening. Around 9 30, they announced a verdict. Christian and i were together holding hands. I had told him no matter what happened, we would hold our heads high. We, the jury, find the defendant, Clifford Bret friend, guilty of seconddegree murder reporter seconddegree murder. The jury apparently believed golds story but not that the crime was premeditated. At sentencing a few weeks later, lynnes longago fiance, ed odell, spoke directly to christian, reminding him of what he missed in life. You will not be able to understand lynnes love for you until you have your own child. When you will know a love that you never knew possible before. Reporter christian, whod sat silently throughout the trial, finally spoke. And he was still four square behind his father. Im not going to go into the frustration i feel in hearing that i missed out on growing up with my mother. Im not going to go into how frustrating it is to hear how ive become a good person in spite of my father because he is the best person i know. Ive been asked why i never questioned my dad about any of this many times by many people. And i never felt the need to. He raised me and taught me right from wrong. Youve heard it said many times that my dad loved me too much to let me go. But i know that he loves me too much to hurt me by taking my mother from me. Reporter in court, judge Teresa Pooler had the final word. You treated lynne friend with unspeakable sir, look at me. With unspeakable cruelty. Your actions left your 5yearold child to grow up without knowing his mother. The manner in which you disposed of her body, sir, was despicable. By so cavalierly dumping her in the ocean. Clifford bret friend, for these reasons im sentencing you to life in prison. Reporter more than 20 years ago, state attorney katherine fernandezrundel you vowed that lynne friends story would not end up in some cold case file. Now she says there is justice both for the young mother and for her son, even though he disagrees with the outcome of the case. Reporter ultimately its all about a boy, isnt it . Its all about the boy. Tugofwar between the two parents. I would beg to say i dont think a father who would deprive a boy of the love of a mother really loves the boy. He loved himself more, it seems to me. Reporter markers. Out west theres the great open sky. In south florida, the ocean. Always the ocean. The vast churning tropical waters. For the aging friends, still remembering it is lynns marker, too. After a violent death, the place where they prayed she might finally rest in peace. Thats all for now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us. This sunday, connecting the dots between the Trump Campaign and russia. After telling the senate this i did not have communications with the russians. Attorney general Jeff Sessions concedes he did meet with the russian ambassador. I have recused myself in the matters that deal with the Trump Campaign. The growing evidence of the trumprussia connection threatens to consume the opening months of Donald Trumps presidency. I will talk to republican senator marco rubio, a member of the Senate Intelligence committee. Plus, what happens next . Many democrats are calling for sessions to resign. The attorney general, the top cop in our country, lied under oath. Attorney general sessions should resign. This morning my interview with the Senate Democratic leader, chuck schumer. Did Obama White House officials leave a trail to make it easier for congress to investigate russia and the election . Ill ask a man who would know, the former director of National Intelligence under president obama, james clapper. And President Trumps tweet claiming president obama tapped his phones. Can the white house provide evidence, or is the president just trying to get people to stop talking about russia . Joining me for insight and analysis, tom freyiedman from t new york times. Kim strassel. Democratic polster Cornell Belcher and Danielle Pletka from the American Enterprise institute. Welcome to sunday. Its meet the press. Good sunday morning. Its a pretty good bet that the white house hoped and expected that the big story this week would be President Trumps initially well received speech to the nation on tuesday night. Instead, almost immediately the white house was back in a defensive crouch, forced to fight off a parade of new revelations linking the Trump Campaign to russia. Perhaps to distract everyone from the drip, drip, President Trump yesterday tweeted, without evidence, that president obama had his phones tapped. Quote, how low has president obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process. This is nixon water gate. Bad or sick guy. Well have more on that later. But the revelations this week added to a growing list of people with ties to the Trump Campaign whose contact with russian officials only came to light after reporters broke the story. Chief among them, attorney general Jeff Sessions, who was forced to recuse himself from any investigation involving the campaign, and many of the episodes traced a familiar pattern. Full denials followed in effect by, oh, yeah, i forgot a