About a wifes secret. What did you do today . She did have an addiction to prescription pills. And a husbands story. She was flat on the floor. Was it an accident, or maybe murder . She said, im scared of him. The whispering started almost immediately youre a murder. When youre innocent, you dont think it can happen. Just wait until the spellbinding it is nothing i would have ever imagined in my life. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres josh mancewiecz with the quiet one. Sometimes the fresh air of a small town can hide a lot of dirty laundry. My worst fear was all of a sudden true. Sometimes, sudden death can lay bare every secret is there abusing it. What happened in that small town would tear apart a marriage and at the same time, separate two families that were once united by love. Reporter boone, iowa, on flat land just north of des moines is a company town. Headquarters for one of the largest grocery chains in the midwest fareway. Its a familyowned company, and rick beck which is a Third Generation ceo. Family of five here. Their youngest daughter, emily the pete is, but quiet one. Kind of a shrinking violet . Well the older sisters said that she never got spanked. She didnt. Shed just remain silent and look at me with those big, brown eye, ap it was over. Reporter theempb though emily was from a prominent, says emily never flaunted it. I never felt less in the presence of emily. Reporter emily was the girl everyone wanted to be friend with, every boy wanted to date, according to schara and shannon. She could haved a any from oh, anybody. Boyfriend. All the boys were falling gaga over here. You seen pictures, she was gorgeous. But it wasnt her this inc. To date. Repor south to kansas city, missouri, working in a hair salon. One night in 2001, she went to a bar and a local boy named alex fazzino spotted her from across the room. Its one of those like aha moments you might say, i was like, oh, i have to go talk to that girl. Reporter after a few day, alex says he knew, she was the one. What did you like about her . She was very nice. She dressed impeccably. Yeah, what didnt i . Reporter alex mother joe anne knew something was happening when he asked if he could bring emily to sunday dinner. He said, i have met someone, i would love to bring her over so you all can get to know her better. And you thought, well, here we go . Yes, i did. Reporter back in boone, emilys family we heard about the met this fella, hes italian, and she said, youre going to love his family, theyre louder than us. And she fell in love with the whole family immediately. Reporter emilys sister ammie could see they were in love. Her eyes sparkled. Alex eyes sparkled when they were together. Just huge smiles on both of their faces. Reporter the girl that never 2003. Reporter how many people . Oh, i would guess at least 400. Reporter thats big. Yeah, for an italian wedding maybe midsize. Reporter the couple had a son, nick, a year later, alex too long up emilys parents for an invitation to move to boone. It was an open offer if he wanted to come and work in fareway. Her father offered alex a Family Member to move up the encouragement, he went. Reporter alex took an entry level job at a Fareway Store near boone. The beck withs gave the couple this house, just a fiveminute drive from their own. Soon there were two more additions to the family, ricky and coco. All he wanted to be is a family and have a wife and a mother. Reporter it all seemed perfect, until the night of bedtime, emily had gone up early to take her nitly bath and alex was doing things his wife normally did. I was helping with laundry. I helped with the kids with their bath. Reporter alex says he we heard emily start her bath as he and the kid watched peter pan. There was a lot of sword fighting and things like that and music, it was really loud. When it got the water still running. Reporter alex says the water was running for about 20to30 minutes, so he went upstairs to see what was taking so long and came upon a horrible seen. Emily was submerged in the tub unconscious. I tried to as hard as i could to get her out of that tub, as fast as i could. She slipped out of my arms. And all i could say was, help. 911, whats your emergency . Help help whats going on . It was the worst seconds of my life. But there was much more to come. Two lives and so many secrets, would soon be put under a that bathroom . When we come back please how long has she been in there . I dont know, she was taking a bath. What do you think it was . We didnt know if it was a tragic accident or something else. Its the addiction, you know, its the addiction that did it addiction . Reporter this should have been a routine night at home in small town usa, boone, iowa. Instead, alex fazzino was telling a 911 operator how hed just pulled his wife emily out of the bathtub. Please honey, wake up wake up reporter it got worse. Their mother on the bathroom floor. Guys, go away kids, please. Please. Reporter on the tape, you dont sound like you think theres much hope of reviveing her . No, of me personally rekriev i surviveing her, no. But with the operators help, alex tried. Tilt her head back. Okay. Shes did you do that Boone Police Department bought the the call and arrived at the house with two other officers. His body camera was rolling as alex led them to the bathroom. As we entered the master bathroom, emily was laying on the floor, face up, and she had a bluish tint to her. Please help me okay. How long has she been in here . I dont know. She was taking a bath. Was still alive . I checked her pulse right away and didnt feel any, so i immediately started cpr. Blood . No blood anywhere. She had a big bruise on her forehead. What was around, anything . The bathtub was full of water and there were oil droplets on top of the water like bath oil. Theres music playing from an ipad on the sink area ambulance and went straight to the hospital. When her mother cindy got the call, she went straight there. And they told me that she was in an emergency room and then a fellow came in and hung his head and he said, shes gone. Reporter Emily Fazzino was dead at the age of 32, and no one knew why. When you went home that night, what did you think this was . Tragic accident or something else. Reporter around midnight, police asked alex to give a statement at headquarters. I pulled her and she just flopped, you know, she just flopped on the floor. You went in, in those initial interview, youre fought represented by an attorney . No. And you talked to the police, and you handed over your phone . Yes. Almost as if you had nothing to hide. I reporter he also told Police Something very few people now knew, his wife had a diplomacy on prescription drugs, alex said he was sure emilys idiction had killed her. You know, its really not my wife that did it, its the addiction. What did you think had happened in. I didnt know if, you know, she took a handful of pills. I was i was having a hard time trying to reconcile if she killed herself or overdose. You thought overdose reasonable assumption. Reporter reasonable, because alex said he had been dealing with her addiction for more than a year when he discovered she had stolen pain pills from his father. Now a few months later, alex own doctor asked a strange checkup. He says, why is your shoulder . I says its fine. Why doodoo ask . He said, i want to make sure the vicodin you were working . I said excuse me. You hadnt asked for vicodin . Correct. Opioid is a highly adistrict i ticketive medicine. Emily asked for the prescription saying it was for alex. But he says, she ended up taking the pills, herself. Alex says he confronted emily. I said, youre going to have to choose between your family and this medicine. I said, im not going to stay she said okay. Reporter she said it and may have meant it. Alex says in the months before she died, emily would seem okay one day, not the next. I could see in her eyes, they owe owe like a glaze, she and then she would be fine for a period. Finally, in december, 2011, two months before her death, emily reached out to her mom for help. Did sheay addicted to this painkiller . I dont know if she used the word addiction, but she had felt like she was abusing it. And alex was upset about it. Reporter emilys doctors had recommended inpatient rehab. Instead, she decided to detox at her mothers house, and to hide it from alex and the kids by saying she had mono. The reason is because they were scared of what it would do to their image. Having mono, is that because sending her to rehab would have been some kind of embarrassment to your family and you didnt want your name tarnished . Absolutely not. Weve always done the best thing for our children, and it was emilys desire to keep it from alex. Reporter emily went cold turkey. Cindy says the first couple of her bed, suffering from severe headaches. After only four day, emily went home. Did you think she was clean, off drugs, that that problem was behind her . I knew that she was still tired. But no longer addicted . No. You were convinced that had been dealt with . Yes. Reporter alex didnt find out about the detox until much later, but he says in the weeks before she died, emily still had how many times did you say to your wife, if you dont get off the drugs, im going to have the leave you . At least three. She wouldnt do it . She would fall back into her old habits. She would never agree to rehab . No, she told me that all her doctors are on the same page, everything is fine. Reporter so alex is telling everyone that his wife was a victim of her own demons. Now more sinister direction. Results came back clean. So it wasnt an overdose . It wasnt an overdose. Reporter alex fazzino had lost his wife, emily. Despite his to be strong for his children. What happened whatd you tell your kids . I remember hugging them. I remember just telling them that mommy went to heaven and that she cant come back. Reporter as two families fourn u mourned and said goodbye, alex had to come to grips with the fact that he was now a single dad with three kids under the age of seven. She needed, she could still be here for my kid, and probably for me. Reporter while emilys family tried to cope with their loss, state investigator Don Schnitker was operating on the assumption that her death was linked to her addiction. She did have a drug problem. She happened an addiction to opiate pills. Reporter an overdose means no crime, just a regrettable accidental death or even a suicide. But then, six weeks later, something that changed the entire focus of the investigation. Emilys toxicology report came back. Results came back clean. She wasnt under the influence of opiates at that time of her death. So it wasnt an overdose . It wasnt an overdose. Reporter no trace of opioid look at the case, starting with the photos of the bruises on emilys body, remember, police saw a bump on her head, but during her exam the medical examiner found more. She had areas of trauma to all four sides of her head, so the front of her head, both left and right side of her head and the top of her head. Is it possible that those injuries could have occurred while alex was dragging her out of the i dont think so. And there was brudzing to her neck. She had strap muscle bruising, so muscles to her next area, that were of concern. That maybe she was possibly held under the water by her neck. Remember, alex said hed tried cpr on emily . Those couldnt be caused by somebody performing cpr . No. How could emily have gotten those bruises . The bathtub. Or you would when i picked her up, i moon i we heard it hit when i was pulling her out, her head hit. The side of the tub the floor . I dont know. I was heaveing her. It was so hard to get her out. Would you have bruised her neck doing that . I dont know. Reporter actch behind doors in the fazzino marriage. He listened to another 911 call. And hes taking everything of mine and trying to take pills, too. Reporter one week before her death, emily called 911 to complain about alex. Hes trying to take property that is not his. Emily came home inebriated the night before and i had had it. I had had it. Flush them down the toilet. And she got angry . She got angry. She called 911. Reporter no one was arrested or charged in the incident. The next day emily filed for developments then alex did the same. Both asked for custody of the children. And both were still living in the same house a. Few nights later, emily called her father, rick. The words were saying one thing t. Voice was something different. What was the voice telling you . She was scared. There was something wrong. They hung up around 6 00 p. M. Two hours later, emily would be dead. I will never forget that phone call. Because that was the last time i we heard her voice. Reporter for investigator schnitker, a new picture was emerging. A marriage in shambles. A husband pushed to the edge. Maybe this wasnt an accident or alex would believe that alex would kill his wife and his kid are a couple rooms away . Thats if you are thinking this is well thought out. You know, oftentimes, couples get in arguments, they escalate and somebody do is. You had seen your wife in danger of her life. You werent angry at your wifes inability to kick her habit . I was disappointed in her, angry, no, neverng reporter but emilys family and friend say they were angry at alex t. Beck withs and the fazzinos, once so close were now splitting along family lines coming up. He kept saying over and over he murdered her. You are a murderer . Thats what they were saying. Reporter thats not all they were saying. Did you say alex and his family are in the mafia and women who tried to divorce them wind up reporter rumors were like in around the town of boone, iowa right after Emily Fazzinos death him family and friend thought alex fazzino had killed his wife. They just kept saying over the whispering started almost immediately. Yeah, i know in a day. Youre a murder . Thats what they were saying. Reporter and not just a murder, emilys sister, ammie, told investigators alex was also a mobster. Did you say that alex and his family are in the mafia, in organized crime, and that women who try to divorce their way out of the fazzino family wind up dead . That was information that emily had told me. Ammie doesnt realize that of my moms six sick i siblings and my dads one sibling, there have been 11 divorces. Those people all still alive . Theyre not all still alive, but none of them were killed. But they werent murdered . Right. So the fazzinos are not some hooked up organized crime family . No, and i resent her saying that. Reporter alex insisted the thats also what investigators determined. Did you pick up in your investigation any indication that the fazzino family is involved in organized crime . No. You didnt find any evidence that that was true . No. Or that that played any role in emilys death and all . No. To get away from the finger pointing, alex moved back to kansas city. We all suffered, our family as a whole suffered with the accusation that my son was reporter four months later the investigation took another return when the medical examiner released the autopsy report. She ruled the cause and manner of death undetermined, meaning she couldnt say howelly died. The prosecutors dan kolacia and scott brown had been assigned to the case t. Fact that you couldnt say for sure and the medical examiner couldnt say for sure that makes this a bigger mountain to climb, doesnt it . It doesnt mean it didnt need to be prosecuted. Just because we have an undetermined call, doesnt mean we dont push forward. Reporter so they asked a different medical examiner to look at the case a. South dakota pathologist dr. Randall. He gave struggle and ruled eight homicide. Reporter homicide, and there was only one suspect. In april of 2013, 15 months after emily died, alex fazzino his wifes murder. They said, youre under arrest and i was in complete shock. When youre innocent, you dont think it can happen. You think they will come to their senses. They will see it, but, yeah. He spent three weeks in jail before being released on bond. Alex sister says her brother what was it that you think kept the state sort of moving forward with the idea of prosecute something. Well, i think it was the beck withs. I think the power they have in that community and i believe that they were putting mr. Ill pressure on the state to prosecute this. The suggestion that there was some sort of political pressure put on my office, to push this case forward or to charge it is absolute nonsense. It didnt ha trial, things got worse, his fiveyearold daughter coco was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a bone marrow transplant. His daughters illness took a huge toll on our family. But i will say this about my son, i saw him as very strong, you know, he was handling things that i dont think most people could. Reporter it had taken four years after his wifes death, please rise. Reporter because of pretrial publicity and the high profile beck with name the case was moved out of boone, 200 miles away to decorah, iowa, where the fazzinos and the beck withs were now separated by much more than the courtroom aisle. The prosecutor told the jury, that after a deteriorating relationship and with divorce papers filed, alex lost it that night, alex had everything to gain by having this done and he had everything to lose. Alex would lose his kids, would lose his house, would lose money in a fight for divorce. Reporter the state started its case using alex own words. Help, help, oh my gosh 911, whats the location of your emergency . Help, help, help. This wasnt grief, it was remorse. In that initial 911 calm, alex sound pretty gen winly traumatized to me. He doesnt sound like somebody who was faking it. Part of the argument to, to the jury is that it has to be a horrific thing to commit a murder. So what were hearing is his horror at having just committed a murder of someone who is close to him . That would be a way to characterize it, yes. Reporter ro in that 911 call he had concocted a story that emily committed suicide. My ways killed herself . Who. Reporter even at that Police Interview a few hours later, prosecutors say alex was pushing his theory that emily had somehow overdosed. Then the prosecution called the state medical examine tore tell jurors about that key piece report. Did you also have testing done on the body, blood taken from Emily Fazzino after autopsy . Yes. I had many, many toxicology tests. Reporter she told the jury emily had no drugs in her system that would have killed her. The drug tests that were done did not show opiates in her system at all. You dont think it played a role . I dont think it played a role. Reporter even though she initially ruled the cause of medical examiner had a surprising change of heart on the witness stand. Which do you favor . In this case, im much more strongly leaning towards homicide than any of the other manners of death. Reporter and that second pathologist said there was no doubt about his conclusion. Bruise, front, back, left and right of the head would be consistent with a homicide. Wind pipe and larynx would be consistent with a homicide. Reporter murder by strangulation. Prosecutors now called family and friends to testify that emily felt threatened by her husband. Her sister ammie. How would you describe the relationship between the fazzinos in the month before her death . Sad. Why was he sad, you know . She wanted to get away from alex. Reporter the children emily just before her death. I asked emily two questions the first one was, if she was straight with alex . What was her response . Yes. What was the sending one . I asked her if she was worried that alex would harm her or kill her . What was emilys response. She nodded her head. Reporter less than a week one conclusion, alex murdered his wife. The only explanation here, after looking at all the evidence, all circumstances, the head injuries were inflicked and who would have done that . Alex fazzino. Reporter now, it was the defense turn, this was to be a trial of two emilys. Coming up did you drink a lot tonight . No, i had three cocktails. The suris had up his sleeve. It doesnt matter what you it only takes one genius to change a light bulbyou saving you up to 100 over each bulbs lifetime. So change yours today. Reporter by this time the love that had once joined the beck with and fazzino in an iowa courtroom, both families had listened for a week. Did alex fazzino murder Emily Fazzino reporter as prosecutors painted alex fazzino as a monster that killed his wife in a fit of rage. I have to ask you this, straight out, did you play any role in killing your wife . Physically, no i mean, i will always feel a little responsible anybody to get her help. But ill carry that with me for all of my life. Reporter defense lawyers bill kutmus and trever hook insisted that there was no murder here, or any time at all. This case should have never been prosecuted. Thats where you came down, right, from the begin something. Alex fazzino was totally innocent. If have you an innocent person you are trying to defend on the type of charge, first degree murder. Reporter kutmus says from the beginning, prosecutors targeted alex and refused to consider anything else. They reviewed all the information the toxicology reports, Everything Associated with her death, they concluded, we dont know what the cause of death is. We dont know the manner of death. What happened almost a yearandahalf later, the state find some guy from sioux falls, said the manner of death was homicide. They found this person. Blake he stated he is case to the jury. Emily fazzino passed away from an accidental drowning related to her addiction. Reporter he said the only crime was that emily never received the help she needed t. Defence called emilys mother to the stand, to show that detox at her house was, at best, amateur hour. You have any license . No, i dont. Are you telling this jury you know all the subtleties of withdrawal . Absolutely not. Reporter kutmus tried to cast doubt on the cla imthat emily had gotten completely clean before she died . Were you in denial at that time about your daughter . Absolutely not. To drive home that point, the defense called witnesses who say they saw signs emily was still died. One of them was alex mother. She was argumentative, agitated and she didnt really seem to comprehend sometimes what we were talking about. Reporter signs, the defense said, that are evident in this video. What did you do today . Reporter it was a facetime call, alex said he recorded less than two weeks before emily died. I what did you do today . What . Why did you record that facetime call . To insure id get custody ought kids in a divorce. You wanted proof that emily was sort of impaired in the course of her daily life. Right. Its hard to argue whats playing on the video. Did you drink a lot tonight . No, i had three cocktails. The defense theory, just facing a child custody battle and would be tested, emily took herself off the drugs one final time. She goes cold turkey, what happens . Its clear, withdrawal happens, two or three days later . What does withdrawal do . Seizures, faptding, disneyness, unsteadiness, weak inside, she could have fallen in the bathtub. That also explains why there werent any drugs in her system . Correc have drowned accidentally in the tub . Alex attorneys were hoping to plant that thought in the mind of those jurors. But what about those bruises . They called their own pathologist who said he didnt know what had caused them. Do you know, made any determinations, to conclude how that particular skwlurry jury occurred . No, sir, its unknown to them and to me, like tv show, you cant look at that and tell how say for certain that there had even been a murder. I do not know the cause of death. I do not know the manner of death. Thats not an intellectual failure. Thats an intellectual honesty. Reporter and the defense was all too happy to remind them their states m. E. Had came to the same conclusion the cause of death undetermined. Well, is there anything in dr. Cavaliers org knoll report that you take issue or disagree with . No, sir, i agree with it wholeheartedly. At trial, dr. Cavalier testified she favors homicide. Would you agree with that . No, sir, i would respectfully disagree with that. Reporter the states conclusion, it wasnt alex, it was what was in their bottles. This is the marital issue, he screamed about. No one would listen. Find him not guilty. Reporter jurors would now have to decide if alex thats no was a killer or a wrongly accused husband, who had tried only to save his wife. Coming up are you prepared for a guilty verdict . Yeah. Two families on edge, for years of questions and the verdict . Reporter four years after Emily Fazzinos death, her husbands fate was finally in the hand of a jury. Alex says, he was confident during the nearly threeweek trial, but says, doubt crept in during those final minutes. Verdict . Yeah. I wrote a note to my children. Reporter whats it say . Nick, ricky and coco, i loved your mother. And i never hurt her. I would never leave you. Like your mom is always in your heart, i will be, too. You kid are the light of my life. All my love, now and forever, dad. Reporter the first day the jury went home without a verdict. As the hours ticked by, the next jury. In the afternoon, alex got a phone call. The jury had reached a decision. Within they called me and said the jurys in, i could barely breathe. Reporter emilys family and friend rushed to the courthouse. Prosecutors were confident. We did the best putting on the evidence we had and hopefully the jury would see it our way and convict rom the Defense Attorneys were confident but you never know. Good luck, honey, i love you. I dont need luck, dad. Reporter both sides couldnt be any more raw, or more on edge. Alex was facing life in prison, and finally, after four long years is this the verdict of each and every one of the members of the jury . Reporter here it was. In the matter of the state of iowa paragraph versus Alexander Joseph the defendant not guilty. [ cheers ] io. Not guilty the words alex and his family had been waiting to hear. Even his veteran Defense Attorneys couldnt hold it together. I held off crying until bill started crying. He started it. That sent me over the edge. One never cries if you think your clients guilty. You dont. Of the courtroom, emilys family and friend could barely move. With the verdict, the divide between these two families became complete. A celebration across the aisle became too much for emilys mother to take. Shut up i went in shock. All i can remember is people jumping up and down like cheerleaders. I didnt know until reporter as they left the courtroom, the reality of what had happened sank in. Back inside, alex says, he felt far from victorious. Theres not much to be excited about. Emily is still gone and my kids dont have their mother. I felt completely unchanged. I was innocent when i walked in the courtroom and im innocent when i wake out of the that will never believe are you innocent . Yeah. And im very aware. You are okay with that . Im not okay with it. I cant let it bother me. Im not going to let what somebody says keep me from holding my head up high. Reporter emilys parents are among those who still believe in alex guilt. But strangely enough, something that sounded like acceptance crept into our converon life he spend doing as much as he possibly can for his children. We dont have bitterness inside. Or hate. Or hate he was found incident. Its over. Were walking down the the road of life. Reporter their granddaughter coco is dancing down that road. But alex says, big moments like these will forever be tingeed with sadness. Graduating from kindergarten, my sons first big hit, every one of those moments for me, its not the happiest because emilys not there. Shes not there for for them and for me. To share in it. Its its hard. Joining us. Thank for joining us. For the second time in the last week, police raid a home and seize exotic animals meant for a zoo, including tigers and lions. Is there an out if your neighborhood gets too dangerous . Business boom, one of the delivering hundreds of jobs to the community, along with several other companies. News3 starts now. We start with another bizarre case of exotic animals in a home in pahrump. Lions, tigers, a panther and ofox. Im jim snyder. Im reed cowan, in for marie mortera. Some of these unacceptable and horrific. Normally seeing at a zoo, living at someones private home in pahrump once again neighbors sounded the alarm. 15 exotic animals calling a street in black rock home. Cats roaming freely days ago. Most of these animals lived