Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline 20191221

My dad is not just a missing person. He has three sons. He has a wife. I was very afraid something was terrible wrong. I got scared. The clues, a missing mercedes, a hand print in blood, and a Musical Chairs of secret affairs. We have multiple love affairs . Yes. There is more women, more lovers involved in this whole thing. Was this beauty hiding something deadly . I wanted to get away. I was scared. How would this hollywood story end . I was fearing for my family. I didnt want to lose my dad. Like who are these people . Hello and welcome to dateline. Gavin smith was a larger than life guy and lived life to the fullest. He wasnt the type to slip quietly into the night. So when he suddenly vanished without a trace, gavins sister wondered why his wife lisa wasnt doing more to find him. As the months turned into years, the mysterious disappearance would force lisa to reveal and uncover painful secrets about her husband and their marriage. Heres Keith Morrison with dark valley. Will is kind of peace here in the vast pacific company. What began in Southern California in the san ver nondough valley, early may, 2012. Something was really wrong. A lot more wrong than i could imagine. His dad was supposed to go to school. But after school . When i showed up at basketball practice, he said daddy didnt pick me up this morning. I said what . He said daddy didnt show up this morning. It can happen. Busy families, people forget. The boy got to school some other way. He called a friend from around the corner. Or sometimes things fall apart. Love affairs, drug deals, it sounded too outlandish. How do they come together when they have flown apart . Somebody is going to walk away from this who maybe you wish wasnt going to walk away. Exactly. How do people sleep at night . How do they live with themselves . But that afternoon lisa smiblg knew instantly something must be wrong. Her husband gavin was a dedicated father. Nothing would keep him from picking up his kid ever. Because gavin was so good at these things that his sister tara, he was so impressive. So tall. You both got the tall gene, right . We did. The whole family. The whole family. Gavin was the tallest, 66. He waublgd in a room, you noticed him. You wanted to gravitate to him. He was a magnet. He played basketball for john wooden, ucla, 1975. He was a forward. It was woodens final championship team. Just to be on that team was pretty fantastic. It was a once in a lifetime. And then he drifted a bit. Worked as a golf caddie and this being los angeles and he a good looking towering athlete, people noticed him. Movie people. They gave him a couple of roles. And he got the bug. The acting bug. First as a body double back on the Basketball Court in the movie inside moves. Then as a bartender in another movie. When he met lisa, he was acting but also waiting tables. He twinkled. He was just charming. I was thrilled he asked me for my number. They married, had three sons together and with a growing family to support, gavin gave up acting and took a job on the business side at 20th century fox. Eventually as a Film Distribution executive. Fox is a Wonderful Company to work for. And he loved it. It was film. First place lisa called when gavin failed to pick up their son. Was he at work that day . They told me he just hadnt shown up to work. Gavin in 18 years had never, ever not shown up to work. So then lisa very worried now went to the sheriffs station to report gavin missing and waited and waited. Days later, gavins family went on nbc 4 in los angeles to plead for help. Im not going to stop until i find him. So please help me find him. If you just want to each pick one of these streets. Now im in panic mode. With very to do something. What did that feel like being in that spot . It was surreal. The smith family put together a 20,000 reward for any information leading to gavins whereabouts. Nothing turned up. Think about every hour that went by, it would be more and more dire and darker for you. Its very dark. Its very, very dark. It wasnt just the family having dark thoughts, they dont normally call a couple of seasoned homicide detectives to look into a missing person. They do when there is suspicious circumstances. And in this case, they called in sheriffs detectives bay and his partner john obrien. His phone was missing. We checked medical insurance to see if he checked himself into a hospital. That never showed any activity. He was completely dropped off the face of the earth. Gut then a sighting. A businessman visiting californias Central Coast said he saw gavin smith and a beautiful woman at a cash only taco restaurant. I happened to click on the link. I saw the photo. The waitress corroborated the story. Sfwle was sitting here. She was sitting right here. Gavins sister raced up the coast to the restaurant. I said heres my brothers picture. Did you see him . And . No. That was truly heartbreaking to me. It was all a big mistake. But it wasnt the last of the sightings. People seem to see gavin smith everywhere. Because he kind of stands out in the photo, you know, big white smile, tan face, tall guy, pretty much every tall, tan, blond haired man was getting spotted as gavin smith. Weeks, months passed. No sign of gavin. There was no answers lisa was forced to reveal something publicly. Something painful. And maybe crucial. Coming up, what had happened to gavin smith . It didnt make sense to me. We said i think this is a suicide. And then we go, i think this is a murder. Our gut instirvegts were going different ways. You wonder if she had something to do with this. It crossed our minds all the time. Somehow it kept playing back why wont you search . When dateline continues. When dateline continues chu] so, what are some Key Takeaways from this commercial . Did any of you hear the bundle your home and auto part . I like that, just not when it comes out of her mouth. Yeah, as a mother, i wouldnt want my kids to see that. Good mom. To see wait. Im sorry. What . Dont kids see enough violence as it is . Ive seen violence. Maybe we turn the word bundle into a character, like mr. Bundles. Top o the bundle to you. [ laughter ] bundle, bundle, bundle. My kids would love that. Yeah. Bundle, bundle, bundle. Whether youre this kind or this kind of active, poise® active collection™ pads are 5x drier than the leading always® period pad. So you can stay you and stay amazing. Poise®. The number one brand for light bladder leaks. Gavin smith as just about anybody could see was his familys golden boy. His sister tara grew up in his aur yachlt idolized him. He of all people should not just up and vanish. It didnt make sense to me. And so i just kept no. It cant be. It cant be. I just kept hoping. I did everything i could. But even as she ran down leads herself, it seemed to tara that lisa, her sisterinlaw, gavins wife wasnt searching. So he disappeared and you couldnt give up on the possibility he was out there somewhere and lisa could. I wondered whether there were ever sort of dark nights in your soul that you thought i wonder if she had something to do with this. It crossed our mirndz all the time. It just d i did think she could ever be the one responsible, the physical sno no. But somehow it kept playing back why wont you search . Why . The only way somebody doesnt look for you is if you already know definitively theyre no longer living. And you must have a reason for knowing that. Thats what i would assume. It turned out lisa did know something, just not what tara suspected. There were secrets when lisa and gavin kept hidden. I was the love of gavins life. dord me. He adored our family. Its exactly what wanted to have, just got lost. Lost . It all started in the early 80s. Even before she met gavin. When he was a stunt man on the tv series remington steel. He played a shooting victim falling from a second story window. The stunt went wrong. And he broke his back. He would get pain pills for his back. So usually Something Like that for pain. When that didnt work anymore, he was prescribed oxycontin and was dakted to it. He went to the Matrix Institute here in the san fernando valley. He clearly stopped using. He was feeling healthier than he felt in years. But when detective john obrien and tyler bay learned about gavins addiction, they had to consider a raft of new possibilities. He disappeared. Maybe i overdosed. We didnt have any of those answers. Driving all over the valley, we would have moments in the car of where we looked at each other and said i think this is a suicide. And then an hour later, we would interview something or somebody would happen and i say i think this is a murder. And our feelings and our gut instifkts were going different ways. That has to be unusual. It was very confusing. Confusing for lisa, too. Because here was another secret. The smiths were underwater on their mortgage in, position of losing their home. Lisa discovered before he disappeared, gaffer inhad been taking money from his retirement account and recklessly blowing through his six figure salary. And there were other signs of strain in the family. In april 2012, a month before gavin disappeared his son evan wrote this message on twitter. Thoughts and prayers out to my amazing mom and brothers, please. My dad decided to leave the family last night. Real family sticks together. Sister tara spoke with gavin at the time. He was struggling with losing what he had come to know and love for so many years and that was his family unit. And he didnt want to hurt those boys. And thats what he kept saying. I dont want to be without them. But as much as he loved his boys, detectives learned, gavin had been unfaithful to his wife. Had been seeing a woman named m melanie. We went to talk to her to see if she had any information. Did she . No. Their relationship had ended. She had not talked to him and had no idea where he was at. But though melanie was the reason that gavin moved out of the house the month before he vanished, she was not his first affair. There had also been a woman named chandy. That relationship was years in the past but phone records showed gavin called her on may 1st, the day before he disappeared. Cops tracked her down too. What did she tell you . She acknowledged the prior affair and she said she had not been in contact with him for some time but then they started communicating via email. And that would explain the fact that he called her on the phone . Yes. But chandy said she didnt see a may 1st, hadnt heard from him since. Last sighting, a colleague saw him driving his black mercedes. We felt that the vehicle was still out there somewhere. So find the car and maybe find out what happened to gavin. And nine months after gavin vanished, they finally got the break they were looking for. I said im here to talk you to about your daughter . And he started crying. He said she saw everything. Coming up she was very nervous and startled. A new witness and a game changer of a clue. I kiss mid partner on the cheek. Pretty exciting. A big piece of evidence. Huge moment. You think that you cant be shocked. But you can be. When dateline continues. When dateline continues suffer if there is options t to that they dont need to. I think dentists will want to recommend sensodyne rapid relief because its clinically proven to work in 3 days. Which means for patients that they get relief very fast. But he wanted snow for thelace holidays. So we built a snow globe. Ill get that later. Dylan but the one thing we could both agree on was getting geico to help with homeowners insurance. What . Switching and saving was really easy i love you what . Sweetie hands off the glass. Ugh call geico and see how easy saving on homeowners and condo insurance can be. I love her like it or not, its a fact, an element of human nature, some people have affairs. Some of them flings, others a lot more. And as detective tyler bay poked through gavins life, one name kept popping up. Chandy. Her full name, chandrica cheech. She and gavin had an affair years ear years earlier and she called him right before he dispaerd. Her father knew more. Chandys dad started telling the tale about something his daughter may have seen and he was zraudistraught and wanted t talk about it. You know reina . I said yeah. Reina limb . She lived with chandy. She took care of chandys grandmother. Chandys dad said that reina knew something, something important. And he goes, i think she knows where the car is. The elusive mercedes. Detective and his partner drove out to see reina. We waited until she showed up and kind of surprised her. Thats what you guys do, right . You know, sometimes it works better that way, yeah. She was very nervous and startled and wasnt quite sure what to do. But ultimately she provided us with the paperwork for the storage locker. Reinas storage locker, it was a big one. Ten feet by 20. We rolled the door up and the only thing in it was a black Mercedes Benz with no license plates on it. Wow. Huge moment. A black myrercedes sedan. Had to be gavin smiths. I kissed my partner on the cheek. Thats a true story. Thats a big piece of evidence. And when we were able to get closer and saw that our entire crime scene was inside that are ka. Crime scene, yes. Suddenly all other theories seemed to fall away. The passenger seat was completely covered in blood. And the one point very erie when you looked at the blood and you could see the hand mark of gavin smith as he died in that seat. Soon the news reached gaffe uns family. Tara was devastated. Theres no going back from that. Theres no going back. You accepted it . You know, youre forced. You know, trauma happens to people all the time. You dont think its going to happen to you. But it does. You know when you already expect the worst, you think that you cant be shocked. But you can be. Is all i can say about that. But if gavin was dead and certainly it looked that way, where was his body . How did his car wind up in this the storage locker . And above all, who would have wanted him dead . Reina lyn certainly seemed an unlikely suspect. She told them she rented the storage unit for someone else. Meanwhile, detectives hooked further into chandys affair with gavin and discovered the two had met in rehab. And in december 2010, less than two years before gavin disappeared, lisa found out about it. I was heart broken. So she took an extreme step to save her family. She and two of her sons then 14 and 20 went to the house to speak to the them family to family. I was really upset when driving there. So i stayed in the car. I let my sons go in the house. But they didnt meet chndy in the chandy in there, they met her husband. John. Not pleasant. When when they came out, they were both crying. They told their mom creech threatened to kill gavin if he didnt stay away from chandy. So 17 months later he vanishes after calling chandy. Lisa had a very bad feeling. Everything changed right then for me. Detectives were suspicious too. Remember, chandy told them she didnt see gavin that night. But there was evidence to the contrary. Cell phone records showed that their phone were in the same place that night. A little triangulation narroweded down just where. We came upon this street here. We thought this is a likely spot. Unlikely spot for a trist that is. Parking lot would be empty at night. Yes. So this is pretty lonely spot. It is. So the night he dispaerd, he met chandry for sex or comfort or just to talk, something. Quite a lot to learn from the phone records. But there was more. A third phone. John creechs phone in the same spot on the same night and this was erie. Creechs phone seemed to be moving in sync with gavins. Their phones paralleled each other. Together. Hitting sometimes off the exact same towers or parallel towers. What was that like . That was an eye opening moment. But when they interviewed john creech he denied ever meeting gavin smith. He said he knew who he was, he was having an fair with his wife in the past. So despite their suspicions, there was not much police could do because one thing we didnt have is gavin smith. That is, they had no body. No way to prove who killed gavin. Or that there was a murder at all. That is until a dog named buddy went for a walk. A real life doggy detective who makes a deadly discovery on a deserted trail. Coming up i go buddy, stop. And its like wow. What is that that . That looks strange. And a young woman suddenly finds herself in the middle of this mystery. I discovered he had scrapes on his hands and on his arms. When dateline continues. S s when dateline continues your happy place. Find your breaking point. Then break it. Every emergenc gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best, with emergenc. Dflings odors onto your softle fsurfaces . Then they get released back into the air so you smell them later ew. Right . Thats why febreze created new small spaces. Press firmly and watch it get to work. Unlike the leading cone, small spaces continuously eliminates odors in the air and on surfacesso they dont come back for 45 days. Now thats one flushin fresh bathroom. Breathe happy febreze. La la la la la. Beyond the routine checkups. Beyond the notsoroutine cases. Comcast business is helping doctors provide care in whole new ways. All working with a new generation of technologies powered by our gigspeed network. Because beyond technology. There is human ingenuity. Every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected. To do the extraordinary. Take your business beyond. Im dara brown. Ukrainian security researcher reported finding the names and phone numbers of more than 267 million facebook users mostly based in the u. S. On the open internet. The data was freely accessible for ten days earlier this month. And help nl officials are reporting to vaping for illness. And doctors should monitor them after theyre sent home from the hospital. Now back to dateline. Welcome back to dateline. It had been over two years since gavin smith, a charismatic entertainment executive had vanished. Detectives had a major break in the case when they discovered gavins missing mercedes and his bloody hand print on the passenger seat. There was also a person of interest, the jealous husband of the woman gavin was having an affair with. But there was still no body until an inquiztive dog named bud qui bounded on to the scene. Here is Keith Morrison with dark valley. Rocky liked to drive his truck up to the outskirts of the National Forest, a place where people tend to toss things like old tvs, maybe furniture. Rocky liked to poke around up here. Always with his dog buddy by his side. Hed be mad if i didnt take him. And in october 2014, they would just five minutes into their hike when something curious happened. We were talking up this little area right here and he runs to a bush. And i go, buddy, stop. And he just looking it you bush. Wont leave it or anything. So we go up there. And were looking and its like, wow, what is that looks pretty strange zbrchstrange. Buddy made a discovery, a human skull. I was just totally amazed. I was without words, you know . I didnt know what to think. When police arrived, they found a shallow grave nearby. Thats where they found him. Him, the coroner confirmed it. After 2 1 2 years, here was the body of gavin smith. The clothing was still intact. And he had been wrapped. His own blanket. He had in the trunk of his car. The coroner also found the cause of death and it was grim. Blunt cranial facial trauma. That is multiple blows to his face. He was beat en to death. It was repeated hitting in order to do that much damage. Very violent. There were also fractured to the right foreman. Gavin had tried to fight. But clearly he was no match for his killer. Whoever did this was strong. Very strong. Power house jim was gossipy. If you told the wrong person something, the secret would be all over the gym. Lauren, just 18 years old back then, asked us not to use her last name, not after she found herself in the middle of a Homicide Investigation when police came across her while doing surveillance on john creech. Lauren used to work at the pro shop of the power house gym in california. And thats where she first met creech. He was beautiful. He was tall and muscular and a lot of women especially wanted to date him. A lot of men wanted to be him. Lauren fell for him. He told her he was separated from his wife chandy. But that didnt stop chandy from calling lauren. She texted and called me and was very bow lidge rent and rude, upset that his husband was dating a high schoolgirl. She went to high school with gavin smiths sons. So she knew when he disappeared in may 2012. But made no connection between that and something she noticed about her boyfriend john creech. I discovered he had scrapes on his hands and on his arms. She didnt think he had anything to do with the disappearance. But when detective obrien heard about creechs scrapes, he immediately thought of gavin smiths wounds. He needed to talk to john creech again. And he found him in jail, serving eight years on a cocaine charge, his second conviction for dealing drugs. Not exactly an upstanding citizen. But could they prove he murdered gavin smith . We went to him. Didnt ask him any questions. Just put a picture down front of him of the shallow grave with the wrapped up body. How did he react to that . Very wide eyed and the first phone call he made was to his attorney. That is hardly a surprise. Gh no. But other phone calls were surprising. Like the record of calls that detectives found in creechs cell phone from the night gavin vanished. John creech was on the phone a lot. He was calling multiple people, very intensely. So three, four, five calls to the same person over and over again . Exactly. Some of the calls were to creechs buddies from the power house gym. We did a multilocation search warrant and we hit everybody that we believed that might have helped on thatening auto. We hit all the houses all at once. One by one those buddies turned. They told detectives how a frantic creech showed up that night, how he persuaded one friend to get rid of gavins cell phone. Go the another friend to hide his car and body in his garage. And yet another told the detectives she saw chandy and john creech burning their own clothes in the fireplace after gavin was killed. This was a strange case. Prosecutor bobby grace. You dont normally find a body two years later after somebodys killed. You dont normally have key witnesses who dont come forward until years later. In january 2015, nearly three years after gavin smith disappeared, creech was charged with firstdegree murder had. He pleaded not guilty. And chandy, well we didnt know if she set it up or sh h. Something to do with it. Coming up, an undercover sting and chandys the target. Stop it. I was screaming my head off. Then a stunning moment in the courtroom. I wanted to get away. I was scared. I was afraid of what i would see. When dateline continues. Se. When dateline continues 9. 95 at my age . 9. 95 . No way. 9. 95 . Thats impossible. Hi, im jonathan, a manager here at Colonial Penn Life Insurance company, to tell you it is possible. If youre age 50 to 85, you can get Life Insurance with options starting at just 9. 95 a month. Okay, jonathan, im listening. Tell me more. Just 9. 95 a month for Colonial Penns number one most popular whole Life Insurance plan. There are no Health Questions to answer and there are no medical exams to take. Your acceptance is guaranteed. Guaranteed acceptance . I like guarantees. Keep going. And with this plan, your rate is locked in for your lifetime, so it will never go up. Sounds good to me, but at my age, i need the security of knowing it wont get cancelled as i get older. This is Lifetime Coverage as long as you pay your premiums. It can never be cancelled, call now for free information. Youll also get this free beneficiary planner. Use this valuable guide to record your Important Information and give helpful direction about your final wishes to your loved ones. And its yours free. Its our way of saying thank you just for calling. So call now. Detectives john obrien and tyler bay had a problem. An important witness that wouldnt talk. Chandy creech clammed up. There is more than one way to get a story. They found an associate of john creechs, someone who knew chandy, and convinced him to wear a wire and meet with her. It worked. Do you want to know the story . Yeah. Once chandy felt safe, she spilled it. All of it. How she and gavin met in secret at that secluded culdesac. Got close in gavins car. And then all of a sudden the door opened and johnny just goes like and i just, like, i pushed myself out this way and got out the drivers side. Creech burst in like a machine said chandy, started slugging, wouldnt quit. And i was like stop, youre going to kill him. I was screaming my head off. And then he comes out of the car. Hes like youre next. Then i drove off. She was terrified, she said. Afraid hed kill her too or tell the cops she set the whole thing up. So did she . They listened to the undercover tape. I believe she didnt know that was going to happen and she did note set it up. But they wondered, did she help cover it up . Its a Serious Business covering for a crime that awful. But chandy had a card to play. She agreed to testify. Members and alternate members of the jury. And in june 2017, john creech went on trial. On the face of it, it looked like a solid case. The phone evidence, the coverup, the truly appalling crime scene and gavins car. But did it add up to firstdegree murder . Gavin smith had been dead five years. He was killed in his Mercedes Benz in an act of almost stunning brutality by the defendant john creech who is sitting in the courtroom. This game gavin sminls tomb. But what happened wasnt merely an outburst of rage, said prosecutor bobby grace. No, he said, creech had been plotting for two years ever since he found out about chandy and gavin. After that day back in december 2010 when at their mothers request, gavins sons met with gavin creech at his house. We wanted to make sure that my dad wasnt in harms way. Were you sobbing and crying . Yes. And what were you saying to the defendant . I was just begging him not to harm my family. But they testified creech told them they did the right thing. He ended up saying that we saved his life by coming that day. You saw the statement . But there were rules. Thats when chandy now divorced from john creech said when she finally took the witness stand. This mom, father stay away from me and had no communication whatsoever. Their father would be fine. Did he say what would happen if he didnt . That he would kill gavin smith. The affair ended but chandy said the threat remained. He did not want me to see gavin ever. Still, attraction is a powerful thing, isnt it . Early in 2012, john and chandy were separated but still living together. And gavin and lisa were separated too. And that old magnetic force. Gavin met chandy on that secluded road. Did the two of you become romantic . Yes. Did that include kissing . Yes. And while were you kissing gavin, did something happen that caught your attention . Yeah. What happened . Something just popped up, just appeared. Was that something the defendant john creech . Yes. Gavin didnt have a chance, she said. He repeatedly punched him in the face. So then she ran back to her car, terrified. I wanted to get away. I was scared. But before she drove away, she looked back. John had gavin pinned down. Later she said creech wanted her to drive him back to the crime scene, help him take gavin to the hospital. A block and a half away, she refused to go closer. And drop creech off. Why didnt you take him all the way back to the scene . Because i was afraid of what i would see. Gavin was dead by then. Was there and the perfect aror told the jury creech wasnt going to any hospital. He was setting out to recruit help for his coverup. So first person he calls is jorge. He was the first of a series of friend who told an incredible tale. Did you ask any of these people at central question, what were you thinking . They all ultimately said that they were trying to help johnny. Because hes such a nice man. Because he was a nice guy. Nice . When creech showed up at jorges house that night, he was driving gavins black mercedes and jorge saw something in the passenger seat. It looked like a body. Pt just stiff. Like a stick, you know, a long stick. You said it was wrapped up. . Wrapped up in a blanket. Eventually he got rid of gavins cell phone but that very night said the prosecutor, creech called a friend from the power house gym, stan mcqua. He asked if he could come over and if he could park his car in my garage. Was the body still it in . Sf yes. He allows him to keep the body and car at his house for five to six days. Really . Yes. Thats when creech turned to reina lyn, the in urs who lived with him and took care of chandys grandmother. Creech got her to rent a van. And then he uses the van to drive up to the National Forest and he finds a secluded area to bury gavin smiths body. Where buddy the dog later found it. But the Mercedes Benz was still in stans garage. And did that upset you . Very much so. So weeks later, two men arrive with a trailer. And did you watch them take the mercedes out of your garage . Yes, i did. That said prosecutor grace is when they moved the mercedes into reinas storage locker where months later detective noticed one crucial little detail that survived the attempted coverup. I was looking at the license plate and i see that its not there. There should be a california license plate. Its not there. You think. Its gone. And i also see that there is one screw missing and one screw screwed back in half way. And that screw came back positive dna to john creech. Bingo. The unassailable link to pull together all that evidence. Phone records, chandys testimony, the friends, the dna, and it all condemned john creech. But the surprise was coming for everyone. Raise your right hand. Coming up i was scared for my life. A dramatic tale from the stand. He punched me, pulled me in by the sweater and choking me. Who attacked who . And who would the jury believe . My skin was just crawling. When dateline continues. T g when dateline continues man sneezes skip to the good part with alkaseltzer plus. Now with 25 more concentrated power. Nothing works faster for powerful cold relief. Oh, what a relief it is so fast introducing the future of fitness. Its every class you can imagine. Live. Welcome back to the mirror. Youve got this, john. And on demand. Its boxing, cardio, yoga, and more. Its an interactive, goal crushing, whole family, whole body fitness machine. And its the best gift youve ever got. Its so cool the future of fitness is at home. The mirror. Shorten your cold by almost half with coldeeze® lozenges. Coldeeze® can shorten your cold by 42 . It releases zinc ions that some scientists believe inhibit cold viruses from replicating. Try coldeeze® lozenges. But since they bought their new house. Which menu am i looking at here . Start with tapaz. Oh, its tapas. Tapas. Get out of town. Its like eating dinner with your parents. Sandra, are you in school . Yes, im in art school. Oh, wow. So have you thought about how youre gonna make money . At least were learning some new things. We bundled our home and auto with progressive, saved a bunch. Oh, we got a wobbler. Progressive cant protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. Thats what the extra menus for. Welcome back. The case against john creech at his murder trial was gaining steam. There was dna evidence, cell phone records and witness testimony all tieing him to the bloody scene of the crime. The prosecution argued john had been plotting the rage fueled killing for years to seek revenge on gavin smith for having an affair with his wife. But the defense was about to present a very different story. Heres Keith Morrison with the con kru conclusion of dark valley. How did a friend like john creech . Well, said defense attorney, it was all very simple. Creech never intended to kill gavin smith. This was a case of selfdefense. Had to defend himself against this intruder, an intruder into his marriage. And she said only one person could tell that story. Who is the first witness that you want to call on behalf of the defense . My client, john creech. His attorney began by asking him about that meeting with gavins sons. At any point did you tell them that you were going to kill their father . No. Thats absurd. And two years later when it all happened, he and chandy were separated, he said, though they still lived in the same house. And he still worried about her, thought she might be drinking and driving. So he and installed an app on his phone that allowed him to track her phone and followed her only because he was worried, he said. Then he saw her car parked near gavins and thought it best to talk to them. But he didnt sneak up on them, he said. I knock on the hood of the car. Was chandy sitting on the lap of this guy . She was sitting on his lap. They kept talking. I walked over to the passenger side door and knocked on the window. Chandy opened the door. What did she say to you . What you are doing here . He started to argue with chandy, he said. And then gavin joined in. I walked around the door and im leaning down to tell him to mind his own business. When i leaned down, he leaned up and punched me. He pulls me in by the sweater, put i had hand on my throat and choking me on my throat. It is it gavin that threw the first punch, he said, so, of course, he fought back. Do you recall how many times you hit him . Four or five. And when you were doing that, what were you thinking . Im just thinking how did i get this this situation . You know, i was scared for my life. Then gavin got out of the mercedes, said creech, and there was something in his hand. It was a ten to 12 inch stainless steel thing that i thought was a knife. We fell on the ground and went at it 10 to 15 seconds. At some point did you get that weapon . I kept punching him until he let go of it. What did do you with it . I threw it over the back wall of my property. Such a weapon was not recovered, by the way, creech insisted there was, a multipurpose tool of some kind and gavin that provoked the fight. I was just defending my life. I think he lied about everything that he said. On crossexamination, the prosecutor went straight for that socalled multipurpose tool. So tell us why in the world would you get rid of this weapon that gavin smith had used to attack you when w. . Why would you get rid of that . I didnt get rid of it, i threw it behind my house where i knew it would be all right. Why wouldnt you do that . Why wouldnt you leave it where it was . I can play armchair quarterback all day about the things but at the time it seemed like a right decision. He admitted he made wrong decisions like asking friend to dispose of his phone and car and body. I take full accountability for everything after the fact. Well, sir if i could change it, i would. You never took full accountability because you never came forward to the police, did you . Not on advice of counsel, no. And i still take accountability for that. Lisa smith was in the courtroom to hear creechs testimony. My skin was just crawling. It was really hard. Really hard. Hes a cruel man. Jury deliberations stretched across two days. Then the verdict. We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, john creech, not guilty of the crime of firstdegree murder of gavin smith. Not guilty of firstdegree murder. But the jury wasnt done. Guilty of the crime of voluntary manslaughter. The verdict, guilty of voluntary manslaughter. In other words, they believe john creech killed gavin smith in a moment of blind passion. I was devastated by the verdict. I am still devastated by the verdict because he did absolutely plan on murdering my husband. And thought about it for years. And did it. What about creechs friends, hire and stan who helped creech cover up the killing . They both had significant criminal liability. So why werent they charged sf sfwh. Because we needed them to tell the story about how this man was killed and what happened to him. So they both got immunity. Same thing with chandy who helped burn bloody clothing and never called the police. It seems to me that everybody got deals and everybody got off. And i think gavin was a victim long after he was murdered. And so are we. John creech was sentenced to the maximum for manslaughter, 11 years in prison. The da in detroit, michigan, indicted mr. Creech on federal Drug Trafficking charges. If it convicted, his exposure is anywhere from five to 40 years in prison. In june 2019, john creech was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. He was given ten years, ten months, a sentence hell serve concurrently with his remaining time for manslaughter in a california state prison. And lisa smith has done her best to restart life. She and the broiz in hawaii now, far from the wreckage of that california life. That never was quite as perfect as it looked. Its painful to remain there. It is starting fresh. Feels like sanctuary. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Im natalie morales. Thanks for watching. Ks for watc. Acet im craig melvin. And im natalie moralis. And this is dateline. I dont go undercover every day. Thats what made me nervous. They had a secret plan. Were you armed . Yes. And you were wearing a wire . Yes. To solve a baffling case. A College Student on a friday night out who vanished. She was a very shy girl but she was something special. The possible suspects just about everyone. The friend, her boyfriend, the mysterious older man. Even her mom. I was shocked that they even suspected me. So why were police at a dead end . Enter this guy. He sees things other cops dont e