Caps, are you alive . There was no sign of her. And such a confusing trail of clues, even the calls to 911 were silent. No voice, no struggles could be heard. This could be kind of eerie. Yes, it is. In my heart, i knew shes not coming back. One of the suspects had an alibi, until a camera caught him in a lie. He lived a life of a lot of smoke and mirrors. And the strangest clue of all. There in an empty parking lot. Six perfectly stacked cardboard boxes. Why were they there . What was in them . It was right adjacent to a lagoon. I watch enough dateline to know thats probably not a good sign. Welcome to dateline. When Nailah Franklin vanished, her closeknit family was frantic to find her. A woman with a thriving career and a handsome new boyfriend. She was building the life shed always dreamed of. Then suddenly there was silence. Which was quite unlike her. A trail of clues led detectives to one of chicagos most exclusive neighborhoods. But would those clues lead them to nailah . Here is Keith Morrison with smoke and mirrors. It was hot and late, after midnig midnight, september 27th, 2007. Pretty secluded area next to a forest preserve. So it was. And it was clear and dark and still and vacant. Here where the deep wood fought back against the decaying suburban sprawl. And then nothing was clear at all. I never cried this violent cry. Youre experiencing everything but its not true. Youre just waiting to wake up. It just feels like youre literally in a nightmare. Yes, still does. The name youll want to remember is nailah. The meaning was one who succeeds. This is nailahs mother, maria. I wanted her to be successful and she was. She lived her name. Quite true. As, frankly, have the rest of them in this big family. This is leah, the first born. We might need a graph or a chart because its kind of involved. Full siblings, half siblings, quarter siblings once removed. That sort of thing. Very blended. We share one parent. So technically half siblings but that word is kind of offensive to me because to me it implies that its something less. And ive never felt that way. Ive never used that word. Were just siblings. One big, close, happy family. So said john, the youngest. Its simple for us because we grew up together from the time we were young. So for us, its like were one big family. Not one but two ashleys. Shes ashlee with an e and the other one is ashley with a y. Thats this one. And imagine this. I think this is kind of unusual, kind of rare. Yes. That everybody gets along. Yeah, everybody gets along. Its a good thing. Although when we were kids it was a lot more crazy to other people. Hi. And in the middle of this big family was nailah. Happy birthday. I love you. Little moot, they used to call her because once she decided something, all arguments against were moot. She was very sure of herself from really the earliest time. Yes, Nailah Franklin was going somewhere. She was like my hero. I looked up to her. She always accepted you for who you were. It was almost like she glowed when she walked into a room. After college, nailah came home to chicago and she began building a career eventually in pharmaceutical sales. At 28, she owned a condo in the heart of the city. I think everything she wanted to be she was. Just as a theme fabulous was the aspiration. I think she definitely met that mark. But always number one really, she stayed in touch. Never failed. Call her, she would call back right away. Text her, she would reply instantly always. She managed to water all of her relationships. She spent time with everyone. Friends, family. Thats a pretty special skill. Yeah, to manage that and your career. There were men. Of course, there were. Though she was, shall we say, discerning. The young men she dated were of a caliber that, you know, we expected of her. What sort of guys did she like . Successful, nice, respectable men. Professional men. She was dating a Plastic Surgeon guy and this guy and that guy. She took up briefly with a dashing investor who drove a White Bentley. And then in july, 2007, nailah attended an art gallery opening, and he came. This lawyer from milwaukee, andre wright. She had a big beautiful smile. She was a very pretty woman. Very warm personality. And we just kind of walked around the space looking at different pieces, talking about my interests. What i was looking for in a piece of art. Obviously, i tried to engage her. Suddenly this is a different search than it was before. I mean, the artwork became of little interest to me at that point. Just like that, it was all over. For both of them. You know, i dont want to go all Hallmark Card on you or anything like that. Thats okay. But i mean, this was clearly kind of a transcendental moment or something. Yeah, absolutely, definitely. Nailahs family loved andre. What family wouldnt . She brought him to my childs first birthday party. He brought my baby a gift. I was like who does that . Because hes a nice, quality person. They liked you. I think so, yeah, yeah. Due to her influence, though. You started planning on moving in together, right . On being together . We did. It was happening pretty fast. It felt good, though. It just felt natural. It was long distance, he in milwaukee, she in chicago. They stayed connected by phone and email and text all day long. I would call her every morning. And no one seemed to notice any dark force, any unseen thing festering in the heat of that hot, late summer. Didnt feel the warning. Didnt know who said what to whom. It was september 18th, 2007, a tuesday. That tuesday morning, i thought i had called her on my way to work but i was interrupted. She called me and said hey, what happened to my call. I said, oh, i thought i had. So we spoke for a bit, exchanged emails later and then kind of went about the day. Evening came. He, in the flush of love, called again. No answer. I left her a message saying i was heading home and got a text message back from her phone saying she was at a dinner and would reach out later. Wait a minute. You had been calling her every day, talking all the time. Yeah. And she said im at dinner . Ill call you later . But she didnt. Then, 9 00 p. M. , one of the ashleys called nailah. Nailah who always picked up the phone for a sister. I got a text message that said something along the lines that im at dinner and ill call you in a few. Did that sound like her . No, it wasnt like her to not answer the phone. Ive seen her like step out of the shower to answer her phone. I send her an email all caps, are you alive . One of those half in jest, half worried things you say without knowing what a good question it was. Not only was nailah increasingly hard to reach, even worse, she hadnt shown up for work that day. Coming up we see her eggs and coffee that she had just left there. Just out. Somethings wrong. Just like you know what . This isnt this isnt right. When dateline continues. Ats [yawn] you. Look. Stunning. Want the truth to why i wake up feeling. [growls softly]. So darn awesome . [makes playful sound] i take care of my skin. Not this skin. That skin. And when youve got incontinence, you sure need to. Tena intimates pads lock liquid in, and are now 100 breathable to care for your intimate skin. Are you still here . Kind to skin. Protects like tena. Skip to cold relief fast. Kind to skin. Alkaseltzer plus power max gels. With 25 more concentrated power. Oh, what a relief it is so fast that came from me. Really. My first idea was in one quarter of an hour, your savings will tower. Over you. Figuratively speaking. But thats not catchy, is it . Thats not going to swim about in your brain. So i thought, what about. 15 minutes. 15 percent. Serendipity. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on Car Insurance. Your happy place. Serendipity. Find your breaking point. Then break it. Every emergenc gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergenc. It sounds amazing. Early. When the croods come home. Dun, dun, dun. Give your family the ultimate gift. [ gibberish ] and spread joy. [ shrieking ] [ howling ] laughter. [ giggling ] and friendship. You accessorize with a sloth . This is belt. [ gibberish ] mines sash. Oh, la, la. Go to watchcroods. Com. September 19th, 2007 dawned in chicago like any other late summer day. Hot, humid, windy. The usual. Except for one thing. Nailah franklin, ambitious, dependable, and always on her phone, was suddenly radio silent. Even with her new love, andre. I called her that morning. Emailed her. Called her again. Early afternoon. And thats when he sent her that all caps email. Are you alive . And you probably didnt mean it the way it really was. No, its like you say to someone, are you there . Big sister leah did get a call. Not from the nailah, but from nailahs boss. He said she had missed a meeting. Immediately my spidey senses were high. So of course, i tried to call her. Didnt get her. So leah called her friends and other siblings. Had anyone heard from nailah . I didnt speak with her that day, didnt speak with her the day before. I said no, i actually havent. Ive been really busy and i havent talked to her. Nicole feared. She called the chicago p. D. , filed a missing persons report and then she drove over to nailahs condo, knocked on the door. No answer. She got a key. She went in. You see her eggs and coffee she had just left there just out. Somethings wrong. Just like, you know what . This isnt right. And then leah got professional. She knew how. Shes a Public Relations executive. And she called every Media Contact she had. You kind of went wide on this thing. Your p. R. Impulse really kicked in. Yes. Leahs experience told her not to hope too much for media help. For one very unfortunate reason. Quite frankly, i dont know of a lot of women of color or people of color who get the same attention by the public in general. You know, theres that old saw in the Media Business and in fact, theres some truth to it. Yeah, i think its not just a saw. The goodlooking young blonde goes missing and the whole world wants to know about it and stay talking about it for years. Uhhuh. Black womans not quite the same deal. No, and there is reality to that. It troubles the mind that when people of color go missing or if it doesnt fit the narrative of gun violence or Gang Violence or Something Like that, then somehow its not its not real. So leah knew, but leah was not to be denied. Decided they were damn well going to cover it. Well, they were. And maybe this was because of leahs media savvy. The next morning, nailahs picture was all over the news. Flyers with her picture are taped to traffic posts and handed out to people passing by. We were in the streets and putting up any place we could, downtown, suburbs. They phoned and texted and emailed their friends. But no one reported seeing nailah. No one. Nailahs sister kept replaying their last conversation. She called me, and she said ive got something to tell you. And before she could tell me, she got a call on the other line and she clicked over and she said shell call me back. She didnt call you. She didnt call me back. Awful what a persons mind could churn up in the dark as day one became two and then day three. I kept calling her. And kept calling her. I kept thinking shes going to answer. Shes going to answer. Shes going to answer. Theres no handbook for this so you wake up and think its a bad dream and no, its still real. The case of the missing pharmaceutical representative landed on the desks of sergeant mia oliori and detective Greg Jacobson who, right away, scanned nailahs phone records and found something alarming. Just after 10 00 p. M. , the night nailah vanished, her cell phone made three calls to 911. Chicago emergency. No voice, no struggles could be heard. No background noise with the exception of some light music in the background. I guess it could be kind of eerie to hear that, huh . Yes, it is. Is the person physically unable to complete the conversation and just able to dial a 911. So the investigators set about talking to just about everybody nailah knew. There was interviews completed through doctors she had visited to try to retrace her steps and people she had encountered. A lot of people. Of course. Anyone that we knew who had a relationship with her. Maybe leahs p. R. Campaign helped because we had some anonymous tips, people saying that they saw her at this location. But not a single one of them led to nailah. By now the detectives believed they were dealing with a serious crime, and yet shes missing. Technically there hasnt been a crime committed. That makes it somewhat awkward when youre looking into it. The only one that we knew she had contact with, the boyfriend she was in wisconsin with the weekend before she went missing, they were all interviewed. That boyfriend from wisconsin, andre, had come to chicago, was helping with the search and soon was perhaps a subject of it. They came to you. They did. The perfect boyfriend. Now, to police, a perfectly obvious person of interest. Coming up a discovery in an empty parking lot. It was in a pretty secluded area right adjacent to a lagoon. Whoa. I watch enough dateline to know thats probably not a good sign. When dateline continues. Ti. Understanding how to talk to your doctor about Treatment Options is key. Today, we are redefining how we do things. We find new ways of speaking, so youre never out of touch. Its seeing someones face that comforts us, no matter where. When those around us know us, they can show us just how much they care. The first steps of checking in, the smallest moments can end up being everything. Theres resources that can inform us, and that spark can make a difference. When we use it to improve things, then that change can last within us. When we understand whats possible, we wont settle for less. The best thing we can be is striving to be at our best. Managing Heart Failure starts now with understanding. Call today or go online to understandheartfailure. Com for a free Heart Failure handbook. Call today or go online to understandheartfailure. Com robinwithout the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. You dont realize how the world seems so big when youre looking for someone. Imagine. All of chicago. And nailah could be anywhere. Tied up in some basement, in the trunk of a car. Or worse. Then middle of the night, 20 miles south of town in a place called calumet city, a local cop was on routine patrol checking out a golf course parking lot. His name is calvin lucious. So as i got to this area right here, i noticed right in front of me six perfectly stacked cardboard boxes. You know, shipping boxes. Sitting right there on the parking lot. Sitting right on the curb. So it stood out. So im looking like, somethings not right here. Inside the boxes, pills. Hundreds of them. I was thinking, okay, this might be Something Big as far as you know, some type of narcotics and drugrelated case. Except looked more like samples, something a pharmaceutical rep would have been handing out free to doctors. What were they . Just different type of medicines. I cant even pronounce the names. What were they doing here . On the label, the address to a storage locker. And a name. Nailah. And pretty soon the fbi and Chicago Police, everybody was out here looking. Including detective Greg Jacobson. It was in a pretty secluded area next to a forest preserve which is right adjacent to a lagoon. Whoa. I watch enough dateline to know thats probably not a good sign. Was nailah down there in that murky water . We had light trucks out there. They dredged the lagoon. Back and forth they went, scoured every inch of the pond and the thick woods behind it and found one weird thing. There was some jewelry that was on some of the bushes. Pearls and such just hanging there. The cops checked with her friends. Looked like nailahs they said, except nailah wasnt here. But remember sister leahs p. R. Campaign . Not far away from there, next town over. The person saw a newscast and they were like that cars been on my block for a couple days. And thank god they saw that and thank god they cared enough to call it in. That call came from here. Hammond, indiana, just down the road from calumet three days after nailah vanished. A black chevy impala. We rushed out there to see it. It was hers. You open that trunk, the last thing you want to think is theres something in that trunk. And fortunately there wasnt. You obviously do a workup on the vehicle. Did you find any prints, any dna . Anything useful at all . I think our evidence technicians that processed it described it as it was wiped clean. Including in the trunk. Yes. Believing somehow she might find her sister, the younger ashley drove out there. The car was parked in front of an abandoned house. And i went and i banged on the door, looked through the windows. I screamed her name. I didnt want to leave. I had to be taken from the area. Of course, the cops canvassed the neighbors. And what do you know . They had seen a male mulling around the vehicle. And then enter another vehicle and leave. And that was a few days prior to us actually locating the vehicle. Did they give you a good description . Male africanamerican, thin build. That description might have fit a lot of people in nailahs life, like for example her new boyfriend, andre wright. Police had questioned him right away, of course, about their relationship and where he was when she disappeared. They asked about when the last time i saw her was, last time we spoke. Or could that man mulling around the car have been someone else like that previous boyfriend, the investor . His name was Reginald Potts. But before the cops could find him, he stepped up and called them. He wanted to know why the Chicago Police wanted to talk with him. He agreed to stop by headquarters for a talk. He gives us a lot of information. He met her a year earlier he told them. By pure chance really on the street in the ritzy gold coast. She was sophisticated. So was he. They dated briefly. Realized it wasnt for life. Though a girl could do worse what with his White Bentley and duplex overlooking the lake. He lives in a very large apartment complex, highrise. Nice place . Yes. Beautiful. In an upscale area in the city. Thats where you want to live. Wow. Reginald told them everything he did the day nailah vanished. Everywhere he went. Very detailed. The days events, early evening shopping with friends at target. Bar hopping later with not one but two girlfriends, separately, of course. And after that, an intimate plan with a third girlfriend. They make arrangements to meet at reginalds apartment around midnight on the 18th. This guy gets around. If youve got a bentley, your options are open. Guess so. As investigators headed off to check Reginald Potts alibi, down in calumet city, officer calvin lucius was again cruising vacant parking lots. This time a mile or so from where he found those boxes when a partner noticed something. He saw a pair of earbuds hanging from the tree. Bright little bobbles showed up in the dark. What else was in that abandoned place . At the edge of the midnight woods. Coming up, its now a different type of investigation. And detectives take a closer look at a man from nailahs past. She sensed there was something off about him. And thats probably where she decided to, you know, look a little deeper. When dateline continues. This woman coughs. And that guy does, too. People cough in the country, at sea, and downtown. But dont worry, julie. Robitussin shuts coughs down. I guess i look pretty. Ridiculous. [ chuckles ] no one looks ridiculous, bob. Progressive is always here for you with roundtheclock service. Just so you know, next time, you can submit a claim with our mobile app. Good. Thanks again for for rushing over. Are you kidding . This is what 24 7 protection looks like. Okay. You smell like fish. Sorry. I was talking to jamie. Dont settle for silver 1 for diabetic dry skin 1 for psoriasis symptom relief and 1 for eczema symptom relief gold bond champion your skin hi. My name is richard lui with your hours top stories. Utah football star running back ty jordan has died. A preliminary investigation by the Denton Police department in texas indicates that he accidentally shot himself. Jordan was just named the 2020 pac12 offensive freshman of the year. And saturday an air canada boeing 737 max made an Emergency Landing in tucson, arizona. That flight was en route to montreal when the pilot shut down one engine due to mechanical issues. The boeing 737 max just returned from a 20month safety grounding. Now back to dateline. Welcome back to dateline. Im craig melvin. What happened to Nailah Franklin . As her family continued their desperate search, police focused on the men in her life. And with a little digging one of their stories started to unravel. Heres Keith Morrison with more of our story, smoke and mirrors. Its a grassroots effort by family and friends. For all the frantic activity, the phone calls, the flyers, the organized looking about, it was a rare quiet time, nine days in. When Nailah Franklins sister felt it. We had a Prayer Service at our church, and in my heart i knew. I was like, you know what, shes not coming back. And that very night in the 3 00 a. M. Hush of calumet city, night Patrol Officer calvin lucius felt his way past the glittering earbuds his partner saw hanging from a tree to the inky black fringe of forest at the back of a long abandoned parking lot behind a derelict video store. I probably got like maybe right around this area and just looked over and the body was there. What was that moment like . Shock. You dont know if its her or not. But you have an idea because its a female body. They had to resort to dental records to confirm. It was nailah. I think this type of death it doesnt just kill that person, it kills a lot in the family. Its the absence of a piece of you because that person is not here. I cant describe it. Its like you know its happening, but it just doesnt feel real. It just feels like youre in literally like in a nightmare. An autopsy confirmed the death was by asphyxiation. So now it was homicide. But who was the killer . Not andre. Confirmed he was in milwaukee when nailah vanished. Everything with him checked out. As for being questioned were you upset by it . Not at all, no. They should have done that. That was part of doing their job. So what about that investor, Reginald Potts, the one who had been so helpful . Well, this was curious. When the detectives went to visit his highrise apartment, they couldnt help but notice the exterior to one of the doors was extremely damaged. Like it had been forced open. Huh. Thats weird. Maybe not so weird. There was an explanation. Reginald potts was recently visited by members of the Cook County Sheriffs Department in an attempt to evict Reginald Potts. Of course, this was 2007, lots of people were falling behind on their mortgages. But by the look of it, reginalds problems ran deeper than that. He was constantly in default. 15 pairs of gucci shoes and not a bed to sleep on. Not a bed to sleep on . A mattress, no furniture, not a pot or pan in the kitchen but yet what he believed were important items to surround himself with. Cars, clothing, high end restaurants. Theyre for show. The bentley it turned out belonged to somebody else. And reginald juggled girlfriends and hookups and an exwife who was raising one of his children and an exgirlfriend with whom hed had another. Didnt take nailah long to figure it out, or so her friends told the police. She sensed there was something off about him. And thats probably where she decided to, you know, look a little deeper. So she ended it. And as she did, she warned whomever she could about reginald. Even one of his other girlfriends. Watch out for this guy. Hes bad news and hes cheating on you. Yeah, they were in communication about reginald. Nailah told andre that when reginald found out, he wasnt happy. He got wind of that and reached out to nailah in a threatening manner. Sent her nasty emails and voice mails. Did she worry about that a lot . She didnt exhibit any worries to me about it. But she must have been worried. You detectives found a report that nailah had called a Nonemergency Police phone number, asked about filing an order of protection against a threatening exboyfriend. She mentioned mr. Potts. So yes, Reginald Potts was a murder suspect, but he wasnt exactly hiding from the police. Remember, he had given them a very detailed alibi to check out. He was pretty specific on where hes at. And as the weeks went by, he seemed quite eager to help. He continuously called me on my cell phone. Really . Yes. Called you to tell you what . To try to direct the investigation. Why havent we talked to hugh eccles. His friends, the eccles, were with him much of the day, he said. They were at a target store shopping. And sure enough, mr. Eccles confirmed his account. There they are on surveillance cameras at the target store, which would seem to exclude potts as a suspect. If he was shopping, he wasnt kidnapping and killing nailah. But this was curious. For some reason, reginald did not show up on camera. So if you were going to commit a crime, do not do it at target because theyre going to have everything down to your signing your transaction on the keypad. Very clear. Meaning either he managed somehow to avoid every camera in the store or his friend lied for him. So they hauled reginalds buddy down to the station, and after a few gorounds, he admitted not only that reginald wasnt at the target but he did receive a phone call from Reginald Potts and then traveled to hammond in order to pick him up because he needed a ride. Hammond, indiana, the town where nailahs car was found. On the 6th of december, 2007, Reginald Potts was arrested for the murder of Nailah Franklin. But reginald quite vehemently denied killing her. This is the evidence, okay . We can put you that would be a fbrication. Fabrication . Yes, said reginald. He was being framed. Coming up a suspect bares all. Why are you taking your clothes off . Whats that . Okay. But would he reveal the truth . When dateline continues. Were carvana, the company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100 online. Now weve created a brandnew way for you to sell your car. Whether its a year old or a few years old. We wanna buy your car. So go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. And our techno wizardry calculates your cars value and gives you a real offer in seconds. When youre ready, well come to you, pay you on the spot and pick up your car, thats it. So ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. See yourself. Welcome back to the mirror. And know youre not alone because this is not just a mirror. Its an unstoppable community. Come on jessie one more. Its a race across time zones. Come on you two, lets go. A gift for the whole family. So join in now and see your best self in the mirror. With allstate, you can really save. Save for being a new customer. Save more for adding drivewise. Save even more for driving safely. See how much you can save with allstate. Visit allstate. Com or contact your local agent today. Here we are in a little room in a Chicago Police station. Reginald potts is under arrest for the murder of Nailah Franklin. The detectives are certain they have their man. But mr. Potts . I adamantly deny that i was ever there, period. Reginald potts appears to be insulted they even ask. And i can tell you youre lying. Nailah . He was nowhere near her, he said, the day she vanished. I was not in her apartment on the 18th, period. Or her Apartment Building . Or Apartment Building. Of course they told him they had evidence. Distinctive bentley in her [ bleep ] parking garage or building. Thats it. And i can tell you, thats a lie. A police frameup, to which the detectives said reginald, do you understand about videotapes . Theres cameras. Yes, including nailahs Apartment Building. And there is reginald, plain as day, with nailah. Arriving and leaving with her on that very day she disappeared. So you knew he was there . Yes. But reginald . Doubled down on his denial. I am certain that i am nowhere near inside of Nailah Franklins Apartment Building. Accused the police of fabricating evidence. Youve been very creative with photoshop. I guarantee you cannot find me getting off the elevator at Nailah Franklins house. If you have, youve been very creative with photoshop. He talked and talked. Denied and denied. We can put you there. All without any apparent desire for an attorney. But when they asked him to stand in a lineup so witnesses could have a look theres no way that theres a lawyer here, the states attorney here from cook county. The states attorney is representing the people and representing the case. I would not feel comfortable at all. At all. So they waited for reginalds attorney to arrive, and then it got odd. Reginald, the attorney is right there. Yes, sir. Why are you taking your clothes off . Because i am. Whats that . Because i am. Okay. Your attorneys right here. We want to take you for a lineup right now. Will you step in the other room . No, sir. Reginald removed all his clothing and refused to stand in the lineup. Thats an interesting tactic. Yes. Have you ever seen that before . No. So no lineup. But they charged him anyway with capital murder. Nailah, by then, had been dead three months. I was definitely relieved. I was kind of surprised that it took so long, but i was relieved. Relieved, too, that Reginald Potts, as was his right, demanded a speedy trial. But then Reginald Potts used every resource at his disposal to delay the process. Nbc chicagos reporter Adrian Wojnarowski watched m Something Like amazement as reginald turned speedy justice into Something Else altogether. He hired lawyers, fired lawyers, tried to act as his own attorney. At each step of the process, the trial had to be reset. One, two, three years passed that way. In the fourth year after the murder, illinois abolished Capital Punishment so that was off the table. And still, reginalds actions forced delays. This is one of the most bizarre cases weve seen in chicago. Just as nailahs family had reached out to the media, Reginald Potts tried to launch a p. R. Campaign from behind bars. His family reached out trying to convince people that there may be some way that hes not associated with this crime, that it might be someone else, that there was a rush to judgment. He talked to a newspaper columnist who wrote sympathetically about his treatment in jail. And every delay, every manipulation was slow torture. I very much believe that everyone should have a fair and just trial and that too often, people who are poor or people of color do not or most often they dont get proper representation and dont get a fair shake in our court system. But this was not that. And then finally on october 28th, 2015, on a crisp fall day in chicago, the state versus Reginald Potts began. It had taken eight years to get here. When it was finally happening, we were sort of like confused about how things would go down. Like theres finally a trial. What type of experience will this be . They had no idea. How could they . Cook county assistant states attorneys Maria Mccarthy and Fabio Valentini brought the case against potts. This was a case with no eyewitnesss, no confession, no video of the crime, no physical evidence linking potts to the crime and a cause of death that was based on primarily exclusion. We dont try many cases like that. And not many cases with a defendant quite like Reginald Potts. Coming up, an accused killers defense. Im not a monster. Hes smarter than the average criminal. But not as smart as he thinks he is. When dateline continues. Hey yeah . I switched to geico and got more more savings on Car Insurance . They helped with homeowners, too ok plus motorcycle, boat and rv insurance geicos got you covered like a blanket houston . You seeing this . Geico. Expect great savings and a whole lot more. Your happy place. Geico. Find your breaking point. Then break it. Every emergenc gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergenc. Robinwithout the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. Welcome back. Nailah franklin deserved justice. And after a long wait her family was ready for the trial of Reginald Potts. But with a largely circumstantial case would they finally get what they wanted most, the truth . With the conclusion of smoke and mirrors, heres Keith Morrison. For eight years, Nailah Franklins family struggled through their incomplete grief. What really tormented me all these years is that theres a possibility that justice wont be done. There was no real forensic evidence. Only circumstantial things. Though according to the prosecutors, there was a whole smorgasbord of proof. That video of Reginald Potts with nailah the day she vanished. The video at the target store that did not show him and thus blew up his alibi. Nailahs friends testified she showed them emails and played a voicemail in which he threatened her. Nailah played that voicemail for them because she was so terrified. And essentially, in that voice mail he said to nailah, im going to have you erased. Im going to make you disappear. In fact, said the prosecutors, thats exactly what he did. Snuck into her building, led her terrified to the garage where he strangled her, stuffed her body in the trunk of her own car. And how do they know he took her out to the suburbs to dump her body and her car . Cell towers linked their phones together. Like a trail of breadcrumbs. From the moment they walk out of that vestibule to the garage, shes not seen by anybody. Shes not calling anybody, shes not answering calls. Her texts are all odd but her phone and his phone are together lockstep the entire rest of the day. Right to the abandoned video store behind which they finally find nailahs body. No coincidence he chose that particular spot so far from chicago, said the prosecutors. We find out that the video mac store is owned by pottss brotherinlaw. His friend, the alibi witness, now testified for the prosecution that yes, he initially lied for reginald but didnt know it was to cover up a murder. And remember those three strange hangup calls to 911 and those odd texts her family and boyfriend received . It was Reginald Potts using nailahs phone hours after he murdered her, said the prosecution. A clever killers attempt to throw off a missing persons investigation. Hes smarter than the average criminal. But not as smart as he thinks he is. But Reginald Potts was nothing if not strategic. His defense was to refute their evidence and discredit the prosecution. Defense attorneys need to create reasonable doubt. In this case, it was very difficult to determine cause of death. So immediately, the defense is going to rush to that idea and say, well, you cant really tell how they died. Its Little Things like that in the hopes that one juror or two jurors will latch on to that and say i cant convict. They even disputed the cell phone evidence the prosecution believed cinched the case. The defense has alleged that the idea that you can triangulate a cell phone signal based on the cell it pings on a tower is somehow flawed. After two weeks of argument, the jury had the case. Did reginalds arguments persuade them . Two hours and 15 minutes after they began, the jury answered no. They pronounced Reginald Potts guilty of firstdegree murder. Whew. I was so relieved. Its like okay, thats passed. Now the next thing so the next thing was sentencing nearly four months later. Still waiting and hoping he doesnt get like four years or something stupid like that. Mr. Potts is present. But again, they had no idea. What was this man all about . There was a hearing to help the judge make a decision about sentence. Normally just arguments. Recommendations from both sides. But not this time. The prosecution called 35 witnesses to tell the judge a hairraising story about Reginald Potts. Reginald was not quite the goldplated Success Story he appeared to be. He lived a life of a lot of smoke and mirrors. Hes a con man who fooled a lot of people. And when the con man was challenged, everybody, even law enforcement, was a target. He would kill me. He would kill my family, my family would never be safe. When he was struck three times by mr. Potts in the face. He spent much of his adult life in prison, where he assaulted guards. I was struck in the right eye by mr. Potts. All of that was too prejudicial to present at trial but now absolutely relevant. And he took her in back by the elevator and i heard slap. This guy has been an absolute menace his entire adult life. Do you see mr. Potts in court today . And when a woman stood up to him, witness after witness testified that reginald betrayed them, bullied them and much worse. He choked her, choked her out and threw her on the bed. This guy not only had a propensity for violence against women but he had a propensity specifically to choke and strangle them. Hes a sociopath. He lies as easily as he breathes about anything. No matter how stupid. If he tells you what time it is, look at your watch. That bad, huh . Yes. Guys a monster. A monster who, however briefly, fooled even the sophisticated, successful nailah, to her mothers eternal sorrow. You dont know who youre letting into your life. They dont always come looking like a monster. Theres a kind of ceremony about these things. Everyone gets to talk. Nailahs murder stole from our community a bright light. Nightmares still taunt me with her screaming. Moaning and reaching out, begging for her life. But reginald . Reginald cried. Denied everything. The jury of my peers came back with a verdict that i believe is false. And i believe it is invalid. And i believe that a court of appeals will overturn that. But for now this court has to honor what they said and impose a sentence. But i tell you, your honor, i am not the person that miss mccarthy has tried to paint in this courtroom. Im not a monster. Im not a monster. We waited to see if the judge would buy reginalds story or the prosecutors. And here it was. You are a cold, calculating, conniving coward of a con man who must be punished. And indeed he was. Life without parole. Take him away. So that was justice. The most nailahs family could hope for. Terribly important. And strangely empty. Its still not done. Shes still not back. You still cant talk with her. No. They try to remember nailah not as a murder victim but as the beautiful young woman she was. The vibrant center of her family. But grief, real and painful, comes to visit every day. You know, people say, oh, well, shes your spirit and shes your angel and shes in a better place and all this other stuff. Im like yeah, but i want her here. I dont want my 28yearold sister to be my angel. I want her to be right here in the thick of it with me. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Im craig melvin. Thanks for watching. Or watching. Im craig melvin. Im natalie morales. And this is dateline. Hes a good dad. He loves us so much. No one wants to have both their parents taken away from them. Its a tale with so many dramatic turns. The story of a young family facing heartache beyond measure. A dad suddenly under suspicion. You just hear the awful things they say