Transcripts For WCAU Dateline NBC 20150328

But could they believe him . Can this get any stranger . Enter the beautiful blonde with an xrated career. We just had highend clientele that would pay to come in for a private strip show. She seemed to know everyone, from bad guys to the banker. What did she know about this hit . I figured that it would all get figured out. I didnt do this. Was it a hit that couldnt miss . What did i do . Were you having an affair . No, i was not. Are you offering . Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres keith morrison. Reporter there are places even in our finest cities where only a particular kind of tourist might find what he or she is looking for, attractions for the damaged and the lost catered by agents who, for a profit, would damage them more. It was late. Early april, 2013, peak of the spring tourist invasion, here in charleston, South Carolina, so lovely, even in the dark as the horde of tourists drifted out of famous restaurants and into fine hotels. Not far away, the moneyed elite of this storied city prepared to tuck securely into their beds, unaware of the cop prowling the avenue that runs north from the heart of the antebellum mansion district past century old houses now sadly derelict to a part of the street more comfortable in the dark. And under the watchful eye of officer daniel wilson. Weve had various problems with different narcotics, and primarily crack cocaine. Heroins one of them. Reporter how horrified those wealthy folk would have been had they known the deadly secret officer wilson was about to expose about the prominent banker. I said, i dont understand. Reporter the glamorous exstripper im just not who they say i am. Reporter the Sparkling Society hostess. It felt like somebody has kicked me in the stomach. Reporter and the deadly plan afoot here on the wrong end of the american dream. That night, i was just conducting my normal patrol activities within the downtown area and the areas that i was assigned. Reporter thats when he saw it the car with kentucky plates dead still in the middle of an intersection. I observed the cars headlights turn off and begin to leave the area. He seemed to start kind of an evasive pattern on his part. Reporter and if by some magic the cop could have read the drivers mind, the result would not have surprised him one little bit. I had run out of the heroin i brought with me. So i was faced with trying to find heroin 500 miles away from where i live in a town id never been to. Reporter the drivers name was Aaron Wilkinson, a visitor in town, like so many others. So i used the google app on my phone and typed where to find heroin in charleston, South Carolina, and it told me on america street. Reporter aarons wife bethany was in the passenger seat beside him. His dog rusty in the back. People just started coming up to the car and asking what i wanted. I told them that i was looking for heroin. Reporter had aaron been more attentive to the pesky details of his troubled life our story might have had a very different end, but addicts, as everyone knows, sometimes forget the Little Things cops look for, and thus, just after midnight, on the morning of april 5th, with a tiny prod fates shifted in a most amazing way. I initiate a traffic stop. Initiated with my blue lights. As soon as the lights came on from the police car, i pulled over. The drivers side window rolls down and i see a white male in his 30s. Hes got tattoos pretty much up to his neck. I was thinking i might get arrested for driving on suspended license. Reporter he lied to the officer. Lied like a sidewalk. Reporter when the officer came up to the car, he asked what i was doing in the neighborhood, and i think i told him i was looking for a liquor store. I said all right you know liquor store closed about four and a half hours ago. He basically looked me dead in the face and said, i you know, i got to tell you, i dont have a license. Kentucky suspended it. Reporter but, trouble tends to follow trouble. The suspended license was the least of aarons problems. The cop invited him, and his wife to a spot outside the police car. Bent over the hood, actually. I said, ok, well you realize that with you not having a license i can search your car. The cars going to be towed, and he said, yeah theres nothing in that car. Go ahead. Reporter by this time, aaron had let it slip he, was on parole had done time for a string of forgeries which he committed to finance his heroin habit. Aaron tried to explain, as addicts often do, that one thing leads to another. When youre in in the midst of addiction, you might know it but theres always im going to take care of it tomorrow. Reporter sad story, certainly, but when officer wilson searched the car underneath the steering column, i found a loaded 32 caliber revolver. Reporter for an excon like aaron, gun possession could be a oneway ticket back to prison. Any type of collegiality he might have had with me was was pretty much lost after the discovery of a loaded pistol in his car. I placed him under arrest. I put him in the back of my cruiser. Reporter a typical bust on a typical night on america street. And then then something happened that was not typical at all. I just felt like it was a good time to just get what i knew out in the open. Aaron is in the backseat telling me, you just want to take me to jail. You dont want to hear what i have to say. And he was adamant enough and persistent enough that i finally said, okay aaron, im going to come back there and i want you to tell me a tale. When he asked me what it was in reference to, i told him a murder. And he didnt believe me. He went and asked my wife. And she immediately broke down into tears, started crying, and said, im not supposed to talk about that. My wife, after a little bit, told him that it was true. Reporter oh, it was true, all right. And something else, the murder hadnt happened yet. But it was due. Oh yes, any day now. There is more to this story than just Aaron Wilkinson trying to tell me a tale to get himself out of trouble. Reporter oh, and the intended victim . Back at Police Headquarters aaron begged the detectives to believe him. The victim wasnt just anybody, but a member of charlestons elite. I think its latham. Reporter latham, a name to reckon with. Its not every day the police get told about a hit before it happens. And this wasnt just about some drug deal gone bad. This led right to the bedroom of a rich and powerful couple headed to divorce court. His exact words were i dont want to be married to you anymore. I found out about nancys secret life. It was horrible. It was nasty. It was a soap opera. It was a soap opera. My advice for healthy looking radiant skin. A good nights sleep. And aveeno®. [ female announcer ] only aveeno® positively radiant has an active naturals® total soy formula. It helps reduce the look of brown spots in just four weeks. Aveeno®. Naturally beautiful results™. Ooh thats hot. Take it off amore take it off no you dont want me any more . Youre a pizza, ok . and were done dont let food hang around. Nooo for that just brushed clean feeling, eat, drink chew. Orbit. When eating healthy and Drinking Water just isnt enough to ease my constipation i trust dulcolax tablets. I take dulcolax for dependable overnight relief and in the morning i am back to myself dulcolax, designed for dependable relief this is kevin returning to his childhood home. This is the smell of baked pears, making him feel warm. Then pie crust as he wonders if its too soon to ask whats for dessert. Now vanilla, reminding him of pep talks with mom and slightly inappropriate advice from dad. New air wick life scents in moms baking the first constantly changing fragrance that acts like real life and says welcome home, kevy bear. this is him, secretly loving the name kevy bear. Air wick home is in the air. Reporter in a tiny unadorned room, deep in the Charleston Police department, Aaron Wilkinson, a quivering heroin addict, summoned every ounce of his limited store of credibility. You want to talk about whats going on . Yes, maam. Ok. Reporter out rolled his wild story of impending murder, his urgent warning for an intended victim named latham. They wanted to make it look like a, you know, like a murder robbery or a home invasion. Reporter a few miles from aarons police confessional, the sweetly soft spoken wealth of charleston slept. Secure in the knowledge that their fortunes were tended, many of them, by the sure and steady touch of the citys highest paid banker. This is he, chris latham, a bank of america rainmaker, entrusted with billions of dollars of investor money. Board member of the prestigious annual Spoleto Festival and of the united way. The best job in the world. You work with people of wealth, and people of wealth have so many challenges today, more so than ever before. Reporter and here is his wife, nancy. The Sparkling Society hostess, real estate agent, and trusted member of the South Carolina lottery commission. Here behind the gates of their exclusive community, the lathams were blue ribbon. Thwy seemed destined for those lofty heights from the moment they met. Summer of 1988. We actually met on a blind date. It was a lunch date. And when he got out of his car to pick me up, i looked at one of my girlfriends, and i said, that is the man im gonna marry. I was in a convertible, and got out and met her. And yeah, we went to applebees. And over lunch, he said to me, you are so fabulous. Why about you dating somebody . I said, well, ive always believed that the day i meet the man im gonna marry, ill know. I think i made the comment, well, shouldnt we let our parents know first before we move, you know, any further . And he said, so when do you wanna get married . And yes, i fell in love with her. Reporter it was electric an attraction of opposites. She with her outsized sense of humor while he was reserved, quiet, serious. By the end of that magic year, they were married. And there was a huge, big, southern wedding. Reporter they had two girls. Emily in 94, and madison two years later. Cathy harrell and her husband were the lathams best friends. It was fun watching chris make his way up through the food chain of the business world. He was always happy to have nancy there because she was the life of the party. Reporter with nancy by his side, a driven chris rose to become a bank of america superstar. And all the while they entertained, a lot. The bank, every time they contributed to an organization, or sponsored an event, we would typically go to that event, usually as a host and hostess. And we would just entertain, and make everybody feel comfortable. It was almost, like, a p. R. Job for bank of america. So that when they go home at night, its, gosh, wasnt that a great night . Sure. You were good at it. To pep it up. Yup, thats what i did. Dont you feel enthused already . I do, actually. Yeah. Reporter but life and marriage are complicated, as everybody knows. Chris had to travel quite a bit for work. A quiet strain entered the relationship. Then nancy had to fight off Breast Cancer and it seemed to her that he wasnt helping as much as he might. My l very last chemo treatment, chemos cumulative. I can remember he came home from work one day, and was, like, whats for dinner . And i said, i dont think i can get outta bed. He said, you need to get out of bed because we need to have dinner. Reporter and, once she was well again, chris developed a deviated septum. He said he had trouble breathing at night. And he knew he was going to be snoring and in a lot of pain, so he was going to start sleeping in the guest room, and i thought, well, weird, but okay. You know, i appreciate his letting me get a good nights sleep. Thats fine. Reporter but, no. It was more than a deviated septum. It was secrets, roiling somewhere out of sight. And suspicions which metastasized into searing jealousies. And finally burst into the open air in the 23rd year of their marriage, the last day of a summer vacation. They were sitting in a boat on the lake, said nancy, and quite out of the blue, no warning at all. His exact words were, i dont wanna be married to you anymore. Reporter but chris was the jealous type, she said he had overreacted before to her chatty ways with men at their parties. So i thought, hell get over it, whatever it is, hell get over it. And he didnt. He meant it. Reporter oh, chris meant it alright, but without warning . No, he said, hed been brooding over a bitter discovery. I found out about nancys secret life that she had for six years. Reporter found out, he said, by discovering quite by accident a stash of emails that proved infidelity. I said, why would you do this . And she says, im a narcissist and i need the attention. And i asked her i said, how can you do this to me . How can you do this to our daughters . And i said, theres no way i can go forward in this marriage. Reporter but chriss socalled discovery, said nancy, was no affair. The emails came from a professional colleague in real estate. Were you having an affair . No, i was not. Are you offering . Oh, im sorry. And because this became a very serious allegation. It was huge. It was huge reporter a wounded nancy, still living with the man who wanted out of their marriage, responded, whats the word, proactively. I sniffed around to see if there was another woman. I pulled up his phone records, and noticed that from the time that he had moved out of our bedroom, and into the guest room, he was texting a phone number all night long. Reporter so then nancy hired a private investigator who followed chris on his business trips, and recorded this video of a woman who seemed to accompany him and repeatedly spent nights in his hotel room. And i said, do not let her destroy our marriage. And he said to me, dont you ever mention her to me again. It will kill the kids if you start down the road. Reporter anyone could see where this was going. And it was nowhere good. Oh, the relationship with that other woman ended, but the marriage was beyond saving. He moved out. They hired lawyers to work out an amicable divorce. But before long, in the escalating tit for tat, replaced them with courtroom gladiators out for blood. It was horrible. It was nasty. It was a soap opera . It was a soap opera. Reporter by christmas time 2012, it was all out war. Neither side ceding a point. Hatred blooming like a noxious weed. Its getting tougher and tougher and tougher between the two of you. More and more expensive. How much money did this thing cost . I would say just in legal fees for both of us, at least 600,000 to 700,000. Reporter they had finally managed to divide their investments and property. But the issue now was alimony. Nancy demanded 7,500 a month the from chris. I said, 7,500 a month, ill walk away. In the scheme of things, that is nothing. And he wouldnt do it. Reporter in fact, he claimed he didnt have to. Why . Reporter marital politics varies from state to state and here in South Carolina, said chris, an old rule governing the fidelity of married women still applied. If he could prove nancy had that affair, he wouldnt have to pay alimony. You had proof that you could present yes, we had proof reporter what was your proof . Absolute proof. Well, number one is there were 9,355 phone calls. Also that various emails back and forth between her and her paramour. Reporter what was true . Just three days hence, a judge would be asked to decide. You know all of this was going to be settled in the divorce. The proceedings that were gonna take place april 8th. Reporter but if what Aaron Wilkinson was telling investigators was true, one of the lathams wasnt supposed to live that long. Coming up, aarons story of murder and money. Tells you to go deposit it . In my bank. But could he be believed . When dateline continues. Without it the virus spreads from cell to cell. Only abreva penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. You could heal your cold sore, fast, as fast as two and a half days when used at the first sign. Learn how abreva starts to work immediately at abreva. Com dont tough it out knock it out, fast. With abreva. Lowes presents how to put your foot in your mouth. Man. Wish my yard looked like yours. Hey, the grass is always greener on the other side of the. Sorry now get 20 off when you buy two select bags of scotts fertilizer at lowes. Thank you for being a sailor, and my daddy. Thank you mom, for protecting my future. Thank you for being my hero and my dad. Military families are thankful for many things. The legacy of usaa Auto Insurance could be one of them. Our worldclass service earned usaa the top spot in a study of the most recommended Large Companies in america. If youre current or former military or their family, see if youre eligible to get an Auto Insurance quote. You alright . Im just starting to get sick. Is it uh like withdrawals . Yeah, a little bit. Yeah . Is there anything i can get you . No, maam. Just another body. Reporter charlestons finest was used to this sort of thing, of course. Far too used to it, frankly. Addicts, drying out in little rooms like this. I was just in bad shape physically. I was sick. Reporter no cop could simply, naively, believe the tall tales of a man like him. But Aaron Wilkinson insisted that his news was too urgent to put off. A prominent charlestonian named latham was in mortal danger, would be dead within hours or days if the cops didnt believe him. I promise what im going to tell you, every bit of its true. Reporter it began, said aaron, with a friendship. Not a good one. His friendship with a volatile man named sam yenawine. It takes very little to set him off. He doesnt he doesnt have talks. He doesnt argue. He just kind of lashes out. Reporter aaron was in prison for forgery when he met sam and heard sams story about killing a man in self defense, then setting his own house on fire. So they both did their time, and then resumed their friendship in louisville, kentucky. Where aaron was sometimes sams little helper in the illicit drug business. And thus, one day sam called me and asked me if id ride shotgun with him to nashville to pick up some drugs. I told him that i would. Reporter except that was a lie. Couple of hours down the road, said aaron, sam admitted they werent going to nashville and it wasnt a drug deal. And he said no, were going to South Carolina because he had taken money to kill someone. Reporter kill someone . Was he kidding . Aaron wilkinson is many things, he told us. Not all of them good. But a murderer . No. Im just not violent. I dont ever want to be the cause of somebody being hurt. Reporter but firm resolve was never aarons strong suit. And he asked me if i would just ride with him. That he would give me 2,500 if i would just ride along. Reporter as aaron told the police, sam gave him even more money than the 2,500 he promised. When they finally got to the outskirts of charleston and checked into this roadside motel. Not exactly upscale. He had 5,000 in cash or a check . Cash. In cash when he came back to the room . Yes, maam. He gives you 4,000 . Yes, maam. Tells you to go deposit it . Yes, maam. Whered you deposit it at . In my bank. Reporter then said aaron, sam drove them to a nearby beach for a secret rendezvous with a woman, a good looking blonde, who handed sam a big envelope. Apparently containing instructions for the hit. He came back and he had that manila envelope with all that, you know, pretty much all the biographicals, and then it had like a google map, not satellite image but more just like a just like a colored map or whatever. Reporter and the woman gave them a deadline, said aaron. The murder had to happen by the following monday, april 8th. And that, said aaron, is when he panicked. Because now he knew too much. If he backed out, aaron feared sam would kill him and possibly his wife bethany too. And then he got lucky. Back in the motel, sams girlfriend called, accused him of cheating on her, and the two got into a vicious fight on the phone. Saying that when he gets back there hes going to break her jaw. Shes just making threats and threats and threats. And what do you know . Sam slammed down the phone, got in his car and roared back to louisville to have it out with his girlfriend. And the relieved aaron went home with him, hoping the murder plot would just go away, but it didnt. A couple of hours later, sam showed up at aarons door again, eager to get it done and collect his fee, 20,000. So i had the time from me walking out of my bedroom to walking out of my front door, to being beside the car talking to him, to come up with a way beth andry are both safe. Reporter a way out is what he wanted, though he couldnt tell sam that. The only thing i could think of was just tell him that i would do it instead that i would go in his place. Reporter go in his place . Lame idea, perhaps, but, sam went for it. So aaron put bethany and their dog, rusty, in the car and by wednesday night they were back here in charleston. The plan here was to wait for the monday deadline to passes so nobody would get killed. But then aaron got to jonesing for dope and found themselves down near the wrong end of america street, talking to a cop. And now here they were, he and bethany, trying to explain what sounded to the charleston p. D. Like the plot of some bizarre caper movie. Im trying to understand. Im trying to follow you here. Because theres theres pieces that dont make sense to me. Reporter no kidding. And know what else, said the police, because aaron crossed a state line to commit murder for hire, this was now a federal matter. Maybe the atf could figure out what was malarky and what was the deadly truth. Coming up i never heard of a hit packet before. An 11page hit packet. But which latham was going to be hit . Nancy or chris . Is and who hired the hit man . This was very elaborate. It was very clear what was supposed to take place. Find all your easter surprises at kmart. Get great head to toe deals with girls dresses for 12, and kids shoes for 12. Plus, easter baskets for 9. Kmart. 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Thats a story worth telling. The more you know. Hey, aaron. Hey. How you doing . So, im agent boykin. Im a federal agent with bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms. Reporter not every day the atf hears a tale about a murder for hire that hasnt happened yet. In fact, as agent joe boykin told us in 26 years of in law enforcement, its the first one ive ever gotten like that. Reporter about a murder for hire . About a murder for hire that was in play. Reporter and yet, early that friday morning, as agent boykin and his partner Bobby Callahan asked their skeptical questions aaron did not come off like some dissembling drug addict at all. Even despite his demeanor, you know, having been on drugs and coming off of them, he had he was very lucid. Reporter aaron begged the agents. If they just take him to his motel room, he could show them Proof Positive that a murder for hire was in progress. Grand hotel . Yes it is. Reporter this is the hotel where Aaron Wilkinson, still twitching through a nasty heroin withdrawal brought atf agents boykin and callahan to show them that manila envelope he called the hit package. He told us, you know, that this is the room that he and his wife, bethany, were staying at and said that the hit package was in this room, so this is where we came to retrieve it. Reporter what did the room look like when you came in . It was disheveled. It was it was like they had literally came in, thrown everything about, clothes all over. There was Drug Paraphernalia on the bedside tables. It was a mess. Reporter so where was this packet . This package was literally in the drawer. Reporter huh . And we opened up. It was laying right on top, right where aaron said it was. And we pulled it out. Of course, we took precautions and wore gloves and reporter yeah. Basically laid it out on the bed so we could examine its contents. Reporter what was inside of the thing . Let me see. The 11 pages inside the plain manila inve lope left no doubt about who the intended victim was. It was a latham, alright. Nancy latham, the soon to be exwife of uber banker, chris latham. The details in the package made it very obvious this was a real murder for hire. It included, you know, her age, her car, her license plate. And also, you know, how she came and went from her neighborhood. And what Grocery Store she even shopped at. Reporter i mean, ive never heard of a hit packet before. Is it was all its been bandied about as if thats a phrase people know or something. It would be an accurate description of exactly what it is. That package has very personal information about nancy latham and her family, photos of herself, her family, her children, her residence. And it even gave the hired killers a way to access her house undetected to commit the crime. As you can see by the the handscribed notes on the map there. Reporter oh yeah. Yeah. How to get in successfully. Exactly. Without having to go through the security gates. This was very elaborate. It took a lot of time and effort to produce this. It was very clear what was supposed to take place. Reporter aaron, meanwhile, grew more frantic by the minute and not just from heroin withdrawal, he had to, he told them, just had to call sam yenowine. If sam didnt hear from him, and very soon, said aaron, two things would happen. Thing one, sam would find some other way to kill nancy before the monday deadline, and thing two hed come gunning for bethany and aaron. I was supposed to call him. What time were you supposed to call him . Last night . Just anytime. The earlier this morning, the better. Okay. Well, we were going to, were going to make that happen. Are you okay to make the phone call . I asked him to make the undercover call, to record sammy and to get incriminating information from sammy, regarding his participation in this plot. Yeah. He didnt want to do it. And i think he was afraid, you know, to set sammy up. And it took a little convincing to get him to make that call. Reporter but he did. Swallowed his fear, and followed the agents into a conference room, where they set up the call. This is an undercover phone call made to an individual known as sammy. Hello. Id rehearsed aaron, to some extent, of what to say to see what sammys responses would be to his own statements. Whats up, boy . Where are you, young man . Im still at same place i was. All right. Now look, you going to make it work, right . Im going to make it work. Um, let me ask you this. Reporter aaron lied that hed been watching nancy, had seen her in her car but had no shot because somebody was with her one of her daughters friends. Seemed like she was rarely alone, he said. So should he kill whoever was with her . Go ahead, said sammy. Can i pop her with him in the car . I dont give a [ bleep ]. I dont know what else to do. Maybe itll look better. Reporter as far as agents boykin and callahan were concerned the call was pure gold. You want me to just pitch that [ bleep ] pistol here, or do you want me to bring it back, let you pitch it . Uh, yeah. I mean maybe no, cause thats too much like damn im just throw it in the water here. Yeah, i mean, why wouldnt you . And ill call you when its done cause i want to do it today. All right, bye. In that phone call its very descriptive about killing nancy latham and disposing of the murder weapon. Reporter so he laid it out in a way that left no doubt . No doubt. Reporter so, at least they knew something for certain, aaron and his buddy sam had been hired to kill nancy latham. Its what they didnt know that they had to worry about now. We didnt know if there were any other persons out there that were part of this plot that we didnt know about. Is this the only people they hired . Is there anyone else out there . So surely you had to be very careful. And where was nancy latham, anyway . Time to find her, fast. Coming up a knock and a shock. I open it, and theres these two big guys who are saying, can we speak to your mom, please . And a clue to the possible mastermind. It was just a picture of me and madison. Essentially saying, these are the two people that are going to be in the house. Do whatever you have to do. When dateline continues. And a free month of service after completing two months on select plans. That way you can turn your tax refund into a mefund and treat yourself to something nice like every flavor. And every topping. Who does this kinda thing online . Iii clicked on some links, ugh the kids werent even home. Wait, wait, wait, this changes everything. Its cars. Com Service Repair feature. So well never pay more than we should. Well done. Research, price, find. Get the right Service Without all the drama. Reporter on the morning of what was to have been the last friday of her life, nancy latham was sitting in her bath tub. So it was not she, but her daughter madison, who responded to a knock at the door. And i open it, and there are these two big guys who are saying, can we speak to your mom, please . Madison came in and said, mom, there are two Police Officers at the door. She said, but they said for you not to panic. And i said, well, maddie, if there are two Police Officers at the door, at 8 00 in the morning, its not good. And i jumped out of the tub, and i put on my big, heavy, marshmallow robe, and threw a towel on my head, and kind of peeked out the door. Reporter sure enough. Two policemen, big. They said, well, maam, we need to tell you that apparently theres been a hit taken out on you. Yeah. Really . Is that the story youre going to try to sell me this morning . And they were, like, no, maam, its very serious. And we need you and your daughter to get your stuff together, and, you know, pack a bag. We need to get you out of the house, because this is where the hit was supposed to take place. I was told to go to my room. And i could eavesdrop some, but i couldnt hear everything. I could hear my mom crying. Reporter tell no one, said the policemen. Dont even make a phone call. So of course, she did. Called her long time friend cathy harrell. And i picked up the phone and she said, cathy, i need you to come get maddy and keep her safe. And i said, what are you talking about . She said, i cant tell you anything. Reporter so what did you do . I got my gun. And i went and got in the car and drove over to the Mount Pleasant police department. And nancy and maddy and one of their officers met me in the parking lot. Reporter other officers rushed to North Carolina to get daughter emily at college. Nobody knew if the threat extended to her too. And i was told to pack. I didnt know for how long. I grabbed some clothes, filled a suitcase. I had to eventually actually leave school for the rest of the year. My school told me that i was a danger by being on campus, so they made me leave. Reporter so now nancy and her daughters holed up in cathy harrells house, while police patrolled the neighborhood watching for well, who knew. So were you, you know, pretty nervous about it . We were very worried about that, about someone coming up the creek, coming into the house. Reporter aaron told the agents he was supposed to murder nancy by the coming monday, the very day nancys epic divorce battle with chris was due to reach its climax. So agent boykin hurried to nancys new safe house with the hit pack. I brought the hit package that we retrieved from the hotel room earlier in hopes that she could look over the contents of it and give us an idea, or put some light on where these documents could have come from or where they put this hit packet together. Reporter he spread out the 11 pages on the kitchen table. And nancy could see that no detail had been left to chance. They proceeded to pull out maps of my home, and then they pulled out was almost like a procession building up to the pictures. Pictures of the residence, license plates for their cars, people that are generally around them. Other folks who might be in the house or in the car traveling with them. You know, where they shop, where they go, where they spend time. Reporter everything a killer would need to know to kill them. Yes. Reporter it was terrifying to see these personal photographs, once treasured, now, suddenly, full of malice. The final picture that we had taken as a family was a picture of the four of us at a japanese restaurant. Reporter somebody had cut off half the picture. And so it was just a picture of me and madison. And it felt like somebody had kicked me in the stomach. Essentially saying, these are the two people that are going to be in the house. Do whatever you have to do. Reporter howd she take it . She was very vulnerable and very fragile on that evening. Its not every day that somebody comes and tells you that theres a well developed and underway plot to end your life. Reporter oh yes. And most upsetting of all, said nancy . She was convinced she knew who was behind it. The very first thing that i saw was my address, handwritten on a piece of paper. And the handwriting that was written out, i will never forget. I grabbed joes arm, and i said, that is my husbands handwriting. He said, are you sure . I said, i am positive that is his handwriting. Reporter but people mired in divorce are not always the best judge of such things. It appeared she was wrong. When the agents asked aaron if chris latham had a hand in hiring him to kill nancy, aaron said hed never heard of the guy. But he was certainly terrified of the violent man who did hire him to commit the murder, sam yenawine. When he found out hed been doublecrossed there would be hell to pay. I know youre scared. I know youre scared. Care for my wife. What if she goes back to louisville . You dont care if shes dead. Reporter so next question do you know if this originated with sammy . No. It was that girl. Which girl . That girl. Reporter that is, the blonde, the woman who gave them the hit pack. She had to be their prime suspect, alright. But who was she . And why would she want nancy latham to die . Coming up a mystery revealed. So sammy was to her. He useded to be married to her. And the prime suspect cornered. Once we let the cat out of the bag, she became white as a sheep. Ean and fresh. Introducing lysol click gel. A single use applicator that helps you avoid contact with germs. Just click it in and recycle to enjoy continuous clean freshness with every flush for up to one week. Lysol click gel keeps it clean with one click. Lysol. Start healthing. Your kids move, stretch, and play hard. So remember its the simple things in life that help them get back in the game. I am stuck on bandaid® brand cause bandaid® stretches with me stretchable, comfortable fabric that moves with you. A fine state of mind that glorious first weekend of april, 2013. I was out actually celebrating because wed just finished up with my divorce attorney and we were all set to go to trial the beginning of the next week. Reporter come monday morning, hed finally get his day in court against his soontobeexwife nancy. Couldnt wait, he said. The day of reckoning, if you will, was coming and we were set for it. Reporter so, said chris, you can only imagine what it was like to hear the news that somebody had taken out a contract to kill her, this very weekend. My first reaction was i said i said, none of this makes sense. Reporter but no getting around it. Nancy and her two daughters were under heavy guard at what was then a secret location. Her best friends house, but for how long . And what then . Youre just terrified. Because, is it gonna be just the three of us . Are we still gonna have security . And if its just the three of us, where are we gonna go, and what are we gonna do . Reporter nancys conviction that chris was behind the plot was apparently groundless, remember, because one of the contracted killers, Aaron Wilkinson, actually saw the person who ordered the hit. And it wasnt chris, wasnt even a man according to aaron. It was a tall willowy blonde, an absolute knockout, who hired his friend sam yenawine. What what kind of car was she in . She had a 2001 white durango. She said it right on the speaker phone. I mean, when we got there she was telling you what to find her when yall got there . Reporter the woman arranged and paid for everything, he said. Like untraceable burner phones and sam and aarons hotel room in charleston. She walked into the hotel that she paid for. Seen her walking in there. She was wearing a black skirt, white top. Walked in there, paid for the room, come back out. When he got back in the car, she gave him 5,000 and bottle of pills. Reporter the pills were painkillers and valium, said aaron. The plan was to scatter the drugs around the murder scene to confuse the cops. Act like it was like a drug deal gone gone wrong or somethin. Reporter then, later that day, said aaron, the blonde showed up again. This time at that secret rendezvous at the beach. Did you see her give him the packet . Oh, yeah. And you saw her hand it to him . Yeah, she was dressed. She was wearing jeans and black shirt. Black shirt, jeans . Jeans. We got all our agents on duty immediately. Reporter they had a lot to do, and now, before it was too late. We sent out agents to all the locations where we had knew aaron and sammy had been. We sent them to the banks. We sent them to the hotels to collect receipts. Reporter at almost every stop, Security Camera footage confirmed the duos movements. Theres aaron in a store that houses a bank. The bank in which he deposited his fee for helping sam. And here they both are in a walmart, where theyre buying gloves to use in the intended murder. And heres that mysterious woman, caught on camera at a Grocery Store trying to buy a prepaid drop phone. Which she found a little later, in a store next door to this one. Here she is a little later, in that Durango Aaron described at the hotel she rented for sam. Wearing exactly the clothing as described by Aaron Wilkinson. As for the hand off of that envelope containing instructions for the murder, Traffic Cameras and cell phone triangulation put the woman, and sam yenawine, exactly where and when aaron claimed she met them. Here she gave sam 5 grand in cash, a total of 10 now, half the fee upfront. Reporter so she was real, alright. Question now was, who was she . And how did she know to call sam in the first place . How do you know her . Because i was in prison with sammy. I was in the cell with him for two years. I seen her picture every day. So sammy is what to her . Well, he used to be married to her. Married to her . Why yes. Her full name, now, was wendy moore. But it wasnt always. Like for the years she was known as mrs. Sam yenawine. He was not only her ex, but the father of two of her children. And he was a man who had killed before. We were extremely concerned. Reporter now events moved very quickly. We had agents in louisville, kentucky, working with us to ascertain sammy yenawines whereabouts and keep him under surveillance. And literally while the ink was drying on the arrest warrant, there were agents watching him, so that immediately as soon as possible he was taken into custody. Reporter as for wendy, agents boykin and callahan tracked her down to this beach house near charleston. She came out. She looked calm. You know, nothing out of the unusual. Once sh i would say inquisitive on yes. Why we were there. But, once we let the cat out of the bag and told her that we knew about the murder, a murderforhire plot, and that we had sammy and aaron, she became white and a sheet, and told us she needed a lawyer and spun around on her heels and went back in the house. Reporter but, the evidence they already had like the hotel receipt, and wendys purchase of a notrace cell phone, and the money to sam yenowine. It was plenty enough for an arrest warrant. And accompanied by a well known charleston lawyer, wendy moore, looking as innocent as can be, turned herself in. Then . It was, to say the least, odd, said agent boykin. They were standing in intake in the county jail, filling out paperwork. And she leaned over to me and she said, i know you guys probably dont like me very much, but i could sure use a hug. Coming up wendy tells her side of the story. Im just not who they say i am. So who is she . We had highend clientele that would pay for a private strip show. When dateline continues. 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A wouldbe hitman confessed he was part of the failed plot to murder the wife, and now he has told police the person who ordered the hit was a beautiful blonde named wendy, and shes ready to tell her story to keith morrison. Reporter you can just imagine how it played among the pillars of charleston society. Bad enough that chris and nancy lathams ugly personal war had become the talk of the town, now nancy was the target of a murder plot. Tongues wagged. And who was that mysterious blonde femme fatale, the one who seemed to be pulling the strings . Wendy moore did not indulge the accusations, the shocked whispers of the curious. She merely stared blankly from her mug shot and said nothing at all. Until this im just not who they say i am. Reporter this is wendy moore. And here is her story. A story of overcoming a sea of obstacles, she told us. How much of it is true . Every word, she said. Really. I always joke and say a lot of kids had imaginary friends and i had jesus. You know, like they would play with their imaginary friends and i would talk to jesus. Reporter but life, back where she came from in ohio and west virginia, was not always easy, said wendy. I say i lived 80 years in my 38. So its been a long, long road. Reporter which got very tough around 6th grade. That, she said, is when the abuse started. And things in my life changed pretty big. Reporter that was tough on you. Still tough on you. Yeah. I need a minute. I was 11, and it went on until i was 17. And it got to the point where i knew it was either leave or be raped. Reporter so, she said, she bounced from relatives to friends, all the while excelling in school, until oops, i got pregnant. Reporter but fall apart . Oh no. I rented a room off of a lady because i had a job. I worked my senior year, bought my own truck. You know, supported myself. Reporter and before long met her new neighbor, a worldly charmer named sam yenawine. And i was naive. I was young. I mean, its funny because, in our first couple dates, like, one of the things he said to me was, well, youre such a good girl. Reporter she had no idea, she protested, that sam was anything but a good guy. So she had two more babies. Total of three, now. And she was horrified, of course, that sam supported his young family by selling drugs, while she i was a stay at home mom. Reporter well, a little more than that actually, as it turned out. He said, well, you could be a stripper. You could do a you know, be an exotic dancer and youd make a lot of money. And i was like i was crushed. Reporter this was her way of describing the moral nature of the arrangement. I was like, how could you love me and want me to do Something Like that . And i said, sam, thats a sin. And he said, so is pride. You look at your kids and you say, okay, ill swallow my pride. Howd it feel to do that stuff . Horrible. You come from an abused background anyway. All youre doing every single time is reabusing yourself. Its awful. Reporter their New Enterprise was called brooke and wendy entertainment. Sam hired a bouncer to handle clientele who got a bit too frisky, she said, and they set up shop in their house. Exotic dancing downstairs, the Family Living quarters upstairs. There was me and a couple other girls. And we just had high end clientele that would pay to come in for a private strip show. The first on scene reported heavy fire in the rear section of the home. Reporter and then, one awful night, said wendy, she woke up to a house on fire, had to scramble to the roof to save the kids. Then later that day, i found out what had actually happened. Reporter sam saw the bouncer sneaking out of the childrens bedroom, said wendy. So sam stabbed the guy, killed him, then set him on fire. So sam got prison and wendy a divorce. And then, so she told us, she worked from home and cared for her children, and while they slept, attended jerry fallwells Liberty University online. I got my degree, my bachelors degree, and started in the Masters Program for management and leadership. And i actually got that degree too. Reporter wow. While i was getting my kids raised, so reporter and then she packed up her kids and moved to charleston, where she parlayed her considerable interpersonal skills into a wonderful new job. 60,000 a year as an executive assistant to a banker. But not just any bank executive, the highest paid banker in town. Who . Well, we know who, dont we . Chris latham. It was great, you know . I streamlined things and it actually got easier as i went along. Reporter along with her bank duties, said wendy, she helped her boss with personal matters, like his divorce. All purely professional, of course. We were friends but not really close friends. Reporter but then, all those hours of working together, its a story as old as office romance. In their case, said wendy, it was a romance for the ages, chris was soon the love of her life. I really got to know him as a person and how sweet he was, and how i mean, kind. And chris has a good faith in god too. And that means a lot to me. And yeah, one day i looked over at him, and im like, im so happy. Reporter and as for how she fell victim to a misfortune as humiliating and unfair as her arrest and incarceration here . Just a simple misunderstanding. All she did, she said, was give her ex, sam yenawine a disposable phone and then set him up in a cheap motel. For reasons not sinister at all. Really. Reporter why did you rent him a hotel room and send him that money, wire him the money . Quite a bit of money. We were supposed to be getting a car together for our daughter. And he sent me an email and said, wen, im here, lost my wallet, lost my phone, need help. So im like, crap, what is he up to . Didnt know he was coming. Get him a phone. Say, here i got you a phone. Heres the number. I will be there when i leave work. Reporter and the 10 grand she sent him . Just her contribution toward the car, she said. Mind you, maybe sam wanted nancy dead himself, said wendy. Why would that be . Well, when the latham divorce got particularly nasty, wendy claimed that somebody slashed her brake lines and sams daughter drove that car too. Sam wouldnt have liked that at all. Of course, there wasnt a shred of evidence nancy had a thing to do with it. You were never able to tie those directly back to nancy, right . Well reporter but you had your suspicions. Well, we had our suspicions. We were worried. We were scared. Reporter and sam, who had already proved himself a violent man, reminded wendy, was furious. If the children were in danger and he thought it was nancy, i dont know. I dont know. He went after a man that was in their bedroom when they were little, so i dont know what he would do. So i dont know. Reporter but remember, aaron told the police that she, wendy, gave sam that hit pack, stuffed full of information about nancy. That made it look more like it was wendy who wanted nancy out of the way for good. Reporter so im puzzled. And if you can enlighten us in any way, it would be helpful. Yeah im not willing to talk about that. Reporter no elaborate story about that. Subject closed. But for this i never set anybody up for or never set anybody up for murder. I never paid anybody money to murder someone. I would and thats not something thats in me to do. Reporter why would she, asked wendy. She and chris, and her kids, had moved into that lovely six bedroom beach house on tony sullivans island. And life was going to be kind of perfect. The monday that i was arrested, that wouldve been the beginning of the divorce trial. And it wouldve been finally behind us. It wouldve been great. Reporter and then, though she had done no wrong, she said, her happy ending came undone. In jail, falsely accused by an addict shed never heard of, of plotting to kill nancy latham, her sweet and gentle love match with chris, a coincidentally wealthy man, was exposed on tv and in the papers. Shocking though not so much to her allegedly intended victim. I thought, yay, now one more to go, because i think they arrested wendy. Reporter so you never really thought of her as the prime mover here . No, no, i did not. Reporter but chris said he was guilty of nothing but loving wendy. Hed been living with her, he said, for almost six months. If anything, going through this has brought us closer. Reporter closer . Yes. And that makes me love him more. Reporter and, any day now, chris and wendy said, the agents would figure out that wendy was a god fearing woman who had nothing whatever to do with any murder plot against nancy. Coming up phone sex and more caught on tape in a call from prison. What were they thinking . I cant wait to ravish you when i get home. I cant wait either. Proof of less joint pain. And clearer skin. This is my body of proof that i can fight Psoriatic Arthritis from the inside out. With humira. Humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage and clear skin in many adults. Doctors have been prescribing humira for nearly 10 years. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers including lymphoma have happened, as have blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. 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Joseph didnt do it either but he spent some time in jail. And it ended up being to the benefit of his family later, so reporter so you hang onto that. I hang onto that. Reporter but, as prosecutors Nathan Williams and rhett dehart plowed through the mounds of phone and computer records, they were soon convinced its clear there was a murder for hire going on. Reporter and it looked like wendy was in it up to her neck. She rented that motel room for sam and aaron. She bought that cell phone, which records showed she used only to communicate with sam. The phone also proved she went to exactly the spot where Aaron Wilkinson said she delivered the hit pack and agent Bobby Callahan collected receipts that traced the cash shed given her exhusband before the hit was scheduled, some of it sent under a fake name. Wendy claims she wanted to cooperate with sammy in buying a car for their daughter. If it was money to purchase a vehicle, it just doesnt add up. Why not just send one payment . Why not write a check . Certainly, using an alias name doesnt show credence to that. Reporter but the trail didnt end there. What was the best supporting evidence to show that wendy was actually deeply involved in the plot . The clearest evidence was the searches that were done on her computer where she actually not only located items for the hit packet, but printed them out. Reporter traced back to wendy, the web search that led to this photo of nancy and those pictures of the front and back of nancys house. I mean, anytime somebody searches through the internet or through cyberspace, theres, you know, whats called a cybershadow or, you know, an electronic fingerprint. Reporter and get this, she printed them on her Office Printer at the bank. But then, when investigators got a search warrant to seize her bank laptop and printer, both turned out to be missing. Good thing banks like to keep quite meticulous records. The bank of america server had the same information. It had their internet search logs and their print logs independent of latham and moores Individual Computers and printers. Reporter especially when they could prove this particular page was typed on wendys computer, and came out of the printer in her office. So its not just some directions, but its instructions on where nancy latham will be, when shell be there, and how to get there. Reporter see the handwritten notes on the page . They showed it to handwriting expert. When the handwriting came back and it was wendys, yeah, it was an important piece of evidence. Reporter but why would she do it . To keep chris and the money he might have to spend on alimony all to herself instead . Or was she doing it all at the request and under the guidance of chris latham . Wendy wasnt about to turn on the man she claimed was her soul mate. How would prosecutors tie them together in the plot . Hello . Reporter and then . Manna from heaven, down it came. This call is from wendy moore, an inmate at Charleston County Detention Center. Reporter listen to this. The two talked virtually every day on the phone. And jail house calls, of course, are recorded. I think of you every second, honey. I think of you all the i dream of you every time i close my eyes. Reporter there were hours of this sort of talk. I cant wait to ravish you when i get you. I cant wait either. Reporter prosecutors ears really pricked up when they heard this. Im telling you though, there will be a plan. Okay. And were going to work on it. Okay. Im going to do everything i can do. Okay. Just hang tight. I am. Reporter a plan . What could that possibly be . Coming up, was there another hit man for hire waiting in the wings . Is he calling somebody else . When dateline continues. Did you know your brain has two systems . One helps keep you awake the other helps you sleep. 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Add fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella and youve turned knorr rice sides into something new. Creamy bruschetta chicken knorr rice sides. As a main dish. See a different side. Reporter summer sweat bathed the good citizens of charleston, South Carolina, in those middle months of 2013, as nancy lathams blood boiled. It was not easy. Reporter by this time she had passed mere terror and moved on to a nasty mixture of fear and fury, even as authorities told her i had to be patient. I didnt like it. Reporter true, the cops were keeping a very close eye on her. But that was no guarantee of safety. The thought that you try not to let consume you is, if sammys in jail, has he called somebody else . Reporter and remember, from day one nancy believed soontobe exhusband chris was behind the whole thing. And yet, though she begged prosecutors to charge him, he free as a bird was still going to work every day at the bank. He certainly has the financial ability to pay someone else to do it. Reporter that is, kill her. So, you know, whats he doing . How is this working . Reporter wasnt working for nancy at all. So if the law wouldnt go after chris, she decided, then she would. She is experiencing extreme emotional distress, as you might imagine. She filed a suit against chris and wendy. Reporter awkward, said u. S. Attorney bill nettles. Not that he blamed her, but it did muddy up the investigation, which was, bit by bit, coming together. So why didnt you charge chris right away, too . I felt like we really needed to make sure that we had all the evidence before we went in. Reporter after all, chris was a big deal in charleston, a man with a sterling reputation. So, carefully, they pored over everything, mindnumbing logs of phone calls and digital records from chris cell phone and computers. It took months to process. Well, all the while, they maintained constant surveillance of mr. Latham at his bank office and here at his beach house. But you were pretty confident he wasnt going to kill her after the plot was revealed, and well, i mean, yeah. I mean, i wasnt certain. I mean it kept me up at night. But i felt that, you know, he was one of the most watched men in South Carolina at that point. Reporter nancy, remember, said she had no doubt from the minute she saw the handwriting in the hit pack that her soon to be exhusband wanted her dead. Was chris handwriting found . No. That was inconclusive. There was handwriting in there, but it was not determined to positively be chris. Reporter and then, Aaron Wilkinson told them that was his handwriting on the hit pack, not chris. And when they checked . Sure enough, looked like aaron might have been right. But if that was a dead end, other trails were not. Particularly, electronic ones. The day that sammy and aaron came to charleston, there were searches done on chris lathams computer for maps indicating nancy lathams residence. Those maps were printed from chris lathams computer, his printer. And those exact documents were recovered in the hit package. Prosecutors assumed chris lathams defense might be to claim wendy did that, since she worked in the office and knew all of chriss computer passwords. But then, imagine this. Chriss Office Printer turned out to be missing, too, just like wendys. Wendy, of course, says, well, you know how it is in an office. Somebody leaves for a while or away, and so it somebody else from a Different Office comes and scoops the printer and takes it. Is that possible . Everybody we interviewed said they did not know where those printers ended up. Well, lets just say, also, in our investigation, we didnt undercover a rash of printer theft. Reporter just a couple of missing ones . Just two particular ones. Reporter meanwhile, as investigators closed in, wendy kept on phoning chris from jail. Prosecutor rhett dehart sensed chris was taking extra care to sooth his anxious mistress. Even when you feel its bad, you feel dark or you feel like youre at your lowest point, you need to know im there for you, okay . Okay. Thank you. That means so, so, so much to me. It was almost as if he was doing Everything Possible to stay close to her so she wouldnt cooperate with the authorities. Whenever we get all this behind us and all that you know, one day we are going to make that official, okay . Yeah. I would love that. I would absolutely love that. You and me together. Yes, just you me and jesus. Yes, honey, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, this womans been publicly charged with trying to kill his estranged wife, and hes telling her on these jail calls, i love you, well get married. Theres one phone call where wendy was sort of worried about how things were going and his response was, you know, its all a chess game. Its very complicated, but we have to make the right moves and the right turns. I think he felt like the laws that apply to people like sam yenawine and Aaron Wilkinson dont apply to, you know, rich bankers. Reporter and maybe that was right. After all, sam wasnt talking. Wendy wasnt talking, except to chris. And chris was claiming there was simply no case to make against him. For four months the prosecutors searched for an undeniable link between chris and the murder plot. Not too easy. Part of that, they asked the Apple Company to do a search of chris iphone, the contents of it, a court order process that takes awhile. But finally, patience was rewarded. They discovered this photograph was actually taken with his iphone. Reporter a key photo that ended up in the hit pack. Its clearly a picture of nancy lathams residence. It also shows her vehicle that she was driving at the time. That was significant because that was one piece of evidence that came directly from chris latham. That couldnt have originated from any other person. It originated with his phone, and it drew him into the conspiracy firmly at that point. Reporter and so, on august 6th, 2013, agent boykin tracked chris latham to a lakeside vacation retreat in the mountains. He had an arrest warrant in his hand. And chris latham was standing downstairs, and he looked right up at me, and all he could say was, you got to be kidding. Reporter after months of anxious waiting, nancy finally got the call shed been hoping for. He was actually booked in the Charleston County Detention Center on my birthday. Best birthday present ever. Happy birthday to me. Reporter coming up there are two sides to every story. Youre about to hear chris lathams. I certainly want to answer all the questions. Reporter but one of the accused plotters wont be telling his side. I just remember that night thinking, you know, can this get any stranger . More to see. More to feel. More to make things really really. Interesting. The new focus. 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Each one equipped with 60 thin rubber mats for 60 steel and concrete sleeping platforms on which, in the autumn of 2013, twod a growing resentment. Not at each other, mind you, but at the law for putting them here. So close, yet so far apart. I figured that it would all get figured out, you know . That they would figure out that this isnt what happened. I didnt do this. Reporter in one of his last calls before he was charged with three counts in the murderforhire plot, chris comforted wendy about the fix she was in. Am i ever going to be able to join my family . Yeah, dont give up. Reporter but no more jailhouse phone calls now. Instead, one floor up, or was it down, chris latham waited to go on trial with his mistress, growing ever paler, the gloss of his high flying career at least temporarily, quite absent. Even the bankers clothes he wore for our interview didnt quite fit anymore. Reporter you were a big deal once in this town. Thats what the media says. Reporter media he avoided, until this. I said i certainly want to answer all the questions. I want my side of the story told, as well. Reporter so we asked chris about the prosecutions evidence against him, the maps and instructions prepared on his office computer, and photos, which appeared to have gone directly from his cell phone to the murderforhire hit pack. I never saw that package until my arraignment. Reporter a family photograph, which, you know, was in your possession and then turned up in the hit package with half of it cut out . Sure, that was in my possession, but also reporter so howd it get to them . Well, hold on. Youve got two law firms that have access to that information. Theres a lot of people that had access to that information. It wasnt proprietary, just from me. Reporter remember, he was in a nasty divorce battle and hed been turning over to his lawyers reams of ammunition to use in court against nancy. I had conversations with my private investigator to gather this information. And this information would look very similar to this package of information. Reporter but much of this material would have to have come from your computer or even your camera. I mean, youre the one who took the picture of the front of the house that day, and absolutely, i took that picture. Reporter and that picture wound up in that package . That picture was also sent to my divorce attorney two days later. Reporter so somehow, magically, all of this stuff went from an attorney to a private investigator to a drug addict on the street, telling the police that hes got a hit package and hes supposed to kill somebody . Well, keep in mind, i mean, you talk about it coming from my computer. Number one, other people had access to my computer, access to my passwords. Reporter chris offered no evidence that the legal teams or investigators had any hand whatever in the plot. But he couldnt deny that his executive assistant wendy moore had all his computer passwords. Are you denying that wendy did these things . Are you saying it couldnt possibly have happened . Dont think wendy would do this. Theres no incentive whatsoever for wendy to want to harm, you know, nancy latham. I mean, whats in it for her, i ask you . Reporter well, whats in it for her . I mean, she can have you without you having to pay alimony, without you having to play house payments, without you having all those financial obligations, and without you having that woman around whos been driving you crazy for years. Yeah, no. If anything, wendy wanted this chapter closed. She was very supportive of trying to settle it without going to court, to take the high road every single time. Just to get this chapter closed in my life so that we could begin our chapter in our lives. Reporter just as wendy had done, chris denied he had any motive at all to kill nancy. Because, he said, he had been looking forward to his day in court with her. He believed, he said, he was going to win. Would not be required to pay a penny of alimony. So of course he wanted nancy to be there in court, alive. That was my vindication. This is when it was all going to come out. Reporter so, who was behind it all . Chris, just like wendy, told us it had to be wendys ex, sam yenawine. With aarons help, of course. I dont know if he wanted to harm her or if he wanted to go in and vandalize her car or if he wanted to confront her. I dont know what was in his mind. Reporter so youre suggesting sam, all on his own, without wendys help and payments from wendy aside, put together that hit package . Material that he, what, sneaked from somewhere . He would have had to got it from wendy or somebody, and secretly put it into a package so that he could do something to nancy . Im saying reporter without telling wendy . Im saying sam and Aaron Wilkinson did this on their own. Reporter really . What would sam yenawine say about that . So far hed been talking only to his lawyer and family during jailhouse calls. Theyre charging me with being in possession of a gun that that guy had in his he had it. I was 800 miles away. Reporter and all the while prosecutors waited and dangled potential deals. Sam knew the secrets. Sam could break the case wide open. And then yeah, i remember very distinctly. I got a call from agent callahan. It was about 11 15 at night. Reporter sam yenawine wasnt going to be talking ever. He hanged himself in his cell. This came from a note written on a napkin, left for his girlfriend. I love you, ray ray. Im finally free. And i just remember that night, thinking, you know, can this get any stranger . Reporter you were going to say, any worse. Yeah. Reporter so time to roll the dice and go to court. But without sam yenawine, did they stand a chance of making a case against charlestons now infamous banker . Coming up, a tough question for the prosecution. Theres no body. There no sort of crime scene. So how do you proceed . And a telling question from the jury. I watched as wendy turned around and smirked to her family, like, yeah, were going to get off. When dateline continues. For protecting my future. Thank you for being my hero and my dad. Military families are thankful for many things. The legacy of usaa Auto Insurance could be one of them. Our worldclass service earned usaa the top spot in a study of the most recommended Large Companies in america. If youre current or former military or their family, see if youre eligible to get an Auto Insurance quote. Introducing the citi ® double cash card. It earns you cash back now and cash back later. With 1 when you buy and 1 as you pay with two ways to earn on puchases, it makes a lot of other cards seem onesided. Lowes presents how to put your foot in your mouth. Man. Wish my yard looked like yours. 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Reporter mind you, remember, chris was innocent until proven guilty, and there was no assurance the trial would give nancy any of the answers she so wanted. The prosecutors had a very difficult task. Oh, it sounded, to hear them talk, like the conspiracy was obvious. A rich banker, you know, his blonde secretary hes having an affair with, the exhusband, whos killed people, and sort of the flunky assistant, all got together and lined up for this big conspiracy. It sounds, sort of, implausible when you say it that way. When you look at the evidence . Its undeniable. Reporter wendy faced four conspiracy charges and, potentially, 30 years in prison. Chris was charged with three counts, maximum 25 years. And the jury would have to decide, was chris the mastermind, or wendy, or both . Not your standard courtroom drama. Theres no body, theres no, sort of, crime scene, so how do you proceed . The crimes a communication. The crime is the agreement, and then the use of interstate commerce, so we did have plenty of evidence of that. Reporter almost all of that evidence, said the prosecutors, led directly to wendy. Wendy moore, her goose was cooked. There was just overwhelming evidence. We really didnt worry much about moore. Reporter but the case against chris latham . Much more difficult to prove. This, to me, was the biggest challenge. Chris latham is an impressive guy. You know, hes the highest paid banker in charleston, and he was sort of a pillar of the reporter a member of society, yeah . Yeah, hes a pillar of the community. And i think one challenge we had as prosecutors, was to convince a jury why such a distinguished and successful person would commit this crime. Reporter but motive . Clear as day. The prosecutors told the jury, chris in fact had a lot to lose in his divorce, like reputation, when people found out hed been living in sin with wendy. Its going to come out that hes cheating with his secretary on his wife. Reporter and there was money at stake. Buckets of money. I mean, theres so much evidence that he faced exposure in alimony. 75,000 a year in alimony, forever. Reporter prosecutors told the jury that chris was involved every step of way. In fact eight of the 11 pages in the hit pack could be linked to chris lathams phone, computer or printer. And after the plot was exposed, chris arranged payments, through other family members, not just for wendys defense lawyer, for sam yenowines lawyer too. As jurors heard, chris and wendy used a code word for sams lawyer in their jailphone chats, bluegrass. Bluegrass music is coming to them. Okay. It should be going on right now. Reporter and when bluegrass got expensive bluegrass needs another benjamin. Fiveoh. Hawaii fiveoh. Reporter that is 50,000. I know. Whatever. Dont even get me started. But we will figure that out too. Reporter nancy sat in court listening to those recorded calls. They made it obvious who was in charge, she said. Chris was trying to speak in code when he was saying, dont worry. I take care of things. Im the problem solver. Reporter the star witness, of course, was a man who, hired for a killing, prevented it. Aaron wilkinson. Here in court, aaron told the jury the whole, strange, tale. And as he did, for the very first time, aaron laid eyes on the man he had come to believe was behind it all. Looking at chris latham in court was really the only good feeling i had about testifying. Hes just a selfrighteous, smug hes a jerk. It felt good to sit there and tell the truth, and knowing that it might help convict him. Reporter but who was a jury to believe . An establishment banker and his executive assistant or an excon heroin addict trying to save his own skin . Easy answer, said the defense attorneys. David aylor spoke for wendy and told the jury that drug addict Aaron Wilkinson was not a reliable witness. His testimony would change. You also saw him admit to various things on the stand that he had originally had lied to police about. Reporter chris attorney, steve schmutz, called prosecutors claim that killing nancy was about saving money in a divorce ridiculous. Alimony would hardly put a dent in his 650,000 salary said schmutz. And as for exposing his affair with wendy moore . Everybody knew about his affair. Chris latham was not going to get fired because of his relationship with wendy moore. Reporter but it was tricky, too, for the defense. Neither chris nor wendy would say anything to harm each other. Didnt testify at all, actually. Except, unintentionally, in those jail house phone calls. Which were certainly a worry, said the defense. Everything still good . The house is secure. Reporter eight of them a day, 15 minutes each. Wendy moore calling chris latham. The two of them talking. Arguably incriminating conversations on those phones. Even though the incrimination part of it is dubious. But it was the prosecutions job to persuade the jury that the bizarre story of the heroin junkie was actually true. Did they succeed . The jury got the case. Everyone waited. Nancy had such hopes. But, when the jury came back into the courtroom to ask a question they asked the judge, does the conspiracy have to meet every single criteria to be found guilty . I watched as wendy turned around and smirked to her family, like, yeah, were going to get off. Theyre not meeting all of the criteria. And i remember chris kind of got this look on his face, like, you know, it was kind of, a little nod of his head, and a little, you know, were getting off. I mean, you just you could see it emanating from them. If he was not found guilty of something, i was going to be in a world of hurt. Coming up, the verdict. I just started sobbing profusely. I couldnt stop. 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My new musthave for soft, beautiful feet. Amope pedi perfect. Find it in the foot care aisle or at the registers in these stores. Reporter nancy latham found a place to be alone, as she waited for the jury to decide the fate of the husband she used to love. And i just started sobbing profusely. I couldnt stop. I could not stop. Reporter and in fact, this jurys decision was at that very moment the subject of a heated debate, intense disagreement, except where it came to wendy. Wendy, who presents herself as a, you know, churchgoing, go fearing, evangelical, caring, emotionally delicate human being, swears up and down that the money that she went was really intended for the purchase of this car. Car. Reporter you heard the explanation. Uhhuh. Yes. Reporter what did you think about it . No. Didnt believe it. Didnt buy it. Didnt buy it. Didnt buy it at all. Why did she use a fake name to send money . Yeah, she used a fake name on the money order. Reporter that is, the three money orders wendy wired to her exhusband, sam yenowine, one sent under the stage name of a famous exstripper. Now, the recovering drug addict turned whistleblower aaron, him, despite all the defense efforts to discredit him, him they believed. Im like, okay, we know that hes a bad guy. But you know, he admitted it up front. Im a bad person, but im no murder. Reporter but was chris the mastermind of the murder plot . Or was it all wendy . Thats where it got sticky. Most of the jurors, including most of the group assembled here, believed chris was up to his neck in the plot. I felt like he was the one who orchestrated it and was smart enough to know how to keep his hands off of it. He was a part of it all along. Reporter but to convict chris of any of the three conspiracy counts against him they would have to be unanimous. And this jury was not. Chris, some of them were sure, was wendys dupe and not the boss of the plot at all. I dont think that he orchestrated it. I always thought that she did. And that she was the mastermind because it was her ex that she went to for all this because hes done stuff in the past or whatever. Reporter for hours and hours the minority view refused to yield. I was one of three. Reporter and then, finally, they agreed on what they could and returned to the courtroom. It took everything i had just to stand there and hold my breath, not fall apart. Reporter wendy moore, guilty of all counts, including solicitation and conspiracy to commit murder for hire. So what was it like when you heard that verdict . It was like being run over by a truck. Reporter and chris latham, guilty on just one count of participating in a murder for hire. And the moment they said, guilty, it just i felt like i could breathe for the first time in those two minutes. You know, because you really do sit there and youre not breathing, and you feel like your heart isnt beating. And youve turned into a statue. So it was like all of a sudden i was human again. Reporter it was not what the prosecution asked for, but enough to send him to prison and end a stellar career. And now here you are in one of these units sleeping on a bunk about, what, 2 1 2 feet wide, and on a plastic mattress. What do you think about when you go to bed at night . Its like a horrible nightmare that you cannot wake up from. You know, you dream about the outside and then you wake up inside and it pierces your heart. It makes you jump. You cant believe that youre here. Reporter at the sentencing, nancy latham begged the judge to give him the maximum. So did daughters emily and madison, who decided to change their surnames to nancys, cannon, erasing latham from their lives for good. I dont want him to be known as my father anymore. I think he lost that privilege when he put my picture in the hit packet. I think hes disgusting and he deserves punishment. Reporter lovers turned conspirators. Wendy moore was sentenced to 15 years in prison. She could be out by the time shes 50 or so. Chris now famously told you in one of those conversations, which they always record from prison, that he wait for you. Hed be here for you. Youd get married. Is that kind of forgotten about now . No. Reporter you still soulmates . You still care for each other . Ive never met anyone better than him and i never will again. He is a good person, and i love him. Reporter and chris was sentenced to ten years, five fewer than wendy, who, perhaps, shouldnt hold her breath for wedding bells. Can you hold a candle that long . Im not going to comment on the future. Reporter and nancy said shes trying to make peace and rebuild her life after the whole sordid drama. A friend of mine said to me, well, you know, if you cant forgive, you need at least want to forgive. I said, i dont really want to forgive. And they said, well, you should want to want to forgive. And i said, i think im a few more wants away from even that. But ill start trying to whittle it down. So i think im at a want to want to forgive place. Reporter but there is one person nancy latham has forgiven completely, the man once hired to kill her, and who, it seems, saved her instead. For the crimes he admitted to Aaron Wilkinson was sent to prison for four years. Nancy argued for leniency in court. Hi, i dont think weve met before. Im nancy. Reporter perhaps, in part, because of this, the night before aarons sentencing nancy went to see him in jail. I cannot possibly thank you enough. I think we all completely understand the outcome would have been very different were it not for you. You okay . Thank you. I have prayed for you. I wish i could do something other than to tell you thank you. But it just theres nothing else. I mean, you saved me. You saved my daughters, and im so appreciative. Its unbelievable that you, i mean, through the graciousness its overwhelming. Reporter oh, and one more thing about nancy. She finally got her divorce between investigation and trial. Hello, i am nancy or naaaanceeee if you are southern. Reporter and now has taken up an old dream, standup comedy. Any divorced people here . Reporter seriously. Yeah, it was good for me, too. Reporter and she certainly has no shortage of material. My divorce, like probably hoped it would go. Reporter there is a mystery still, which the prosecutors couldnt quite solve. We dont know if it was her idea and she pitched it to chris latham. We dont know if it was chris lathams idea and he pitched it to wendy moore. But to be honest with you, i think well, probably, just never know. Reporter but this we do know. Because of the conscience of an addict on america street, we did not have to tell you the mystery of the murder of the bankers wife. Thats all for now. Im lester holt. Sad that you have to kill the kids now. Because its not the kids that kill you. New at 11 00, police