Suddenly changed his looks. And in fact, when he showed up at work that morning, he was beardless. There was only one problem he had a rocksolid alibi. Where did that leave you . Worried about my case. Thats when the phone rang. He had no voice, and i did. A tip, a tire track, and a case one detective will never forget. It was a shot in the dark, but i took it. Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Heres Keith Morrison with a perfect spot. Reporter a winters night in a southern forest. The inkblack darkness parted briefly to their headlights, then closed around them like a shroud as they made their way in separate cars through the foggy overcast. And then, here it was. The ragged clearing, the muddy patch of sand and dirt. Here, away from the whole world, what a place for their valentines tryst. As if they could see, without the artificial light so much as a hand in front of their faces or the fate lurking out there in the dark. Waiting. Up on a hotair balloon in the sky. But what a way to begin a love story. Better, probably, the hotair balloons the man so loved. And the motorcycles on which, together, in daylight, they discovered their own special place, their remote forest clearing in a place called belton bridge park. Though park is much too grand a word for their little pullout beside the chattahoochee river north of atlanta, georgia. I knew them both very well. Reporter they were richard and Stacey Schoeck. And it was another love, their love of scouting, that won the admiration of greg gaugler. Reporter howd you meet them . Both of our sons were cub scouts. Reporter with kids, boys especially, they were naturals. Stacey was a ball of energy, full of ideas, would literally drag us to do things. Reporter the gogetter . The gogetter. And we also jokingly called her mama spreadsheet, because everything that she did had to be laid out in a spreadsheet and reporter what a planner. She was. Reporter scouting is how bill fanning got to know them, too. Richard was a good motivator and i saw how much fun he was having. And so i kind of asked if i could tag along and got involved with scouts myself. Reporter stacey was a den leader for the cub scout pack. She pretty good with the kids, too . She was pretty good with the kids, too. Yeah, she was. She and richard, they worked well together. Reporter as they did with her three sons, greg was surprised, he said, when they told him that, biologically, the kids were staceys. I just naively thought that they were his children. Reporter because it looked like that in it looked like that. Reporter in the way he treated them and they treated him. Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. Reporter so when richard officially adopted the younger two of the three boys, cousin connie was thrilled. My heart melted. Like, i was just i was like, that is, like, the best thing. And he wanted to adopt those kids because he loved those children and those children loved him. Reporter richard himself marched to the beat of his own drum. My brother was always a big kid. Reporter and, said his big sister, most certainly not a suitandtie sort of person, could not sit down behind a desk. He had to be out and about. He was a very good athlete. Reporter kind of like a pied piper to his niece. He would roller skate with us or throw ball with us or color with us. He was our cool uncle. Reporter no wonder. How many uncles take their 5yearold niece and 7yearold nephew for a ride in a hotair balloon. I could barely see over the edge. It was just cool seeing just skies and clouds all around you. Reporter pam martin was one of his balloon buddies. People would fight over him and say, can i have richard today . He was just the best crew person. And we just liked being around him because hes just very eccentric and very funny. Reporter and stacey . I liked her. She was friendly. She was nice. Reporter a happily blended family, far as anybody could see. Stacey was primary breadwinner. She administered a sizeable medical practice. Richard was a Maintenance Manager but remained the main caregiver for the kids. And together, the two of them were, well, people noticed. They always gave each other kisses, hugs. So they seemed wonderful together. Reporter all of which may explain why, on valentines night, 2010, richard and stacey decided to meet, maybe even make out a little, at their special place here in the woods. To say that what happened next was shocking was, of course, an understatement. Hall county 911. Whats the address of your emergency . Oh, my god, please. I need help right now. Reporter the voice on the 911 call was staceys. The victim of whatever happened here was her husband, richard. He had arrived at their rendezvous first. And when she got there later, he was lying on his back on the ground beside his truck. Im at this little park on belton bridge road. My name is Stacey Schoeck. When i pulled in hes been shot. Hes been what . Hes been shot. He is dead. Reporter dan franklin of the Hall County Sheriffs Department got the call, and so there he was, valentines night, all but groping as he drove a dark and winding road in search of that muddy clearing by the river. Its in the middle of nowhere and so that creates a special kind of dark that you just cant appreciate until youre in the middle of it. Reporter detective franklin is an experienced man. And this . This was one of a very few cases where the more i dug, the less sense that it made. Reporter no, nothing made sense about this. A murder so sudden and so brutal. Of it a robbery gone bad was it a robbery gone bad . The investigation was just beginning. When we come back tire tracks in the mud that belong to neither richard nor stacey. You could see richards impressions pass over those, and then you could see those pass back over richards. That let us know the vehicle was here before richard and likely got here after he was dead. 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We got this place lit up like its christmastime, but if these lights werent on you cant see your hand in front of your face. Reporter and it was like that that night . Yes, sir, it was. Reporter we will spare you the gruesome images of Richard Schoeck, lying dead beside his truck. Suffice to say, he had been shot five times. Three times through his body, twice in the face. He lay on his back near the open door of his truck. Sounds like probably a pretty ugly crime scene, right . I mean, in terms of what happened to him. It was, yeah, it was particularly gruesome. Reporter what did this say to you right away . That there thats overkill, especially with the placement of the shots. Reporter also, it was pretty clear from the getgo that this was not a robbery. The fact that richard had his jewelry. He had his wedding ring on. He had a fairly expensive watch that he still had on. There was cash on the Center Console of the truck that was undisturbed. The truck itself was still here. I mean, it was ripe for the taking. It was running and on and the door was open. Reporter Something Else the detective could infer from the track of the bullets that went through richards body he must have gotten out of his truck and approached whoever shot him. When stacey found richard, his truck was running. The drivers door was open, the headlights were on. So it appeared that he had just simply pulled up and got out of his truck to approach the person that shot him, which was a compelling thing for us. That was something that really got our attention. Reporter who was it . Who did richard approach . Whoever it was was long gone by the time stacey arrived, so not much to go on. Except when a Police Technician trained his lights on the clearing from the side just so, a whole side, just so, a whole new picture suddenly emerged. A story in tire tracks, including a set of tracks that belonged to neither richards truck nor staceys suv. You could see richards impressions pass over those, and then you could see those pass back over richards. And so, that let us know that that vehicle was here before richard got here, and then likely left after he was dead. Reporter had to be the killer. But how could common tire tracks help them find whoever did this . Having seen what he could, detective franklin headed back to the sheriffs station to meet stacey and record her statement. It was after midnight by then. This feels unreal. Reporter stacey explained it was her weekend to care for her grandparents, and richard planned to come by on sunday, valentines day, to cook dinner. He arrived about 5 30 p. M. And i had my valentine stuff for him sitting on the desk when he walked in the back door. He was like, oh, well, mine are out in the truck but i thought we would do that at the park. Reporter because theyd already planned a brief romantic rendezvous at belton bridge park on the way home to see their kids. He was like, come meet me at the park. You know, its all secluded, and, you know, itll be i mean, well exchange our valentines. And when he gave me a kiss, he was like, and maybe even make out a little. Reporter day or dark night, she said, they both knew the way intimately. Weve ridden by that park gazillions of i dont know, lots, lots of times. Even when we were dating, we would go and find little obscure places and make out like teenagers. Reporter so after dinner, richard left for the park first, she said, and she followed a bit later when a night nurse arrived to look after the grandparents. I think i probably pulled out of the driveway at about 9 20 or so. I called richard and it went to voicemail and i didnt know why. And i didnt leave a message. And i left. Reporter and when she got there . I knew something was wrong. I could see i saw his truck immediately because the lights were on and so i pulled down and i headed right towards his truck. But as soon as i could see him, i could see him laying on the ground. Reporter ah, but life is a complicated business, as everybody knows. Even lovers arent always straight with each other. These, however, were investigators stacey was talking to. She knew theyd ferret out her secret sooner or later, so right away, she came clean. I was having ive been having an affair for several, you know, six, seven months. Reporter an affair. His name was juan reyes. He worked in staceys office in a job she had gotten for him. You know, im in deep with juan. I know that. Im telling you. Reporter oh, yes, she certainly was. Stacey and richard owned the house reyes lived in with his family. She met juan for sex at an apartment stacey rented for the purpose. She paid for the truck he drove, paid his cell phone bills. And, she admitted, she had just taken him to vegas and disguised it as a work trip. Did juan know that meet richard at the park up here . He did. How did he know that . I mean, i had told him. I had probably tuesday night. It was either tuesday or thursday. Reporter was stacey saying juan may have been the killer . No, no, i cant i mean, i guess ive seen enough tv to know that strange thing you know, things happen. But i cant imagine him doing that. Reporter but the detectives certainly could. And so, we start getting some direction we have this unknown set of impressions. So we have a third party at the scene and so now we have to ask ourselves, is it juan . Because he was looking really good at that point. Reporter time to go and have a little chat with mr. Juan reyes. Even if it was 4 00 in the morning. Coming up we knocked for a while. We knocked on windows, walked around the house. Never could get northbound the door. Where would someone be at 4 00 a. M. If not in bed . Whats this . A box. It takes worn out things and makes em better. Wanna see . Yeah [motorcycle engine revs] cool what else ya got . 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But when stacey told the story of her affair with this guy named juan reyes, the cops knew they were listening to a motive as old as time. Jealous boyfriend gets rid of competition. The cops showed up at juans house that very night. We knocked for a while. We knocked on windows. We walked around the house and never could get anybody to the door. Reporter when you say you knocked at the door, just what, politely . No, no, no, no. Reporter bang, bang, bang . Law enforcement banging on the door and banging on the side of the house and that kind of thing. Reporter had he fled . Run away . Later that morning, the detectives went to his workplace to see if hed show there. He did all right. But his appearance had changed from the information that we had from different sources that showed that he had a beard. Reporter Woodrow Tripp was chief of detectives at the time and worked the case with franklin. And in fact, when he showed up at work that morning, he was beardless. Or at least, hed removed his formerly full beard and shrunk it to an appearance altering goatee. So now juan found himself at the sheriffs station. He agreed to talk without a lawyer. He sat in the Interrogation Room for more than four hours with several detectives having a go at him, including franklin and tripp. Now, its my understanding that you and stacey are romantically involved. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Reporter he spilled all of that the affair, the love nest, the extra goodies stacey showered on him. Then they caught him on something. Stacey had already told the detectives that she informed juan on tuesday or possibly thursday about the plans to meet richard that sunday night of valentines day. When did she tell you that . She told me friday, friday after work. And would you find it odd if i told you that shes made a statement that she told you earlier than friday . Um, no, i mean, i remember the conversation on friday. If she mentioned it before that, i wouldnt i wasnt thinking about it or didnt Pay Attention to it. But theres im forgetful sometimes. Reporter was he forgetful or was he hiding something . Okay, well, let me ask you this. Did you have anything to do with whats happened to richard . No, not at all. Do you know who did . No, uhuh. Reporter and so, they asked him where was he before and after dinner on valentines day. Me and my son went up to blockbuster. We ate dinner about i want to say about 7 30 p. M. And by 10 30, i was in bed. I dont sleep much, so three, four hours later im up, tossing and turning. Reporter wait a minute. If he was up tossing and turning, how did he not hear the cops banging on his door . I dont know what to tell you, man. I was in my bed. We were there. We rang the door bell, like, eight or ten times for 15 minutes. All right, well, i didnt hear you. We do sleep with fans on, as i said prior about fans. I did take tylenol p. M. , as i stated to you. But then you also said that youre a light sleeper. You tossed and turned last night and maybe got three, four hours, and thats it. Right. I was up about 4 00, tossing and turning. I looked at the clock again at 5 00. We were there. I didnt hear you. I dont know what to tell you. Reporter juan reyes was like a brick wall about the murder. Didnt do it, didnt know who did. Really . The polygraph, said former chief of detectives tripp, told a different story. The polygraph results indicated that he was not telling the truth, or he was not being truthful to those relevant questions posed to him about the homicide. Reporter questions such as, did you shoot Richard Schoeck . Do you know for sure of anyone who shot Richard Schoeck . Were you present when Richard Schoeck was shot . You know he knows where richards going to be. Hes in an affair with stacey. Hes not at home at 3 00, 4 00 in the morning the night of the murder. He shows up the next morning, altered his appearance. So when you put all of that together yeah, theres a lot of ringing bells there. Reporter bells will juans wife back him up she found out he was cheating . If she wanted to throw him under the bus . It was a great opportunity. They leave on sunday afternoon to grandmas house theyre bound. The car is filled with music that classic disco sound. And on their little faces, only smiles could be found. Goldfish crackers. The snack that smiles back. Quiet mom has a headache had a headache but now, i. Dont. Excedrin® is fast. In fact for some, relief starts in just 15 minutes. Excedrin®. Wow, that was fast. 3 f2 as shocking, as disorienting as the sudden death of a loved one. Especially one so affectionate, so endearing, so apparently happy. And when the dreadful news came with the word murder attached i couldnt think of a soul who would wanted to hurt the man. Reporter richard and his buddy spent the evening together the night before richard was killed. So bill heard him get the phone call from stacey about their plans for valentines day. He said, were making plans to get together up near her grandmas. Reporter she was staying for the weekend or something thats correct. She was looking after her grandmother. Reporter so was he happy about that . He thought, thats great. Reporter a week later, he was at richards memorial. Stacey asked bill to give the eulogy. It was one of the most difficult things ive ever done was to get up and talk about him. I remember looking down at the honorary pall pallbearers, they were all scouts. There was not a dry eye. Reporter at the end of the service, people wrote messages on balloons and released hem released them into the air. A fond memory said brian. They had personal stories. Richard helped me tie my first knots in my tent. He helped me build my first fire. You could tell he touched their lives the way he had me and my sisters. Reporter meanwhile, the Sheriffs Department was working on their only lead. We were focusing hard on juan in the very beginning. Reporter juan reyes, the boyfriend. Though we thought that he was the shooter, at the same time he deserved for us to verify his story. Reporter remember, heres where juan said he was late in the day february 14th. Me and my son went up to blockbuster. We ate dinner about, i want to say about 7 30. And by 10 30 i was in bed. Reporter there were ways to check, of course. They talked to juan reyess wife, exwife actually, she was living with him in an effort to reconcile. The first thing that i told her was that juan had been having an affair with stacey for quite some time. She wasnt happy about that. Reporter no, she wasnt. But listen to this. The woman scorned, still confirmed his alibi. He had gone to blockbluster while i was cooking so between 6 00 and 7 00. He had taken, 6 00 and 7 30, then he came home. He ate dinner in the room. I laid down and we went to bed. What time was that . I know we were watching the 10 30 news, i think it was the 10 00, the last time i looked at the time it was like 10 37. Reporter if she wanted to throw him under the bus, that was the time to do it . She had a great opportunity. She didnt take it. Reporter so maybe juan was not your guy after all. Correct. Reporter even though he failed to answer the door, even though the polygraph result was not in his favor, juan reyes was innocent. He didnt do it. Well, where did that leave you . Worried about my case. Reporter a case that had become personal for detective franklin. He felt like he knew richard, like he was mourning him somehow. I would sit at the scene, stand at the scene, reflect, and just kind of sit there and try to go over things in my head. And try to figure out what direction to take. Reporter what could he do . About all franklin had to go on was this picture of tire tracks left in the soft soil of the clearing. Could he use this to find his killer . Not so easy. He didnt even know the make of the tire. We looked on the internet. But were coming up empty. We went to car dealerships. We went to retail tire establishments. We would pull up next to cars at traffic lights and look what kind of tires they had on them. Reporter and you were seeing them . No. And anybody that we talked to, we looked at their tires, just to be sure. Reporter then one day, in yet another tire store, a colleague called him to a stock area out back. He pointed at this tire. And i looked at it. And immediately i said, well, thats it. And i said, okay. So we pulled it. And it was a goodyear integrity. Reporter well, that whittled it down. Couldnt be more than, what, millions of cars with goodyear integrity tires . But just about the time franklin was contemplating that little problem got a phone call from an i. T. Technician at the dekalb medical center. And this was reporter just like out of the blue . Yes. Reporter thats where the office was that stacey managed. The guys job there was, in part, clearing the junk from employee email accounts. And he noticed that staceys inbox for friday, saturday, and sunday had been completely cleaned out. Reporter curious. That was the very weekend of the murder. So he thought enough to give us a call. Reporter was stacey, mamma spreadsheet, the cubs scout den leader, hiding something . Or did she just accidentally hit delete too many times . Of course all those deleted files had been backed up. So they got a warrant and collected all of staceys emails, not just from that weekend. 4,000 emails in all. It was quite a task. Reporter and a lot of it was spam. Except two emails seemed, well, they stood out. Requests from stacey to her bank to transfer money out of something called a real estate account. So a few weeks before the murder was the first transfer, 8,902. The second transfer was the friday before the murder on february 12th, 2010. And that ones for 1,100. Reporter both times the money went into the account of somebody named lynitra ross, who turned out to be staceys friend and work colleague and tenant. She was renting a house from stacey. So they went to have a talk with lynitra. How did she react . Very calm, very cool. Reporter didnt seem to be hiding anything . Not based on what i was looking at. She just seemed very collected. And so i asked her about the money transfer. Reporter he made an audio recording of the interview. So how much money did you get, overall . Um, its been about, it was 89 at first. And then 89 . Thousand . Hundred. 8,900. Reporter why did stacey give her 8,900 . She transferred some money to me for the repairs and stuff. She said that they had redone the roof. The interior of the house Carpet Flooring and that kind of thing. Reporter and the 1,100 . Still more repairs. And then we got another leak, a main water valve leak. Reporter but the story made sense . It made sense. She was always cooperative. Reporter a simple business transaction. Detective franklin was right back to where he started. Yeah, it gets to a point where youre still, you know, looking for ways to move forward. Reporter it was march by then. Close to a month since the murder. They seemed to be going nowhere. What to do now . How about grasp at straws. Its called a tower dump. Reporter a tower dump . It was a shot in the dark, but i took it. Coming up, a killer with a gun and a cell phone about to make a big mistake. My way of thinking was if hes sitting there waiting in this secluded dark place at nice, is he going to twiddle his thumbs or maybe hell make a phone call. We just adopted two new puppies from petsmart. Petsmart Charities Save over a thousand pets a day. We love that. Look whos here, im the fun mother. Hey, mom, uh, howd you get in the house . I climbed in the window. Im going to call the yellow one expressway. We already came up with names for the puppies. 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Com this is humira at work reporter one month into his investigation of the murder of richard schoek, detective franklin was stuck in the weeds. I would sit down with my supervisor and i said, look, im worried about this case. And he would tell me, just hang in there. That all itll take is a very small piece of information to break this thing loose. Reporter and sure enough, what do you know, the detective got a phone call. Uh, during the crime, when it happened, the car was missing. Reporter the caller was staceys cousin, connie. Shed been troubled by something, she told the detective. It took me a good three week contemplating, you know, should i call, should i not . Reporter after all, stacey was like a big sister, said connie. But there was just something wrong, like the strange business about her grandparents 2009 impala. Stacey was supposed to sell it for them because they were having problems and they needed money for medical bills. Reporter but after stacey took the car a couple weeks later, itd be back at her house and then a couple weeks later it wasnt. Then, it got to the point where she said that she sold it for 16,000. Reporter and yet, stacey never produced the money. The family was was persistent about this car. And so finally, were like, you know, it its likely that it was used. We dont lets find this thing. Reporter so, they ran the vin number and found the car. Stacey had sold it by then. Lo and behold, its got goodyear integrities on it. So at that point, i was confident that id found the car that richard was killed from. Reporter which was great, except who was in it . No idea. Detective franklin was still stuck, so he took a long shot. Reporter he asked for something called a tower dump, information dump that is, from this cell tower on a farm near the crime scene. I subpoenaed all calls that generated from the tower that services belton bridge park for the night of the murder from about 7 00 p. M. til about 9 30. Reporter until 9 30, because thats when stacey arrived and found richard. Why start looking at 7 00 p. M. . It was apparent to me that the gunman lay in wait for richard. And so my way of thinking was if hes sitting there waiting in this secluded, dark place at night, is he going to sit there and twiddle his thumbs . Or maybe hell make a phone call, had no idea. Reporter if the killer called anyone, it should show up on the towers record of outgoing cell calls. Four major carriers on that tower, thousands of calls. But what numbers should he look for . Why not play a hunch hed had all along . Staceys involved somehow. You have this third vehicle at the scene. You have overkill with the with the way richard died. So, based on all those things, a murderforhire starts crossing your mind. Reporter franklins idea was to compare the numbers from the tower dump to the phone numbers on staceys personal contact list. The best source of information i felt i had was staceys contact list. It was 258 contacts, i think. So, if you could find any phone call coming from the crime scene that happened to be on her contact list, that would give you a big leg up. Yes, sir. That would give me some direction. Reporter a lot of numbers to compare. But then he got lucky, really lucky, maybe a 150 numbers into his search, there it was. A match. It said, reggie. Reporter the call was placed at 8 40 p. M. And it was a 28second call. So, richard left the grandparents house at about 8 15. Its about a 15minute drive from the grandparents house to the park. Would have got there around 8 30. He would have got there at 8 30. And we felt he was killed as soon as he stepped out of his truck. So, youre looking at him dying sometime right around 8 30 to 8 45. So, heres a call from reggie in staceys contact list at 8 40 p. M. On the night of the murder. Reporter but who was reggie . Under reggies company name it said, mr. Results. Reporter so, franklins next step naturally i simply googled, mr. Results. And the first link was mr. Results personal training. Reporter his name was reginald coleman, a personal trainer and former semiprofessional boxer, and he held work out sessions at staceys office. Then, detective franklin looked at the number reggie called. I should have already recognized it because i already had it in my notes because it was lynitra ross. Reporter lynitra ross, the woman who claimed she received 10,000 from stacey for house repairs within three weeks of the murder. Now the trail was warm, very warm. He pulled phone records for all three reggie, lynitra and stacey. Combed through hundreds of calls and texts until a very interesting sequence of calls actually emerged from that. Reporter a sequence on february 14th. It went like this at 6 42 p. M. , reggie called lynitra. At 6 45, lynitra called stacey. At 6 48, lynitra called reggie back. In my mind, reggie called lynitra and said, are we still doing this . And lynitra called stacey and stacey confirming, yes, hes here. Ill have him at the park. And then lynitra, calling reggie back saying, yes, go up there. Reporter and after that, no more calls until 8 40 p. M. , when reggies call to lynitra was captured by the tower near the crime scene. The call at 8 40 p. M. To lynitra ross was reggie calling her saying, its done. Reporter and then, get this, at 9 00 p. M. Lynitra sent stacey a text. Happy valentines day, it said. Is that a code . It was. Reporter code for its done. Hes dead. Almost there. All he needed to find was a money trail to prove murderforhire. So, bank records this time. It was the same tedious work as the cell phone records. Reporter and guess what . That 10,000 that stacey transferred to lynitra, supposedly a real estate account for home repairs . Only 1,800 went into that. The rest went to lynitra for cash. And lynitra wrote reggie a check for 700. All within three weeks of the murder. Thats the whole thing. It had come together at that point. Reggies my triggerman. My middle person is lynitra ross. Reporter and the mastermind . Stacey. Three months after the valentines day murder of Richard Schoeck youre charged with malice murder. Reporter lynitra ross i read you that. Make you aware the charges and its malice murder. Reporter Reggie Coleman and Stacey Schoeck were arrested and charged with murder. But then . I told stacey, we can fight this. Reporter a surprise was coming. Check that. Surprises, more than one. Stacey had a story to tell. Coming up, is there ever an excuse for murder . Having lived through that, i was never going to let it happen to my kids. Hmm. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Everybody knows that parker. Well. Did you know auctioneers make bad Grocery Store clerks . Thatll be 23. 50. Now. 75, 23. 75, hold em. 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Eliquis had both. That really mattered to me. Dont stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. While taking eliquis you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. I accept that im not as fast, but im still going for my personal best. And for eliquis. Reduced risk of stroke. Plus less major bleeding. Ask your doctor. If eliquis is right for you. Reporter three months after Stacey Schoeck found her husbands bulletperforated body at belton bridge park, she and her alleged confederates were under arrest for murder. It was just crazy. Didnt make sense. A mother of three, cub scout leader. Surely shed come up with a defense when she met with her attorney, max hirsh. But no, thats not what happened. Far from it. She laid it all out. She didnt hesitate. She didnt minimize. She told me exactly what the plan was. Reporter the plan for murder. Her lawyer, no surprise, had his own plan. I told stacey, i already know how we would defend this case. She looked me straight in the eye, without hesitation, and said, no, the gig is up. I did this. What i did was wrong. No more lies. Reporter stacey wanted to confess. It took a while to arrange it, but seven months after the murder, with the recorder running, confess she did. Im not going to keep lying. Im done, im done, you know. Reporter it all started over lunch with lynitra, said stacey, when she told her friend she wished her husband was dead. And lynitra offered the services of her sometimes boyfriend, reggie. I was like, reggie, really. And she said, yeah, thats what he did. Thats what he does. Thats how he supplements his income, he does jobs. Reporter so, said stacey, lynitra arranged for the three of them to meet, and reggie agreed to kill richard. So, and then i was like, well, how much cash . He was like, well, you know, i was thinking around 10,000. And i was like, okay. Reporter that was the 10,000 stacey transferred to lynitra. She gave the money to reggie. Stacey also agreed to give him her grandparents 2009 impala yes, that impala and the house lynitra was renting from her. A week later, all three went to scout the crime scene. He was like, yeah, this is a perfect place. And he even made a comment that, you know, i might have to use this place more often. Reporter but the night of the murder, said stacey, reggie botched the plan. It was supposed to be a robbery. Thats what he had said. It was supposed to be one shot to the head. I said, i dont want him to suffer, i dont want him to see anything. Reporter but why would she possibly want to have richard killed . To that question stacey offered this story. Things started clicking in my brain of what was happening with my kids and my family, and i was convinced that my kids were being harmed. Reporter stacey said she believed richard was molesting her sons. They were acting out, and there was something one of them told her. You dont know what happens to he does to me when youre not here. That kind of, you know, that stuck in my brain for sure. Reporter to her, there was just one solution. I didnt want the police, i didnt want a divorce, i just wanted him dead. Reporter and so here it was, her reason for murder. Stacey said she had been molested as a child, repeatedly, and she knew what it was like. Having lived through that, i was never going to let it happen to my kids. Did you ask the boys . Not directly enough. Not then. I have since. Reporter it was after her arrest, her sons asked her why . What would make you want to hurt him . And she explained. People touched me in a bad way when i was a kid, and i reacted in certain ways, and sometimes your behaviors made me worry that you were getting touched in a bad way. Reporter and the son who made that earlier statement to his mother responded, devastated. He said, no. He said, im sorry i exaggerated, and im sorry that i said those things. I blew things out of proportion, mom, you know. Reporter stacey was wrong. There was no abuse. Now, thats a hard thing to deal with, too, because now he has guilt. Reporter but was the motive she admitted real or was a more venal truth still withheld . There would be an answer, just not quite yet. We asked for an interview with stacey, but prison rules wouldnt allow it. So her attorney spoke on her behalf. She understands completely what she did. She understands it is her fault Richard Schoeck is dead. She doesnt have excuses. Reporter Stacey Schoeck pleaded guilty to murder. Reggie coleman did the same. Lynitra ross stood trial and was found guilty. All were sentenced to life in prison without parole. The case solved. Three convictions for the detective who pored through reams of phone numbers and sniffed out a murder for hire case. You know, when your gut tells you something, you should go with it. And if it makes sense, then thats probably what it is. Reporter pretty obvious if i ask you where this fits in your catalogue of cases. Therell be never be another one like it, im pretty sure. I hope not. Reporter and now finally, the last admission. A few days after stacey was sent away, richards sister, carol, went to see her, glared at stacey through the glass partition. She didnt buy staceys story about her reason for killing richard. I said, okay, stacey, this is it. I want to know. And i said, no bull, no lies, i wan to know why you had richard killed. Reporter there was a long pause. And then out it came. She said, because of my actions back then, and because of the way i was living my life, i knew that i couldnt divorce richard. Because if i divorced richard, he would have enough of a chance to get custody of my kids. Which he had adopted legally. And i couldnt let that happen. And i just looked at her, and i said, thank you. And i hung up the phone. Reporter but if the answer satisfied some need to know, the pain was and is no different. Richard schoeck is dead. His quirkiness, adventurous spirit, devotion to those boy scouts, all gone. We had a thing. It was called a richard fire. If it wasnt stoked up and burning bright and the flames almost licking the treetops, it wasnt a good fire. So if you want a richard fire, thats the fire you got to have. And when were at scouting events and we see the big fire we built and the smoke coming up, we all talk about richard. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Well see you again friday at 9 00, 8 00 central. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, good night. Right now at 110 0, vooer weather pounds parts of the country and were next in line. Tornadoes leaving their mark near chicago tonight. We have new video from fairdale illinois look at this damage. Central i would say is reporting a lot of destruction but injuries seem to be minor. Sheena parveen is here with what we can expect. I think one of the main threats tomorrow will be high