She owed other people money. Reporter or love . It was a relationship of extremes hot, cold wild, calm. You know, love is crazy. Reporter and caught in the middle, the person she loved most. Everything was about brianna. Everything. Reporter would a body covered in paint help a killer cover up a murder . Almost 24 years of doing this job, ive never seen a perfect crime. Reporter a historymaking case with a verdict that stunned everyone. God, where art thou . Reporter im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Dennis Murphy with at the bottom of the stairs. Reporter the phone calls of the are you sitting down kind started buzzing on a dank, rainy evening in western massachusetts. It was march 29th, 2010. I said, oh, my god. You know, you gotta be kidding me. Reporter the news was heartbreaking. Incomprehensible. I couldnt be. It couldnt be true. Its just wrong. Reporter word spread from family members to friends. How did you find out something awful had happened . I was at my desk at work and my wife at the time called me and said, sit down. I heard there was an accident. Thats what i heard. Reporter Annamarie Cochrane rintala and to friends and family was dead. She was only 37. Married. A mother. And now her body lay at the bottom of the basement stairs. It was devastating. Reporter if ever there was a woman who took life in big gulps, it was Annamarie Cochrane rintala. Even as a little girl growing up amidst a big irishitalian family in springfield, mass, shed loved the limelight. Pasquale martin is her uncle. The first time i had seen her take the stage and sing mambo italiano, it just knocked me out. Reporter not afraid of the spotlight, huh . Nah, she loved it. Reporter she could belt it out to the rafters but was she any good . Her friends t. J. Donahue and mary petrone are diplomatic. She thought so. She was oh. No, i she could carry a tune. But she thought she was much better than she actually was. It didnt really matter because she it didnt. She had the charisma yeah. To kind of pull off anything. Reporter t. J. Became tight with ann in high school and one day, the two of them pulled off a Ferris Bueller spectacular, skipping school, roadtripping all the way from springfield to new york city in her mothers car. They were 16. T. J. , thats a hooky day. I know. I think were try reporter thats not just going to the movies or hanging out. No, no, no. It was a big deal. However, we ended up getting caught cause ann left the ticket for the George Washington bridge in the car. She was impulsive like that. Reporter when she settled into a career, the bright lights she went for were atop an ambulance. She became a paramedic. That was another thing about ann, she wasnt all lookatme in the spotlight. She wanted to serve, too. She liked helping people. So, im not surprised that she ended up working with people. Reporter did she like the adrenaline of it . Running hot with the blue lights going . I would say yes. I would say yes, 100 . Yeah, who she was. Reporter it was under those flashing lights, back in 2002, that ann met another paramedic named cara rintala and fell for her. Like ann, cara was compassionate. But in other ways, she was anns opposite. If everything about ann was larger than life, everything about cara was contained, even cautious. Sandy montagna is caras mom. Carl montagna, her stepdad. She had a plan. Always had a plan. Was very conscious of where she was headed in life. Reporter after a couple of years together, ann moved into caras house in the western mass town of granby and they decided to adopt. This is a real step. I mean, being a couple together and moving in your furniture is different than, we are going to raise a child together. You know, this is right. A commitment. And so, i dont think it was looked upon lightly. I remember that cara wanted a 2 or 3yearold boy. And they ended up with a sixdayold girl. Reporter weeks after brianna came into their lives, ann and cara quietly went to the courthouse and got hitched. She and ann are are defining their relationship at a very prominent time in american oh, yeah. Sexual politics, and especially in the state of massachusetts, which is taking massachusetts, which is taking the lead on samesex relationships. All of a sudden, couples are getting married in the courthouse. Well. I dont think that cara wouldve gotten married just because she didnt feel like a piece of paper was that important. But ann really wanted to have the same last name as brianna. Reporter in the years that followed, there were happy times with brianna the little girl who meant the world to them. A day before ann died, they attended service at the reverend lori souders Serene Church and everyone seemed so contented, fresh from a vacation. When i stand at the pulpit and i look around and its like theyre here. Theyve returned. I knew they were away in florida and they were full of light. Reporter when Suzanne Cordes saw them, after the service, they struck her as a couple who had it all together. They were showing me pictures of a trip they had gone on. And they seemed, like, perfectly happy. Reporter so how to explain the horror at the bottom of the stairs . Poor ann lying stiff as a mannequin. And something beyond strange, there was paint all over the place, on the body and beside it. Reporter what had happened to ann . A terrible accident . Or something much darker . When we return theres a large amount of blood and theres several lacerations to the head. Reporter and, left behind, a daughter with one less mother, and a wife who was now a widow. It was, shes dead, i cant believe shes dead. Crying, lots of crying. 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And we care about incredible taste. Because at hellmanns, were on the side of food. And i used to ask if you could hear me now, with verizon, but i switched to sprint. Hey. Are you happy that you switched . Yes their Network Reliability is within 1 of verizon and our unlimited plan is half what you pay with verizon for a family of four. Half . Thats right its half. You could save over 1000 in the first year theyve been ripping us off just think what you could do with that money. Id buy a new set of golf clubs. Vacation. vo unlimited 22. 50 per month per line. Thats 50 off verizon unlimited rates. For people with hearing loss, dont let a 1 difference cost you twice as much. Visit sprintrelay. Com. Reporter on that rainy march afternoon when ann died, cara rintala was running errands with her 2yearold daughter. They got home around 7 00 p. M. , saw the basement light on. And inside, cara peered down the basement stairs. Her wifes bare feet were lying on the floor. Cara grabbed her daughter and raced to her neighbors. Then home again. My neighbor just came over and she told me to call 911. She was pretty distraught. Reporter she was. When Sergeant Gary poehler of the Granby Police department arrived at the rintala house about 7 20, he heard cara before he saw her. It was, shes dead, i cant believe shes dead. Crying, lots of crying. Reporter nothing prepared sergeant poehler for what he saw when he went down those basement stairs. There was cara rintala, sitting on the floor with a female, looked like a female party across her lap. Later found out it was anne marie. She had her eyes open. Her arms were out, extended like this. Reporter there was blood. Smeared and streaked. And something truly weird. Paint all over the place. All over this female that she had across her lap. Reporter within minutes, more First Responders arrived. Some were paramedics who knew cara and ann, had worked with them. They helped an hysterical cara out from under anns body. Took her upstairs to wash. Massachusetts state trooper jamie magarian, the lead investigator, studied the scene. Let it talk to him. Any obvious injuries to the victim here . Are we talking about stab wounds, bullets holes no. No. Reporter lacerations, abrasions . Theres a large amount of blood and theres several lacerations to the the head. Reporter it seemed like the body had been there for a while. I touched the deceased for the first time, with rigor mortis setting in, i thought, how long that body had been on that floor. Reporter there was an open paint bucket at the scene. And paint lightcolored paint everywhere. The paint, to me, is fresh paint. Its wet. There was a thin layer of paint on the deceased that appeared to be dry in some spots, but then there was other paint on the deceased that was still wet and a large amount of paint on the floor that was wet. Reporter did this look like the case of somebody who had taken a bad fall . And somehow ends up knocking into the paint can and causing the paint to spill over them . No, because in the configuration of where the deceased was in relation to the stairs and where the paint bucket was, you couldnt fall directly down those stairs and tip that paint over. Reporter other things spoke to the trooper. Items on the basement floor with blood under them. The trooper took out a pencil and gingerly lifted a laundry basket. There was blood beneath it. Whatd that tell you . It tells me that, you know, things in this crime scene were moved before we got here. Reporter police videoed the scene. That night, a shattered cara rintala called family members, breaking the dreadful news. And then she went to the Granby Police department for an interview. It was almost midnight when detective lieutenant Robin Whitney hit record, turning the clock back to 8 30 that same morning when ann got home from her overnight shift. We were talking. She made me coffee. Reporter playtime with a noisy brianna followed. Then lunch. And after, a request from ann, a paramedic, remember, who was trying to nap before another overnight shift. Shes like, can you just go to the mall or whatever. Reporter cara and brianna left the house about 3 00 p. M. , she told detective lieutenant whitney, the goodbye to ann just matteroffact. Thats all i can think of, you know . Is the little goodbye greeting. See you later, you know . And here we are. Reporter mother and daughter had a busy outing, shopping for socks at the mall, going to mcdonalds to grab food for brianna and then, a change of heart, going to a burger king instead for mac and cheese. And havent been able to get ahold of ann. Weve been texting, weve been calling. Reporter then home. Brianna spotted anns body first. And bris like, mama down there . And i well, i didnt know what to do. I was just i wanted to scream. I wanted to run down there. But i didnt want to freak brianna out. I didnt know. So i ran out the house. Reporter ran to her neighbors with her daughter. Then ran back home alone to ann. Laying on her belly, not moving. Not moving. Not moving. Did you turn her over . Yeah. Yeah. So i did. I did. Yeah . I wanted to turn her over, you know, like you know . And she was cold. Reporter and then, she said, she sat with her arms around her wifes body. This is nothing like ive ever been trained for. Ive never i know. Experienced anything like this. Honestly, training . I could i know now, i couldnt work on a loved one. Reporter but what about the paint . Whered the paint come from . Paints been down there for months. Reporter it looked as though ann fell down those stairs. So what happened down there . Was it an accident . Or something more sinister . You cant rule anything out. Reporter but trooper magarian was determined to find out. Little did he know how long it would take. Reporter coming up, reasons for suspicion. You have wet paint. We know items are moved in the basement. Those are all flags that come up. Reporter and a person of interest. There was an emotional affair at a minimum. Reporter when dateline continues. Mail and packages. And its also a story about people and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you since i came to know you baibe ive been telling you how sweet youre. Ive been telling you how good youre. Please tell me how i look. You look so good, fantastic man. You have wet paint. We know items are moved in the basement. Those are all flags that come up. Reporter and days later, the medical examiner would confirm those suspicions. The cause of death was strangulation. Ann was a homicide victim. Pasquale martin is her uncle. Reporter an accidental death wouldve been easier, wouldnt it . Of course, it would. But to have somebody rob somebody from you, steal, take, murder, just rip them from the world, you know, hard to fathom, hard to swallow. Reporter now investigators were looking into a murder. They began a deep dive into anns life. Prosecutors steve gagne and jen suhl of the District Attorneys Office joined the team. They learned that ann cochrane rintalas life could often be grand opera. And her relationships could be complicated. Take the thing she had going with a fellow paramedic named mark oleksak. Mark oleksak was a very close friend of anamarie. They started as coworkers then became very, very close friends. Reporter the two were on ti. That last morning, ann texted mark asking him to go to best buy for her. Can you please go sat at 6a for a coffee. Theime, is a married man. He was a married man, two children. I think very clearly there was an emotional affair at a miortenimum investigators didnt think the two had a sexual relationship, but it was clear they had a financial thing going. It to ann. No small thing where ann was passion was shopping. Anns friends t. J. Donahue and mary petrone. Jewelry. She loves nice things. Gadgets, right . Gadgets, cameras. I mean in high school, she was that same kind of person. So, she loved to spend money. Reporter and sometimes the spending got ahead of her. Mark learned that. He cosigned, i think it was three total credit cards with her, one of which had racked up about a 7,000 balance at one point. Reporter and another thing. After anns death, when investigators asked mark what he was doing the day of the murder, he wasnt straight with the facts. Not at the beginning. First, he said he was at home that day. Later, he changed his account, said hed actually been shopping, then shared a meal with his family. Reporter that must make your nose twitch when a guy doesnt give you the straight out story. I agree. Its going to raise the suspicions a little bit. Reporter even though mark oleksaks story changed, purchases. N the two seemed to affirm they were close until the end, mark cause i love you. Even the morning of the murder they were very that particular morning. Reporter and you dont think but he also reporter the financial no. There was nothing to suggest that mark was outstanding debt. She was paying h bdebt. Reporter but investigaporsi. A Police Officer named carla daniele. Ann had dated her before she met cara. But it turns out, that wasnt the last time the two would be an item. In 2009, ann and cara were going through a rough patch. They separated for a few months and ann went back to carla. And from carlas perspective, perhaps the love of her life was coming back to her. Reporter and some more credit cards and more spending here, huh . Yes. And as with anns friend, mark, ann started to rack up a little bit a debt on carlas behalf. Reporter racked up about 10,000 on carlas card. But then in late 2009, ann abruptly returned to cara and their daughter. Carla was history. She was dumped, huh . She was blindsided. Carla said she was devastated. She took it very hard. Reporter so was carla in the basement that march day . Heres a person who was romantically involved, emotionally tied to her, is dumped and there are money issues between them. She was on the short list of persons of interest or suspects, call them what you will. Reporter but carla told investigators she went to her gym, a 30minute drive from the rintala home, about 3 00 p. M. The afternoon of the murder. Said she went out for a long run. Then left the gym at 7 00 p. M. Investigators located security images that supported her is carlas alibi rock solid . Or does it have a window for t solid unless h investigators with one remaining who loved hend because as sunny as these two seemed in public, sometimes behind closed doors they went h. As cara admitted in her Police Interview. W and im no angel. But i can honestly say it was mmm. Reporter their troubles were welldocumented. In 2008, ann c she dropped the charges. An filed for divorce, with ann asking for custody of daughter brianna. Within weeks, each applied for a restraining order against the other. Brianna was caught in the middle. When the other would try to pull brianna away that was problematic. Reporter so the child was the glue that held them together, but it was mmhmm. Reporter also the source of a lot of this friction, huh . Correct. Reporter money was an issue, as it so often was with ann. Cara was frugal. Ann, freespending. And between them, a growing pile of debt. Their finances were now starting to become commingled. And anns debt and anns spending problems were part starting to become a problem for cara, too. Reporter but in early 2010, they were together, working hard on their marriage. In february, they went on a cruise. Then came march 29th. The bottom of the stairs. And only one person, investigators believed, had the opportunity, and motive, to kill that day. All the evidence kept leading us right back to barton street, where that homicide occurred. Reporter but they knew they had a circumstantial case. There was no single piece of evidence which conclusively said, cara rintala killed her wife. Reporter still, they decided to go for it. 18 months after anns death, in october, 2011, cara rintala, living in rhode island by then with her daughter, was arrested and charged with anns murder. Caras mom got a call to come pick up brianna. And brianna, when i got there she said, why was mommy crying . I had to think fast. I said, because shes a great paramedic and they needed her for an important job. And so, they took her. And thats why shes crying because shes not going to get to see you right away. Reporter so it was that cara rintala would have the dubious distinction of being the first woman in massachusetts history to be charged with the murder of her lawfully wedded wife. An extraordinary journey through the criminal Justice System was just beginning. Reporter coming up little evidence, but some odd behavior when cara saw her wife at the bottom of the stairs. Caras a paramedic. What does she do . Does she rush down there, oh, my god, ann are you okay . No. Reporter and what was cara throwing away in this parking lot . Machines dont have emotions. But the rare few can inspire them. With a naturally aspirated 5liter v8 engine, and a 10speed directshift transmission. The firstever lexus lc. Experience amazing. What do you have there . P3 its meat, cheese and nuts. O t your protein. Abreak through your allergies. . Try new Flonase Sensimist allergy relief instead of allergy pills. Its more complete allergy relief in a gentle mist experience youll barely feel. Using unique mistpro technology, new Flonase Sensimist delivers a gentle mist to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. Most allergy pills only block one. And six is greater than one. New Flonase Sensimist changes everything. Reporter prosecutors knew when cara rintala was arrested in late 2011 for murder, they had a mighty challenge on their hands. And so it proved. The trial opened in early 2013. And it ended, three weeks later, with a hung jury. Breaking news, a northampton jury has failed to come to a unanimous verdict. Reporter a year later, in 2014, trial number two. Same thing happened, incredible as it seems. Another hung jury. Anns family, convinced that cara was the killer, was frustrated, wondering why a jury couldnt get there. I trusted her with my nieces life. And she took it. Reporter soon after, cara was bonded out of jail, free to spend precious time with brianna. Meantime, prosecutors wrestled with the facts. They had a circumstantial case. No smoking gun. No eyewitnesses. Would they go again . You really do have to step back and say, are we going to do this a third time . We did. The first thing we did was we consulted with anns family they were onboard. And that i think gave us the strength and the courage to step up again. Reporter so it was set. Cara rintala would be tried a third time for the murder of her wife ann. But first, cara had a hearttoheart talk with brianna, now 9 years old. She told her a lot. And she says that some people mom, i already knew. She says, some people think i did something bad, something terrible. But i just want you to know that its not true. Atps northampton, mass. Prec argument. Nse to the defense and we decided lets playon the stand, only to knockm down as viable s focused on car and he minutes, until she around her neck. Began with a nasty fight by text the night before. Ann, working the overnht with a malfr she lashed out, i hate the relationship we have. No one does that. No respect. Caras response, okay, you being over the top and crazy. It really is, in our mind, a fuse being lit, something that continues into the next day. Reporter the next morning, the last of her life, ann, a phoneaholic, called or texted friends and family members 58 times. I want show you one final her beloved aunt nancy was ac went silent. Do you remember if she left a voicemail on that occasion . No, maam. You did not speak to annamarie that day, is that correct . No, i didnt. Reporter the timing of that last call was important, prosecutors argued, because they theorized cara murdered her wife soon after, then spent hours cleaning and covering up. Remember that afternoon of errands . Prosecutors showed security video of cara and brianna shopping and argued it was part of the coverup. She leaves the house around 3 00 p. M. , according to her, but she doesnt pop up on Surveillance Video until 5 00 p. M. That evening at the holyoke mall. Suddenly starts using her debit card left and right to make miniscule little purchases. Reporter what was going on, do you think . She was trying to be seen. She was trying to be elsewhere. In short, she was creating a digital alibi for herself. We are still driving. Love you. Bye. Reporter an audio alibi, too. Prosecutors played voicemails. All playacting, they said. On our way to burger king. Call. Please, please, please. The whole reason shes out is to try to let her get some sleep. That just didnt add up. Reporter and now, a pretty big deal. These cleaning rags. Can you just hold that up for the jury to see . Reporter prosecutors said cara used them to mop up. One contained a womans dna. Which the prosecutions expert said could have been anns. But it was what cara did with the rags, that prosecutors wanted to talk about. Thats her vehicle on Surveillance Video leaving mcdonalds. She decides to get out of her truck in a pouring rainstorm, walk over to the farthestmost trash receptacle at mcdonalds, dispose of three cleaning rags and drive away. Reporter they also highlighted caras odd behavior after she saw anns feet at the bottom of the stairs. Caras a paramedic. This is her wife. What does she do . Does she rush down there, oh, my god, ann are you okay . No. Reporter she raced to the neighbors, prosecutors told jurors. Then ran back home with one more job to do. Before the paramedics and the police arrive, she makes one final desperate attempt at covering up. She picks up that container of paint. She pours that paint. Reporter but instead of masking the evidence, the prosecutors said, that paint pointed to caras guilt. The stiff body was clearly not something that had just happened. The paint being on the floor was something that had just happened. Reporter and now prosecutors played their ace. They called a new witness to bolster their case, someone not heard from in previous trials. Do you solemnly swear to reporter engineer david guillianelli. He really did watch paint dry, conducting dozens of lab experiments. Were you able to form an opinion as to that time frame when the paint might have hit the floor . Yes. And what is your opinion . Within approximately 30 minutes of the time the First Responders arrived. Reporter the final coat of. D with this. Reporter it was may, 2009. Ann and cara had each filed those restraining orders against a District Court judge heard erupted, threatening to have dc and families, take custody of brianna. Ome to this court, ill be on the phone to rng so fast, theyll be he point. Because of the judgesninew at wrong move could cost them custody of the daughter they adored. So the prosecutors theory of what happened on march 29th. There was a violent fight and ann went down those stairs. Whether she was pushed or not, they couldnt say. What mattered, they told jurors, was what happened at the bottom of the stairs. The defendant had to make a choice. Call for help. Likely face criminal charges. Lose her home. Lose her daughter. Lose her livelihood. Or, on the other hand, make ann go away. And she made her choice. Reporter now it was over to caras defense team. Theyd managed to avoid conviction twice. Could they do it a third time . Reporter coming up, from witness to the prosecution, to a key witness for the defense. Is he going to say, investigator, you ran a shabby case here. You didnt secure the scene. Yeah. He just needs one nugget of doubt. Reporter when dateline continues. Which didnt get me to my goal. 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The woman that i know, the devoted, loyal, compassionate, caring, thoughtful, faithful mother that i know would never ever do that to her wife. Reporter when the third trial commenced, friends and family sat behind cara in court, practically willing a victory. Attorney david hoose opened, as he had in trials one and two, for the defense. This case, ladies and gentlemen, is about unconscious bias. A mindset that caused the investigators and the experts to focus on one theory, one person and to ignore everything that didnt fit, sometimes going to frankly ridiculous extremes to do so. Reporter that one theory was, of course, that cara murdered her wife in the course of one final terrible fight. The mindset, attorney hoose said, was there from the very beginning, in the neighbors 911 call. Listen to the dispatchers words. She said the other one was down in the basement and but she didnt say maybe its a domestic. Reporter and, attorney hoose said, remember this question from detective lieutenant whitney, a scant seven minutes into the lengthy Police Interview on the night ann died. All right, so lets back up a bit. You have a history of Domestic Violence with anna, right . Reporter even that powerful voice from court. If i see that come into this court. Reporter caras side insisted that noisy scolding from the judge was anything but the trigger for murder. Did that scare them . Yeah, absolutely. That was when they did a turnaround and they decided they had to, you know, grow up reporter straighten up for the daughter . Yeah, pretty much. Reporter and by march, 2010, although prosecutors hadnt acknowledged it, the defense told jurors the couple had put their troubles behind them. They focus on a ninemonth period, which was undeniably a rocky patch in this relationship. A ninemonth period out of a nine year relationship. Repte the fuss over caras male friends visit . Attorney hoose hit that hard. The commonwealth wants you to believe, that this was the battle of all battles and the fight that ended everything. Well, you know, youve got to have some proof of that. And they dont. And ill tell you why. You can look at these texts and once again, cara is the calm one. Ann is the one who goes from zero to 60 in about three seconds. Reporter and by the next morning, the defense attorney said, ann was going her breezy way, promising her buddy mark that big kiss in a text. Not a word about fighting with cara. Not a word even like, gee, things arent too good around here right now. Cara and i had a big fight. Nothing like that. Reporter then to that afternoon of errands. And, from caras side, an explanation for the trip to the trash can at mcdonalds. Because thats what they did. They had to pay for their trash bags in granby. So they were dumping their trash wherever and whenever they could. Reporter the defense brought in its own expert to knock down the prosecutors argument that one of the rags contained anns dna. I have no idea what the source of the dna on that rag is. Reporter but perhaps the most damaging evidence against cara was the paint. Attorney hoose went after the prosecutions paint guy on cross. His weapon of choice . Sarcasm. Youre the first guy as far as you know who has ever testified about reading wrinkles and cracks in paints, is that correct . That im aware of. Your honor, can we please change the tone here . Reporter the defense attorney had to persuade jurors that cara hadnt poured the paint. He accused the paint expert of buying into the First Responders observation that the paint was wet. First responders these are people youve never met, correct . You dont know how much training they have or if theyve even seen a bucket of paint before, correct . Yet youre ready to credit their subjective impression that the paint was either wet or shiny, correct . Correct. Reporter finally, the defense called, of all people, state trooper jamie magarian. In the first two trials the lead investigator had been a heavyweight witness for the prosecution. Not this time. He was vital to the defense theory of a keystone cops investigation. Is he going to say, investigator, you ran a shabby case here. You didnt secure the scene. Certainly. Reporter there were tests you didnt run. There were things to be known. Youre relying on this junk science of how paint dries. Yeah, thats his job. He just needs one nugget of doubt. Reporter in pursuit of that nugget, the defense attorney grilled the investigator about the two people of interest. First, mark oleksak. Remember, hed changed his alibi. But what motive could he have for murder . Well maybe this ann, the drama queen, had angered him when she left her wife for her old girlfriend. He described that he had a big fallout with ann. Is that correct . Yes. And the fallout was when he became aware that ann was seeing an old girlfriend. Correct . Yes. An old girlfriend named carla daniele. Correct . Correct. Reporter a wisp of doubt, perhaps, dating back to ann and caras separation. And what about carla . Remember, she said shed been miles away at the gym and out running on the day of the murder. Security images seemed to support her account. Record dated the day of anns crime scene than the gym. How that could have happened if she was running in East Longmeadow . I dont know that ive or game for crimiasl able doubt. Had the defense finally gotten reporter coming up, an g to go down in flames again . I did. Yeah, absolutely. Reporter then the verdict. Im still reeling on that one. God, where art thou . Hi, im paul. People ask why i switched to sprint. Well, their Network Reliability is within 1 of the big guys. 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This time, they added a lesser charge manslaughter. Did it mean you didnt believe in your case as much or you wanted to salvage half a loaf we thought theres no harm in option of a verdict of guilty. Reporter c friends didnt buy that. We had asked for manslaughte. Well, all of a sudden, you turn the tables . A i dont want that because that means i did it. And i didn on a tuesday morning. Day one passed in silence. No questions from the jury. Day two, the same. Day three. Again. Some began to speculate about another hung jury. T. J. Donahue and mary petrone. Did you think this was going to go down in flames again . I did. You know, what can be different this time . Reporter team cara tried to keep her spirits up. There was a double rainbow and i took a picture of it and i sent it to cara. And i said, good sign, cara. Theres a double rainbow tonight. Reporter finally on day four, late in the afternoon, news. The Court Officer who knows us very well, he sort of just came in very gently and he says, hey folks we have a verdict. And immediately upon that moment, hearing that, my heart starts racing. I walked back with cara to the courthouse and she was breathing, you know, really deep breathing. I said, cara, its going to be okay. The defendant would please rise reporter inside the court, a verdict read by the foreman, off camera. Shes guilty of murder in the first degree. Reporter guilty of murder one. The most severe charge. Cara broke down. Her friends and family stunned. You need to remain silent. Its, like, you cant believe it. Theres nothing. Nothing to point to cara. How could this possibly be the worst possible outcome . How . Reporter afterwards, reverend lori souder, caras pastor, friend, and firm defender, lamented. Brianna has clearly lost her other mother now, in a sense . Yes. God, where art thou . Reporter anns family was also stunned. But pleased. Murder one im still reeling on that one. Its what we wanted for the last two trials. It was a surprise but really, just an affirmation of everything we had done. The possibility that it could have been anyone else and adhere to the timeline reporter so what was the jurys thinking . They say they kept running into inconsistencies, beginning with caras account of discovering anns body. Why didnt she rush to help her . She was a paramedic. So to see your loved one at the bottom of the stairs and she couldve easily have gone down there and started cpr and saved her. She didnt know that she was dead at that time. Reporter then, that paint. Lacey, do you agree therere some time problems between when you believe the time of death is and this paint still being wet . Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Reporter what do you make of this . I really i almost wanted her to admit to spilling the paint, just to make sense out of it because without her spilling the paint, it just didnt make any sense. Reporter finally, the matter of premeditation. Was this a planned act . Cara had her hands around annmaries neck for up to four minutes. So thats a long time to reflect and restrain yourself. And nellie did this great thing where she just timed four minutes. And you sit there and think about your hands around this persons reporter i can elect to not strangle you at this point. Four minutes is a long time. It was a real long time. Reporter they were ready for the final vote. And it was clearly 12 yeses of guilty. To come to the conclusion that, you know, cara was the bad guy, was a really hard one for us to reach. We didnt want it, but thats what it was. Reporter for anns family and friends, its a time to be grateful for justice. To remember the irrepressible spirit they lost, the woman who loved life and the spotlight. She would love this. She would love to be interviewed. Oh, my goodness. Shes watching right now. Like, come on Say Something funny. Reporter cara rintala got the mandated sentence life without parole. She is appealing. Each week, her parents take brianna, the child they are now raising, to see her mother in a massachusetts prison. When cara was crying, she says, mommy, its okay. You dont have to cry. You gotta be strong. You gotta be strong, thats what she said. Great kid. Reporter the kid, that little girl, the other victim in this tragedy, the child who, in an instant, lost two mothers at the foot of the basement stairs. Reporter thats all for this edition of dateline. Dont miss sunday night with megyn kelly, this sunday at 7 00 p. M. 6 00 central. And, of course, ill see you each weeknight for nbc nightly news. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, good night. Tonight on nbc 10 news at 11 00, smacked to the ground. A daycare worker out of a job after this video surfaces. The video youll only see on nbc 10. A man appears to run away from