Forget. Shot in the dark, but i took it. Im lester holt, and this is dateline. This is Keith Morrison with a perfect spot. A winters night in a southern forest. The inc. Black darkness the headlights and closed around them like a shroud. Separate ways through the foggy overcast, and then, the ragged clearing, muddy patch of sand and dirt away from the whole word, a place for their valentines tryst. As is if they could see a hand in front of their faces. Or the fate, lurking out there, in the dark. Story, the hot air balloons the man so loved. The motorcycles on which together in daylight, they discovered their own special place, the remote forest, belton park, although park is a grand word beside the river, north of atlanta, georgia. I knew them both very well. They were richard and stacey scheck. Their love the scouting that love the admiration of greg gogler. Both of our sons were cub scouts. With kids, boys especially, they were naturals. Stacey was a ball of energy. Full of ideas, would literally drag us to do things. The gogetter. And we also called her mama spreadsheet, because everything that she did had to be laid out in a spreadsheet. One a planner . Scouting is how bill fanning got to know them too. Richard was a good motivated tore motivator, and i saw how much fun was having and got involved my solve. She was a den leader. She was pretty good with the kids too, yeah, she was. She and richard worked well together. As they did with her three sons. Greg was surprised, he said, when they told him biologically the kids were staceys. I thought they were his children. Because it looked like that. The way he treated them. Oh, yeah. So when richard officially a dropted the younger two of the three boys, cousin connie was thrilled. My heart melted. I was like thats the best thing. He wanted to adopt those kids, because he loved those children, and those children loved him. The beat of his own drum. My brother was always a big kid. Assayed said his sister, not a suit and tie type person. He had to be out and about. A very good athlete. Kind of like a pied piper to his niece. He would rollerskate with us, or throw a ball with us, or color with us. He was our cool uncle. No wonder. Not many uncles take their niece and nephew for a ride in a hot air balloon. I could barely see over the edge, it was just cool seeing just skies and clouds all around you. Pam martin was one of his balloon buddies. People would fight over him, could i have richard today. He was just the best crew person. We liked to be around him because he was very eccentric and funny. Stacey. She was friendly, nice, i a happily blended family. She was the breadwinner, richard a maintenance manner, but remained the main caregiver for the kids, two of them together were, people noticed. They always gave each other kisses, hugs, so they seemed wonderful together. All of which may explain why on valentines night 2010, richard and stays ee decided to meet and maybe make out a little, at this special place here in the woods. What happened next, was shocking. Of course an understatement. Address. Oh, my god. Please, i need help right now. The voice on the 911 call was staceys, the victim of whatever happened here, was her husband, richard. He had arrived there first, and when she got there later, he was beside his truck. Im at this little park, my name is Stacey Schoeck. Hes been what . He has been shot he is dead. The Hall County Sheriffs Department got the call. There it was, valentines night, as he drove a dark and winding road by the river. Its in the middle of nowhere, so that creates a special dark that you cant appreciate until youre there. Detective is an experienced man, and this, this is one. One of the very few cases the more i dug, the less sense it made. No, nothing made sense about this. A murder so sudden and so brutal, was it a robbery gone bad . The investigation was just beginning. In the mud that belonged to neither richard nor stacey. You could see richards impressions pass over those and they pass back over richards. That lets us know they were there before richard. It had to be the killer. The decision to ride on and save money. He decided to save money by switching his motorcycle insurance to geico. Theres no shame in saving money. Ride on, ride proud. Geico motorcycle, oh my gosh stephanie, were like so goth. knocks on door honey . Im dying my hair mom. Hair dye . Its just purple. Teenage daughter . Get scrubbing bubbles. Kill 99. 9 of germs and destroy grime. With scrubbing bubbles for 100 problem solved. Living well your immune system works hard to keep you on top of your game. You can support it by eating healthy, drinking fluids, and getting some rest. And you can combine these simple remedies with airborne. 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If youre a couple, you fight over directions. Its what you do. If you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Oh ohhhhh its what you do. Ohhhhhh do you have to do that right in my ear . If there is a such thing a perfect spot for murder, this might be it. This is remote. My god. Its pretty secluded. For, you would miss it, right. There was just a void on the side of the road. Its a dark void. It was going on 11 00 p. M. On february 14, 2015, when detective franklin found the place. So this is the entrance to the park where richard was killed. That night, the cops lit up the crime scene, surrounded by mud. Weve got it lit up like its christmastime. But if the lights werent on, you couldnt see your hand in front of your face. It was like that that night . Lying dead beside his truck. Shot five times, three times through his body, twice in the face. Lay on his back near the open door of his truck. Probably a pretty ugly crime screen. Terms of what happened to him. What did it say to you right away. Overkill. Especially with the placement of the shots. Also, pretty clear from the get go, this was not a robbery. The fact that richard had his jewelry, he had his wedding ring, expensive watch that he had on, cash on the console of the truck undisturbed, the truck itself was still here, ripe for the taking, running and on and the door was open. Something else the detective could infer from the bullets that went through his body. He must have gotten out of his truck and approached whoever shot him. When stacey found richard, his truck was running, the headlights were on. He simply pulled up and got out of the truck to approach the person who shot him. It was compelling, something that got our attention. Who was it . Who did richard approach . Whoever it was, long gone by the time stacey arrived. So not much to go on. Except when a Police Technician from the side, just so, a whole new picture suddenly emerged. Story of tire tracks including that did not belong to richard or staceys. You could see richard impressions pass over and pass back over richards. Okay. So that let us know the vehicle was here before richard got here, and then likely left after he was dead. 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. And i had my valentine stuff for him sitting on the desk when 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 t 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 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 cause the lights were on, and so i pulled down and i headed right towards his truck. But as soon as i my 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. A job she had gotten for him. You know, i am in im in deep with juan. I know that. I 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 you were supposed to meet richard at the park up here . He did. How did he know that . We i mean, i had told i had told him. I had probably tuesday night it it was either tuesday or thursday. Reporter was stacey saying juan may have been the killer . No, no, i cant im i mean i guess ive seen enough tv to know that strange thing, you know, things happen but i 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 cause 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 coming up, we knocked for a while. Door. [man] im a College Student and could use advice about my student loan. [woman] i had to leave school and go to work. Now i have to pay back Student Loans for a degree i dont have. Fortunately, i found assistance. Back in college, i figured they wouldnt lend me more than i could easily pay back. Boy was i wrong. [man2] thankfully, i got the help i needed to pay back my loan in full. [male narrator] sound familiar . The good news is that Student Loan Repayment options are available. The National Foundation for credit counseling, a Nonprofit Organization with member offices nationwide that provide comprehensive financial reviews and student loan counseling. Nfcc certified Consumer Credit counselors provide oneonone financial counseling and can help you evaluate options for making student loan payments, reducing interest, debt consolidation or even loan rehabilitation. Call 8774066322 reporter Richard Schoeck, 46 years old, had been escorted suddenly from this life as he waited for his wife in a secluded georgia park. On valentines day. There was an outside chance, of course, that it would turn out mistaken identity. Maybe richard showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or maybe he witnessed something he wasnt supposed to see. 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 awhile. We knocked on windows. We walked around the house and never could get anybody to the door. When you say you knocked at the door, just what politely . No, no, no, no. A law bang, bang, bang . Enforcement bangin on the door and bangin 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. 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 statement that she told you earlier than friday . No, i 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. 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 wanna say about 7 30. 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 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 pm, 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 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 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 gonna 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 coming up bells will juans wife back up his alby. If she wanted to throw him under the bus, that was the opportunity. She had the opportunity. Im dying my hair mom. Hair dye . No, not in my bathroom. Relax mom. Honey, just let me in. No tiffany no tiffany its just purple. Teenage daughter . Kill 99. 9 of germs and destroy dirt and grime. You only need scrubbing bubbles disinfectant cleaners for 100 problem solved. We work hard so you dont have to. Sc johnson a family company. Your heart loves omega3s. But the omega3s in fish oil differ from megared krill oil. Unlike fish oil, megared is easily absorbed by your body. Megared. Dont use windex to make windows spotless and clear go see my big fat greek wedding 2 and learn how to use windex the right way on weird stuff not on windows whos got tickets . I do im okay cell phone rings where are you . Well the squirrels are back in the attic. Mom . Your dad wont call an exterminator. He says its personal this time. If youre a mom, you call at the worst time. Its what you do. If you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Where are you . Its very loud there. Are you taking a zumba class . Reporter there can be few things in life as shocking, as 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 that would want to hurt the man. I couldnt think of anyone. Reporter richard and his scouting buddy bill fanning spent the evening together the night before richard was killed. And 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. Because she was staying up she was looking after her grandmother so was he happy about that . He he thought thats great. Reporter a week later, he was at richards memorial. A memorial organized by stacey. 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 it. I, i, i remember looking down at the honorary pallbearers and not a dry eye there. Reporter at the end of the service, everybody wrote messages to richard on balloons and released them into the air. All fond memories, said his nephew bryan. Everybody had their own personal little story. Richard helped me tie, you know, my first knots in my tent. Richard helped me build my first fire. You could tell the cub scouts he was working with, that he touched their lives like he had me and my sisters. Reporter meanwhile, the hall county Sherriffs Department was working on their only lead. We were focusin pretty 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 14. Me and my son went up to we ate dinner about, i wanna 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 and 7. He had taken, 6 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, the 10, i think it was the 10, the last time i looked at the time it was like 10 37. 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. So maybe he wasnt your guy after all . Correct 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, and try to go over things in my head. And, 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 comin 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 em. And you were seein them . And anybody, anybody that we tires, just to 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 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. He thought enough to give us a call. Reporter was stacey, mamma spreadsheet, the cubs scout den leader, hiding something . Delete too many times . Course, all those deleted files had been backed up. So they got a warrent and collected all of staceys emails, not just from that weekend. 4000 emails in all. It was quite a task. Reporter and a lot of it was spam. Except stwo emails seemed, well, they stood out, requests from stacey to her bank to transfer money out of something called a real estate account. A few weeks before the murder was the first transfer. 8,902. The second transfer was the friday before the murder on february the 12th of 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 . Not based on what i was lookin at. Collected. And so, i asked her about the money transfer. 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 . 8,900. Hundred dollars me for the repairs and stuff. She said that they had redone the roof. The, the interior of the house Carpet Flooring and that kind of thing. Reporter and the 1,100, still more repairs. But the story made sense. It made sensz and she was cooperative reporter a simple business transaction. Detective franklin was right back to where he started. Yeah, it, it gets to a point where youre, youre still, you know, lookin for, for ways to, to move forward. Reporter it was march by then. Murder. It seemed to be going nowhere. What to do now . How about grasp at straws. Its call 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, is he sitting there twiddling his thumbs or maybe make a phone call. When dateline continues. 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Our new formula not only cleans and freshens but also softens your carpet so its always inviting. Dont use windex to make windows spotless and clear go see my big fat greek wedding 2 and learn how to use windex the right way on weird stuff not on windows whos got tickets . I do im okay here in the city, parking is hard to find. Seems like everyone drives. And those who do should switch to geico because you could save hundreds on car insurance. Ah, perfect. Valet parking. Hello heres the keys. And, uh, go easy on my ride, mate. Hm, wouldnt mind some of that beef wellington. To see how much you could save on car insurance, go to geico. Com. Ah car alarm sounds 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 weeks 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 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 don t 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 integritys 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. 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 the night of the murder from about 7 00 p. M. Till about 9 30. Reporter till 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 gonna 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 murder for hire 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. 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. I that would that would give me some direction. Reporter a lot of numbers to compare. But then he got lucky, really lucky. Maybe 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 28 second 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 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 14. It went like this at 6 42 p. M. Reggie called 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 thehe 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 a money trail to prove murder for hire. 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, for home repairs . Only 1,800 went into that. The rest went to lynitra for cash. Lynitra and 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. I read you that make you aware the charges and its malice murder. 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, ever an excuse for murder. Having lived through that, i to 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 she looked me straight in the 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 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. 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 and i was convinced that my kids were being harmed. She said she believed richard was molesting her son. You dont know what happens, what 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 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. 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 i 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 witheld . 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. 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 then thats thats probably what it is. Pretty obvious if i ask you where this fits in your in your catalogue of cases. The the 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 i wanna know. And i said, no bull, no lies. I wanna 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. cause 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 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 now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us. This sunday morning, another big win for donald trump, now the undisputed republican frontrun sgler its tough. Its nasty. Its mean. Its vicious. Its beautiful. A threeman race as marco rubio and ted cruz vie to become the chief trump challenger. And the 21st century conservative movement is the son of a bar tender and a maid from cuba. Meanwhile, the bush dynasty comes to an official end. Campaign. Trump, rubio and cruz all join me this morning. Plus, Hillary Clinton gets the win she so desperately needed in nevada. Some may have doubted us, but we never doubted each other. While Bernie Sanders loses in the first state with a diverse electorate. Youre going to see the results of one of the great political upsets in the history of the united states. Bernie sanders makes his case this morning. Joining me for insight and analysis are, radio talk show host hugh hewitt, mnsbcs joyann reid. Amy walter, Cook Political Report and jon ralston, deen of the Nevada Political Press Corps and nbc analyst. Welcome to sunday in a postprimary and caucus edition of meet the press. From nbc news in washington, this is meet the press with chuck todd. Good morning. Im wishing every saturday had primaries because welcome to an amazing sunday where everything seems a tad bit clearer this morning. Very simply two headlines out of shakeup saturday thanks to South Carolina kp nevada. We now have the threeway republican race so many expected and we now have a democratic frontrunner again, and her name is Hillary Clinton, again. But lets start with the republicans. Donald trump made it clear that he is now the republican frontrunner. Trump scored a big win in South Carolina winning 33 of the vote. And all 50 delegates at stake. The battle for second, a distant second frankly, was a back and forth affair all night with marco rubio edging out ted cruz by just one percentage point, 2322. Bush, kasich, carson they all finished way behind. And before the night was over jeb bush was officially out of the race. As the night unfolded. Theres nothing easy about running for president. I can tell you. Its tough. Its nasty. Its mean. Its vicious. Its beautiful. When you win, its beautiful. And were going to start we are going to start winning ingning for our country. Now the children of the reagan revolution are ready to assume the mantle of leadership. Tonight, despite millions and millions of dollars of false and nasty attacks, despite the entirety of the political establishment coming together against us, South Carolina has given us another remarkable result. By the way, no republican has ever won South Carolina and iowa or New Hampshire as trump has without going onto win the nomination. On the democratic side Hillary Clinton got the win she needed