Transcripts For WESH Dateline NBC 20160109

Ominous signs. There was a rock thrown through one of the windows. I can remember asking if he felt threatened. Then they found him, dead on the floor. Two shots went off and then the third shot into his chest. Three gunshots that launched a longrunning mystery. Who killed the veterinarian . I think the perpetrator stood there and watched him die. There were so many different leads and rumors. Jealousy . Rage . Revenge . A crime of passion, investigators said. I felt like if it wasnt for me, it never would have happened. And the unbelievable thing, the killer didnt leave a trace. It was your classic whodunit. Could anyone solve it . You look at what its done to our family. It was hard. I wanted justice for my brother. Im lester holt, and this is heres Keith Morrison with mystery in big sky country. Reporter there was a broad swath of prairie where the cattle outnumbered the people and a sad Summer Breeze sang around a modest dwelling in the grass. Emergency. This is Marlene Protsman in geraldine. Reporter they called it the bunkhouse, though it was really just an old singlewide trailer. The veterinarian shot himself. My husband just went down to check to see if he was going to pasture. Reporter a nondescript little place out on the montana prairie. A bit worn around the edges. Do you know where he shot himself . He doesnt know. Is he still alive . A theres blood everywhere. Reporter the sort of place a young vet could live cheap while he built his business. Well, if you can have somebody go check and see if hes still alive. I have paged the ambulance. Reporter when the local sheriffs deputies arrived, they found the body in the middle of the Kitchen Floor lying on its back. Blood had pooled under its head. Sort people wear in the water. The other was bare. A. 357 magnum was on the floor not far from the dead mans left hand. Marlene protsman saw all this, too, same time as the deputies. But she could tell right away, as apparently they could not, that shed been wrong on the 911 call. The man did not shoot himself. Bryan had a cut on his nose. And the way his shirt was ripped and just the blood on the floor, it just reporter it look like a struggle . Yeah. It wasnt a suicide. Reporter but the deputies went about their work as they saw fit. And thus, on sunday, july 14th, 1996, they clouded a mystery that has come down all the way to us. There were so many different theories, different suspects, and so much conflicting evidence, it was your classic whodunit. Classic nightmare. Id lay awake at night and ask god to give me some insight here. Where do i go now . Reporter the victim, the man on the floor, was bryan rein, veterinarian. Charlene and teresas big brother. He was my brother. He was my best friend. He was my business partner. Reporter they grew up together in scott city, kansas. We shared bedrooms. We shared clothing. Everybody shared. Reporter bryan was the eldest. So what kind of an older brother was he . Protective. Ornery. Reporter ornery . We were always playing pranks on each other and especially teresa, because she didnt take them so well. Reporter bryan was very smart was a given. Maybe a little too smart . I remember turning to him once and saying, i just want to know what time it is. I dont need to know how the clock was made. Reporter heres what they got to do growing up in a small town. They joined 4h, future farmers of america. They raised their special animals, showed them off in fairs and exhibitions. And bryan knew from the very was meant to do. I never knew bryan not bryan always said that being a vet was way more difficult than being a doctor because an animal cant tell you where it hurts or how they feel. You have to figure out how they feel. Reporter after finishing vet school, bryan moved to montana. Big, wide open country. Cattle ranches galore. An outdoorsmans paradise, really, which absolutely suited bryan rein. He took full advantage of what montana had to offer. And often. And so in 1995, a year before the events in our story, dr. Rein set up shop in a speck on the map called geraldine, population 300. Its always a struggle starting a new business. And starting a vet clinic is very expense ibive, but it was doing very well. Reporter young dr. Rein hired marlene to help him run unused bunkhouse marlene and her husband owned on their property 11 miles outside of town. So she was both landlady and employee. Bryan had a heart of gold. He was, you know, part of the family. Reporter mind you, a good looking young vet in such a tiny place . There was interest. Lots of it. I remember asking him, is there anybody there youre dating . And hes like, well theres some girls, but theyre just not the ones. Reporter it was possibly an overly modest answer. The handsome young vets arrival was practically a news event. Heads turned, hearts may have followed. Certainly gossip did. And then, summer of 1996. I was like, again the same question that i ask. So what is going on . Do you have a girlfriend . Well, there is this one girl. She comes over and she does and i said things like . And he said, well, shell clean up my house and stuff. So i was like, shame on you. You should be over cleaning her house. Reporter it was strange weird things. Not exactly frightening. More like unsettling. Like the rock that crashed through a window of the clinic. Did he tell you what he thought it was . No. Reporter or who . No. And he did find a footprint out in the back of the building. But nothing really ever came of it. Reporter not long after, dr. Rein called both sisters with a request. At one point he told me, quit calling and hanging up. I was like, bryan, im not hanging up. He just hahaed it off. He was like, its not a big deal, teresa. Its not a big deal. Reporter but was it . On july 10th, 1996, dr. Bryan rein drove to bozeman, three hours away, to attend a conference. He returned home friday evening, the 12th. No one saw him on saturday. And then on sunday, the 14th. Marlenes husband drove over to bryans bunkhouse. Five, ten minutes later, he came back and walked in the door and was very distraught, crying. Reporter such a shock, which is maybe why her husband got the mistaken idea that dr. Rein had committed suicide. But later that same day when marlene heard an undersheriff repeat the mistake to bryans grandparents, heres what happened. Verna mae jumped up and she said, no way in hell would my reporter then, the next day, when state investigators led by agent ken thompson of montanas department of criminal investigation arrived and looked at the ruined crime scene my partner and i would look at each other and think, oh, my lord, you know . Reporter yeah. It certainly makes things very difficult. Reporter difficult . Oh, yes. Difficult was not the half of it. So what did happen to dr. Rein . When we come back we had been told that he had committed suicide. Absolutely not. Blood on the doorstep. Bullets in the kitchen. How can this happen . Why would somebody do it . The search begins for a killer. I think the perpetrator stood there and watched bryan die. Expensive brands or procedures. Its the ultimate beauty victory. Nobody has any idea how old you are. With olay, you age less. So you can be ageless. Olay. Ageless. It s olive garden s new take on lighter italian fare. Three new mediterranean inspired dishes. Savory shrimp scampi saute ed in a mouthwatering garlic sauce. And flavorful new chicken piccata. All under 575 calories. Only at olive garden. Still not feeling well . No. You know when i got sick my mom used to make aw, ok. You should call your mom. Bye. Campbells chicken noodle soup. There when no one else is. Campbells. Made for real, real life. To folks out there whose shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. To everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. Make sure your doctor hears you too there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. Burning, shooting pain dont suffer in silence step on up and ask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. On a summer sunday afternoon outside tiny geraldine, montana, local sheriffs deputies used towels to mop up the blood around what they took to be a suicide. The towns veterinarian, dr. Bryan rein, age 31, was dead. His own. 357 magnum lay near his left hand. And the emissaries of sudden death delivered their message to dr. Reins sister, teresa, back in kansas. I remember saying, mom, i reporter i cant imagine what it would be like to tell your mother that her first born son is dead. Yeah. It was hard. And he was that child. That perfect child. Reporter it was evening before the news found younger sister, charlene. I was actually in las vegas. We had been told that he had reporter did you believe that could be true . Absolutely not. It was a long plane ride home. Reporter do you remember what your mind was doing to you during that plane ride . How can this happen . Why would somebody do it . Reporter those questions because none of them believed bryan capable of suicide. And sure enough, the next morning an autopsy revealed abrasions and contusions on the doctors head. Clearly, there had been a struggle. And hed been struck by three gunshots. Two in the lower right forearm, then a fatal shot to the chest. The conclusion . Obvious. It was not suicide. It was homicide. How is it possible at first they thought it was a suicide . I cant answer that. I think you have to understand that that county had not had a homicide in, i think it was like 19 years. Reporter it was monday when state department of criminal investigation agent ken thompson was called in. And by the time he got to the doctors bunkhouse, the locals had been gone, the scene left unguarded for more than 24 hours. Montanas a remote state. Sometimes youll drive eight hours to get to the crime scene. So its not like a big city where you can roll in and everythings pristine. Reporter no, not even close. In fact, the deputies and local hours tramping around bryans kitchen, had taken about a dozen photos. And in the process, had done things that couldnt be undone. Like cleaning up body on the floor under the victims upper body. And tossing into the garbage, a telephone handset found under for dna, or dusting for fingerprints. Those discarded materials were beyond recovery by the time investigator thompson arrived. The local deputies did tell him they found a water shoe on the bunkhouse doorstep. It appeared to have been knocked off in the struggle. The other was found on bryans left foot. And then investigator thompson saw the blood drops out on the doorstep. We knew that thats where the shoot hg occurred. Blood had dropped straight down and so it was just outside the trailer. Reporter did you find some bullets around there . They found two bullets lodged in the kitchen cupboard. So the two shots that went the arm and through that wall and came out into Kitchen Cabinets on the other side. Reporter i see. Thompson and his partners used string to simulate the path of the bullets. They even tried to act out what might have happened. And before long, they came to some conclusions. How far away was the shooter . Pretty close range. Reporter so, if they struggle and the gun went off, it would be, right . Yeah. Some kind of conversation went on and a struggle ensued. Two shots went off, and then the third shot into his chest. I think that bryan then struggle to get in to call for help. That he sat there. I think the perpetrator stood there and watched bryan die. Reporter and as for the location of the gun so close to dr. Reins own hand . So the killer mustve put it there . Correct. Reporter but were there any fingerprints on the gun . No. It looked like it had been wiped off with a solvent. Reporter so investigators now thought they knew how the murder occurred. But when it happened . Friday night . Saturday . It was an important question, of course. But just how important they might not have fully imagined just then. But there was no clear answer. In fact, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy left the space for time of death blank. Remember, dr. Rein returned home from a conference on friday evening, but his body wasnt found until sunday. Investigators canvassed nearby farms. And . There was a neighbor that lived probably about a mile away, maybe a little less as the crow flies, that had seen an atv go by that night. And then said he heard two lout retorts about that time. Reporter that is, friday night. But it couldve been that night or the next morning or something . At first he wasnt sure, and then he wasnt sure of the date. Reporter phone records received a phone call was at 10 15 on friday night. Nobody heard from bryan after that last phone call on friday night. The thought that he would go all day saturday without having any contact with anybody was just really highly unlikely. Reporter on the other hand, dr. Rein could have hung around his bunkhouse alone that saturday morning. Or maybe he intended to go fishing. There were those water shoes, and they found a fishing pole near the door. Of course, all this when and how did nothing to shine a light on who killed dr. Rein. A question that was consuming everyone who knew him. My mind was just spinning trying to think who, you know, any little lead at all. Reporter there was, she knew, this friend of dr. Reins, Larry Hagenbuch, whose behavior had recently been erratic. People in town said theyd heard larry badmouthing bryan in the local bar. Though larry denied it. But investigators almost immediately had a different lead that seemed worth pursuing, and it was related to that broken window at the vet clinic and those hangup phone calls dr. Rein had asked his sisters if they were making. So he had no idea who was doing it . After he eliminated me, he had an idea. Reporter so he knew, or thought he knew, who the hangup caller was, but he didnt seem very worried about it. Everything was going to be okay. Bryan was not afraid of anything. Reporter maybe he should have been. Coming up a new relationship. I thought he was handsome. I was excited. And a jealous ex. Should i file a restraining order . Should i do something . What would investigators make of him . I was beginning to form an the allnew tacoma. Toyota. Lets go places. Lemme get a mcpick2 introducing new melty mozzarella sticks at mcdonalds. Made with 100 real cheese. Served hot. Dip em in zesty marinara deliciousness. Now on Mcdonalds Mcpick 2 for 2 menu. Bada ba ba ba the citi double cash card comes in very handy with cash back twice. With 1 when you buy and 1 as you pay. With two ways to earn on purchases, it makes a lot of other cards veterinarian bryan reins family went into a tailspin at somebody murdered him . You kind of fell apart after and so, much of the dreadful work that demands to be done after such a death fell on teresa. I can remember sitting through the funeral and sitting there thinking to myself, i am so tired. I just want to go to bed. Reporter and maybe that played a role in teresas mood. Because on that july day in 1996 when dr. Rein was buried in his hometown in kansas and a large contingent of montanans made the trip to say goodbye, among them was that young woman from geraldine, the one who had gone over and cleaned his house, the one bryan had recently started seeing. I was almost annoyed she even came. And she was standing in our home and i really thought, why are you here . I was pretty irritated. Were not lost on that young lady in the middle of her own grief and confusion. I just felt out of place. Because i felt like, you know, they didnt know who i was. Reporter her name is ann. She was 21 then. She had known dr. Rein just two months. Met him at rustys bar in geraldine. I thought he was handsome. I was like, what is this guy doing in geraldine . It was just kind of surprising to me. Reporter they talked all night, she said. And in the morning, how did you feel . I was excited. I felt giddy, just excited that somebody would be interested in me. Reporter ah, but complications. Ann had a livein boyfriend. Guy named Tom Jaraczeski. Her high school sweetheart. Theyd been together 4 1 2 years. And though the relationship had have married him. And then she had that heart to heart with dr. Rein. Hes like, youre too young telling you what to do. Reporter how did that strike you when he said that . I agreed with him. Reporter like, why have i been with that guy all these years . Yep. It made me see that i would be better without it. Because it hadnt been a Good Relationship for a while. I had a reason now to move on and let go of that. Reporter and she was going to tell tom as soon as she got up the nerve. But then, oh, boy, dr. Rein left a message on her answering machine at the apartment she share with tom, who, of course, heard the message. He called me up and asked me what the hells going on. Reporter well, a boyfriend would want to know what the hell is going on, right . Yeah. Reporter and when she told him . He started crying and saying he couldnt believe i was doing this and how i was throwing away everything. Reporter but ann was done. She moved back to the family farm outside geraldine. Promised to do better. He told me that bryan would, you know, when he got tired of me hed dump me. An then id see. Reporter and then the phone over and over again. I asked him to leave me alone. I said i needed time, i needed space. Giving you any . No. Reporter one day ann agreed to go for a ride in toms new pickup, so they could have the talk. Big mistake. Driving. Wouldnt let her get out of the truck. So i was like, okay, i started looking at the ditch thinking, i can land in that grass. Ill be okay. So i opened the door, and i was going to jump out. And he grabbed my arm. Hes like, what the hell are you doing . Reporter how did it eventually end . He finally took me back. Reporter did you go home that night . No. My brother was out of town so i asked bryan if i could stay with him. Because i didnt want to be home alone. Reporter thats a big step. Did you feel safer . Yeah. 23 years old barged into bryan reins place middle of the night when she was there, demanding to know the 31yearold doctors intentions. What did bryan think of this . He thought he was a stupid kid. Reporter well, he was being a stupid kid. Youd have to agree with that. Should i file a restraining order . Should i do something . Stupid kid. Hell get over it. Just give him time to get it out of his system. Reporter but he didnt get over it. And one night when nobody was home he went into anns house, into her bedroom. And he said he found my journal and read it. Reporter what did it feel like to have your personal journal read like that by him . It just felt like id been violated. Reporter how did ann learn about it . Tom told her. And quoted from her journal. At the end i said and it was in a sarcastic way. But i cant believe im thinking i met the man of my dreams. And tom will probably kill himself. Reporter just thinking all the negative possibilities . Yeah, like here something wonderfuls happened. Something awfuls going to happen. Reporter and that actually it turned out to be kind of a prophecy, didnt it . Yeah. Reporter it plays back like a bad dream now how she told bryan what tom had been doing and then discovered it was even worse than she thought. He goes, well, i got one better than that. He came over here last night saying he had car trouble and asked to use the phone. He said he let him use the phone and went back to bed. Reporter had to have been a ruse, bryan figured, designed solely to see if ann was sleeping there. Must have confirmed that you made the right decision breaking up with him . Yeah. The more he did, the more it solidified that im not going back. Reporter all that was just before that conference bryan attended out of town, the one he returned from friday night. That last phone call he was on 10 15 p. M. . He was talking to ann. Like, well i got to go. And before i could say goodbye, he had hung up. Reporter really . I thought it was kind of weird, but you know, it was late. I didnt want to read too much into it at the time. I kind of wondered. Reporter and now that bryan was dead, ann wondered a lot about something she remembered tom said years earlier. If you ever cheat on me, ill kill him and ill kill you. Reporter so it will not surprise you to know that when he heard all this investigator ken thompson made arrangements to call on young Tom Jaraczeski. Right away. You dont know the kind of person youre going to encounter. And just with my limited knowledge of what had happened here, you know, i was beginning to form an opinion that it was somewhat a crime of passion. So i thought, well, lets see where this goes, you know . Maybe if this is heavy on his heart and it was a tragic situation, maybe we will get to the truth tonight. Reporter oh, if only the life of an investigator were coming up one of the first things i thought, everybodys going to suspect me. Police have some questions for the envious ex. Marie callender starts her fettucini with chicken and broccoli with tender white meat chicken and freshlymade pasta mixed in an alfredo sauce madefromscratch. About comfort food, is who youre sharing it with. Marie callenders. Its time to savor. Our digestive systems handle a lot over the holidays. 20 hours of anxiously fighting crowds to find the perfect gifts. Cooking for family meals where we eat over 15 pounds of turkey and sides. Digestive systems can act up. So try activia for 2 weeks enjoying activia twice a day for two weeks may help reduce the frequency of bloating, gas, discomfort or rumbling. Try activia. Montana after the weekend murder of dr. Bryan rein when investigators drove out to a farm 11 miles east of geraldine. Here agent ken thompson and the local undersheriff intended to confront 23yearold Tom Jaraczeski, the young man whod lost in love and didnt take it well. When you arrived what was his demeanor . Oh, i think his demeanor was to be helpful. He was welcoming, very polite. When my mom told me about bryan, one of the first things i thought of, oh, everybodys going to suspect me, the exboyfriend, but that is not the case at all. Admitted loving ann and being upset when he heard another man, dr. Rein, leave a phone message for his livein girlfriend. So what i did is i called ann right away and i said, oh, you got a call here from bryan, and she didnt say anything. And i said, so what the hells going on . She didnt say anything again and i said, you tramp. Because i knew right then she must have cheated on me. Reporter tom did not deny that he behaved badly then. He freely admitted that he phoned anns family and her friends. He even called some of bryans former girlfriends. What did that say to you, that behavior . He was literally doing his own investigation on bryan. He was calling anns friends trying to get all the dirt he could on bryan so that he could turn around and reporter give it to ann. Give it to ann and say, you need to end this relationship. This is a bad guy. Hes just using you and you need to come back and be with me. Reporter in fact, tom admitted nearly all the strange behaviors ann described. Showing up at bryans place in the middle of the night. Sneaking into anns empty house at 3 00 in the morning, snooping around in her bedroom and reading her diary. So after reading that, i knew that, you know, bryan was the big reason why she dumped me. He was actively pursuing her, aggressively pursuing her for her to change her mind to end that relationship with bryan and come back and start over. It was just a continual spiral, the things that he was doing, the more obsessed he got with her. Reporter it was, by his own admission, pathetic. Like when he drove an atv over and hid outside anns family farmhouse just hoping for a glimpse of her. And then was chased off by anns brothers. I just apologized to them and i said, im so stupid and i cant believe i did this, and i told him, you know, im lower than life. I dont deserve to live. And theyre like, oh, no, dont its nothing to beat your head over. Reporter but tom had an alibi, and a pretty solid one, for most of the weekend when dr. Rein was murdered. Except for friday night. Oh and yes, he did admit, he phoned dr. Rein that night. So my intentions were to just call him and just tell him that i didnt have any grudges against him. And that wasnt going to interfere with him and anns relationship. And i hope you take good care of ann because shes a really special person. He answered the phone and he said hello twice and i just couldnt do it. I chickened out. And so i and when was that . This was this last friday, about quarter to ten. Reporter investigators had been thinking it, though the medical examiner couldnt tell them, friday night was possibly when dr. Rein was murdered. And after they heard toms story, how he didnt have an alibi for friday night, that seemed to them to clinch it. You called him up at 10 00 on friday night. Yeah. To say, i dont hold any grudges against you. Thats right. Within hours the guys dead. Deeper hole for himself. Remember, it appeared dr. Rein scuffled with somebody before he was shot dead. Well, guess who told the agents that hed hurt his back that very friday night falling out of a pickup truck . So anyway, i hurt my back. Did you get any bruises or anything . No, i didnt. No bruises on your chest or anything . No. Reporter but the next day tom went to a hospital and was treated for back pain. The only thing tom denied in that interview . Faking a vehicle breakdown ten days before the murder and knocking on dr. Reins door to dwrus the phone in the middle of the night. That didnt happen . No. Reporter but investigators werent buying toms story. All the facts are pointing to you, tom. Everything. Everything weve got. What evidence at his place do you have against me . Thats all be can worked on. Trust me. Okay, good. You wont find anything against me. Be a car load of stuff going go to the crime lab. Well, good. Because you wont find one thing against me. Reporter when you left at the end of the first interview what did you think . Did you think this is our guy . I thought clearly he was a suspect. He clearly had done some things that were very troubling. Reporter sure. But did that mean he was the killer . What will Tom Jaraczeski say if we ask him . Coming up they started accusing me of killing bryan. I was scared to death. I was worried that they were going to charge me that nightp. An arrest . Hang on. Could there be another person of interest in this case . Why have your glasses fit manually, when theres the Lenscrafters Accufit system. Replacing basic handheld measuring tools with a digital system thats five times more precise. This turkey is natural . Yeah. Its too good to be true. Not again. Its called a timeshare. We dont own it, we share it. Lets do it. Oh yeah. Finally, something thats not too good to be true. Its oscar mayer natural turkey breast, the plains of montana are no stranger to sudden, violent death. History is littered with it. But for the People Living the history in july 1996 after the murder of the town veterinarian, very hard. Mom, for probably the next five years, crawled into a hole and didnt come out. Reporter and ann, that young woman in the middle . I was devastated. I just thought, here id met somebody that treats me nice and treats me like an equal. Reporter somebody you felt special when you were with him . Yes, and to have that ripped away and not even know nothing may have ever came of it, but i didnt get the chance to find out. Reporter but what was worse, ann felt an overpowering sense of guilt. You felt responsible . I felt like if it wasnt for me, it never would have happened. Reporter because, of course, she broke up with him. Its just unbelievable. Reporter and here he is, Tom Jaraczeski. Anns ex. Otherwise known as the prime suspect. It seems like a bad dream that i couldnt wake up from. Reporter how did you find from my mom. She just said that shed gotten a phone call that the veterinarian in geraldine had been killed. Reporter and of course, tom knew perfectly well who his mother was talking about. His rival, the man whod taken his girlfriend and made his life so miserable. And so you had to be sort of a little bit okay with that . No, not at all. I had no ill feelings toward bryan. Reporter oh, really . Come on. You had to have ill feelings toward bryan. He took your girl away. Yeah, but not for somebody to lose their life. Reporter tom said he knew immediately that he would be high on the list of suspects, as, of course, he was. So he wasnt surprised when agent ken thompson and the local undersheriff showed up at the family farmhouse. I was nervous. I mean, both guys had guns on their hips and came into my house, and you know, i proceeded that i was doing as far as the phone calls and the stalking. And when i told them all about that, then they totally changed their tune and started accusing me of killing bryan. I was scared to death. I was worried that they were going to charge me that night. Reporter but they didnt. While it was true, as we said, that the crime scene was compromised, there were hairs and fibers and fingerprints and blood samples yet untested. So the investigators said their goodbyes and told tom theyd be back. All these years later. Sitting here now, two decades later, tom told us, yes, he did love ann. He thought they had a future together. You know, i felt like she was the one and wed be together forever. Reporter but when he heard that phone message left by dr. Rein at the apartment he shared with ann . What did that feel like . Like my heart was torn in reporter you did some things then which, in retrospect, probably you must think were not the brightest in the world . Yes. Reporter what bothers you as you think about it . Well, i didnt know anything about bryan. And so i started calling up some of anns family and some of anns friends to see what they knew about bryan. And i was concerned because he was a veterinarian and he had access to drugs. I thought maybe he was giving ann something. Reporter because why would she leave you for another guy . Must be drugs involved . Must be Something Like that something other than just wanting to make a switch . Yeah, that was my initial impression. Reporter and all that other stuff . The hangup phone calls, the stalking, going into her bedroom to read her diary . Not great behavior. No. It was wrong of me to do that. I wanted to see her thoughts, what she had to say about me, what she had to say about bryan. Reporter youre having a lot of trouble letting it go . I did, yes. Theres no manual on how long it takes to get over a relationship, and for me, it took awhile. Here, as he did when he talked to the investigators way back when, that he had nothing to do with the murder of dr. Rein, even though it looked pretty bad for him. They told me right away that this happened on a friday night. And i was home alone on friday night. I had no alibi. And so i was kind of stuck. Reporter although, remember, the medical examiner was unable to settle on a time of death. So despite what the detectives told tom, the murder could have happened on saturday when tom did have an alibi. Which made another of the detectives interviews particularly interesting. Because, yes, in fact, there were other persons of interest. And another man they went to visit did have an alibi for friday but not saturday. That man happened to be a close friend of the victim. His name was Larry Hagenbuch. Larry . We looked at him very seriously. Reporter hagenbuch was the one who encouraged bryan to move from cans is to montana. But larry wasnt a stable man just then. His wife was leaving him. Hed been drinking a lot. Hed tried to commit suicide a month before the murder using animal medication hed gotten from bryan. In fact, it was dr. Rein who intervened to help save larry. And heres the thing, detectives had heard that larry seemed to know intimate details of the crime scene which had not been made public, as if he was right there when it happened. The problem . His story never stayed the it. I mean, at one point he said there was bullet holes everywhere. Reporter yeah. Later he would say there was only two holes. At one point he indicated that it was a rifle and then it was a agent ken thompson reporter still, from the sound of this 20yearold recording, agent thompson wasnt accusing larry of murdering his friend in cold blood. More like things got out of hand somehow. I can just see this happening. I can see larry thinking, well, [ bleep ] he gets to drinking again, whether hes depressed or whether hes mad. I dont know whether its just going out to talk to somebody and it just ended up in a stupid [ bleep ] shouting match. Oh, well, heres the gun thats always laying around. But hey ill take care of this myself. Ill go out here and shoot my [ bleep ] self then. And then the fight. Nah, you aint going to do that. Lets fight over the gun and bang, bang, bang or whatever. Yeah. I can see all that happening. Yeah. And then we got an accident. You know, we got a [ bleep ] tragic accident. Yeah. Is that what happened . No. Makes sense, though, doesnt it . Makes sense, but it didnt happen with this cowboy. Reporter not much more the that point. This in those days, dna took its sweet time getting tested. Would the results put either of those men at the crime scene, firing the gun at dr. Rein . Seemed like maybe it was time for something hands on. Or nose on, if you will. Enter Calamity Jane. Well named, that dog. Coming up that was the closest thing we had to a link. Calamity jane sniffs out a clue, and a sisters discovery is about to change the case. I said, well wheres the gun case . The gun case was missing. Surprisingly smooth, refreshingly cool. I see you found the vitamints. New centrum vitamints. A delicious new way to get your im jerry bell the second. And im jerry bell the third. Im like a big bear and hes my little cub. This little guy is nonstop. Hes always hanging out with his friends. Youve got to be prepared to sit at the edge of your seat and be ready to get up. Theres no deep couch sitting. Definitely not good for my back. This is the part i really dont like right here. doorbell whats that . Its a swiffer wetjet. It almost feels like its moving itself. This is kind of fun. That comes from my floor . Eww [jerry bell iii] the week after they buried bryan rein near his childhood home in kansas, sister charlene came to montana curious about the progress of the and thats when local deputies told her about the messup at the crime scene, how they threw away some potential evidence. Charlene was horrified. Have you ever heard of such a thing before . No. He goes no, we cleaned it up. We didnt want the family to see it. Reporter wow. Im like, why . Where is everything . We got rid of it. Reporter but then when she went to her brothers bunk house, charlene discovered that someone else must have gotten rid of something, too. Something the cops didnt know existed. And in an instant charlenes discovery changed the whole theory of how the murder happened. They had found the gun beside him. And i said, well, wheres the gun case . The gun case was missing. It was a gun case that bryan had made. Reporter so the gun was always in the gun case . The gun was either in it or beside it. Reporter a perimeter search and lo and behold, the gun holster, a leather case inscribed with bryans initials, was found lying in tall grass 84 feet from dr. Reins door. How did it get way out there . Well, as he thought about it the whole scene seemed to gel in Ken Thompsons mind. The way it happened, that is, the killer must have stolen bryans own gun in its case while dr. Rein was away at his conference, then brought it back that night expressly to kill bryan, discarding the holster on for that holster out there, it couldve been somebody came to the door, knocked at the door, bryan came to the door with a gun to maybe threaten him and there was a tussle. That couldve been, sure. Reporter the gun changed hands and boom boom. It couldve been, absolutely. There, theres just no other reason why that holster would be out there. Reporter that was agent thompsons theory anyway. Was Tom Jaraczeski capable of well, he already admitted he sneaked into anns house when it was empty. And so, thought agent thompson, he must have been perfectly capable of walking into dr. Reins place too and stealing that gun. He had plenty of opportunity to get the gun. I mean, the trailer was never locked. Reporter but why would he get bryans gun . He could get a gun anywhere. Its montana, for gods sake, everybodys got a gun. He certainly had the ability to go over there undetected and walk into that trailer. Ample time to look around, to grab the gun. Reporter so that became the leading theory. Larry hagenbuch, the doctors troubled friend, if thats truly what he was, remained a person of interest, but the primary suspect, no question, was still Tom Jaraczeski. But how to prove it . Well, as luck would have it, a bloodhound was at the crime scene that day owned by a local guy. So they let the dog sniff toms baseball cap. And . The dog went right into the trailer, went right out the back door, went right to where the holster had been found, went right to the caragana bushes where there was an indication that somebody had been standing in there. Reporter what did you think . Well, we believed that was a connection. That was the closest thing we had to a link from tom to the holster to a possible hiding spot. Reporter so you must have thought, we got him . Well, it was the best that we had, given that we had no physical evidence. Reporter of course, they kept trying to find some of that, too. At toms place. What did they want from you . They took everything imaginable. Shoes was the biggest thing. They probably took at least ten pairs of shoes. They took other items like a sleeping bag, binoculars, the inside lining of a winter coat. Reporter but not one thing from those searches could link months passed. A year. And more. Back in kansas bryan reins sisters watched their mother suffer. It got very difficult to talk to her on a daily basis because she was so down and she wanted answers. Reporter she also frequently called agent thompson. And this was curious. So did thompsons prime suspect, Tom Jaraczeski. He was always wanting to know where we were in the investigation. Reporter finally, january of 98, a year and a half after the murder, detectives ran a bit of a bluff with tom. We just pose it to him that, you know, why would we find anything in the house that would lead us to believe you were in the house . And he says, okay, im going to tell you something that i didnt tell you before. Reporter perhaps youll remember detectives heard that tom once showed up at dr. Reins place in the middle of the night back then, tom swore up and down that didnt happen. But now, 18 months later . Well, this is something i didnt tell you guys the first time that i talked to you. But that did happen, and it was at night. And i just wanted to see if ann was there. I asked if i could use the phone. What type of evidence would you have left in that place, or could you have left . Could i have left . Prints. I could have left some prints on the table. Reporter they didnt have toms prints anywhere on the table, of course. But tom had admitted lying the first time and now was explaining how they might have found his dna or prints at bryans place. He was only telling he us things he knew we could confirm. Reporter and if your experience thats what guilty people do . They change their story once they realize they have to . The story evolves . Yes. Reporter and it wasnt long before i was leaving my apartment to go to work and some guy thats standing behind the stairs says, and i turned around and with guns drawn and they put the handcuffs on me. Reporter what was that like . Shocking. I couldnt grasp that it was actually happening. Reporter Tom Jaraczeski rode in that police car to ft. Benton where they booked him into the county jail and charged him with deliberate homicide. What was it like to hear that . Refreshing. Good to have it solved and put behind us. And hopefully mom and dad could pick up and keep going again. Reporter all neat and tidy like. Except, of course, thats not the way things happen, is it . Coming up it was just devastating. Another family distraught. So angry. You want to do anything, you cant help him. And help would arrive for Tom Jaraczeski in a most unusual too bad i already filled up on raisins. By taking steps towards a healthy heart, jay knows hell be ready for the turns ahead. Hey, dont forget to put up your kickstand. bike bell kelloggs raisin bran. And try tart and sweet kelloggs raisin bran with cranberries. A dry mouth can be a common side effect. It comes in oral rinse, so theres moisturizing relief for everyone. Biotene, for people who suffer from dry mouth. Soft, calm music hi, youve reached emma. Im out of the office but will get back to you just as soon as i possibly can. Join Princess Cruises for exclusive discovery at sea Princess Cruises. Come back new. You get hungry just thinking about em. And at red lobsters big festival of flavors you can savor 2 of 7 new and classic creations on one plate for 15. 99. Like delicious new mapleandbacon grilled shrimp, because cmon, what doesnt bacon go with . Or get a little kick with these new ghost pepper bbq grilled shrimp. Because if you like it spicy, garlicky, or cheesy, trust me youll like this. But every last flavor is too been murdered, just months after opening a small practice in the small town of geraldine, montana. The motive, police say, jealousy. Theyve arrested the exboyfriend of a woman dr. Rein had been dating, but questions still linger. Is he really the killer . Here again, Keith Morrison. Reporter a half hour down the highway from little geraldine is a living remnant of americas old west. Ft. Benton, montana. Still holding out against wind and weather and occasional outbursts of the worst humans can do to each other. This is where, in a cell in the county courthouse, they installed Tom Jaraczeski. It was 1998. He was 25 years old. And he was charged with the deliberate homicide of dr. Bryan rein. Toms parents and five siblings tried to get their heads around what seemed to them an outrageous accusation, cruel whats it like to have your little brother charged with murder, facing life imprisonment . You feel angry. You want to do anything you can to help him. It was just devastating. Weve never been through anything like that in our family. Reporter there simply wasnt the money to hire some fancy, highpriced attorney. So tom got a stateappointed lawyer, bob peterson. What were your impressions of this kid . When i met him, i knew that he couldnt have done it. Reporter oh, come on. What a typical thing for a defense attorney to say. Ive represented hundreds and hundreds of defendants, and you get a sense of people. And i got a sense of tom. And i was pretty sure that he hadnt done it, and so then as the evidence started rolling in, then i became very certain that he wasnt the one. Reporter attorney peterson evidence because, in fact, despite test after test, not a single physical thing. Not dna or fingerprints or anything else connected tom to those few square feet where it all happened. Except there was plenty of circumstantial evidence. The phone calls. The stalking. The middle of the night visits to dr. Reins bunkhouse in the days and weeks before the murder. But most of all, there was that dog. Calamity jane. Who, with one sniff of toms baseball cap, led the cops from the doorway of the bunkhouse to a grove of bushes where the cops found and marked some footprints. The theory being that tom lay in wait for his opportunity to confront dr. Rein at the door. Mind you, Calamity Jane did her the body was found. So what did attorney peterson think of that . To me, it wasnt evidence. I made a motion before the judge should go before a jury. Reporter besides, he said, tom already admitted hed been around there days earlier. Maybe thats what Calamity Jane hit on. So bob peterson got Calamity Janes handler up on the witness stand at a hearing here at the courthouse. And what do you know, neither dog nor handler were properly certified. When i asked him for all the paperwork, he told me about how hed put the paperwork about the dog and himself on top of his suburban and it had, unfortunately, all blown away. So he couldnt provide it. Reporter not quite the dog ate my homework, but close. Agent thompson was also in the courtroom that day. What really hurt us was when they asked him on the stand, well that had happened 18 months earlier. Wheres your training documents since that time . And he said he didnt have any. Reporter right. Reporter so what did the judge do . He threw out the evidence, and just like that the state dismissed the case against tom. Because without Calamity Jane, the prosecution decided, there simply wasnt a provable case. Tom jaraczeski was a free man. Kind of like a weights been lifted off my shoulder. This is done and over with. No more interrogations. No more search warrants. I can go on with my life. Reporter but bryans family felt like theyd lost him all over again. That was very disappointing. Reporter yeah. Yeah. Reporter did you think at that point, okay, its all over . Were never going to find out . I think back of your mind you think, well, maybe one day. Reporter there was a reason she kept that in the back of her mind. Why both sides did. Because the judge that day in 1998, dismissed the charge without prejudice. Meaning . Bring it back up if they choose to. Reporter how much of a worry was that to you . You always have this nagging thing in the back of your mind as a defense attorney when something is dismissed without prejudice. You know that something could happen in the future. Reporter agent ken thompson could have simply filed it away as one lost cause. A tough case that didnt work out. I mean, you talk about a case where it seemed like everything was stacked against you. This was that case. Reporter but he didnt let it go. Just couldnt. Mind you, there were new assignments, and lots of other cases. Years went by. But i kept those 10 fourring binders. I moved them from one office to another office to our third office. I mean, it was always on a book case in my office. Mind . It was always on my mind, you know. And thats to solve it. There were times that ken would call us and say, were working on it. Or we just dont have anything. It just laid there. Reporter two years. Five, ten, 13. The file stared down from its shelf like an accusation. But of course, we wouldnt be telling you this story if something didnt happen now, would we . But what turned out to be quite a surprise. Coming up this is a homicide. We owe it to the family to go forward. Another chance to solve the case. I just wondered what the hell is going on here . Cribing humira for ten years. Humira works for many adults. It targets and helps to block a that contributes to ra symptoms. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Talk to your doctor and visit humira. 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That you could win a fitbit flex from light fit. Learn more on specially marked packs. Light fit. Feel free to enjoy. Accusations like the one leveled at Tom Jaraczeski can do corrosive things to a person. Sour the joy of a sunrise on the alter the look on a neighbors face down at the local store. After prosecutors decided to dismiss murder charges against him, tom felt like he just couldnt live here anymore. I couldnt stay in montana. I needed to move away. And i decided to move to south dakota. Reporter so you set up a new life there . I did. I got married. Had a couple kids. Life was good. Reporter and truly, you thought it was over . I really did. I never thought it would ever come back again. Reporter neither did toms old girlfriend ann, though she firmly believed tom killed bryan, the man shed left him for. Montana soured for her, too. She went to visit a sister in arkansas. And stayed. Never found out that tom moved away. I didnt feel like i could go back home to montana. Reporter why . Because tom was there, and i kill somebody to be with me, i didnt know what hed do. Reporter corrosive. Thats what it was. But then 13 years after dr. Reins murder, this man got a new job. This is brant light, who in 2009 became the top prosecutor in the montana attorney generals office. And one of his duties was to help small counties prosecute particularly difficult cases. Cold cases. We dont get the slam dunks turned over to us. We get the older cases. We get the difficult cases, and were expected to go forward with those cases. Reporter like the one lights old friend ken thompson had never really given up on solving. So i felt comfortable to go to brandt and say would you just review this and see what you think. Reporter what did you think as you reviewed the information . Was it something worth trying again . Yeah, well we had some work to do. I wanted them to go back and out make sure everybodys still we had to see what kind of shape the evidence was in. Reporter evidence was resubmitted to the crime lab. Witnesses were reinterviewed. More years passed. Is there ever a case to be made to just let it go . How do you look at these things . I would let it go if we dont have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. Im not going to roll the dice with somebodys life. This is a homicide. We owe it to the family to go forward. And in my bureau, thats what we do. Reporter and then, in february 2014, nearly 18 years after the murder, agent thompson traveled to south dakota with an arrest warrant for Tom Jaraczeski. Who heard his name called out one day at work and was ushered into the back of a police car. I was wondering what the hells going on here, and maybe a minute went by. And then ken thompson popped his head through the door and said, tom, you remember me . Reporter tom called his family and asked them to track down that attorney who helped him so much all those years before, bob peterson. Who, for some reason, had been listening to a nagging little voice in his head all those years that told him keep the file. Usually i destroy all my files after 10 years. But for whatever reason i maintained his files. Reporter and so when tom was charged again with murder, peterson got busy. First he got tom out on bond, attached to a gps monitor. And then he read through his old files and asked to see the prosecutions new evidence. My whole position was lets see what they think they have. Reporter and when he did, attorney peterson could not have been more surprised. It was almost verbatim the same affidavit that was used in 1998 to charge him. None. I couldnt believe that they would bring these charges back up again and not have one piece of new evidence to justify them doing that. Reporter you were mad . It made me mad, yes. I know im not being very outraged about that. We Defense Attorneys have to control our emotions. Reporter who was the defense attorney angry with . We had a prosecutor with a big ego, fashioned himself to be a cold case expert and an investigator who has stewed about this case since the beginning of it in 1996 and had an obsession with tom. Then all he wanted to do was get this case squared away before he retired. Reporter youre not really would persuade a prosecutor to go ahead with a case, a favorite case of his, just because he happened to be retiring . Yeah. I really am. Reporter to which both investigator thompson and prosecutor light replied, no, it was justice they had in mind, not retirement. Oh, and when attorney peterson asked a judge to throw out the murder charge, the answer was, oh, no. It wasnt going to go away. Not this time. Coming up it was murder. After almost 20 years, the case heads to court. If you ever cheat on me, ill kill him and ill kill you. Ive smoked a lot and quit a lot, but ended up nowhere. Now i use this. 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In 1965 subways founders had one simple mission. Fresh sandwiches. It seemed crazy in a time when gimmicks were all the rage. But the idea of freshly made sandwiches with Quality Ingredients would stand the test of time. The Subway Sandwich shop. The veterinarians little bunkhouse is long gone now. Burned. Its embers ground into the prairie dust. The young woman whod fallen hard for the dashing vet is a happily married arkansas mother of three. And the young man accused killing dr. Bryan rein has growing sons of his own. But two decades were a mere whisker of time to the law and the historic Chouteau County courthouse. Where, in september, 2015, six years after the case was murder, toms sister and the rest of the jaraczeski family courtroom. It was hard seeing people that you thought were your friends sitting on the other side of the courtroom. Reporter that would be a number of local people along with dr. Reins family, whose unlike that of many victims families. I remember having a huge sinking feeling in my heart, thinking, can we not just let this go and be done with it . Reporter so you werent excited at the possibility that finally justice would be done . Nope. Reporter well, a tough case, to be sure, said prosecutor brant light. But to just throw up your hands and say, well, this is too tough or i dont want to lose a case, thats just not right. Reporter mind you, prosecutor light himself could not be in the courtroom. He had another fight on his hands against lung cancer. So he handed the trial to two trusted deputies, dan guzynski and mary cochenour. It was murder. It was a murder that was planned. It was a murder that was premeditated and it was a murder where no evidence would be left. Bizarre behavior in the weeks after ann broke up with him and began dating dr. Rein. This friend of anns testified. I thought that bryan should watch his back. Reporter ann herself told the jury about the hangup calls, about the time tom snuck into her house and read her diary, about his middle of the night visits to dr. Reins trailer. Im scared. Im like, i didnt know what was going to happen after after tom had been acting so weird. The stalking was just unbelievable. I mean, he was overwhelmed by the fact that hed lost ann wishman. He had done everything he could to try to break them up, and i think at the very end, when he understood that that wasnt going to happen, the only thing left was to take to take bryan out of the picture. Reporter in fact, remember this . Ann testified about that time she said tom once threatened to cheat on him with any other guy. He said, if you ever cheat on me, ill kill him and ill kill you, or ill want to kill you. Reporter tom, by the way, has long denied ever saying that. But even after the murder, ann said, tom kept pursuing her. Letters, cards, phone calls. He said hed dreamed that we had gotten married and we had kids. And was telling me, you know, like we had went into detail about a life we were living together. Reporter then there was the strange story one of toms next girlfriends told the jury. Did he ever mention to you an exgirlfriend named ann . Yes. That was the love of his life. He said he wished the vet was dead because that way him and ann could get back together. Because that was what was keeping them apart. Reporter by then, of course, the vet was already long dead. By toms own hand, the prosecutors argued. Opportunity and nobody else had the means in this very Tiny Community to kill bryan, as tom did. Reporter so how did he do it . He put his plan into action, said prosecutor light, when dr. Rein was away at that conference before returning home on friday, july the 12th. Finally made up his mind, and i dont think he had any problem going in the trailer. And i think he located the gun. Reporter yes, he argued, tom stole dr. Reins own gun. Then that friday night, tom placed a hangup call to dr. Rein at 9 45 p. M. To ensure he was home. And soon after that, a second call to a second location in another town a half hour down the road. He calls. Ann answers. He hangs up. So now he knows anns in great falls. Thats 36 miles away. So he knew that he could go over besides bryan. Reporter then he got into his atv, headed over to the bunkhouse. Was that what his neighbor saw . Well later, towards evening, i did see a fourwheeler go by. The atv was dark green. Mr. Jaraczeski owns a green and black atv, and within 19 years, no one has ever stepped forward to determine who else in that Small Community had a green and black atv. Nobody did. Reporter when tom arrived at the bunkhouse, said the prosecutor, he waited in the bushes, where he could see dr. Reins door. Hes got the weapon there. And i think at the appropriate time he decides that hes going to walk up to the back door. Reporter and that must have been when tom threw the holster in the grass where it was found later, said prosecutor light. Now it just so happens that ann makes a call to bryan. They even talk about getting a against Tom Jaraczeski. And then ann says bryan almost abruptly gets off the phone as if somebodys there. Reporter according to ann, that was about 10 40 p. M. I think bryan then heard him, went to the back door. And i think at that point when theres Thomas Jaraczeski sitting on that back porch, has a gun, i think immediately bryan knew what was going on and the fight was on. And i think it was a struggle. I think he shot him twice in the arm. I think he then bryan struggled back to try to get to the phone and thomas shot him in the chest. Left the weapon. Got on that atv. Reporter and took off . Took off. And then he had hurt his back, so the next day he had to go to the hospital, and there you go. Reporter and that was the prosecutions case. All circumstantial. No physical evidence was ever found to link tom to the murder but the pieces, said the prosecution, fit together to tell quite a story. But only a story, toms defenders were about to say. A tall tale, if you will, which, they added, a good montana steak would undo in a hurry. Coming up the state had concluded that the time of death was friday night. Why . A whole new theory of the crime. It doesnt seem like a plausible time of death. Dr. Reens last meal would tell a tale of its own. Why fit in when you were born to stand out. The 2016 Nissan Altima this is a tomato town. Its the home of hunts. Taround here we do things differently, we peel our tomatoes with flash steam. Some other companies peel with chemicals like lye. But we use the power of simple hot water. Hunts. Its good to be different. Melodic, calm music. We said goodbye the day. And to the city. And drifted off into the twilight. And when we woke, we found that the whole world had reinvented itself. 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They refelt all the searing anger, loss and grief theyd tried to put behind them. I can distinctly remember sitting there almost feeling, great, were going to have to relive this all over again. Reporter like attending a nightmare version of his funeral. Saying anything nice about him. Reporter why would that be . Because the sisters knew defense attorney bob peterson and his new cocounsel Jennifer Streano would not only attack the case against tom jaraseczki, theyd bring up all the old long forgotten gossip about bryan. About what a ladies man he was purported to be. When they went on about how he was a womanizer and he was having multiple Affairs Reporter so she knew it was coming. But in fact, the defense went beyond that and cast doubt on the very idea that this 19yearold mystery could be solved at all. Throughout this trial you will have the urge to want to solve this. And thats only natural. But this case cannot be solved. That was really the biggest point to stress to the jury, that your desire is going to this chapter, give this family the relief they deserve, but it just cannot be done. Reporter all that immature behavior, said the defense, couldnt change two facts that tom had never been a violent person and that not a shred of physical evidence linked tom to the murder scene, said this forensic scientist. You never found any fingerprint belonging to Tom Jaraczeski in any of the items that you tested, did you . I did not. I mean, they had all of his creepy behavior, sure. But beyond that they had nothing. They had nothing inside the house that connected him to this offense. Theres no hair or fiber or blood or tissue or anything like that found inside that trailer, found on mr. Rein himself, found outside the trailer that belonged to tom. Reporter those First Responders all those years ago certainly gave the defense a juicy target given how they treated dr. Reins murder at first like a suicide. You did not take any blood not that day. You did not take any fingerprints that day . Not that day. Reporter and what about throwing away potential evidence . Like that telephone they found under dr. Reins head . We all looked at it and im sure decided there was nothing on it to save or we wouldnt have thrown it out. Reporter the defense called them to the stand one by one to admit their mistakes. Looking back now deputy dallum, you probably shouldnt have done that . Yeah, we shouldnt have. Reporter and if the state could make such a mess of things at the crime scene, confusing the manner of death, said the defense, maybe its theory about the time of death was wrong, too. The state had concluded that the time of death was friday and our question to them has always has been why . Why did they choose that time other than its the only time, really, tom doesnt have an alibi . reporter but what if the state was wrong . In fact, said toms defenders, the state was wrong. How did they know . Well, for one thing, there was cody, dr. Reins dog. If the states theory was correct, cody then would have been left in that trailer with no exit for friday to saturday night, saturday till sunday morning without going to the bathroom at all. There was no evidence that he had gone to the bathroom at all in the house. Reporter dr. Reins sisters disputed the idea that cody couldnt have found some way in and out of the trailer. But the defense said it had even more dramatic evidence that the the earliest, saturday morning, when tom had an alibi. Remember, dr. Rein returned home from a conference on friday night. But at about 7 00 p. M. That evening, two local men testified bryan stopped for dinner at a place called the square butte country club. We ate and visited with him. Reporter and what dr. Rein had for dinner, according to these witnesses, destroyed the states theory of time of death. It was this retired rancher, too ill to testify in person, who delivered the haymaker by remembering clearly, he said, what bryan had on his plate. Do you recall what he was doing when you sat down across from him . I other than sitting there eating a good looking montana steak. Thats what he seemed to be most reporter a steak. Why was that important . Because the autopsy, the one in which time of death was left blank, did not reveal any steak in his digestive tract. How could that be if he died friday night . The defense called a forensic pathologist. So if hed eaten a steak at 7 00 at night and was shot and killed at 11 00 at night, would there be steak still in his stomach contents . Yeah. My opinion is that it doesnt seem like a plausible time of death. Reporter so what was in dr. Reins stomach . According to the doctor who did the autopsy there appeared to be scrambled eggs and green pepper and tomatoes. Reporter and in the bunkhouse . Egg shells in the garbage. Dirty dishes in the sink. As if hed made breakfast. Testified that it was bryans habit to stay up late, make eggs and work late into the night, the defense said the evidence pointed to dr. Rein being killed not friday night but some time saturday. And there was a certain someone who had no alibi for saturday. Someone youve already met. Remember him . Larry hagenbuch was about to take the witness stand. And its your statement that you then just went home. Is that right . Correct. And you were home alone that night . Thats right. Reporter no question what the defense was about to imply, that the killer could have been him. Coming up he told that mr. Rein was shot with his own gun. The 19yearold mystery takes a sudden dark twist. He started describing things thatll be the highlight of your day. Now preview the cost of your copay before you fill. You can even get onedollar copays on select plans. The citi double cash card comes in very handy with cash back twice. 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Switch to sprint and save 50 on verizon, at t or tmobile rates. No gimmicks. No tricks. Its the biggest offer in u. S. Wireless history what about verizon . 50 off. At t too . 50 off. Even tmobile . 50 off. Plus, well even pay your switching fees, up to 650 per line. So start the new year off right and switch today. On day eight of his trial, attempted to flip the playing field. Not only did they challenge the prosecution theory that dr. Bryan reins murder occurred on a friday night, they also pointed their suspicion at a man who had no alibi for saturday. The defense will call Larry Hagenbuch. Reporter larry hagenbush, that friend of dr. Reins whose wife was leaving him, who had used medication he purloined from dr. Rein to try to commit suicide a month before the murder. You took this combination of pills so that you could check out . You wanted to kill yourself . It was time. I mean, i was done with all the bs. Its, to me, very plausible. Larry goes to mr. Reins trailer. Hes upset. Hes been drinking. He wants either more pills from mr. Rein. Mr. Rein refuses. And larry goes for the gun. Bryans body was discovered, larry admitted he had gone over to the bunkhouse. And the morning after, larry broke down crying in the waiting room of a counselors office. And while people around him listened, he described things only someone with intimate knowledge of the crime scene would know about. He started describing things you wouldnt know unless you had been there. That mr. Rein was laying on his back with his feet crossed, blood all over. But the one fact that i think thats the important that stood out to me was that he told this woman on monday morning that mr. Rein was shot with his own gun. Reporter in fact, this woman who worked in the Office Overheard larry. Did mr. Hagenbuch make any statements about whose gun that was . He said it was bryans. Sunday, during that investigation, these officers mr. Reins own firearm that had been used in this, in this shooting. So to me, that stood out as a major red flag. How did you know pryian was shot with his own gun . I dont. I probably said a gun. By that time i was in pretty good shock. Do you recall telling her that bryan was shot saturday night . No. Do you recall telling her that you were going to go out and have a six pack of beer with him . No. So if she knows all of that information monday morning, do you know where she would have gotten that information . I guess from me. But i dont remember any of that because i do remember telling our counselor that my best friend got shot. So nobody saw you from saturday morning, 7 00 in the morning until they didnt see you all saturday night, correct . Correct. Out to bryans trailer. Yeah. So thats the first time anybody sees you from saturday morning till sunday morning . Correct. Reporter larry denied any role in the shooting, and remember, detectives didnt charge him with anything. But the defense had made its point. It comes back to they made a decision that mr. Rein died on friday night. And so larry was around some people friday night, but all day saturday and sunday morning, he wasnt around anyone. Reporter and then finally, as if to twist the knife, the defense brought up one more thing. That thing that so upset dr. Reins sisters. The fact that in the underwear dr. Rein was wearing at the time of his death, there was dna that was unidentified. So my question would be as to when that would have gotten there, and how, and more importantly, who . Reporter the implication, of having sex with someone in addition to ann. Another potential suspect added to the pot. Were just saying tom may not be the only exboyfriend out there who would have been upset with mr. Rein. Reporter that, in essence, was Tom Jaraczeskis defense. Anyone but tom. Did you kill him . No, i didnt. Reporter do you think Larry Hagenbuch did kill the doctor . You know, i have no idea who killed bryan. I know what its like to be an innocent person, wrongly accused. And im not going to sit here and accuse somebody else. Reporter the end was coming very soon. Coming up. He committed this crime masterfully. Did he or didnt he . This was an incredibly tough case. The jurys decision. What would it be . Put my head down on the table gurt has 15 grams of protein. Zero added sugar, zero artificial sweetener and zero fat. And zero holding me back oikos triple zero. Be unstoppable. Mmm dannon uh right now you can get 15 gigs for 100 bucks plus 15 per line that is perfect because we are about to start the whole Long Distance thing yeah and lots of data will mean lots of video chatting how much is that . 15 gigs, thats over 40 hours of video chatting wow whoa 40 hours, thats a lot of communication yeah yay love get 15 gigs for 100 bucks, plus 15 per line why do i cook . Because i make the best chicken noodle soup. Because i make the best because i make the best chicken noodle soup. 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It really sticks to it. It fits in all the tight spaces. This is really great. Does that look familiar to you . Im no longer the butler, imagine the poor jury with the dreadful loss of a young man with a bright future. But 19 years, a whole generation ago, bad and suspicious behavior by the defendant. But no physical evidence. But they did have to answer the question did Tom Jaraczeski pull the trigger . For prosecutors, the question for the jury was who else could have done it. Tom jaraczeski was the only person with the opportunity, the only person with the motive to take bryan rein out of this world. And he did it. And he committed this crime, masterfully. Reporter the defense, in its ken thompson, the agent who for two decades wouldnt let the case go. We dont convict people retiring and wants this case resolved just so we can close the book. Reporter but agent thompson wasnt even in the courtroom to hear the lawyers end the case hed carried around so long. I just felt a need i had to get out of there. I didnt want to listen to it. I had to get away and reflect and think about it. Reporter the jury went out first thing in the morning the next day. They did not return as quickly as one side, at least, expected. Its just the worst time when you have a jury out. Every hour that went by was pretty painful. Reporter and then . Minutes before the 5 00 whistle all right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict . Yes, your honor. I kept thinking if they said guilty, i thought, im going to fall down. My hearts beating so hard, so fast. Either i was going to have a life or i wasnt going to have a we the jury, duly empanelled and sworn to try the issues in the above entitled cause, enter the following unanimous verdict. To the charge of deliberate homicide, not guilty. Reporter not guilty. I cried. I put my head down on the table and i cried. I just put my arm around him and said, its finally over. The case is dismissed. The defendant is free to go. Thank you. Go get a group hug. Yeah. Reporter his family, the gps monitor. Did you realize it was finally over . Yeah. It was a sense of relief. And seeing tears of happiness from my family, its the greatest thing ever. Dakota, telling them im coming home. That was a wonderful call to make. Reporter but while that was going on, across the courtroom do you remember that moment . I do. Reporter yeah. Almost like you lost him all over again . I remember walking out of there and thinking, and it turned out exactly the way i thought it would. Why did you waste our time . Reporter did he . Ken thompson didnt think so, of course. But of course, i was disappointed. My heart fell, but i truly was more at peace that people got to hear it all. Because a jury said he was not guilty, i dont think that changes things. Didnt. Reporter what do you believe . He got away with murder. Reporter clearly not what the jury believed. We ask judge greg pinski. This was an incredibly tough case to prove. It was a tough case to prove in 1998. It became an incredibly tough case to prove in 2015. Reporter what did the jury think were the weaknessness in the case . Timing. They wanted to know why this case was coming to trial after 19 years. I think juries are motivated a lot by what they see on tv. And when they see an old case on tv, they expect that there was some new scientific technological advance. Reporter some dna or something, yeah. Some dna that suddenly cracked open this cold case after 19 years and brought it and thats not this case. Reporter a couple months after the verdict, we went to arkansas to spend some time with the woman at the center of that longago love triangle and discovered she is still tormented by a guilt that will not go away. She wonders if it hadnt been for her, would dr. Rein be alive . Its odd, really. Whether or not tom killed dr. Rein and especially if he didnt, ann could have had nothing to feel guilty about. And yet she does. I know everybody says this to you, but stop it. Its not your fault. It really isnt. Not even for a moment. I was hoping that if he was convicted, maybe that feeling would go away. Thats what i wanted. I wanted them to say hes guilty. And then i could quit feeling and they didnt. Reporter no, they didnt. So now i got to figure out a different way. The prosecutor, believing he had the right guy all along, has closed the case. But the judge . I mean it when i told the jurors when they wanted to find out who did this, when they wanted to solve this crime, that literally if they believe theres another world that they go to some day, look up bryan rein when you get there and ask him who killed him. Because thats the only way we are ever going to know who killed bryan rein. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Well see you tomorrow at 8 00, 7 00 central for the dateline saturday night mystery. Im lester holt. For all of us at nbc news, good announcer local, live, latebreaking. This is wesh 2 news at 11 00 in