and, on june 3rd, inside the square s historic court house, county attorney joe butner opened his case against steve democker by ticking off the reasons why, in his view, steve deserved to spend the rest of his natural life behind bars. by this time, pre-trial legal rulings had taken the death penalty off the table. though attorney butner told the jury the case was no less condemning. i will ask you to find the defendant guilty of the first degree pre-meditated murder. reporter: first, he said, steve had motives, and not just that 6 thousand a month in alimony. no. carol, said the prosecutor, was worth a lot of money. dead. the evidence will show that at the time of her death that steven democker was the owner and beneficiary of two life insurance policies. the total value of those life insurance policies was 750,000 dollars. reporter: steve and carol s daughters, katie and charlotte, were in court, sitting behind,
center around three major points. the use of military tanks, the president s speech which critics say by nature makes the entire event partisan, and that unknown price tag. according to a new report in the washington post the national park services is diverting nearly 2.5 million dollars primarily intended to improve parks to cover some of the associated cost but the white house has said very little about the overall cost. we have reached out to a number of federal agencies involved in the planning but requests for cost estimates have remained unanswered. the department of interior says the fireworks, 750,000 dollars worth are all donated. the president tweeting the cost of our great salute to america will be very little compared to what it is worth. congressman tim ryan sent a letter to three department heads demanding they tell congress what it will cost taxpayers. president trump said it will be
750,000 dollars. reporter: steve and carol s daughters, katie and charlotte, were in court, sitting behind, and supporting their father. to have your father accused of killing your mother and for them to not believe it. you can t imagine what that must have done to how they view things. and it s just got to be a horrible experience. and in his opening statement, defense attorney john sears was quick to address that life insurance money. you will hear from katie and charlotte that their father told them from the beginning, this is your money from your mother. this isn t mine. he disclaimed, he signed over any interest to the girls and the money was paid out to the girls. that s what happened in this case. reporter: prosecutor butner called his first witness. katie democker, steve and carol s elder daughter. did she have a habit of things that she did when she came home from work? she did. she typically went for a run maybe four days a week out on
750,000 dollars. reporter: steve and carol s daughters, katie and charlotte, were in court, sitting behind, and supporting their father. to have your father accused of killing your mother and for them to not believe it. you can t imagine what that must have done to how they view things. and it s just got to be a horrible experience. and in his opening statement, defense attorney john sears was quick to address that life insurance money. you will hear from katie and charlotte that their father told them from the beginning, this is your money from your mother. this isn t mine. he disclaimed, he signed over any interest to the girls and the money was paid out to the girls. that s what happened in this case. reporter: prosecutor butner called his first witness. katie democker, steve and carol s elder daughter. did she have a habit of things that she did when she came home from work? she did. she typically went for a run
the total value of those life insurance policies was 750,000 dollars. reporter: steve and carol s daughters, katie and charlotte, were in court, sitting behind, and supporting their father. to have your father accused of killing your mother and for them to not believe it. you can t imagine what that must have done to how they view things. and it s just got to be a horrible experience. and in his opening statement, defense attorney john sears was quick to address that life insurance money. you will hear from katie and charlotte that their father told them from the beginning, this is your money from your mother. this isn t mine. he disclaimed, he signed over any interest to the girls and the money was paid out to the girls. that s what happened in this case. reporter: prosecutor butner called his first witness. katie democker, steve and carol s elder daughter. did she have a habit of things that she did when she came home from work? she did. she typically went for a run