assistant d.a. david saacks was a series of phone recordings that shannon crawley and her family insisted were jermeir stroud copping to the crime and trying to cover it up. i got away with it once. i ll get away with it again. just keep your [ bleep ] mouth shut. this is wrong. i didn t do anything. you know i ll find you. reporter: police were not present when shannon recorded the calls, but they were able to trace where they originated from, a payphone, so there was no way to confirm jermeir had made them. assistant d.a. david saacks listened carefully to the tapes and soon came to his own conclusion. is there any way that could be jermeir s voice on the tape? not that i can see. he would have to clearly be disguising his voice to make it sound that way. it just did not sound like him at all. why are you whispering? you know why. because somebody s listening. no.
of murdering her daughter. shannon would look at me with this little smirky look on her face. she s very cocky, like she knew she was going to get off. no remorse. she didn t feel she had done anything. they had only been engaged for two months. reporter: assistant d.a. david saacks, an experienced, savvy prosecutor, would now square off against a younger court-appointed defense attorney named scott holmes. it s important, i think, to try to see the world, try to see the world from the eyes of shannon on the days that led up to and the day that this happened. the whole trial was basically us saying that shannon crawley committed this murder and the defense saying jermeir stroud did this murder. that was basically the trial. reporter: detective shawn pate worried shannon crawley could walk. after all, the case against her was largely circumstantial. her dna was not at the crime scene. there was no murder weapon.
Transcripts for MSNBC Deadline White House 20191225 21:16:30 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
offered shannon crawley a deal. plead guilty to denita smith s murder and be sentenced to a maximum of 12 years in prison. denita s mother, sharon, was not happy. what d you say? no. reporter: don t let her off? uh-uh. no. my words were my daughter didn t get to plead for her life that morning, so no. no plea. reporter: she needn t have worried. shannon crawley was not going to take a deal. she insisted she wanted to clear her name and would now take her chances in court. coming up. shannon would look at me with this little smirky look on her face like she knew she was going to get off. shannon on the stand. for one he s told me since that he did. versus the man she says is jermeir on tape.
Transcripts for MSNBC Deadline White House 20191225 21:37:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.