these highly respected defense attorneys that they no option, they said withdrew from the case. and so, seven months in the judge was forced to declare a mistrial. we thought we were sprinting to the finish line. we thought that steve was gonna be home in time for thanksgiving, and suddenly the finish line just kinda moved off into the horizon. reporter: gut wrenching said carol s friend katherine. it was so emotional of, not even a roller coaster. just the intensity of of the emotion. reporter: they d have to start all over again. the money the girls received from their mother s insurance was gone now. gone to pay for the first team of attorneys. so, since steve was pretty much destitute, court appointed attorneys stepped in. and right away craig williams and greg parzych were impressed by how steve s family supported
reporter: anybody paying attention to the bizarre murder case playing out in fits and starts here in prescott. was apt to be a little suspicious of steve democker s behavior after the killing. getaway bag? fake e-mail? defense attorneys craig williams and greg parzych could see that as well as anyone. but was he guilty of murder? no, they said. rather, he was the victim of some detectives tunnel vision, beginning with a sloppy investigation. there was kind of cavalcade of people roaming through this scene that they didn t lock down, tromping through footprints and tromping through the house. and they didn t seal it off correctly. to me, when somebody shows up on the scene and immediately points the finger at the ex-husband, and then that s all they ever did. it s always boom, right on him? it was always on him. reporter: the jurors listened to steve s interview with the detectives, conducted the night carol was killed. we ve got a suspicious death and right now we don t hav
and that s when the jurors finally got to hear what became of the missing golf cover. go ahead and open your evidence bag please. reporter: detective theresa kennedy showed it to the jurors and the judge explained a stipulation made by the attorneys. on july 5, 2008. reporter: turned out, days after carol s murder, steve gave the golf sock to his attorney, john sears. who kept it in his locked office until steve s arrest. that s when sears turned it over to law enforcement. reporter: so was the curious case of the migrating club sock an attempt to cover up a murder, or a bit of confusion. an investigative dead end? prosecutors weren t done, mind you. they next tried to tie steve to the crime scene. they didn t find any of steve s dna or fingerprints at carol s house, but they did see those tire tracks. a criminalist compared them with the tires on steve s bike. the tread on this tire is similar to the tread we observed of this tire track. and did you find any
mystery solved. one more doubt removed, said the prosecution. but for steve s defense team, it was further proof of a shoddy investigation. contamination. we found out not only potential contamination, there was actual contamination in this case. how can you trust anything after that? exactly. reporter: defense attorney craig williams said the case against steve had an even bigger flaw. you cannot put steve democker in that house where there was a horrific murder, a bloody murder, you can t put him in the house. no dna at all. no dna, no blood. you don t find any dna of carol s on him anywhere. you don t find any dna, fingerprints, blood, anything that he s in the house. how can you convict him of murder? reporter: but in july 2013, by this time a full five years after carol s death, steve was still in jail, and the case finally went to trial again.
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 the backland. and to your recollection, did she leave the door unlocked when she would do that?