investigator mike sechez. i believe in my heart and soul that steve democker killed carol kennedy. reporter: he thinks often, he said, about the daughters, about the impact on them. while my heart goes out to them, you know, you have to recognize that this is all because of one man s actions. reporter: carol s friend, katherine. i never wanted to believe that steve was capable of doing this. and the jury has made their decision. i accept their decision. i agree with their decision. i m so glad it s over. i m so relieved. because so many of us have been dragged through it for the last 5 1/2 years. reporter: katie and charlotte were back in court at their father s sentencing. and in spite of everything, the state s case against steve, how steve used charlotte to create that phony e-mail evidence and then paid for his defense with life insurance money carol intended for her daughters. in spite of all that, at their father s sentencing, they asked the judge for leniency.
prosecutor asked charlotte s, by then, former boyfriend jacob about the weird business of the golf club cover. the golf sock that appeared in a photo in steve s garage, night of the murder, but was gone when detectives returned with another search warrant. the implication, of course, was that the cover fit the club, never found, that killed carol. jacob said that after the detectives left he talked to steve. what was that conversation? the golf head sock cover was found after they had left. he said, he had found it? yes. did he say what he was going to do with it? he didn t know whether or not to turn it into the police or give it to his lawyer. reporter: implying, said the prosecution, that steve knew the golf sock could incriminate him, and didn t know what to do with it. but just as the case seemed to be building momentum, two weeks into the trial, judge thomas lindberg left the bench at lunch break and suddenly collapsed. it was a brain tumor. and everybody waited for
$750,000. 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 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. prosecutor butner called his first witness. katie democker, steve and carol s elder daughter. did she have a habit of
was very protective of mr. democker. reporter: steve began dating renee when he was separated from carol. they were together during that tumultuous time, steve s divorce, carol s murder, his arrest. renee had always stood by steve and his family but sechez had a feeling. we were pretty convinced that she knew more than she was telling us. reporter: sechez knew something else too. during the trial renee broke up with steve. so on the eve of her testimony sechez interviewed renee again about that anonymous e-mail. what he discovered? explosive is not too big a word. where did that mysterious message come from? steve was terrified. that was one doozy of a mistake. the e-mail trail. the money trail. a winding trail of surprises was about to change this case. when dateline continues. dat.
again draped up around the prescott town square in anticipation of the annual rodeo. 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