she had just told me that shawn was getting violent. he broke into her apartment one night, came in through the bathroom window, threw her head up against the tile floor. reporter: brooke s family didn t know about any of this. the relationship, the alleged violence. it wasn t until after her death that her family finally learned brooke s secret. did that just give you chills when you found that yeah, it was manila envelope? it was horrible. reporter: it was brittany who discovered it, as she went about the grim task of cleaning out brooke s apartment. and we were kinda getting stuff in order to pack away and send. and so i went in her kitchen. and on top of the refrigerator was a manila folder. reporter: brittany opened the folder. it was an order of protection brooke had taken out about a year before her murder against her former boss shawn smoot. and it was page after page of just crazy stuff that he did to
shawn was getting violent. he broke into her apartment one night, came in through the bathroom window, threw her head up against the tile floor. reporter: brooke s family didn t know about any of this. the relationship, the alleged violence. it wasn t until after her death that her family finally learned brooke s secret. did that give you chills when you found that manila envelope? yeah, it was horrible. it was britney who discovered it as she went about the grim task of cleaning out brooke s apartment. we were getting things in order to pack away and send. and so i went in her kitchen. on top of the refrigerator was a manila folder. britney opened the folder.
we know who did it? absolutely, but that didn t happen. i kept thinking surely any day now, any day now. investigators had suspicions and are trying to build a case against smoot, he was the last to see her alive. they had an allegedly violent relationship, and he lied to investigators. but so far they found no physical evidence tying him to the crime. you were able to search shawn smoot s apartment? we were. did you find anything? empty box that once contained a firearm with ammunition. no gun? no gun. the box was for a 32 caliber pistol, the same as the murder weapon. and the ammo? same style of ammunition found at the murder scene. without the gun itself, the circumstantial case wasn t strong enough to charge smoot with murder.
language but he just seemed like, what in the world s going on? reporter: and despite the tension during the marriage and divorce, those who knew brooke best didn t think her ex-husband was a killer. i just never entertained that thought. clayton was a good person, so i didn t think that, you know, he would be capable of doing something like that to brooke. reporter: more importantly, clayton s alibi checked out. investigators cleared him. if not the ex-husband, then who? who had brooke come in contact with that weekend? investigators retraced brooke s steps, starting not with the game on saturday, but with the night before, friday. friends told investigators they had tickets to a concert. she was super excited about going to that. so she was like, okay, i ve gotta go find something to wear, i m going to go to dinner. reporter: after dinner,
like, what in the world s goin on? reporter: and despite the tension during the marriage and divorce, those who knew brooke best didn t think her ex-husband was a killer. i just never entertained that thought. clayton was a good person. so i didn t think that, you know, he would be capable of doing something like that to brooke. reporter: more importantly, clayton s alibi checked out. investigators cleared him. if not the ex-husband, then who? who had brooke come in contact with that weekend? investigators retraced brooke s steps, starting not with the game on saturday, but with the night before, friday. friends told investigators they had tickets to a concert. she was super excited about going to that. so she was just, like, okay, i ve gotta go i ve gotta go find something to wear. i m gonna go to dinner. reporter: after dinner, brooke left her car in a shopping center parking lot near the restaurant, and drove with friends to the concert. she spent the night at din