persons of interest or suspects, call them what you will. reporter: but carla told investigators she went to her gym, a 30-minute drive from the rintala home, about 3:00 p.m. the afternoon of the murder. said she went out for a long run. then left the gym at 7:00 p.m. investigators located security images that supported her account. is carla s alibi rock solid? or does it have a window for foul play? i would say it s pretty rock solid unless she had access to a helicopter. reporter: that left investigators with one remaining suspect, the one who d topped their list since the night of the murder. the person who knew ann best, who loved her, and who fought with her cara. because as sunny as these two seemed in public, sometimes behind closed doors they went after one another. as cara admitted in her police interview. we d argue and it would get physical, absolutely. and i m no angel. but i can honestly say it was definitely back and forth, you know what i mean? mm-hmm. repo
yes. and the fallout was when he became aware that ann was seeing an old girlfriend. correct? yes. an old girlfriend named carla daniele. correct? correct. reporter: a wisp of doubt, perhaps, dating back to ann and perhaps, dating back to ann and cara s separation. and what about carla? remember, she said she d been miles away at the gym and out running on the day of the murder. security images seemed to support her account. but the defense produced a bank record dated the day of ann s death from an atm closer to the crime scene than the gym. did you ever ask her about how that could have happened if she was running in east longmeadow? i don t know that i ve never asked her that. reporter: the name of the game for criminal defense lawyers is creating reasonable doubt. had the defense finally gotten there with all 12? coming up the verdict.
to come to the conclusion that, you know, cara was the bad guy, was a really hard one for us to reach. we didn t want it, but that s what it was. reporter: for ann s family and friends, it s a time to be grateful for justice. to remember the irrepressible spirit they lost, the woman who loved life and the spotlight. she would love this. she would love to be interviewed. oh, my goodness. she s watching right now. like, come on! say something funny. reporter: cara rintala got the mandated sentence life without parole. she is appealing. each week, her parents take brianna, the child they are now raising, to see her mother in a massachusetts prison. when cara was crying, she says, mommy, it s okay. you don t have to cry. you gotta be strong. you gotta be strong, that s what she said. great kid. reporter: the kid, that
remember that afternoon of errands? prosecutors showed security video of cara and brianna shopping and argued it was part of the cover-up. she leaves the house around 3:00 p.m., according to her, but she doesn t pop up on surveillance video until 5:00 p.m. that evening at the holyoke mall. suddenly starts using her debit card left and right to make miniscule little purchases. reporter: what was going on, do you think? she was trying to be seen. she was trying to be elsewhere. in short, she was creating a digital alibi for herself. we are still driving. love you. bye. reporter: an audio alibi, too. prosecutors played voicemails. all play-acting, they said. on our way to burger king. call me, please, please. the whole reason she s out is to try to let her get some sleep. that just didn t add up. reporter: and now, a pretty big deal. these cleaning rags. can you just hold that up for the jury to see? reporter: prosecutors said cara used them to mop up. one contained
she didn t know that she was dead at that time. reporter: then, that paint. lacey, do you agree there re some time problems between when you believe the time of death is and this paint still being wet? oh, absolutely. yeah. reporter: what do you make of this? i really i almost wanted her to admit to spilling the paint, just to make sense out of it because without her spilling the paint, it just didn t make any sense. reporter: finally, the matter of premeditation. was this a planned act? cara had her hands around annmarie s neck for up to four minutes. so that s a long time to reflect and restrain yourself. and nellie did this great thing where she just timed four minutes. and you sit there and think about your hands around this person s reporter: i can elect to not strangle you at this point. i can remove my hands, right? right. four minutes is a long time. it was a real long time. reporter: they were ready for the final vote. and it was clearly 12 yeses of g