i viewed this material and reviewed it with the eye of a scientist and and what we know about the development of rigor mortis. reporter: what would a jury believe, science, or the words from two of cory s own sons? cory s brother, a dentist, found himself struggling over the conflicting facts. science is my living you know, it s i have to believe in that, but i also have to, you know, believe in the family at the same time. so i m completely torn. reporter: i ve never seen a more difficult case, more closely argued. and there doesn t seem to be middle ground to there s there s none. reporter: parkinson urged the jury to focus on the science and one image. cory in her bed, her body in rigor mortis. he said it proved she d died hours before curtis claimed. it proved he was lying. it proved, he argued, that curtis killed her. coming up the defense gets its turn and christine is feeling optimistic. i knew in my heart he was coming home. until christine c
on top of the other. yes. within the span of a month, marty lost a daughter and husband. she purchased two burial plots at the local cemetery, even though cory s remains cremated. that was a choice curtis said the entire family together. but, the decision to cremate would be one that would haunt this river town for years to come. coming up, she was different than anybody i ve enervated. maybe in some ways, that difference intrigued. me curtis moves on. much too fast for some. she arrived as a girlfriend. i think it was too quickly. when dateline continues. when dateline continues,. .it s time to make a stand. start a new day with trelegy. .and i m feelin good. no once-daily copd medicine.
christine. he said this can all end right now if curt agrees to take this deal. he said it would keep him from dying in prison. but he d have to admit his culpability, responsibility in cory s death. that s the condition, right? correct. and that he wouldn t have to spend probably any more than 13 years in prison. reporter: the two said no thanks to the state s offer and geared up for a second trial. but that forced them to face another dire reality: they were totally broke, unable to afford another lawyer. what are we going to do? i mean, at that point, it there didn t appear to be any option. this could be a moment for christine to say, i m out of here. i didn t sign on to be some tammy wynette for this guy, standin by her man. i m gone. yeah. and who who could who could blame her if she would have done that? but that s not who she is. reporter: it looked as though curtis would have to use a public defender. but christine wouldn t accept that option.
her name, and at that point, i knew that she was dead. in that moment, his thoughts turn to his four year old boy, larson, who was still in the house. i needed to get larson out of the house. what did you do? i grabbed larsson, i believe he was in bed, and i took immediately over to his grandparents house. cory s mom, marty, answer the door. she remembers or son-in-law standing there with a young boy, and saying something nonsensical about her daughter being dead. it was morning and, there he is, he opens the door. he has me larson, and he says that people are coming. i often wrote credit not putting larson down, and heading over there. i get a phone call from my
the benefit of the doubt. on a warm, august morning, that benefit would evaporate, along with a peaceful feelings of a lazy summer day. christine lovelace had been at a new, shotmaking pies all morning. curtis was meant to stop by with lunch. i just knew that he was going to be there, and i had a notion that he was going to bring the fried chicken. lunch came and went. no court? no court. a few blocks away, curtis had just stepped out of his law office. he was, in fact, on his way to the pie shop. as i was walking to my car, there was a gentleman in a suit waiting for me. it was detective gibson. he was armed with an indictment from the grand jury. he was there to arrest curtis for the murder of cory loveless. he said what? the only thing it s in 2006. would you think that? that s not the reaction that i was expecting at all.