she was a young actress starring in the role of a lifetime. a mystery. you never heard a gunshot? no. one of her friends was dead. there s been a body discovered in sam s apartment. it s so hard. she was 23. another friend was missing and wanted. you ve got a dead woman in his apartment. this guy is potentially very dangerous. we were pretty confident he was our guy. two mysteries to solve, but one evasive witness. rachel didn t tell us any of this the day before. i told the truth to the best of my capability. police wondered had another murder been planned? they said if you would have gone back that day, they wanted to kill you. did rachel have a secret what did you do? i think you know what i did. would she keep it? this is as diabolical as any case i ve ever seen. or was the curtain about to close? rachel is kind of the last piece? correct. they re trying to say i m somebody that i m not. this is my life. this is my entire
another friend is missing. this guy s potentially we are confident he was our guy. two mysteries to solve. but one recent witness. rachel details i need to sedate. before i told the truth to the best of my capability. police wondered had another murder been planned? they said if you would have gone back that day, they wanted to kill you. did rachel have a secret what did you do? i think you know what i did. would she keep it? this is as diabolical as any case i ve ever seen. or was the curtain about to close? rachel is kind of the last piece? correct. they re trying to say i m somebody that i m not. this is my life. this is my entire future. i m innocent. hello and welcome to dateline. rachel buffett and daniel wozniak were struggling actors. money was tight but they were in love and about to tie the knot. but those plans were interrupted when someone was found dead at their apartment complex. at the center of this mystery, police wanted
her precious life, and then you disgraced her by pulling off her pants. to you, my daughter was just a decoy. nothing else. the spotlight then turned to rachel buffett. she faced a felony charge, accessory after the fact. police and prosecutors don t believe you were honest with them. were you honest with them? i was. i know my heart and god knows my heart, and that s my comfort is god s in control, and god knows i m innocent. you re an honest person? i think so. to the best of my capabilities. i told the truth to try to help the police get to the bottom of things. my heart was always in the right place. dan kills sam. dan disposes of sam s body. dan lures julie to sam s apartment using sam s
against her. knowing all the details that they unraveled and the lies over time, and looking at her and going, how dare you? vylet told the jury that the night they learned sam had disappeared, while dan was wondering if he was the last person to see sam. rachel is telling dan to shut up, shut up. that s not what happened, dan. your messed up memories are screwing up my story. the jury also heard from chris williams, the jazz musician who spent hours with rachel the day of the murders. and like detectives, chris thinks rachel was an accessory before the murders, not just after them. there is not a doubt in my mind that rachel knew. ahead of time? not a doubt.
chris also came to believe that when rachel called him that day and asked him to come back to the apartment, it was not to return his $20. that s what the police told me. they said, if you would have gone back that day, they wanted to kill you. because you re a loose end? what i believe is that when dan got back, rachel said, chris saw you with sam. of course, that was suspicion and not evidence. the trial focused on false statements rachel made to detectives. statements her attorney david medina argued were easily explained. anyone who has ever experienced planning a wedding, knows the extreme pressure and stress that goes along with that. add murder to that equation, he said, and then an arrest of rachel s soon-to-be husband the incredible stress that she was under, with all of these things occurring, is it possible she s not entirely accurate about certain things? of course it is. rachel s actions could be explained, he said, but dan