Burglaries and assaults. Investigators also dug into a favored theory. The husband did it. I was angry. I felt that the detectives were on a manhunt and after my dad. Anyway, he was in another state. He was over 200 miles away. Then a popped up text that might just be a clue. You could say shes driving events here. Thats correct. The truth beyond twisted leaving behind smoking ashes and burning questions. I physically started shaking and i started crying. I want to know why. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Dennis Murphy with consumed. Reporter the Canterbury Hills subdivision in paducah, kentucky, is a good place to raise kids. Tidy homes kept up by neighbors living ordered lives. So as the front porch lights winked out on just another day, what happened one cold january night in the wee hours was especially alarming. Orange flames were licking the tree tops. A roaring, all consuming fire, was devouring one of the nice homes. It was awful, half of the house was gone. Reporte
Its a bullet, yes. Reporter this woman had been shot to death . Yes. The obvious suspects, neighborhood thieves. There were half a dozen house burglaries and assaults. Investigators also dug into a favored theory. The husband did it. I was angry. I felt that the detectives were on a manhunt and they were after my dad. Then up pox a text that might be a clue. You could say she is driving events here . Yes. The truth behind convicted and leaving behind ashes and burning questions. I physically started shaking and i started crying. I want to know why. Welcome to dateline. Julie griffith was a wife. Was it a bungled burglary or was it Something Else entirely . Heres Dennis Murphy with consumed. Reporter the Canterbury Hills subdivision in paducah, kentucky, is a good place to raise kids. Tidy homes kept up by neighbors living ordered lives. So as the front porch lights winked out on just another day, what happened one cold january night in the wee hours was especially alarming. A roaring a
investigation, and this investigation involves what we believe to be a homicide of his wife. i was in shock. i was like, oh my gosh. i couldn t believe what he just said to me. i had no idea. reporter: so you believed she had been played by this guy? i believe that she had. reporter: so detective carter wondered, if keith griffith had manipulated and lied to this woman had keith lied to him, too? maybe it was more about what keith hadn t said. rewind to that moment when the detective had dropped what should have been devastating news on keith. the investigation s showing that, that foul play is involved. okay. reporter: did he ask you the questions, what happened? what are you telling me here? she was killed? no. reporter: i mean, you d expect that, right? julie was shot by an intruder? what s going on here? that s right. there was there was no questions to that. reporter: but if keith griffith was somehow involved in his wife s murder, how on earth had
i remember sitting there and looking over at keith and just watching him for a while and finally i just said, you can t even grieve, can you? and he said, no, they ve taken it all away. reporter: the friends working theory was a botched break-in. they d heard about the neighborhood s recent rash of burglaries. maybe that s what happened to julie? they d come in and they startled cleo. reporter: dog started to bark and go for them? uh-huh. it caused julie to wake up and they got scared. and they shot her. it made perfect sense. reporter: but for detective carter, the burglary theory of the crime wasn t panning out. even as they sorted through the rubble, detectives at the scene found untouched valuables two safes, a cache of guns, and julie s purse sitting in plain sight. reporter: you think an intruder would have grabbed it? you would think so. reporter: so carter set out to follow the most promising lead he had. who was this woman deanna? the text messager w
more confident, as well. reporter: deanna says keith now began aggressively courting her. showering her with gifts, flowers, notes of affection. it was all, she said, a bit much. he kept pushing for more. and i kept telling him, you need to back off. you need to slow down, because i m just not there. reporter: deanna says she couldn t put her finger on it, but there was something about keith that was holding her back. maybe it was the fact that he still seemed unusually bound to a woman he called his ex-wife. from the very beginning, deanna says, keith told her that he was divorced. very first conversation. reporter: i m a divorced guy. right. reporter: by the time she was sitting across from detective carter in that interview room, deanna says she and keith had never been intimate but they were dating. and keith was talking long term. house-hunting for them. he said, i don t want to scare you, but i want you to know that i m looking for properties here in mooresvi