who is the check made out to? debbie itzo. reporter: debbie itzo. proof, the defense argued, that independent debbie sometimes went by her married name. they called lars s friends to say the couple s marriage was solid. how would you describe his relationship with debbie? perfect. it was very good. did you ever notice any, sense any marital conflict? no. reporter: kristi itzo explained how her normally stoic brother was overcome with profound grief. he was crying, he was curled up in a ball. he grabbed me, we cried for 20 minutes, and all he wanted was debbie back. reporter: but the defense knew their case hinged on one thing lars s state of mind the moment he pulled the trigger. i need you to raise your right hand. reporter: and there was only one person who could tell that to the jury.
ugh. oh, man! right in the freaking chest! oh! reporter: police raced up to the house, dashcams rolling. the audio kept recording as they entered the house. [ dog barking ] door creaking open and the dog is barking. help me! reporter: they found lars standing over debbie s body back by the bedroom. lars continues to cry. go ahead and back up please. reporter: as an officer tended to debbie. lars tried to explain how the shooting happened. i thought there was a burglar in my house. i thought there were multiple people in the house. okay. did you what did you hear? i heard voices when i was in bed. and where did you hear the voices at? up front. okay and after you heard the voices what happened? i got up. i thought my wife was in bed with me. ok. i got my shotgun. reporter: as emts took over, trying to save debby, lars went
tears, okay, that doesn t jibe with everything else. these bits of emotion are only done in front of the the detective. they re not done when he s alone. what was he doing when officers were not watching him? he sat in this manner. sleeping at moments. reporter: and sipping his signature drink, dr. pepper. reporter: free on bail, lars understood he was still under the microscope. it was difficult. he didn t sleep much. reporter: watching lars suffer was torture for ken and kristi. they knew how much their brother loved debbie and how dark and confusing that house could be at night. you felt it was important that we come to the house now. yes, i did. why? because no one realizes how dark it was. we re here. it s around 4:00 in the morning. yes, it is. reporter: this was lars and debbie s bedroom. the bed was on this wall. reporter: ken itzo walked us through the story lars told him countless times he wasn t sure what he was seeing. he just thoug
caused tension. liz sevilla volunteered that lars the contractor was slow to finish projects around the house. she did send me a picture of what lars did in the bathroom and the measurements were incorrect. and so it ended up making a hole. she goes, i just want my bathroom fixed. she would express frustrations about lars sitting around on the couch all day and watching tv. reporter: debbie s friend ellen mitchell noticed a change in debbie s behavior when she returned home from business trips. she would come home from some of these trips and say, hey, let s go get a drink, let s have some dinner. and your expectation would be, i want to get home to my husband. she didn t seem to be in any particular hurry anymore. reporter: looking back now, debbie s parents wondered if the marriage frayed because debbie, a modern woman, wasn t meeting lars old-fashioned expectations. she was not the kind to stay home and bake cookies or walk in the door and serve you a meal, because sh
and lars were engaged. reporter: so baby brother finally settled down. he did, and he was happy. never seen him that happy. reporter: they married soon after at this chapel in arkansas, near her parents homes. reporter: how beautiful did she look on her wedding day? oh, she the main thing is she just looked so happy. that was really important to me. reporter: debbie and lars embraced the contented rhythms of married life, spending weekends with family. enjoying the outdoors and her dog cody, but after two years together things started to change. debbie got a coveted promotion, to vice president. that was going to entail more traveling and lot more working, too. reporter: big responsibilities, more pay, but less time at home, less time with lars.