You talking to us and cooperating with us is the best information that we can get. We want to talk to the people closest to her first to try to figure out what makes her tick, what is a routine like . Did you start to think that someone may have targeted denise . Well, we didnt know i mean nathan, hes going to be our best witness, you know. You are living with this lady. Youve been married for a long time. You know her routine. Did you think maybe someone had a reason to be inside that house outside of a random burglary . We didnt know. You, we didnt know but we needed to lockdown at that point, we just needed to make sure we locked down what she planned on doing that day. They started at the very beginning. She woke up at about 6 45. I was already shaving and showering. Were the kids already up . She gets up at 6 45. Nathan told police he took the two older children to school and went on a series of errands that day including going to a Day Spa to buy a Gift Certificate for denise
And a mother. But, denise also became very devoted to the church there. Denise was very musical and played the piano for them in the songs and taught the little girls especially, bible stories. The group particularly close to some of the children and their families. With helped women who had been in abusive relationships. We had brought several lithuanian students to the united states over the years for cultural reasons, for his oh region, for sports. Their generosity extended to a young lithuanian they got to know well, aina dobilaite, who eventually came to the u. S. As a college student. She even lived with them for a while and peoria. Nathan has a very big heart for people
Question or she would say something he didnt like, he would laugh and throw his hands up in the air. Prosecutors had another bit of evidence. A secret that shook the courtroom. It challenge the core of Nathans Defense that denise was at the center of his life and he would never hurt her. It was a gutwrenching note written by denise, discovered tucked in her day planner. In a murder case, you do not have the victim. You never get to hear their story. That person is dead, and here we had a note that she had written that laid the whole thing out. A highly personal, painful note, was obviously aimed at nathan. The Police Investigator read it in court. I tried to please you for 17 years and never succeeded. I have never been good enough, never done enough. I know you want me dead. Im not stupid. Denise seemed to confirm that she believed her husband was having an affair
In peoria. Nathan pleaded not guilty. He insisted he never wouldve done anything to harm his beloved wife. There was a time there was a difficulty, the first person i would talk to would be denise. There were several times within the first few days after her death, trying to figure out what to do with the children next, i wanted to grab the phone and call her. She was my support. But, denise was not there to support nathan because, the state argued, and he killed her. You will have eyewitness identification. Dna. Gunshot residue. Motive . One person. He is sitting across from you. The trial began july 14, exactly 17 months after the murder. This reporter cover the trial for Nbcs Station in peoria
coming back and stood in the doorway, and when the door open, denise tried to take her coat off and he shot her in the back of the head. then they then drove denise s card to the same park and hopped back in his car and drove to starbucks, arriving at 12:45. 1245, 12:50, five minutes. long enough to be on the camera. long enough they said for nathan to wash his hands to get the gunshot residue off, then leave to start his afternoon errands before picking up janel from day care. three::00 the defendant return home and want you to believe he sees the door open and glass. that s the extent of his knowledge. then he calls the police. he knew full well when you called the police what they would find. from our perspective, that s what makes it so disturbing. the cold and calculated manner he did this. one of the first officers to steps 25 describe the scene at the house just after nathan called 911 that day.