pills. reporter: an overdose would mean no crime, just a regrettable accidental death or even a suicide. but then, six weeks later, something that changed the entire focus of the investigation. emily s toxicology report came back. results came back clean. she wasn t under the influence of opiates at the time of her death. so it wasn t an overdose. it wasn t an overdose. reporter: no trace of the opioid pain pills emily had been abusing. there was nothing in her system that would have killed her. there was no alcohol in her blood. so now, investigators had to take a new look at the case, starting with the photos of the bruises on emily s body. remember, police saw a bump on her head, but during her initial exam the medical examiner found more. she had areas of trauma to all four sides of her head, so the front of her head, both left and right side of her head, and the top of her head. possible that those injuries could have occurred while alex was dragging his wife out
or that in any played any role in in in emily s death, no. emily s death at all. no. reporter: to get away from all the finger-pointing, alex took his kids to kansas city and moved back in with his parents. we all suffered. our family as a whole suffered with the accusation that my son was a murderer. reporter: four months later, the investigation took another turn when the medical examiner released the final autopsy report. she ruled the cause and manner of death, undetermined, meaning she couldn t say how emily died. prosecutors dan kolacia and scott brown had been assigned to the case. the fact that you can t say for sure and the medical examiner couldn t say for sure,
alex s guilt. but strangely enough, something that sounds like acceptance crept into our conversation. this isn t easy for me to say. i hope that the rest of his life, he spends doing as much as he possibly can for his children. we don t have bitterness inside or hate. or hate. he was found innocent. it s over. we re walking down the road of life. their granddaughter coco is dancing down that road. she turned 7 years old, cancer free. but alex says big moments like these will forever be tinged with sadness. graduating from kindergarten, my son s first big hit, every one of those moments for me, it s not the happiest because emily s not there.
that makes this a bigger mountain to climb, doesn t it? this is a difficult case based upon the evidence. it doesn t mean that it didn t need to be prosecuted, just because we have an undetermined call doesn t mean we don t push forward. reporter: so, they asked a different medical examiner to look at the case a south dakota pathologist, dr. brad randall. and dr. randall gave an opinion of the injuries are highly suggestive of a struggle and ruled it a homicide. reporter: homicide, and there was only one suspect. in april of 2013, 15 months after emily died, alex fazzino was arrested and charged with his wife s murder. they said, you re under arrest. and, i was in complete shock. when you re innocent you don t think it can happen. you think they re gonna come to their senses, they re gonna see it. but, no. reporter: he spent three weeks in jail before being released on bond. truth will come out. reporter: alex s sister, marguerite says her brother was charged with
you weren t angry at your wife s inability to kick her habit? no. i was disappointed in her. i was disappointed that this happened. but but angry? no, i was never angry with emily. reporter: but emily s family and friends say they were angry at alex. the beckwiths and fazzinos once so close, were now splitting along family lines. coming up i just kept saying over and over, he murdered her. you re a murderer? that s what they were saying. reporter: that s not all they were saying. did you say that alex and his family are in the mafia and that women who try to divorce wind up dead? when dateline continues. the moment you realize