despite his grief, he still had to be strong for his children. what did you tell your kids? i remember hugging them. i remember just telling them that mommy went to heaven. and she can t come back. josh mankiewicz: as two families mourned and said goodbye, alex had to come to grips with the fact that he was now a single dad with three kids under the age of seven. reporter: alex fazzino had lost his wife, emily. despite his grief, he still had to be strong for his children. what d you tell your kids? i remember hugging them. i remember just telling them that mommy went to heaven and that she can t come back. reporter: as two families mourned and said goodbye, alex had to come to grips with the fact that he was now a single dad with three kids under the age of seven. it s sickening to know that if emily would have got the help she needed, she could still be here for my kids. and probably for me. reporter: while emily s family tried to cope with their loss, state investigator
in that community and i believe that they were putting political pressure on the state to prosecute this. the suggestion that there was some sort of political pressure that was put on my office to push this case forward or to charge it is absolute nonsense. it didn t happen. reporter: as alex waited for trial, things got worse. his 5-year-old daughter coco was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a bone marrow transplant. his daughter s illness took a huge toll on our family but i will say this about my son i saw him as very strong, you know? he was handling things that i don t think most people could. reporter: finally, four years after his wife s death, alex fazzino went on trial for her murder. please rise. reporter: because of pre-trial publicity and the high profile beckwith name, the case
white house spokeswoman said it is inappropriate to question a retired four star general, such as kelly. now, back to dateline . welcome back. i m craig melvin. alex said he found his wife emily submerged in the bathtub and that she mussed have overdosed. medical examiner showed otherwise. more on the quiet one. reporter: rumors were flying around the town of boone, iowa, right after emily fazzino s death. family and friends thought alex fazzino had killed his wife. i just kept saying over and over, he murdered her. he murdered her. the whispering started almost immediately.
video. what did you do today? well reporter: it was a facetime call alex said he recorded less than two weeks before emily died. i got, i can t, i don t know. why, why, why does it matter, what d you today what? why d you record that facetime call? to ensure i d get custody of the kids in a divorce. you wanted proof that emily was sort of impaired in the course of her daily life. right. it s hard to argue with what s plain to see on video. did you drink a lot tonight? no. i had three cocktails. reporter: the defense theory? just before she died, knowing she was facing a child custody battle and would be tested emily took herself off the drugs one final time. she goes cold turkey. what happens? it s clear. withdrawal happens two or three days later. withdrawal and what does withdrawal do? seizures, fainting, dizziness, unsteadiness, weakness.
about that facetime call appearing to show an intoxicate the emily? the defense claimed no one could definitively say how she even died, and if there was no cause of death, there could be no crime. now, alex fazzino s fate was in the hands of a jury. here s josh mankiewicz with the conclusion of the quiet one. four years after emily fazzino s death, her husband s fate was finally in the hands of a jury. alex says he was confident during the nearly three-week trial. but says doubt crept in during those final minutes. you prepared for a guilty verdict? yes. i wrote a note to my children. what s it say? nick, ricky and coco, i loved your mother, and i never hurt her. i would never leave you. like your mom is always in your heart, i will be, too. you kids are the light of my life, all my love now and