began harassing and stalking her. he would continuously call me on my cell phone at work. it would interrupt the radio. he would come into communications and stand in the hallway and stare at me. i decided then that it may be a good idea to have something to protect myself. reporter: in her first police interview in greensboro, shannon denied ever owning a gun. now detective pate challenged her on that changing story. do you still stand by the story that you ve never owned a gun? the gun that i bought from ronnie i had for all of a day and a half. reporter: she felt compelled to buy a weapon from a co-worker because, she said, jermeir threatened not only her but her children. i d protect them at any cost. he knew that. reporter: and she said jermeir used that fact against her when he forced her to drive with him to denita s apartment. and he said, i ll make it real simple. either your children die or you die for your children. reporter: shannon told detective pate th
reporter: and that wasn t the only thing the witness noticed, says assistant d.a. david saacks. he remembers a patch or some kind of something, you know, on the shirt. reporter: a patch like on the uniform shannon wore as a 911 dispatcher. and there was more. investigators discovered shannon clocked in at about 10:00 a.m., some two hours after denita smith had been murdered. more than enough time for the 55-mile drive from durham to her job at the 911 center in greensboro. so police obtained a search warrant for shannon s house. and we do find greensboro communication 911 center uniforms. and they are exactly as described by the maintenance supervisor down to the color of the patch and the shape. reporter: you find a gun? no gun was found. no bullets were found. nothing incriminating other than that. reporter: and then came this.
that she was taking her child to the doctor. reporter: shannon s story seemed to add up. maybe she wasn t the distraught woman the eyewitness saw leaving the scene of denita s murder, 50 miles away from where shannon lived and worked. detective pate was just about out of questions. and then an interesting thing happened. as we re leaving, getting ready to finish up the interview with her, someone hands me a note. and it s from a supervisor. and it says, a gentleman, one of her co-workers would like to speak with you before you leave. reporter: and what that co-worker had to say would raise serious questions. not just for shannon crawley but also for her former lover, jermeir stroud. did someone want shannon dead as well? coming up did someone want shannon dead as well? she says, you know, i m kind of in fear of my life. when dateline continues.
yeah, yeah, he called down there. the nurse changed her story. everything changed. everything changed. reporter: this is what? one big conspiracy? i hate to make it sound like that. it sounds like it. it sounds like it. reporter: assistant d.a. david saacks says the rape was properly investigated and seemed to be nothing more than a hoax. which also, for him, finally answered that lingering question of who was stalking whom. everything was pointing to her and the only thing that was pointing to jermeir was that he was in this affair with shannon. i do not believe he was involved in the murder. i do not think he was involved in the planning or the execution of this murder at all. reporter: and even if jermeir wanted denita out of his life, what could possibly be his motive to kill her? and this is exactly what i thought. why? all he had to do is call denita up and say, it s over. reporter: there s no property. no property. reporter: there s no alimony. and it
scene with a distraught woman behind the wheel. so if the maintenance guy doesn t see the burgundy suv, then you never ask jermeir about the burgundy suv. exactly. i ve wouldn t have went to greensboro looking for a suspect when durham has plenty of people here. reporter: so the day after the murder, detective pate headed westbound on interstate 40, anxious to speak with shannon crawley, the other woman in jermeir stroud s life. by now, shannon s parents, her father keith and her mother were shocked to hear their daughter was about to be interviewed by police. she was a responsible single mom who lived quietly, raising her children. being a young mother, you know, she worked six months straight, 12-hour shifts, to buy a house at 27 years old. that s quite an accomplishment for for a single mother. it sounds undeniable that all of you were really proud of her.