by accidental fire had collapsed as suddenly as the griffith house itself. for detective matt carter, a 45 caliber slug recovered from her torso turn the charred rubble into the scene of a homicide. i m guessing, you had a change a whole. what a change law. despite more than a decade on the job, the detective had his work cut out for him. no hair fiber, bloody footprints, none of that stuff. right. you ve got an arson that s destroyed any chance of obtaining any of that from the scene. for detective carter, the most obvious theory, this homicide was the work of a home intruder. a burglary gone bad. somebody looking for the top, or whatever jewelry right. we had had some burglaries within a few miles of this area within weeks or months? within weeks.
Presque Isle will soon be home to another arts and cultural space thanks to the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library’s purchase of a nearby historical home.
what were you working with? a very, very charred body. i could not very well identify it being a person. reporter: the cause of death seemed obvious. but just to be sure, julie s remains were sent on to the medical examiner for an autopsy. what he discovered was as deeply troubling as it was unexpected. he had recovered a projectile in the the remains. reporter: a bullet? yes. reporter: suddenly, what was thought to have been death by smoke inhalation was now a homicide. closer examination revealed three bullet holes in all in julie s torso. the deputy coroner immediately called the sheriff s office. i said, we need to get some people back to that house, because this is going to be a homicide. reporter: what d you think? wow? absolutely. reporter: lady in a nice neighborhood, good house? right. reporter: and now she s got three bullet wounds? that s right. on a who did it crime. reporter: back at 307 tudor boulevard, fire equipment pulled out as sheriff
julie died by accidental fire had collapsed as suddenly as the griffith house itself. for detective matt carter, a 45-caliber slug recovered from julie griffith s torso turned the charred rubble into the scene of a homicide. so i m guessing your day s changed a whole lot here, detective, huh? it s changed a lot. reporter: despite more than a decade on the job, the detective had his work cut out for him. no hair, fiber, bloody footprints, none of that stuff. right. you ve got an arson that s destroyed any chance of obtaining any of that from the scene. reporter: for detective carter, the most obvious theory this homicide was the work of a home intruder. a burglary gone bad. reporter: somebody s looking for the laptop or whatever jewelry and thing goes down? right. we had had some burglaries within a few miles of this area. reporter: what? within weeks or months or within weeks. within weeks. reporter: as police canvassed the neighborhood for leads and witnesses, th
tape? going through, going through. and then when d your bingo moment come up? he finally arrived back at the hotel six hours and 34 minutes after he had left, initially. reporter: gone for more than six and a half hours. was that enough time for keith to drive all the way back to his house in kentucky, commit the crime, and return? so what did you and your partner find, when you put a clock to it? driving the speed limit to and from, it would ve allowed approximately 20 minutes, at least, to have committed the crime. is that enough time on the ground for him to do this lethal act, kill his wife and torch the house? believe it was ample time 15, 20-minute window? yes. reporter: keith griffith was arrested and charged with arson and murder. care to answer the allegations sir? reporter: he could face the death penalty. he pleaded not guilty. we were all frantic, we had no idea what was happening, how it could have happened. because at that point, we knew