reporter: the news hit zach griffith particularly hard. since coming out to his mother, his relationship with her had been strained, and now this i guess you re just beating yourself up something terrible, that you d been sideways with her? yeah. and i know that if we were just given more time, that we would ve been close again, that we would ve been, you know that mom and son duo that we were. but we just we didn t have the time. it was ripped away from us and never get it back. reporter: aaron, the elder son, had more of a take charge reaction. i gotta take care of my brother. i gotta take care of my dad. reporter: you got logistics before grief? yeah. reporter: the news didn t even get absorbed? yeah. yeah. for me that s just kind of the way my brain is wired, i guess. reporter: within hours, the griffiths would head from all directions toward what used to be an anchor in their lives the family home. i just gave my dad a big hug, and we were both cryi
Had to consider the perpetrator may have been someone julie knew. you re not ruling anyone out or in. you re simply going through the motions. you re speaking to immediate family first, and working your way out. reporter: the sheriff s department did not tell the griffiths julie had been murdered. we were not told anything by the police at that point. reporter: but anyone at the scene might have guessed foul play was somehow involved. there was just cops all over the property. reporter: so you said, why are the cops here? exactly. yep. reporter: naturally, the first person detective carter interviewed was julie s husband, keith. first of all, we are, are sorry for your loss. i appreciate that. reporter: at first, keith talked about what everyone perceived was the cause of the inferno, an accidental fire set off by a newly installed heating unit. you had a new gas pack put in tuesday? mmm hmm. okay. i mean it was a whole new system. reporter: keith ex
His support. and how was he doing? this is the first time you have a chance to see him eye-to-eye. i could just tell he was shaken. reporter: as if the news couldn t get any worse, the griffith s great dane cleo, along with the second pet daisy, had also perished in the flames. craig and keith walked the property surveying the damages. we get to the koi pond and he s like, gotta get gotta get those fish outta there. julie would kill me if something happened to those fish. i was like, you know, let s not worry about that right now. reporter: overwhelmed by loss, the griffiths were faced with the question how could this have happened? the first thought was that it was the new heating and air unit that had just gone in. reporter: the unit had been installed just days before the fire, adjacent to the master bedroom. that was my very first thought, that somehow the new heating and air unit wasn t put in properly. reporter: faulty installation? yeah. reporter: as
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Hours away. i said, are you all right? he goes, yeah, yeah. i could tell he was in shock. the news hit zach griffith particularly hard. since coming out to his mother, his relationship with her had been strained. and now this. i guess you re just beating yourself up something terrible that you had been sideways with her. yeah. and i know that if we were just given more time, that we would have been close again. that we would have been, you know, that mom and son duo that we were. but we just we didn t have the time. it was ripped away from us. and we never get it back. aaron, the elder son, had more of a take-charge reaction. got to take care of my brother, i got take care of my dad. you ve got logistics. before the grief that you can absorb. yeah, for me, it s just kind of the way my brain is wired i guess. within hours, the griffiths would head from all directions toward what used to be an anchor in their lives, the family home.