killer still walking free. i would say tiktok, you r coming and we re not giving up. hello and welcome t dateline melvin roberts was a vip in hi tight-knit community, and juli phillips was the light of hi life the couple seemed inseparable, then, a murder shattered the love affair and exposed th dark underbelly of a zip code, where it s considered polite t smile at your friends and your enemies. here is andrea campaigning wit death in the driveway. awesome york, south carolina, a town seeped with america history and southern manners its charm is deeply embedded a the pride of the people wh live here. it s a nice southern count, it s very quiet. it s not the sort of plac you d expect evil to com knocking my life just changed, forever. and these are not the sor of people you d expect to be victims of a vicious crime he s a prominent man in a small town she s a good christian woman sweet southern belle and in the end, what woul forever haunt this peacefu place
he was still in the wood around melbourne s house the dogs had picked up on fresh scent, they go out to an enjoining neighborhood where the dog loses the scent, which implies that the person go into a car and left. and that s where the trai vanished everything was taken, fro the scene. there was no cutting instruments, no rules of tape, no empty tape, certainly no zi ties, no gun, nothing, it wa all gone but detectives did have a witness, maybe she could hel solve the crime. julia was gently escorted away still wrapped in duct a. have a seat for me. she arrived at the police station. are you okay sweetheart cold and shaken she had cuts on her arms and elbows and bruises on her hand and face, but despite all th trauma, julia told investigators she was ready to help find melvin s killer. she s your best witness a that point correct and she s our only witness i can see that man. she took detective throug the details of the attack. it began here behind melvin house
had a conflict with that how long was the list it was at least 75 names. was melvin s killer on that list when dateline continues. nergy bill? how? the lower the temp, the lower your bill. tide cleans great in cold and saves money? i am so in. save $150 when you turn to cold with tide. peaceful state. full plate. wait, are you my blind date? dancing crew. trip for two. nail the final interview. buy or lease? masterpiece. inside joke. artichoke. game with doug. brand new mug. come here, kid. gimme a hug. have you gotten your updated covid-19 booster? they re designed to help protect against recent omicron variants. schedule yours at vaccines.gov. flu symptoms hit harder than the common cold. so it takes the right tool for the job. to keep it together. now there s new theraflu flu relief
says, are these going to b used for playboy right there. boom that was inappropriate then, the prosecution dropped a bombshell. they found a witness to testif that this was not the firs time julia had melvin s murder on her mind. a police informant name gu blinken ship, a man with a criminal past claim that a few years after melvin died, julia tried to hire him to do th hit. we had now an actual person who had heard her say that and even offered him money to kill mr. roberts. hodge built her case leadin to one question most juror wanted answered, what was th motive the granddaughter thought sh knew the answer to that. what did he leave her the building, and any car that she wanted from his car lot. the building was worth abou $150, 000, it housed her store julia s, in south carolina and a small community that would take you far yes the state believed julia wa
worried that she was never going to see that money, the reason the relationship between julia and melvin was over, sai prosecutors and she knew it. they put a friend of melvin on the stand to back up thei claims he wasn t paying her bill anymore,, and he wasn t having anything to do with her. and with prosecutors believ what the final straw, that witness told the jury, melvi had led julian know that he ha booked a cruise with another woman. that must have really gotte under julia skin i would think he made it very clear to her that she was being replaced. and it was no coincidence that the costs cuter argue that melville julia had melvin killed on his birthday do you think that this was a possibility that this was juli s present to julia? absolutely. now they thought so too ronny and david sat in the courtroom every day hoping for one thing i wanted to hear one word three and a half years, i just wanted one word. guilty? guilty. but would they get thei wish