i m like, dad, todd s here. and so is don. he goes, all right. let s get this over with. and i grabbed the nine or i didn t grab the nine, i grabbed the m4. reporter: katelynn is talking about the guns she had at the ready, a nine millimeter pistol and an m-4 rifle. and james? he had a pistol holstered in the small of his back as he walked out to greet todd and don. i had a nine millimeter on me, and i know how to use it reporter: here is james memory of a confrontation so tense it sounds almost surreal. as the two men approached the house, he said, they hid behind todd and rachel s children. he had ariel in his arms, using her as a human shield. and don had alex in his arms, hiding on the other side of the car. reporter: they were afraid that you were gonna shoot them. perhaps. and i can t remember whether or not todd actually went to the door with the kid or i went to the door or whatever. but he was a human shield.
rachel s father, don hatfield, who won custody of those children. and here began atoning for the sins of his youth by devoting his life to three little kids, eva, ariel and alex. that s the baby brother. reporter: it was after all that that they held the trial. prosecutor lisette suder intended to portray todd as a manipulative and devious man who murdered not one wife but two. that is if she could persuade a california judge to allow an old georgia case to be dusted off and brought back to life. i felt confident that i had the law behind me on that. and i submitted my brief, and i submitted the legal arguments that supported that. reporter: and? she won. and so, in september of 2014, when todd winker went on trial
it was a kill or be killed situation. reporter: eventually todd got to his feet. he prepared a bottle for crying alex, he said, and he worried. and i just started just pacing around the house just saying, god, i just killed their mother. reporter: by-and-by, ariel and eva woke up. todd kept them out of the room where their mom lay dead. then, he said, he cleaned up the house as well as he could. and at 10:26 am, 7 hours after rachel died, he phoned a lawyer friend and asked him to inform the authorities. tell me exactly what you heard from your neighbor. what i m willing to tell you is that i m an attorney. i received a call notifying me of the situation. reporter: about the same time, 10:30 am, todd took his children to the neighbor s house. i said, there s been i didn t tell them rachel was dead. i said, we have a very serious situation across the street. can you please watch the kids.
reporter: for those two years, todd maintained, as he had from the very beginning, that he killed rachel only to save his own life, to save himself and his children. from jail, he and his family fought a losing battle with rachel s father, don hatfield, who won custody of those children. and here began atoning for the sins of his youth by devoting his life to three little kids, eva, ariel and alex. it was after all that that they held the trial. prosecutor lisette suder intended to portray todd as a manipulative and devious man who murdered not one wife but two. that is if she could persuade a california judge to allow an old georgia case to be dusted off and brought back to life. i felt confident that i had the law behind me on that. and i submitted my brief, and i
todd and rachel s children. he had ariel in his arms, using her as a human shield. and don had alex in his arms, hiding on the other side of the car. reporter: they were afraid that you were gonna shoot them. perhaps. and i can t remember whether or not todd actually went to the door with the kid or i went to the door or whatever. but he was a human shield. he was gonna stop the bullets, reporter: that s a little scary. yeah, it is scary. todd was holding ariel, and don was holding alex. and todd came up, he looks just a wreck. todd confronted me, he said, rachel and i aren t divorced yet, and i would appreciate it if you would stay away from her. reporter: and? no. reporter: you said, no ? i said, no. reporter: there was a pause. if something was going to happen, this would be the moment. and then he turns to me and he goes, hi katelynn. i was like, get off this property. reporter: and suddenly, it was over. todd and don and the kids got back i