as though he meant to be there with his car in gear, his emergency brake on, and casually dressed in flip-flops. sounds like he was there to meet someone. that was the only thing that really made sense to us. josh mankiewicz: but who? the detective hope russell douglas widow, brenna douglas, might shed some light on that. but that night, when he told her the father of her two children had been murdered, the detective says he got a strange feeling. i never try to judge how people are going to react when i tell them things. but her response wasn t what i expected. as in not emotional enough? she wasn t shocked, at least not visually shocked. it was a bit matter of fact. and that did leave us, at least, wondering when we walked out of the house, yes. josh mankiewicz: and so brenna douglas, as the wives of murdered men often do, became a person of interest. the domestic situation seemed unsettled.
the tipster who had led them to florida was something other than a crackpot with an axe to grind. when we first landed in florida, we met with bill hill. confirmed the story. we wanted to meet him face-to-face, obviously. what was his mood? he was a bit nervous. i think he was still in that mode where he knew he was turning in his best friend. josh mankiewicz: once again, bill hill told the detectives what he knew that his best friend, jim huden, had told him he d killed a man in whidbey island. and that huden s girlfriend, peggy thomas, had helped set up the whole thing with the knowledge of the victim s wife. it was a compelling story, but with no murder weapon or any other physical evidence connecting him to the murder of russell douglas. the detectives were no closer to being able to make an arrest. the next day we decide we have no cards other than to just go talk to jim huden. and see what he ll say to us. after arranging to have a second team of detectives
they were separated. russell was living in an apartment in renton. according to brenna, they were trying to work it out talking about getting back together. josh mankiewicz: in fact, the new widow told the detective that her husband had spent the holidays with her and the kids. she said the last time she saw him was the morning of december 26. he left the house somewhere mid-morning. and she thought he was going to run some errands. brenna douglas have an alibi? she didn t need an alibi. at the time we went to talk to her, it was basically a death notification. she was able to answer our questions for us. who didn t like russell douglas? nobody could think of someone who really, truly didn t like him. josh mankiewicz: as winter turned to spring, the detectives investigation seemed to be going nowhere. but a routine check of the numbers in russell douglas cell phone had yielded a tiny clue. there were a few phone calls to a number
visit peggy thomas simultaneously in las vegas, the detectives drove over to jim huden s house. jean answered the door. i showed her my badge and my id. and said, i was from island county, washington. jim was there? yes. he was sitting on the couch. and he says, what? what s island county, washington doing all the way here in florida? oddly enough, he didn t say anything like that. josh mankiewicz: the detective didn t beat around the bush. and i looked him right in the face, and i said, mr. huden, i know you re the man who pulled the trigger and killed russell douglas. and his only response was to say, i don t know why someone would say that. i was sure, at that moment, i was in the room with the right man. because an innocent man would say, well, you re crazy. i didn t kill him or anybody else. i don t know what you re talking about. he never once made a denial of my accusation. josh mankiewicz: huden admitted to being on whidbey island with peggy thomas over the christmas holidays,
josh mankiewicz: russell s brother, matt, was the last to know. he, too, had been out of cell phone range for several days, while vacationing in british columbia. we drove across the border in our friend s vehicle and my phone had a seizure. it started buzzing for every voicemail message and text message that had been sent. and it s, matt call, call me, matt call me, matt call me. josh mankiewicz: within days of his death, russell douglas far flung family reunited on whidbey island. we rallied around brenna. we re sleeping on the floor in the living room. she stayed in her bedroom a lot. she definitely was, like, sad. nothing seemed to be getting done. and so i kind of ended up taking over the organization of the house, what do we do for meals. josh mankiewicz: russel douglas had left behind a lot of unfinished business. the oldest of three children born to jim and gail before they divorced, russell had been a late bloomer.