The phone. Shes like hed weirding me out. Her boyfriend. He had daggers, knives. And he could have been her lover . He could have. Soon a dark picture begins to develop. A portrait of the artist as a young killer. Theres evil in there. Once there was a quiet little girl in a quiet little town who liked to draw. She drew the butterflies who floated, quiet like her, around texas spelled like the country but they pronounce it italy. She drew a butterfly in our art class in Elementary School and all the little girls are like draw me one, draw me one. The name was Samantha Michelle and her mother simply loves to tell this story about her. Everybody was just so impressed with her butterfly. She said i think i can do this, you know. She started honing her artistic talent. She would draw anything and everything. She loved to draw and shed draw and draw and draw. Shelly was different from the other girls at school and at home, says her dad, sam. The other two girls we couldnt keep in the house.
the rest was, for shelly s family, a double-edged until then, the police had not told them that shelley had been stabbed 42 times. oh, my god. i am was passed out. and i just thought, oh, my god. mitchell got the case then and right away could see the problem. this was a circumstantial case in which the accused would likely say, the other guy did it. especially in a case like this so, he sent out his investigator hoyt hoffman to you have to make sure that no stone is left unturned. and then, they strategized. we spent, i would say, half or more of our time actually working it the other way saying, okay, well, let s say that the other person did it. nathan?
when all these facts comes together, there s no other suspect. and the reason that shelley was killed is because she stood in the way of a romantic rendezvous that he so desperately wanted with nathan. reporter: on november 4, 2009, eight weeks after shelley s murder, they arrested daniel willyam. the arrest was, for shelley s family, a double-edged thing. they were relieved, of course. but until then, the police had not told them that shelley had been stabbed 42 times. oh, my god. i almost passed out. 42 exact. and i just thought, oh my god reporter: prosecutor dewey mitchell got the case then, and right away could see the problem. this was a circumstantial case, in which the accused would likely say, the other guy did it. especially in a case like this. reporter: so he sent out his investigator, hoyt hoffman, to second guess the police. you have to make sure that no
it. especially in a case like this. reporter: so he sent out his investigator, hoyt hoffman, to second guess the police. you have to make sure that no stone is left unturned. reporter: and then, they strategized we spent i would say half of or more of our time actually working it the other way, saying, okay, well, let s say that the other person did it. nathan. nathan. let s say nathan did it. or let s say ashley did it, and and let s look at the evidence, and does that bear fruit or is that something where you look at at them, and it just it just doesn t work? because we wanted to make sure we got the right person. could you have prosecuted nathan? absolutely. absolutely. i mean, it would ve been it would ve been an easy case. really? to say absolutely. to come in and say, he did it,
likely say, the other guy did it. especially in a case like this. reporter: so he sent out his investigator, hoyt hoffman, to second guess the police. you have to make sure that no stone is left unturned. reporter: and then, they strategized we spent i would say half of or more of our time actually working it the other way, saying, okay, well, let s say that the other person did it. nathan. nathan. let s say nathan did it. or let s say ashley did it, and and let s look at the evidence, and does that bear fruit or is that something where you look at at them, and it just it just doesn t work? because we wanted to make sure we got the right person. could you have prosecuted nathan? absolutely. absolutely. i mean, it would ve been it would ve been an easy case. really? to say absolutely. to come in and say, he did it, he s the boyfriend, any time you have a stabbing, you immediately look to whoever that person is romantically involved