jermeir stroud, so they interviewed jermeir, who was cooperative but guarded. he said, yeah, she caught my eye. i mean, she s 5 10 , long pretty hair, thin. and we spoke for a short time. that was in 2000. around 2004 they bumped in again through work and he asked her for her number. reporter: and at this point he s involved with denita. involved with denita. and he actually said that he told shannon in 2000 that he was involved with denita. well, in 2004 they start having a relationship that actually started kind of like friendly but then turned sexual toward the end of 2004. reporter: and shannon drives a burgundy suv. correct. reporter: first detectives had a murder. now a love triangle. detective pate pressed jermeir for more details about the two women in his life. i said, well, have they ever met? and he said, no, they ve never
eyeball, and she still has her hands over her face. and he says, ma am, did you hear a shot or something? and she shakes her head up and down yes. and he says, where d it come from? and she points her head in one direction and he says, why are you nervous? and she s like, you heard the shot. and he says let me call the police. and then she pulls off and takes off out the complex. reporter: what do you make of that? that s kind of like make the hair on the back of our neck stand up. reporter: so now police called jermeir stroud, who was on his way back home to greensboro, and asked one simple question. do you know anyone that drives a burgundy ford suv? and he said, oh, my god. i m turning around now. coming up reporter: a secret affair. they start having a relationship that actually started kind of like friendly but then turned sexual. reporter: what, if anything, did it have to do with denita s murder?
was the right guy for her precious daughter. i knew what he would be getting, but i didn t know what she would be getting. so i tried to find every reason to not like him. reporter: how d you do? i failed, because he was very polite. he was very respectful. i would always tell jermeir, you take care of my baby. this is precious cargo. and he promised me that he would, that he wouldn t let anything hurt her. so i said, okay. reporter: now police wanted to talk to jermeir stroud. greensboro police have confirmed smith was engaged to officer jermeir stroud. stroud has been an officer with the greensboro police department for four years. the mere fact that he was her fiancé immediately made stroud a person of interest. jermeir insisted he knew nothing about who killed denita. jermeir was at home asleep because he had just worked a
that she was taking her child to the doctor. reporter: shannon s story seemed to add up. maybe she wasn t the distraught woman the eyewitness saw leaving the scene of denita s murder, 50 miles away from where shannon lived and worked. detective pate was just about out of questions. and then an interesting thing happened. as we re leaving, getting ready to finish up the interview with her, someone hands me a note. and it s from a supervisor. and it says, a gentleman, one of her co-workers would like to speak with you before you leave. reporter: and what that co-worker had to say would raise serious questions. not just for shannon crawley but also for her former lover, jermeir stroud. did someone want shannon dead as well? coming up did someone want shannon dead as well? she says, you know, i m kind of in fear of my life. when dateline continues.
purse, she had a water bottle, lipstick, keys, that kind of thing.ps all coming down the staircase. and first thing i m wondering is, was there a struggle? was her wallet there? the wallet was there. and money in it?al there must have been becausen at first we didn t think it was a robbery. reporter: edythe, who knew none of this, now rushed to denita s building, where she hoped to find her close friend but instead was greeted by several of the university s professors. i was like, what are you all doing here? and they were like, you know, unfortunately she s not alive. w everything in me, you know, just went into shock, of course. i kept saying, you know, i want to see her.ay i was like, are you sure?er maybe it s mistaken identity.ke i m like, she s not dead, this can t be. reporter: denita monique smith was just 25 years old and engaged to be married. now her fiancé, jermeir stroud, who had also arrived on scene, was given the awful news.