indicate he was involved his case went to trial. in february 2013 a jury found him not guilty. his defense attorney believes he d been setup to take the fall as part of the conspiracy. that friend is now a free man. as for sandra her case went to court one month after her son. the question was would a jury believe tom s story? and as the jury deliberated and the family waited, there was no euphoria. they knew from bitter experience that anything could happen. it s a lot harder this time, just not knowing what s going to happen. on the second day they got word the jury had a verdict. my stomach s in knots and shaking. we re just really very nervous at this moment. 13 years after jack jessie s murder andrea jessie was found guilty.
it was horrible. it was just like it happened all over again. that one juror, you know, i saw her. i went and talked to her. what did you say? i said she was an idiot. it was certainly difficult for me. it was far more difficult for the family. murray promised the family justice. spent two years putting a new case together. and just weeks before trial, he got a call. it was from tom s attorney saying his client was ready to cut the apron strings and testify against his mom. there s no way that we ever suspected that tom aehlert would ever turn on his mother. he was known to be a mama s boy. but a mama s boy who decided he didn t want to die in prison. tom pleaded guilty to second degree murder, got 15 to life. besides helping connect the crime to his mother, he had somebody else he wanted to give up. that friend of brett. the one brett claimed drove with him in the car and killed jack jessie, despite the fact there was no forensic evidence to
welcome back. it had been 11 years since jack jessie s death. his wife sandra and her son tom were on trial for his murder. but confessed conspirator brett had struck a deal with prosecutors. in exchange for his release he took the stand to detail how sandra and tom orchestrated the plot to kill jack. now the case was in the jury s hands. but the jessie family s fight for justice was far from over. with the conclusion of our story here s keith morrison. when the jury went into seclusion to deliberate, the jessee family thought justice was just hours away. but as the sun set on the courthouse, nothing. no word. same thing again next day. and the day after that. the problem? there was a holdout. it got very heated. yes.
we had walkie-talkies, and he called on it when it was done and to pick him up. he had blood on his we looked for a place to clean himself up. i believe there was a del taco we found to clean himself up. the information he provided, if we could corroborate what he said, would blow the case wide open. police questioned his friend. he denied everything. he said he wasn t in the car, wasn t at the scene. he didn t kill jack jessie. so he was allowed to walk. and investigators focused on building their case against tom and sandra by documenting money transfers, phone calls, air travel. so when you add all that together, what d you think? i thought we were starting to put together a pretty good case. good enough that murray had tom and sandra arrested. and in the summer of 2009, 11 years after the murder, the mother and son team went on
finally that little ball stayed on its track. the key now was caught. i hope that she rots in hell. i m glad it wasn t the death penalty. i want her to stay there and suffer with all the other miserable that go to prison. it s a feeling of justice, isn t it? it feels good but not complete. not all the way there yet. lost a guy, the nicest guy i ve ever met. and for tom dove, he s now retired from the sheriff s department, and at his going away party his fellow detectives gave him this. it honors his commitment to the jessie case. it means more to me than any other plaque or award i ve ever received in my life. in retirement tom tried to setup a shelter for stray dogs. the urge to rescue runs deep.