auditioning for the show right after police told him his wife may be dead. he says there s a good reason for that. here s the report. reporter: this is joe finley, performing with his rock group, the joe finley band. joe and laura finley married 27 years ago and raised three children together. joe says laura convinced him to audition for the show america s got talent. the couple checked into the biltmore hotel in los angeles on october 22nd for joe s audition at the hotel the next morning. this photo of joe and laura was taken in the hotel bar that night. joe says he fell asleep about 3:00 a.m. and the last thing he remembers is laura getting ready to take a bath. when he woke up, he says she was gone. when she wasn t there, i assumed because i was running late, she was getting breakfast. reporter: at this point, she is actually dead.
and so the police escorted me in there. reporter: moments after learning his wife may be dead, with guitar in hand, joe says he sang a song he used to sing for laura. i got through almost to the end and i broke and i just dropped my head and i took my sunglasses off and i said, i m sorry, i can t do this. that s the best i can do. and one of the police officers said, that was a really good job. reporter: because most people would think, what are you thinking? well, first of all reporter: auditioning when you just found out your wife is possibly dead. yeah. it was a very emotional moment for me and a way for me to connect with my wife and the stress that was overwhelming and get to that point of focus. i ve done that my whole life. reporter: did you have anything to do with your wife s death? absolutely not.
when he woke up, he says she was gone. when she wasn t there, i assumed because i was running late, she was getting breakfast. reporter: at this point, she is actually dead. her and joe s room was at the end of this hall way. her body was found at the bottom of this stairwell. joe says when he woke up he took a quick shower, dried his hair and immediately went down to the lobby to get in line for his audition. he says while standing in line he tried to get ahold of his wife by calling her and texting her. eventually police detectives got ahold of joe and told him his wife may be dead. as they were leaving the hotel for the police station, someone says someone from america s got talent stopped him and asked if he still wanted to audition. he said, in fact, if you want to go in right now, we ll let you go in right now. and i thought of laura. i thought, i m going to go in there, i m going to be as brave and as courageous as i possibly
to go in right now, we ll let you go in right now. and i thought of laura. i thought, i m going to go in there, i m going to be as brave and as courageous as i possibly can for laura. and so the police escort me in there. reporter: moments after learning his wife may be dead, with guitar in hand, joe says he sang a song he used to sing for laura. i got through almost to the end and i broke and i just dropped my head and i took my sunglasses off and i said, i m sorry, i can t do this. that s the best i can do. and one of the police officers said, that was a really good job. reporter: because most people would think, what are you thinking? well, first of all reporter: auditioning when you just found out your wife is possibly dead.
needs? keeping them honest tonight, we re going to show you which lawmakers are playing politics with 9/11 first responders, lawmakers who once said the issue was beyond partisanship. and an american aid worker thrown in jail in prison, one of the worst you can imagine. the allegations, get this, he kidnapped a 15-month-old child after turning the boy into a zombie. that s what the father of the child says, but he and the medical team that worked to save this child s life say the little boy died and they have a death certificate to prove it. and later is it america s got talent or murderer s got gall? a person of interest in his wife s death and why some people are suspicious is he learned his wife is dead and then turned around and auditioned for america s got talent. we begin as always, keeping them honest, on an issue we never thought we d have to keep anyone honest about, caring for 9/11 first responders. seems like if anything could get universal bipartisan support i