her and joe s room was at the end of this hallway on the six account floor of the hotel. 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, joe 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 can for laura.
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.
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. i would never hurt a human being in my life. i stick up for the underdog as my wife did. we re loving, caring people. reporter: are you worried that you will be arrested for your wife s murder? i will never be arrested for my wife s murder. there is nothing that would ever link me to this crime. reporter: police arrested but haven t charged joe for drug possession. as for laura s death, joe has established a private $25,000 reward for information leading to a conviction. investigators haven t ruled it a homicide, saying that the case is still open. coming up, the latest dramatic chapter in the bernie madoff saga, $7 billion turned over today to help the victims but where did the money come
reporter: at this point, she is actually dead. her and joe s room was at the end of this hallway on the six account floor of the hotel. 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, joe 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 can for laura.
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. yeah. it was a very emotional moment for me and a way for me to connect with my wife and the