secrets. where is the perfect place to commit a murder, where nobody would see it? if you go into it looking for trouble, you are gonna find it. and up in those mountains, sometimes questions are left behind. i don t have an explanation for this. but certainly, it does truly haunt me. the story begins with those pictures. together, they form a couple. husband and wife. leslie and fred mueller. married for almost 27 years. they were always super affectionate. they acted like they were two high school kids that had just started dating. just all over each other. ooh. [laughs] these are the mueller s three children. amanda, the eldest. then him ariel and alex, the only boy. they were brought up in texas near the town san angelo. but for fun this family heading out to their second home in
we stayed together in the same room, the whole night. and did your dad sleep at all? it was a very long night. that they had no idea it was just the first sleep in this night of what would become the longest ordeal of their lives. coming up. we started taking photos. she took a few of me. i took some of her. fred gives investigators a detailed account of what happened to leslie. it looked to me like she just did a swan dive. and lands on the rocks, right by the water. and he s very clear on who was to blame. it was that damn dog tangled up in her legs it its what i think it was. what would police think of that? when dateline continues. s. . if you have symptoms of covid-19, even if they re mild, don t wait, get tested quickly. if you test positive and are at high risk for severe disease act fast-
him or the family of the victim, of my mother. fred mueller spent the next year in jail in colorado awaiting trial. he sunk into such a deep depression, right after mom died. he kind of sank back into it when he was sitting in jail. it was the more the fact that he was cut off from his family for a year. the kids were eager for their dad to take on his accusers. attorney roger segel was part of france s legal team. after reading through the discovery and the evidence, what were your first thoughts? why was this guy arrested for murder? was my first thought. it was a question from the very beginning. what evidence did they really have? he d soon find out, in court. more than four years after leslie drowned in cottonwood creek, fred mueller would stand trial for murder. coming up the prosecution challenges fred s entire story. including, stunningly, the one
what conversations did you have with your husband about that? i told him something is not right. be careful. her husband, justin, testified that fred s demeanor seemed staged as the group drove together to look for leslie. it just sounded like somebody was crying that there were no tears. he acted like he was very, very upset. and then, a few seconds later he would act like we were kind of buddies driving down the road in the car. the prosecution had hoped to bring the jury up to cottonwood creek. but in january, the terrain was virtually impossible with snow and ice. so, it was up to the prosecutors to set the scene. and show why they thought fred s story defied common sense and science. injuries are going to tell you a story that leslie mueller was drowned by her husband. i solemnly swear prosecutors called michael golob, affirmed first trained rescuer on the scene. i m asking, what happened? tell me how it happened?
states expert for what it said was another flaw with the mannequin test. you do not start that test with the mannequin falling from the ledge. right? absolutely not. and therefore, your testing did not account for any kinetic energy that would have been initiated from the fall. correct? that s correct. and what about fred s story? a jumpy dog distracted by a blue jay and a swan dive towards the rocky water? the defense said it was the truth and not at all farfetched. it is steep and angular. there s ice on the rocks, it is slippery. so, it seemed perfectly plausible that she had fallen and floated. the defense brock inaccurate canine behavior expert who analyze the last photo of leslie. said the young border collie look spooked and ready to bolt. the dog is under stress. the dog is pushing back.