it? yes. i could not believe she would allow her defense to be i did it. reporter: but there was a reason, said the defense giselle had been provoked. she killed michelle in the heat of passion. michelle, she claimed, was a lying schemer who had been busy stealing what little giselle had left in life her family. marc klaas watched from the back of the courtroom and was disgusted. i don t think character assassination is a defense. i think that if you re going to defend against the indefensible, you have to find a better way of doing it than to vilify the victim. reporter: but ford was worried the defense just might work. if i come in as a defense lawyer and i say, we re going to tell you that my client did it, even though the district attorney has the burden of proof. but we re going to tell you why it happens because that s the most important thing. reporter: that s something the d.a. can t tell you.
uncommon grace and dignity and determined togetherness affected many of the families that stood with them during those dark months. they were able to do what a lot of other families have never been able to do, and that s rally around each other in a time of great need, to prop each other up. reporter: michael and krystine volunteer with marc klaas s organization. they help to coordinate searches in the case of a teenager kidnapped in san jose. their way to honor michelle. michelle, who still refuses somehow to leave them. she mainly comes in dreams. and it s so real that it feels like her. and she won t say a thing. she ll just give me a hug. or something.
we were still together. they made the mistake twice. reporter: and then giselle told a strange little story. she was pregnant, remember, with her second child and said she went to the hayward kaiser hospital for a pre-natal check up just hours before michelle disappeared. she said she spotted her old friend at a distance. were you surprised to see michelle there? yes. how did it make you feel when you saw her? at first surprised and then annoyed, and then i thought, okay. keep your blood pressure down. otherwise, you re going to lose this baby. reporter: strong feelings. but giselle esteban herself was not so strong. tiny and pregnant. hardly seemed physically capable of overpowering and murdering the larger michelle le, let alone finding a way of disposing her body. so they sent her home and later that afternoon finally got a look inside michelle s car, as we did much later when the detective showed it to us. nothing had changed. three people are dead nothing was touched
strong feeling. but giselle esteban herself was not so strong. tiny and pregnant. hardly seemed physically capable of overpowering and murdering the larger michelle le. let alone finding a way of disposing her body. but they sent her home. and later that afternoon, finally got a look inside michelle s car, as we did much later when the detective showed it to us. nothing had changed. nothing was touched. here, the morbid sense we were somehow violating a sad and very personal space, this is what ritchie found. a crime scene. once we got the car opened you can see there s blood wiped across here and the plastic. a little bit on the floor mats. and then, as you can see, there s more droplets or blood dropping down going in a straight down pattern. keith morrison: (voiceover) police also found some blood smeared on the floor of the garage where michelle s car had been parked. were you able to make a judgment
that afternoon finally got a look inside michelle s car, as we did much later when the detective showed it to us. nothing had changed. nothing was touched. here the morbid sense we were somehow violating a sad and very personal space. this is what inspector ritchie found a crime scene. once we get the car opened, you can see there s blood wiped across here in the plastic, a little bit on the floor mats. and then you can see there s more droplets or blood dropping down going in a straight down pattern. reporter: police also found some blood smeared on the floor of the garage where michelle s car had been parked. were you able to make a judgment about what would have happened when she got to her car? she was attacked most likely here. because from the looks of it, it looks like she ended up being placed in the back seat. there was a bloody confrontation here and then there s more blood