with. by all appearances, their worlds came crashing down, destroyed by a series of bullying and acceptsless killing. when investigators investigating, they entered a maze of marital betrayal. here here s andrea canning with tangled web. sarasota, florida, the perfect backdrop for romance. beautiful beaches for long walks, gorgeous sunsets. and a slow rhythm of a gentle gulf tide. stories of love abound in this city by the sea. but not all have ended happily ever after. like the one that unfold here back in the summer of 2012. when secrets, lies and infidelity led to murder. 911, what s the location of
your murder? a man s been shot. it s really a twisted love story. it s so twisted. it s tangled. it s a knot. i m not sure that it will ever come undone, but i do know that there is more to the story than has been told. it all began back in 1998 when a 26-year-old local firefighter by the name of sam dreher met the love of his life danielle laborvo. they were the ideal young couple, they held hands, looked at each other dreamily over dinner. he seemed crazy about her. sam s older sister cindy lutz was thrilled when she found out sam had a serious new girlfriend. what was your first impression? she was really sweet. she seemed crazy about him. she liked the outdoors and liked to travel. they had a lot in common. so it came as no surprise when sam announced he was ready to pop the question.
reporter: we asked danielle dreher to sit down with us for an interview. both she and her attorney declined. but during danielle s interview with the detectives, she emphatically denied having anything to do with sam s murder. i would never kill my husband. i would never kill another human being. reporter: and the man who pulled the trigger supported danielle s claim of innocence, in no uncertain terms. i ve acted on my own. i did. i did this all on my own. you know, i just so you re indicating that danielle s only involvement was in order to help you basically get dirt on her husband to help with the divorce? nothing to do with harming him? right. reporter: but michael s response didn t sway cindy lutz. i didn t believe him. i think he was protecting her. i think he would have done anything for her. reporter: cindy believes that includes lying about danielle being involved in sam s murder.
whatsoever. danielle definitely had control over michael minor. she did manipulate him. did she manipulate him to the point of killing sam? i don t know. reporter: detectives mcdonald and szalbirak realized they needed to pay danielle dreher another visit. we re going back to find out what is your intent? what is your involvement with this? coming up did someone have a million reasons to commit murder? there was a substantial amount of money that she was going to gain if sam turned up dead. when dateline continues. for adventure. your home. for romance. your home for big savings. [ laughs ] hey, mom, have you seen m ew. because when you bundle home and auto with progressive, your home is a savings paradise.
reporter: now it was up to mcdonald and szalbirak to find out if all those spy games somehow developed into a conspiracy to commit murder. i became very suspicious that she had a part in this homicide. reporter: detectives sat down with danielle and recorded interviews with her on three separate occasions. from the very first interview, danielle willingly acknowledged that she and michael had been tracking sam and dianne. where did you put the tracking device on the vehicle? i put it up under the driver s side rear wheel. okay. and i ve been tracking him for about a month and a half. reporter: danielle also admitted to helping michael take those surveillance photos. who took the pictures? michael did. okay. whose camera? mine. reporter: but danielle denied that all this elaborate spying escalated into a murder plot. instead, she said it was simply preparation for her pending divorce.