thought she might be drink and driving. so he installed an app on his phone that allowed him to track her phone and followed her because he was worried, then he saw her car parked near gavins and thought it best to talk to them. he didn t sneak up on them, he said. so i knock on the hood of the car. was chandy sitting on the lap of this guy? sitting on his lap, they just kept talking. i walked over to the passenger s side door, knocked on the window. what did they do? chandy opened the door. what did she say to you? what the [ bleep ] are you doing here? he started to argue. then gavin leans in. i m leaning down to tell him to mind his own business. that s when he leaned up and punched me, pulled me in by my sweater, put his hand on my throat. choking me by the throat. it was gavin who threw the first punch, he said, of course he fought back.
where months later the detective noticed one detail that saved the cover up. i was looking at the license plate, i see it s not there. should be a california license plate, that kind of thing, it s gone. i also see there is one screw missing and one screw screwed back in halfway and that screw came back positive dna to john creech. reporter: bingo, the unassailable link to pull together all that evidence. phone records, chandy s testimony, the friends, the dna and it all condemned john creech. but a surprise was coming. for everyone. raise your right hand. coming up. i was scared for my life. reporter: a dramatic tale from the stand. he punched me, pulled me in by my sweater. put his hand up on my throat, choking me on my throat. who attacked who? who would the jury believe ? my skin was just crawling. when dateline continues.
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reporter: but they didn t meet chandy in there. they met her husband, his name was john. john creech. not pleasant. when they came out, they were both crying. reporter: they told their mom creech threatened to kill gavin if he didn t stay away from chandy. though 17 months later he vanishes after calling chandy, lisa had a very bad feeling. everything changed right then for me. reporter: detectives were suspicious, too, remember, chandy told them she didn t see gavin that night. but there was evidence to the contrary. cell phone records showed gavin s phone and chandy s were in the same place that night. a little triangulation narrowed down just where in. we came down this street and this was the likely spot. reporter: a likely spot for a tryst, that is? parking lot would be empty at night. . yes, yes. so this is a pretty lonely
like a solid case, the phone evidence, the cover up, the truly appalling crime scene in gavin s car. but did it add up to first degree murder? gavin smith had been dead five years. he was killed in his mercedes benz in an act of almost stunning brutality by the defendant john creech who is sitting here in the courtroom. this became gavin smith s tomb. reporter: what happened wasn t merely an outburst of rage, said the prosecutor, no, creech had been plotting for two years, ever since he found out about chandy and gavin. ever since that day in december, 2010, when at their mother s request, gavin s sons met with john creech at his house. we just wanted to make sure my dad was not in harm s way. were you sobbing and crying? yes. and what were you saying to the defendant?