caring, wondering, compassionate. so why did she have the strange permission? actually always felt like she was gonna die young. the call came on black friday. they said that ashlea apartment was on fire. when the car picked up, i my heart broke. and this fire was no accident. they conducted surveillance at ashlea apartment. they re going back to the place where ashlea worked? they were going after tens of thousands of dollars. but was money they only motive? or was there something else? there were a lot of rumors going around that ended up being true. couldn t believe anyone did that to her. it was just pure evil. hello and welcome to dateline. ashlea harris had no shortage of admirers. family, friends, coworkers. even her ex son her praises. so when she was found dead after a suspicious fire consumed her apartment, police were baffled. this was no accident. but where the clues to who killed ashlea now up in smoke? it would take a determined
somebody dressed in dark clothes with their face wrapped walk right up to the store and try to get in with keys. reporter: that, he said, was carter trying to pull off another, bigger burglary. police just knew one day after killing ashlea and taking her keys, carter was trying to break into american eagle where this time, tens of thousands of dollars the black friday profits were in the safe. but the key didn t fit, because after ashlea was murdered, chris cravey changed the locks. i wasn t gonna take any chance on whether it be a deposit or them harming somebody else in the store. we needed to lock them out. reporter: the detectives pulled the surveillance video, and look at this carter, slipping away from the mall, having already changed from her sweat clothes into pink scrubs. had to be trying to fool potential trackers, they thought. this was after she would have spotted police talking to david in the parking lot.
reporter: calm as you please, she agreed to answer questions without a lawyer down at the station. do you go by carter or carol? carter. reporter: somehow she d switched her dark clothes for bright pink scrubs. so how did you end up in ft. worth? i had a job opportunity with american eagle outfitters. reporter: ah, yes, carter s american eagle connection, detective cedillo had already heard a thing or two about that. carter had worked in the ft, worth store for about four months and was businesslike. but, unlike ashlea, she wasn t a very friendly assistant manager. she did, however, make an impression on some younger clerks check like liza schoenthal. carter was very smart. very deep. she was good at reading people and knowing how to converse with them. you could tell that she was well educated. just had a lot more to her than most sales/retail managers do. reporter: but detective
try to get in with keys. reporter: that, he said, was carter trying to pull off another, bigger burglary. police just knew one day after killing ashlea and taking her keys, carter was trying to break into american eagle where this time, tens of thousands of dollars the black friday profits were in the safe. but the key didn t fit, because after ashlea was murdered, chris cravey changed the locks. i wasn t gonna take any chance on whether it be a deposit or them harming somebody else in the store. we needed to lock them out. reporter: the detectives pulled the surveillance video, and look at this carter, slipping away from the mall, having already changed from her sweat clothes into pink scrubs. had to be trying to fool potential trackers, they thought. this was after she would have spotted police talking to david in the parking lot. then she walked all the way home. over the next few days, police got a warrant for carter and david s cell phones.
and was looking for a reason to hold him. he said that he had a driver s license. but he didn t have his driver s license with him. reporter: reason enough. he arrested mallory and brought him in for questioning. but carter? seemed to have vanished. wasn t anywhere in the mall. but then police went to her apartment complex, and there she was. where was she in the apartment complex? well, she initially was in the in the laundry room. reporter: calm as you please, she agreed to answer questions without a lawyer down at the station. do you go by carter or carol? carter. reporter: somehow she d switched her dark clothes for bright pink scrubs. so how did you end up in ft. worth? i had a job opportunity with american eagle outfitters. reporter: ah, yes, carter s american eagle connection, detective cedillo had already heard a thing or two about that. carter had worked in the ft, worth store for about four months and was businesslike.