arizona, chose not to charge veach because of lack of evidence. the file on cassie was officially closed in 2003. veach was a free man. fast forward a few years to february 2006 when cassie s case landed on the desk of julie haney, a cold case investigator for ncis, the naval criminal investigative service. because veach was a marine, a case file had been created years earlier. common sense and 24 years of doing this told me it didn t add up. reporter: haney started to piece together what happened. for inspiration, she posted this picture at her desk. it just reminds me of what why i m here. what who i m working for. reporter: julie haney turned the case file inside out, starting with veach s interrogation video.
doctors described her brain as jell-o. there was severe hemorrhaging, lots of blood. doctors immediately suspected shaken baby syndrome. but when police questioned veech, seen here in this interrogation video, he denied harming the toddler. veech told police cassie was in her highchair eating cheerios when he turned his back to answer the phone he said he heard a thud. just two thumps on the first oneky only assume was the kitchen table. reporter: veech said cassie fell out of her highchair but cassie s highchair was just 30 inches from the ground. just 2 1/2 feet. it just didn t make sense that she would fall and from that short fall that she would be in such critical condition. reporter: doctors couldn t save her. 15 days after she was rushed to the hospital, the little girl with the sparkling blue eyes and blond pigtails was dead.
years next month since she died. i imagine it s a tough time of year for her family. cassie s mom left her with someone she trusted. while she was gone, cassie suffered a severe head injury. i can tell you as a doctor, but more importantly as a father of three young girls, this story really got to me. how cassie got those fatal head injuries remained a mystery for years. but to some in cassie s family, the facts didn t add up. turns out they were right. here s randi kaye. reporter: in the morning of january 18th, 2001, the only person at home with cassie was her mother s boyfriend, former marine, william veach. just before 10:00 a.m., veach called 911. by the time paramedics arrived, cassie, just 17 months, was unconscious. doctors described her brain as jell-o. there was severe hemorrhaging, lots of blood. doctors immediately suspected shaken baby syndrome. but when police questioned veach, seen here in this interrogation video, he denied
back that we d finally put him away, and not to be afraid anymore. reporter: cassie would have turned 11 this year. julie haney still looks at her picture. she ll never forget the little girl, who after so many years, finally got justice. such a cute little girl, randi. tough story to hear. so he got ten years in prison. he pleaded to this lesser charge, thought he could get between three and 12 1/2 years. they gave him almost the maximum amount. was he surprised by that? he was. he told us by phone he was shocked because he thought pleading to the lesser charge to manslaughter, he only admitted thoughtlessness, never actually admitted harming cassie or killing cassie but he thought he would get closer to the three years, but he got the ten years. he also told us by phone he thought this was a witch hunt. he said this was just another notch in the belt for julie haney, the investigator. he thought it was all about ego, that she tampered with evidence. she of course told us she di
on january 17th, 2008, almost seven years from the day cassie was injured, veach was charged with first-degree murder and child abuse. he maintained his innocence but when the state offered him a deal to plead guilty to a lesser charge, he jumped on it and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. i should have taken care i should have taken better care of you that day. reporter: veach never shared the details of how cassie died. in court he left her family and julie haney waiting for a confession they would never hear. the judge sentenced him to ten years. from prison, veach told us by phone the case was a witch hunt. he insisted he never harmed cassie. i did not do anything wrong. i did not hurt that little girl. i never put my hands on her. and they never could prove that i did. reporter: after veach was sentenced, cassie s grandmother went to her grave with a message. i told cassie when we got