motives for murder they d ever heard. so his religious beliefs were more important than somebody else s life? ralph candelario s life was more important than anyone else s life. reporter: so the jury got the case. and they worked till the end of the day and then through a second and then a third. tick tock. whether they convict him or they don t is going to be a different set of emotions. reporter: and then in the middle of the third day we the jury find the defendant, ralph leroy candelario, guilty of count number one of first degree murder. reporter: guilty. but the end of ralph s story? oh, no. on the day set aside for his sentencing ralph decided the plot needed one more twist. the jail issued him a safety razor to clean up for court. ralph used it to slash his wrists and throat. his own son was not sympathetic.
evidence to arrest ralph candelario for the murder of his wife pam, but they d have to find him first. ralph was on vacation or maybe on the run. i initiated some phone calls with ralph so that we could try to track him down. they tracked his cell phone and caught up with him. driver, get your hands in the air. in northern california. walk back to the sound of my voice. back to me. you all right? yeah. charged him with first degree murder. pam s daughters were relieved when they got the news. all i could think to myself was finally. what was that like? it was like yea, then it was like this is reality all over again. it s starting. meaning, of course, reliving the crime at the trial. i m antsy. i m eager. you want to go and testify? yeah. i want this to be over. and i know that i need to cope with whatever answer comes.
names that he believed were involved in this homicide. ramon bear rose and jose nino, known drug users, both had rap sheets, a history of breaking and entering and assault. they were trying to sell jewelry the day after the murders. you have a responsibility to check into that? yeah. pam s daughter shannon found her blaming ralph for not preventing what happened. i was angry at him. in my mind i was like, why didn t you protect my mother. that s your role as her husband. and right about then the biggest scoop of eric mullen s career landed right in the lap of the huerfano world journal. i ve been in news since i was 15 years old. i ve seen a lot of things walk in the newsroom. i had never seen anything like this. in through the front door marched ralph candelario with an open letter to the whole town. it was him explaining what he
your opening. yes, your honor. then here it was, february 25th, 2016. already ralph had managed a victory, had tied prosecutor ryan brackley s hands, in one way, anyway. well, we tried to tell the entire story about ralph candelario and ralph candelario s life. in other words, the very suspicious disappearance of dena, the first wife, whose body has never been found. but ultimately, the judge denied that motion, and we went to trial without that piece. you ve already heard about the prosecution s evidence. ralph s open letter to the huerfano world journal which, said prosecutor matt durkin, had been exposed as an elaborate lie. that letter was in itself a very sensational story, but it was inconsistent with all of the physical evidence in the investigation that had occurred to that point. which the prosecution listed in detail for the jury to hear.
he decided to go on vacation. ralph candelario was gone. coming up, a manhunt for a suspected killer by cell phone. i initiated some phone calls with ralph so we could try to track him down. but would he answer? when dateline extra continues. let them move the way they were born to in new pampers cruisers 360 fit with its ultra stretchy waistband.. and adaptive 360 fit new pampers cruisers 360 fit and here we have another burst pipe in denmark. if you look close. jamie, are there any interesting photos from your trip? ouch, okay. huh, boring, boring,