and because he felt his life was threatened by the movement, specifically, of mr. dede, he had to take the steps, unfortunately, to take his life. the danger of a burglar is when there s a confrontation, and they all want to escape, and they ll do whatever they can to get away. reporter: the defense said there was no debate over one central fact. diren dede went into that garage to steal. and on the stand, kaarma s lawyer got diren s friend robby to admit that despite warnings, diren didn t see much wrong with garage hopping. i think diren never felt like it was a crime. but were warning him. you were telling him it wasn t right. it was reckless. it was dangerous, right? yeah. yeah. like, i understand on this way. but he maybe didn t understand. reporter: in fact, the defense suggested that diren was part of a local burglary ring that was stealing more than just beer and may have been behind
was no answer, so he kept walking, figuring diren would catch up. that is when, like, i heard someone yelling. you re there. i see you there. something like that. after that just the shots, like, three or four shots. and i just started running. reporter: gunshots in a quiet residential neighborhood. a now-terrified robby ran back home. he was faster than i am. i said, he s probably coming. i was almost sure that he was coming. reporter: but diren wouldn t return. and what happened to the german exchange student would simultaneously make headlines around the world and get americans asking, how far can you go to protect your home and family? coming up 911. what are you reporting? a robbery. an urgent call to 911. somebody entered into our garage. shots were fired. you ve been taking mental health meds, and your mind is finally in a better place.
they understand it s illegal? uh-huh. yeah. but it seemed harmless? yeah. exactly. i mean, it s just it s like, hey, dude, this is a way for you to get some extra beer, you know, on a saturday night. i mean, did you think to yourself, oh, my god, we didn t tell him how dangerous it could be. but no one knew. no one would be like, hey, don t walk into that garage. you never know if someone is going to shoot you. reporter: robby told police diren had done it before but never taken cash or valuable property. he wasn t a criminal. he was, like, a kid. he was a kid trying to have fun and fit in the group doing what the other guys do, trying to be part of them. reporter: was it really that innocent? true or false. diren was committing a crime. he was. entering somebody else s home, even their garage, that s a crime? yes. even if the door s open? yep. reporter: and if kaarma s life was threatened, he had the right to shoot, didn t he? but as police went over
listening to music in randy and kate s basement. i went down 10:30 or so that night and told them maybe crank the music volume down a little bit. reporter: but around midnight, diren was bored, restless and suggested he and robby take a walk. and i was kind of, i m just really tired, diren. he was like, come on. and i was like, okay. reporter: so while kate and randy slept upstairs, robby and diren slipped out the back door for a walk around the neighborhood. they headed up the nearby hill and then turned on to deer canyon road. then, robby says diren suddenly walked off in a different direction, and robby lost sight of him. i was like, he s not coming. i ll continue walking. reporter: robby says he called out to diren, but there
on robby and diren. and he came downstairs with me and he s like, where s diren? and he said he didn t know. he didn t know? and i thought that was kind of weird. and i looked in the rec room, and didn t see diren. and i so i came back to him and i says, what s going on? where s diren? reporter: robby fessed up. he and diren had sneaked out. he told randy how diren had walked off on his own, and then robby said he d heard gunshots. alarmed, randy woke up his wife and the three of them went to deer canyon road. how far away from your house is this? 80 yards, something like that, directly above. it s just the next street above ours. so this is a neighbor s house. it s a neighbor s house. reporter: but when they got there, police stopped them. we were just hoping diren would just walk out somewhere, you know, show up and come out the door. i walked up to the police officer. gave him a name and description. and that s when she kind of went, well, just wait here fo