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 kaarma s story about what happened just before the confrontation, something stood out.
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 for a second. and then came back and said, i think you guys need to go to the hospital. and that it wasn t good. and as soon as she said that, i thought, gosh, we just passed an ambulance running up there. and he must have been in the ambulance. what happened on that quiet street? did diren and robby stumble into a burglary in progress or a violent home invasion? the police asked robby to answer some questions. while kate and randy rushed to the hospital. it wasn t long after we got there that the e.r. doc came out and explained that his wounds were fatal, and that he was no longer alive. terrible feeling. it was horrible. i went outside the hospital many
he was tightest with another exchange student. this one from ecuador. robby pazmino. we had so many things in common. the same personality with the same wishes and dreams. they were a package deal. you see one, you re gonna see the other? oh, yeah. reporter: saturday, april 26, was no different. the boys spent the evening playing video games and 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.
you all know people who do it or have done it? yeah. right? 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
fearful. reporter: ryan laid out a basic narrative. markus kaarma, twice a victim of burglars, reasonably thought that diren dede was another one and dangerous. he thought that he was dealing with drug-seeking type individuals that were erratic and who knows what they how they were gonna respond. reporter: he told the jury that his client had reason to believe diren dede was armed and ready to attack. 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