or where their jaunts in the stolen truck had taken them. and that, a few weeks later, is where the ring came in. that s when rohr got a call from nebraska, heard how that ring turned up at the scene of a double murder, heard how they tracked it back to the wal-mart in beaver dam. and to cori and ryan, and the stolen truck. that must have been a shocker to get that information, to have it across your desk? a huge shocker. that pretty much sends a chill down your spine. what what was going on? how were these two teenagers, reid and fester, tied to the murders of wayne and sharmon stock? or were they at all? coming up, an interrogation of one of the teens provides a chilling first glimpse of what may have happened inside that farmhouse. and so i freaked out and left, because obviously that guy is up there killing somebody. keith morrison: unless of course, she s lying. when dateline continues.
it was one of the worst i ve ever seen. keith morrison: one of those leading the investigation, david kofoed, the head of the csi squad in douglas county. from omaha, nebraska s largest city, an hour away, he was called in to help the smaller cass county sheriff s department. what really bothers me is that these two people were just sleeping in bed, and the male victim was apparently crawling away, and he was shot in the head, clearly an execution. - close up? a close up. and the female victim was along the side of the bed, holding a phone in her hand. and she had been shot in the eye at close range. keith morrison: investigators found out pretty quickly how the stock s killer, or killers, had entered the house. a screen had been lifted, a window appeared to have been forced open, leading into the laundry room. from there, it appeared, the killer s route might have gone past the now empty easter basket sharmon had made, through the well-kept kitchen, and then up the stairs to where the
of course, as all this was happening, back in nebraska no one outside law enforcement knew a thing. the stock children were certainly in the dark as they struggled to grip the wheel of their new, strange lives. we have just lost both our mom and our dad. to lose one is horrible, but to lose both of them and not have those parent figures that kept this family going where do we go? how do we help andy with the farm? how did we how do we let our children have a normal life? keith morrison: meanwhile, in their cells in the county jail, matt livers and nick sampson knew not a whit about these developments, and then, well into june, defense attorney susi heard the words that changed everything. i got a call saying they have arrested reid and fester up in wisconsin, and we got no details on it at all. keith morrison: but when they did, the lawyers just knew
22-year-old nick sampson. so the cass county sheriff s department called in the press, and announced that one of the most shocking crimes in this part of nebraska in decades was solved. people ask is this closure on the case? it s not. i think it s another, it s another chapter, turning a page. there s still a lot of work to be done. keith morrison: and oh, he was right. the sheriff had no clue just how much work there was yet to be done. but for the stocks children, the arrest brought a small measure of relief. at least, they decided, they could try to move on, as they knew their parents would have wanted them to. i can hear mom and dad say tammy, you can let this eat you alive, or you can go on and be the best that you can be. and do what needs to be done, and that is family. so we can dwell on it. but we choose not to, because that s not
it s a virtual given in legal circles when it comes to cutting a deal for a lighter prison sentence, the first criminal to the courthouse wins. and in cass county, nebraska, the first to the courthouse was accused killer jessica reid. jessica agreed to plead guilty to second degree murder charges in exchange for testimony against her accomplice, greg fester. when it came to him, it seemed prosecutors were certain to seek the death penalty. wayne and sharmon stock were rouse, terrified, from their sleep, sanctity of their own bedroom easter sunday night and shot to death in cold blood. if ever a case warranted the ultimate punishment, thought many nebraskans, then this surely was it. but to all to all the mystifying moves by police and prosecutors, add one more. a judge ruled the county attorney actually missed a deadline to announce his intention to seek the death penalty. so first degree murder for greg fester was off the table.