and this is dateline! it s gut-wrenching. there s a body lying off the side of the road. this young woman shot three times. this was a murder. a young single mom, out with friends on game day. it was packed. but as night fell, fear grew. they re asking who would want to harm your sister? but as night fell, fear grew. was it someone that was a stranger? was it someone that we knew? i just had this weird feeling that there was something she was hiding tucked away. in her kitchen a clue to it all. on top of the refrigerator was a manila folder. did it just give you chills? it was horrible. why didn t she just tell us? did a secret lead to murder? it s got to be unimaginable. here s andrea canning with nightfall. welcome to dateline. when the body of brooke morris was discovered by the side of the road, her family started looking for answers. they were surprised to discover that she may have been involved in an allegedly violent relationshi
game day. it was packed. but as night fell, if you re grew. yeah they re asking who would want to harm your sister? was it someone that was a stranger? was it someone that we knew? i just had this weird feeling that there was something she was hiding. talk to in her kitchen, a clue to it all. on top of the refrigerator was a manila folder. did it just give you chills? it was horrible. why didn t she just tell us? did a secret lead to murder? it s got to be unimaginable. welcome to dateline. when the body of brooke morris was discovered by the side of the road, her family started looking for answers. they were surprised to discover that she may have been involved in an allegedly violent relationship. could that revelation be the key to solving her murder? here with nightfall is andrea canning. i d ask that you all close your eyes for a few minutes this morning. i d like for you to envision roane county in the middle of october. the leaves are changing,
killed. daniel hawkins said they tried to meet up but never did. were daniel s friends able to back up his alibi? his alibi was was verified he was really at the game? yes. because of the time the game ended, detectives concluded daniel hawkins couldn t have been in roane county at the time of the murder. he was eventually cleared by authorities. but could they verify shawn smoot s story? he told investigators he and brooke grabbed a drink after he picked her up. sure enough, here s video of them at one of the restuarants he said they went to. here they are taking their drinks out to the patio another camera captured the couple leaving at about 6: 30p. m. brooke is walking several steps ahead of shawn, something chief phillips thought was telling. normally if people are happy and all that stuff, you think they would walk out together.
them out eating or something like that. as things progressed in their relationship, i was, like, what s going on here? i was, like, th this guy, he seems a bit older. is he you know, does he have a family or anything like that and she was, like, i yeah. she s, like, he s married. an affair with a married man. i don t really think that she was, like, committed to that relationship. i think it was just her just coming through a divorce. and she had this attention from this man. but there s still something going on that shouldn t be going on? uh-huh. brooke left the job after just a few months. but it was clear, to investigators, at least, that brooke and shawn were still in touch. her phone showed calls between them on the day of the football game. and they d been texting back and forth. did you call him? our attempts to call him were unsuccessful. another one who s not around? that s correct. detectives decided not to wait for shawn to pick up his
she was just, like, i ve gone to the wife. she s getting a divorce. she s made him move out. he lost everything after that. yeah. and friends say shawn continued to harrass brooke. in fact, they say, things only intensified. beyond emotional abuse? was it physical? yes. she had just told me that shawn was getting violent. he broke into her apartment one night, came in through the bathroom window, threw her head up against the tile floor. brooke s family didn t know about any of this. the relationship, the alleged violence. it wasn t until after her death that her family finally learned brooke s secret. did that just give you chills when you found that yeah, it was manila envelope? it was horrible. it was brittany who discovered it, as she went about the grim task of cleaning out brooke s apartment. and we were kinda getting stuff in order to pack away and