yes. reporter: but even before the dna test cleared jamie s friend, the detective was already looking for other suspects. and his attention quickly landed on someone very close to the victim. her boyfriend. the questions that they asked, focused on where was i the night before, what had i been doing. reporter: looking at you as a possible suspect? it didn t really occur to me that that was what they were doing. i just thought they were asking for information. reporter: chuck told the detective that before jamie was killed he hadn t seen her for two days. on the night of murder, he said he was at home. i was playing computer games like a good nerd. reporter: did you have anyone there to corroborate your alibi? i think my roommates were there but they were both asleep. i had nobody right there, sitting there with me. reporter: so the boyfriend s alibi wasn t solid. and as they spoke the detective was looking carefully for signs he might be hiding something.
few drinks, and when he left, the detective snagged the dirty beer mugs and sent them out for dna testing. the results would take weeks leaving a town full of young people on edge. dads and moms were telling their college-age kids, be alert everywhere you go. go with people when you go out. don t be alone. and that s a frightening order to give anybody. frightening but sound advice, because in this case, connecting the dots wouldn t be so easy. detectives have a possible suspect in their sights. jamie s boyfriend is invited to sit down for a polygraph test. failed the test. bad sign for you, right? bad sign for him. [music playing] (vo) from the beginning, wells fargo has supported community organizations like united way, non-profits like the american red cross, and our nation s veterans. we knew helping our communities was important then.
death. he also pleaded guilty to jamie s murder. kristin faced him in court during the penalty phase. it was terrifying. i had to testify and i met carolyn s family and and jamie s family they all came out afterwards and gave me a hug. it helped me realize that their families didn t hold any grudge against me, you know. it s not her fault that my sister died. and kristin should have no guilt over that. reporter: with the casey family as witnesses, ynobe matthews was executed three years later. if there is a lesson to take from this story, it is one that comes directly from a survivor herself. someone who has learned the hard way to cherish life s moments each and every one. it makes you realize how fragile your life is, you know, and that anybody can take it, you know, in a moment s notice. this story, you know, for them
i didn t think they were connected. and that was primarily because, with jamie there was a boyfriend that may have been involved. it was a romantic relationship that went wrong. it wasn t some random occurrence by a stranger. reporter: kristin was now living with overwhelming anxiety and dread, which she says manifested into dangerous behavior. instead of being afraid of everything i became afraid of nothing. i, you know, i just became completely risk seeking. reporter: what kind of things would you do? i think i started drinking heavily for a while after that. you know, i d hop on the back of a stranger s motorcycle after he d had three beers and it took a long time to really get out of that hole. reporter: just as kristin was starting to turn a corner her attacker was due in court on that misdemeanor charge. but nothing came of it. he didn t even show up. i d done what i needed to do. and part of me just wanted to forget it ever happened. reporter: but she couldn t. k
because i wondered, why didn t the grand jury indict him for at least attempted sexual assault? but it seemed a little troubling to me that what were we missing? what part of the story did we not have? did the detectives say something that made them think, maybe it was consensual? reporter: he was still facing the misdemeanor charge of unlawful restraint scheduled to go to court down the road. in the meantime, he was a free man. he s out walking around. he s out walking around. reporter: in the next town over, detectives at the brazos county sheriff s office were still working the jamie hart murder case in addition to keeping an eye on jamie s boyfriend chuck, they say they followed up on hundreds of other leads and tips. but no one in that department looked at kristin s case for a possible connection. reporter: you were sexually assaulted. jamie hart was sexually assaulted. did you start to think that these could be connected?