the other option which is call the cops and face the music. yes. at that point i was just solving the problem. so the tears and regret that i m seeing now, you weren t feeling that then. no. never cried. because at the time ellen says she was on auto pilot and needed to dispose of the body. and how did she do that? in the want ads she found a guy with a backhoe who came out to the house and dug a hole. did you tell the guy why you were doing this? he didn t ask. ellen and her son michael wrapped his body in a tarp and put plastic bags on his hands and in the dark of night they move him on to a dolly in to the hole. is your son helping you or not. i asked him to help me throw some dirt on top of him. he said okay. they filled the hole with leftover construction waste so
and daniel. from the day vern was attacked. don t be late for shopping. what s going on there? it appears to be code to me. what they re talking about is the real estate appointment with vern. at 12:04 p.m., presumably was right around when the attack happened, adriana texts daniel, we are going shopping. i believe that that is her way of telling daniel that the job is done. reporter: and that same afternoon, who pulls up at the sunshine motel to pick up adriana? you guessed it. daniel blizzard. possible that they were just talking about shopping? anything is possible but it s not very likely. reporter: finally, in september 2013, nearly 3 months after the attack, the detective went to pick up daniel. he didn t seem surprised to see me. and he didn t say gee detective, what could this possibly be about? no he didn t ask. i m the detective who s investigating the attack on vern holbrook.
know that was wrong. if i ever get the opportunity to talk to her, i will apologize to her one day. in fact, sharon had something even more remarkable to say to shannon. i do forgive her. how do you do that? i have to forgive her because, i want to forgive me, for whatever the sins that i may do. jermeir stroud was never charged in the case. the trial judge did say it was jermeir s behavior that created a perfect storm of events, bringing victim and killer together. jermeir declined our request for an interview, but in a statement, he denied any involvement in denita simmered or. and all of the investigative reports that she made against him. they say jermeir fully cooperated, and was completely exonerated. he didn t ask, pay, course,
i want god to forgive me for whatever sins that i may do. reporter: jermeir stroud was never charged in the case. but the trial judge did say it was jermeir s behavior that created a perfect storm of events. bringing victim and killer together. jermeir declined our request for an interview. but in a statement, he denied any involvement in denita s murder. and all the allegations that shannon crawley has made against him. investigators say jermeir fully cooperated and was completely exonerated. he didn t ask, pay, coerce anyone to do this. he didn t pull any trigger. and he didn t know it was gonna happen? he didn t know it was gonna happen. at the end, it comes down to the person who pulls that trigger. on the campus of north carolina central university, they still remember denita smith. in the journalism department where she made such an impact,