and shirley went into farming. on a small plot of starter land, they grew some corn and soybeans, then plowed the profits into more prime iowa acreage. shirley loved farming. she did everything. she just took to it, huh? she was a natural. she loved, loved being in the tractors. reporter: long-time friend and neighbor, irene schulz, said shirley brought a little pizzazz to the fields when she climbed into her custom-made tractor. she always put a little bit of makeup on every morning before she went out. you mean up on the john deere? she s she s decked out in the john deere. she she was. she had rosy cheeks. she was beautiful inside and out. reporter: in time, daughter jana married and moved away to a job in des moines. son billy went into the heating and air conditioning business. but jason, the youngest child, took to the land. i really enjoyed working with him. i was teaching him. he is a good farmer.
so, the lead investigator felt good about things. we felt, this is it. and i had that feeling and emotion of, he s going to be found guilty. reporter: ludwick assembled a team to take jason into custody after the verdict. ladies and gentlemen, have you reached a verdict? yes, we have, your honor. reporter: jason knew a conviction could send him to prison for life. we, the jury, find jason carter not guilty. is that your verdict, ladies and gentlemen? yes, it is. reporter: not guilty. jason had gotten his life back. i just want to go home and see my kids. it s been a long time comin . jason was a free man. the district attorney says he gave it his best shot. reporter: so you re giving the jury this argument of a moment of rage. but you can t really play that movie for them and explain what it was. it s not a very satisfying thing to say, something happened. he went downstairs, got the rifle, and killed his mom.
Transcripts for MSNBC Dateline 20191027 08:55:15 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
whether it be to make a hair appointment or to help with the kids, whatever it was, she had to get his permission before she could do that. reporter: wandro said it all must have come to a head on that june morning. and something happened on that friday that made him snap. and he is the one that killed his wife. reporter: after two weeks of trial, and mutual accusations, the battle between father and son went to the jury. the court will now read the verdict. reporter: it took a little over two hours to answer the question. did jason carter cause the death of his mother? did defendant, jason carter, batter shirley carter causing damages to plaintiffs? answer, yes. reporter: jason had been found liable for the death of his mother. the jury cleared bill. it had to come. sooner or later, it had to come.
the bins. reporter: and as to the abrupt ending to jason s texting with his lover on the day of the murder, the defense attorney asked the girlfriend on the stand. did you perceive in any way that jason carter was troubled on the morning of june 19th? no. reporter: then there was the timeline of that morning to deal with. all along, based on statements of first responders and crime scene techs, it was estimated shirley had been murdered sometime just before 11:00 a.m., when jason admits he was at the farmhouse. to counter the time of death, one of the nation s most famous pathologists-for-hire took the stand bcyril wecht. wecht has been involved in thousands of cases, from the jfk assassination to o.j. simpson. you were asked to attempt to determine approximate time of death for shirley carter, is that correct? yes. were you able to do that to a reasonable degree of medical certainty? yes. reporter: wecht told the jury that shirley may have been killed two hours earl