already ralph had managed a victory, had tied prosecutor ryan brackley s hands, in one way, anyway. well, we tried to tell the entire story about ralph candelario and ralph candelario s life. in other words, the very suspicious disappearance of dena, the first wife, whose body has never been found. but ultimately, the judge denied that motion, and we went to trial without that piece. you ve already heard about the prosecution s evidence. ralph s open letter to the huerfano world journal which, said prosecutor matt durkin, had been exposed as an elaborate lie. that letter was in itself a very sensational story, but it was inconsistent with all of the physical evidence in the investigation that had occurred to that point. which the prosecution listed in detail for the jury to hear. but there s always more than one side to a story.
marched ralph candelario with an open letter to the whole town. it was him explaining what he can remember after he had been treated up in pueblo for his injury, and interviewed by the cbi. this is my story. this is my story, this is what happened to me. to whom it may concern, he began. and we re including his typos exactly as they appeared in his letter. his memory was coming back. he wanted to explain, and maybe shannon was right, he felt guilty. i am angry at myself for not finding a way to do more, or just getting myself killed, too. now, he wrote, he had an image of who his attackers were. i got a glimpse of that person, a tall dark man with yellow glasses, short, curly hair, wide nose, large lips and marks on the sides of his face. the tall guy was talking on the phone in spanish, he said. one of the two fellows the tipster called about? hard to know. but one of them knocked him out,
he s standing there in the kitchen, fire poker in his hand, wondering what to do. reporter: the robbers must have thought pam and ralph had already left on vacation. this family was supposed to be gone. that was the talk around town. reporter: so, for the jury it came down to whose story to believe. prosecutors said the police cleared those suspects right back at the beginning. but nothing could clear ralph. and nothing could soften a truly shocking allegation ralph murdered pam because divorce would get him disfellowshipped, cast out, from his church. pam wasn t leaving. and so he had only one option left. reporter: if he became a widower, he d be free to marry again. it was, said the prosecutors, one of the more disturbing motives for murder they d ever heard. so his religious beliefs were more important than somebody else s life? ralph candelario s life was
welcome back to dateline extra. i m tamron hall. police weren t buying the story ralph candelario shared with the local newspaper about how his wife was murdered. now ralph s son, aaron, had a story, too. this one from the past. here again is keith morrison with tangled. the year was 2004, and aaron candelario was 11 years old. his parents has recently separated were sharing custody. one day after a weekend at his dad s house, aaron went home to find there was just a note on the coffee table that was in kind of sketchy handwriting, but nevertheless said, i love you, my boys, and i m taking off. his mother, dina, was simply gone.
authorities say the impact when a a tour bus rear ended a truck was so strong, it sent the bus 15 feet into the trailer of the truck. 13 people were killed in the crash near palm spring, california. more than 30 injured. the presidential candidates hitting key states sunday. hillary clinton telling crowds in north carolina donald trump is a danger to america. while trump told supporters in florida, hillary clinton is too corrupt to be president. now back to dateline extra. welcome back to dateline extra. i m tamron hall. when ralph candelario s account of the home invasion was published, it became the talk of the town. everyone wondered, could this story be true? ralph said yes. and police wondered if the truth was in there, somewhere. returning to tangled, here s keith morrison. ralph candelario appeared to believe that his 3,300-word letter about the murder of his