night. i mean, did you think to yourself, oh, my god, we didn t tell him how dangerous it could be. but no one knew. no one would be like, hey, don t walk into that garage. you never know if someone is going to shoot you. reporter: robby told police diren had done it before but never taken cash or valuable property. he wasn t a criminal. he was, like, a kid. he was a kid trying to have fun and fit in the group doing what the other guys do, trying to be part of them. reporter: was it really that innocent? true or false. diren was committing a crime. he was. entering somebody else s home, even their garage, that s a crime? yes. even if the door s open? yep. reporter: and if kaarma s life was threatened, he had the right to shoot, didn t he? but as police went over kaarma s story about what happened just before the confrontation, something stood out. when kaarma was describing how his wife first noticed someone
reporter: but to prosecutors andrew paul and jennifer clark, the real criminal in this case was markus kaarma, who was, plain and simple, a murderer. the fact is that the defendant was angry and vengeful. he knew that it was a kid coming in his garage. he has his 12-gauge in his hand, and he waits. reporter: to counter the defense s suggestion that diren was part of some ring of thieves targeting markus kaarma, investigators tracked down the teens who had hit kaarma s garage, the ones who took the cash, credit cards and he had a bong and a jar of weed and some alcohol. did you know a man named diren dede? not personally, no. to the best of your knowledge, was he involved in a burglary ring? no. reporter: so did kaarma really fear for his life that night? prosecutors said ballistics told the story.
exactly. yep. the other soccer girls always said that he would never miss a chance to take his shirt off when he was running around the field. they knew he was going to put on a show for them. reporter: diren lived with host parents randy and kate in the prospect neighborhood, a hilly subdivision of missoula. he was just such a terrific kid. you could see that right off the bat. and he called you mom and dad? he did. he really became our son. there s no doubt about it. reporter: but diren was more than just a fun kid. he was engaged in the world. this was not your typical american teenager who just kind of wants to talk about, you know, sports stars and, you know, maybe the latest fashion and, you know no, not at all. no. it s like, so what do you think about the situation in the ukraine? reporter: by the end of the school year in 2014, diren had a solid circle of friends. he was tightest with another exchange student. this one from ecuador.
reporter: but to prosecutors andrew paul and jennifer clark, the real criminal in this case was markus kaarma, who was, plain and simple, a murderer. the fact is that the defendant was angry and vengeful. he knew that it was a kid coming in his garage. he has his 12-gauge in his hand, and he waits. reporter: to counter the defense s suggestion that diren was part of some ring of thieves targeting markus kaarma, investigators tracked down the teens who had hit kaarma s garage, the ones who took the cash, credit cards and he had a bong and a jar of weed and some alcohol. did you know a man named diren dede? not personally, no. to the best of your knowledge, was he involved in a burglary ring? no. reporter: so did kaarma really fear for his life that night? prosecutors said ballistics told the story.
the other soccer girls always said that he would never miss a chance to take his shirt off when he was running around the field. they knew he was going to put on a show for them. reporter: diren lived with host parents randy and kate in the prospect neighborhood, a hilly subdivision of missoula. he was just such a terrific kid. you could see that right off the bat. and he called you mom and dad? he did. he really became our son. there was no doubt about it. reporter: but diren was more than just a fun kid. he was engaged in the world. this was not your typical american teenager who just kind of wants to talk about, you know, sports stars and, you know, maybe the latest fashion and no, not at all. no. it s like, so what do you think about the situation in the ukraine? reporter: by the end of the school year in 2014, diren had a solid circle of friends. he was tightest with another exchange student. this one from ecuador. robby pazmino.