And the way his shirt was ripped and just the blood on the floor, it just reporter: it looked like a struggle? yeah. it wasn t a suicide. reporter: but the deputies went about their work as they saw fit. and thus, on sunday, july 14th, 1996, they clouded a mystery that has come down all the way to us. there were so many different theories, different suspects, and so much conflicting evidence, it was your classic whodunit. reporter: or perhaps your classic nightmare. i d lay awake at night and ask god to give me some insight here. where do i go now? reporter: the victim, the man on the floor, was bryan rein, veterinarian. charlene and teresa s big brother. he was my brother. he was my best friend. he was my business partner. reporter: they grew up together in scott city, kansas. we shared bedrooms. we shared clothing. everybody shared. reporter: bryan was the eldest. so what kind of an older brother
The veterinarian s little bunkhouse is long gone, burned. its embers ground into the prairie dust. the young woman who d fallen hard for the dashing vet is a happily married arkansas mother of three. and the young man accused killing dr. bryan rein has growing sons of his own. but two decades were a mere whisker of time to the law and the historic chouteau county courthouse. where, in september, 2015, six years after the case was reopened, 19 years after the murder, tom s sister and the rest of the jaraczeski family assembled on one side of the courtroom. it was hard seeing people that you thought were your friends sitting on the other side of the courtroom. reporter: that would be a number of local people along with dr. rein s family, whose attitude, must be said, was unlike that of many victims
Able to protect their community. they should be held up as a great example of beating the odds and a reminder that good and difficult things are within our grasp with will and diligence. that does it for all in. you can catch us every weeknight atin. catch us every weeknight here at 8:00 on msnbc. he was well-liked. he was well-loved. he was smart. he was fun. i had the most senseless, empty feeling. this is how it ends? why would somebody do it? now what? white hat. wide open smile. a handsome young veterinarian in big sky country. he loved helping animals. he asked me out that night. i was excited. and then they found him, dead on the floor. two shots went off and then the third shot into his chest.
Was he? protective. ornery. reporter: ornery? we were always playing pranks on each other and especially teresa, because she didn t take them so well. reporter: bryan was very smart was a given. maybe a little too smart? i remember turning to him once and saying, i just want to know what time it is. i don t need to know how the clock was made. reporter: here s what they got to do growing up in a small town. they joined 4-h, future farmers of america. they raised their special animals, showed them off in fairs and exhibitions. and bryan knew from the very beginning there was one job he was meant to do. i never knew bryan not wanting to be a veterinarian. bryan always said that being a vet was way more difficult than being a doctor because an animal can t tell you where it hurts or how they feel. you have to figure out how they feel. reporter: after finishing vet school, bryan moved to montana. big, wide open country. cattle ranches galore. an outdoorsman s paradise,
The plains of montana are no stranger to sudden, violent death. history is littered with it. but for the people living the history in july 1996 after the murder of the town veterinarian, bryan rein, it was all very, very hard. mom, for probably the next five years, crawled into a hole and didn t come out. reporter: and ann, that young woman in the middle? i was devastated. i just thought, here i d met somebody that treats me nice and treats me like an equal. reporter: somebody you felt special when you were with him? yes, and to have that ripped away and not even know nothing may have ever came of it, but i didn t get the chance to find out. reporter: but what was worse, ann felt an overpowering sense of guilt. you felt responsible? i felt like if it wasn t for