To a tragic accident. But look closer. Can all of the broken glass and twisted metal, was there a clue to a crime . The last thing i wanted to have was to have to take a double fatality and not treat it as a homicide. Murder. And no one saw coming. I couldnt deal with it. Two families in torment. We were both just a small town trial with big emotions. You took it. You did it. And the verdict that would shake them all. Hello, and welcome to dateline. A dangerous highway in big sky country. That was a setting for a deadly crash that would seem to unite to families in shock and heartbreak. Except they were about to find out that the truth about what happened on that fateful night might be darker than anyone knew. Here is Keith Morrison. March 19th, 2009. Night fell heavy in montanas flathead valley. Something off that night. Something wrong. A mary and randy winters house, anxiety spiked. Where was she . It just felt like something was not right. Its hard to explain. That theres something not normal. You could set your clocks by their doctor justine, that reliable. But the new driver of two just 16. A home from a date from her boyfriends house. The feelings seeped in with poison. Something wrong. I called her starting about five after eight and no answer. Called the house where she was at and they said she had left 15 minutes before that. I was thinking she had went off the road between their house and us. Not far away another family the other half of our story was on the road. It was driving her son home. He played the drums. I was attending concerts and this was the first time this is kate instep father, jason thompson. My car was in the shop and i finally faced and drop me off and thats why wasnt with them. Soon the poison, the anxiety, seemed to under jason sports through these windows. Onto his nerve endings. Just All Of A Sudden i realized, whats going on . Why are they late . I just struck to me that something definitely was wrong. Justine winters, the fear would deepen. Justines dad randy was a volunteer firefighter. He was trying to keep his head. New what he had to do. Randi got in his truck, drove out of town to the road coming home for he knew he she take coming home from her boyfriends house. And then he saw it, a new Construction Zone on the highway 93 overpass. What did you find . Something i dont want to see again. You could say its a firemans worst nightmare. Someone tried to hold him back. He kept on. And then, isi. His perfect daughter is just seen. Obscenely broken. But amazingly still a life. How did she look . I didnt really see a lot of her on the gurney there. But i got to see her at the hospital. She was pretty bad . You know, you dont want to ever see your kid in the hospital. Every bit of her was damaged horribly. Broken bones, brain damage, ruptured organs. The chance she would survive, slim said the doctors. Oh but the winters news could have been worse. And a few miles away, where the phone rang in jason thompsons house, the news was much worse. The color was the county coroner. He said, jason your family was in an accident. And he said im sorry to have to tell you this on the phone, but they were just killed. And my world just dropped down from underneath me. Jasons wife, 35yearold Aaron Thompson was four months pregnant. Her son created, the boy who just play the drums in his school concert, was just 13. And just like that they were gone. The crash was head on. And his school counselor, the lights went out. That night of realization, i will never forget that news. Norah of course will erins mother. We were birth jess bunkers. Just or her sister amber, who with david her husband, miss erin so much that they plan to move to montana to be close. Not possible now. That was the hardest week piece of news we could fathom. And and to lose both of them and the baby, it just didnt even seem like it could be real. And here in the little house he shared with the love of his life. Where he had been waiting with such excitement for their baby to arrive, jason, like job of old, was overcome by the heaviest of sorrow. A whole life of service. Its like, im nine years old and in 79 when my sister dies. And then in 19 years old, in 89 when my mother dies of cancer. And now im 39, and oh nine, when my family missing that concert, you lived . How is that been to wrap your head around . Its just embracing of life, right . It theres times where i wouldve welcome death. But the dreadful truth of it is that accidents just like the one here had all happened all around america every day and night. Still, the permanence of loss began to sink in, just before anyone had given a thought to a now diminished future, there was another piece of news. This time, on this road. The fatal accident might not have been an accident at all. Coming up. The last thing i wanted was to have to treat it as a homicide. A prosecutors stunning decision when dateline continues. Trelegy for copd. Birds flyin high, you know how i feel. Breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. Its a new dawn. If youve been taking copd sitting down, its time to make a stand. Start a new day with trelegy. No oncedaily Copd Medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. With three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves Lung Function. It also helps prevent future flareups. Trelegy wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Tell your doctor if you have a Heart Condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. Take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. Ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy. And save at trelegy. Com. Anything your wild child does pampers cruisers 360 fit can too ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy. With a stretchy waistband and adaptive 360 fit so they can move the way they were born to [music] Born To Be Wild pampers cruisers 360 fit age before beauty . Why not both . Visibly diminish wrinkled skin in. Crepe corrector lotion. Only from gold bond. Botanica by air wick is crafted with natural and responsibly sourced ingredients. Preserving nature is important. So, together with World Wildlife fund, were giving back by reseeding Native Wildflowers and grasslands. Learn more at airwick. Us. For decades montanans have morbidly said the words pray for me i drive highway 93, they say because of nights like march 19th 1995, but as everybody would soon know this crash on this crash, might have been no accident. A revelation which in jason thompsons devastated mine would register later. Just now his whole life was a bomb creator. Erin was like my heart, my soul mates, i waited all these years but i had an ideal and i was searching for her. And she as she told everybody has been looking for him. Aaron was a single mom when he met her brilliant smile, she was a hairdresser who love to dance, and she was a secret in all matters spiritual. Her mother, diana. She was single and a young mother and she was wondering what she was going to do with her life. She answered her own question just said, as long as im about the business of spreading love, it doesnt matter. Erin married Jason In The Summer of 2006 in the glorious montana sunshine. And young cadence scenes as pleased as she was. Caid and who shared his mother and use Stepfathers Craving for outdoors adventures. Backpacking on the coast and in the mountains, river rafting, it was all about sharing that time together. Yes and there was that planned aaron had with her sister amber. We always had a dream of growing up and living right next door to each other, and raising up our families. Suing the plan expanded beautifully, when aaron and jason announced that they were expecting a child of their own. Every day i would praise my wife and my little baby that i was finally going to have and it all made sense. And then came march 19th 2009. But as the news and the grief spread there was still hope, remember, for one of the victims of the crash. Justine winter was alive, though barely with a broken neck and broken legs and internal injuries. Doctors told the family that they did not think that she would live through the airlift. What did they tell . You they told us that you wouldnt live. We i said she is flying in that airplane and dont even give me any grief. And she did survive the flight to seattle and the Emergency Operation that stitch together the broken pieces of her body. She was unconscious when she arrived, the doctors kept it that way, induced a coma so she could avoid the pain or any recognition of her desperate condition. While her body slowly, slowly, began to nip itself back together. Until, more than a month later and her eyes, just went boom. That was just like the most incredible feeling, shes there, shes in there. In your heart. It was days later before justine could understand what was going on around her, but the news had to be faced eventually. And so, when she seemed ready, they told her. When you told her what happened and the accident and how those other people had died, how did you react to that . It was very emotional for her. It was very devastating. And then what was discovered was quite frankly unimaginable, for in the middle of that river of tears, relief on the one side, abject grief on the other side there was a tone no one saw coming. While justines been 45 days in the hospital recuperating and months more at home in montana healing, it didnt take investigators long at all, matter of hours really, to solve the mystery of who and what caused this crash. In fact the first months, the Highway Patrol officers who rushed to this scene believe that Justine Winters cars crossed the centerline and smashed into Erin Thompsons car, but the worst of it . The inconceivable part was, this was not an accident at all. What was your first reaction . Nuts. It was the last thing i wanted was to have to take a double fatality and have to not treated as a homicide. Homicide . Yes, right there in justines car officers found what amounted to emitted by middle narrative of the event leading to the events in Text Messages. In those Text Messages the prosecutor said, was the evidence. He believed require him to press criminal charges against that girl doctors had quite miraculously saved, Justine Winters, charged as a murder. The prosecutor lays elves its case as jason gets another shock. Coming up. Suing . For her pain and suffering. When dateline continues. N dateline continues e now its the most comfortable, bodysensing, automaticallyresponding, energybuilding, duallyadjustable, dadpowering, wellnessboosting, footwarming, snorerelieving, temperaturebalancing, recoveryassisting, effortlessly lifechanging. Proven quality night sleep weve ever made. Save up to 1,200 on select sleep number 360 smart beds and adjustable bases. Investigators are convinced plus, 0 interest for 48 months. Ends monday that Justine Winter intentionally crashed her car into Erin Thompson killing the pregnant mom and her 13yearold son, caden. Their evidence, threatening Text Messages sent by justine just minutes before the fatal collusion. Here again is Keith Morrison. The sorrow went deep in montanas flatten valley, that awful spring of 2009. Deep and wide, the whole valley, in fact the country, heard about the crash that killed caden kagan and erin and her unborn child, and her estranged and Disturbing Trends oncoming car. Cross the centerline and plowed right into them. On purpose. Shocking . Oh yes. As was the reason. Justine said the police was trying to commit suicide. How did they know . They found the evidence on justines phone they said, Text Messages which she wrote herself and gave him no choice, he said, he charged her with deliberate homicides. Montanas equivalent of murder. Justine purposely went into traffic and smashed into another car and by doing so, she shouldve known her action couldve killed somebody and under those circumstances i think deliberately homicide was the only charge we could find. You decided to charge as an adult, why . She was 16. She was. The taking of two lines is not a delinquent act, it is a crime. It needs to be prosecuted as a crime and if convicted, it needs to be on her record for the rest of her life. Perhaps because of her own massive injuries and continuing surgeries, her age, just been after pleading not guilty was put on house arrest. She was allowed to attend class and at home her class fumed. No matter what those Text Messages said, the idea justine would cause that crash on purpose just crazy. We were you angry by all of this . It builds up inside and it gets to a point where you cant take it anymore. Turned out, and it was frankly hardly surprising, the two families actually knew each other. Justs mother and erin mother had worked at the same school. They made it perfectly clear that what they wanted from justine was a heartfelt apology, and some sort of indication that you took responsibility for the actions she was charged. They saw that as a way for forgiveness, and most people around time thought that was a fine idea but from justin and her family it was just an awkward silence. An Early Morning in the fall 2010, and entirely unexpected knock at the door took emotions to a whole new level. This private advance to gator just hands m eighties papers, hes serving me papers and it says they are suing. Theyre suing you . Yes. For her pain and suffering. It was true, in a legal preemptive strike, they had filed a lawsuit on her behalf against erin estate as well as the companies in charge of the Construction Zone where the crash occurred. The Lawsuit Claim that aaron had negligently operate in her car which had resulted in the collusion. And companies failed to adequately construct and maintain the vicinity. I cant even to begin to think what they were thinking when they file that lawsuit. They flames a whole town. That wasnt just justines decision it was made by the attorneys. Yes, the attorneys. Their name maxwell battle and david stufft, and according to the winters, their attorneys assured them that the lawsuit would give them a better shot at a reimbursement later. There was no intent of going for the estate, making that family endure more than theyve already endured. But the optics were awful . The timing couldve been better. You pick up the newspaper, you look at the blogs, you hear the radio and what you got was those awful people. Those disgusting, terrible people. What are they thinking . Theyre trying to sue the victims of this crime. Thats how it was portrayed, but the intent was not that at all. All rise. Misunderstood are not, by the time justine was star trial started on january 2011, the tide of Public Opinion has turned as bitter as a winter of montana. And justine who showed up in an almost childlike polka dot hair band, didnt look the part of an accused killer facing as many as 200 years behind bars. But there she was. I can see the debris field. With the two families just a few feet away she watch investigators testifies to a certainty that it was justines pontiac car that crossed the centerline. Here you can see all this debris from the initial impact of the crash. Slamming into aarons super who so hard that it was driven backward into the Highway Barrier and Crash Reconstructionist agree. Justine winters car approached the left lane, striking mrs. Thompsons vehicle. But what evidence was there that justine had done it as the law says purposefully . Investigators pulled the black box out of justins pontiac, analyze the data and found another sign that pointed to suicide. Shed taken off her seatbelt. Black box also recorded speed, acceleration and braking and found that justine was accelerating, flooring it so to speak in the five seconds before the crash, speeding up from 81 to 86 miles an hours before hitting the brakes of the last second. She did not swerve, she drove head on into the other vehicle. Back it up, prosecutors brought up this pedometer and their indicating 85 miles an hour found an orange mark it is known as a slap mark, Made The Expert testified when the needle smashes against the council of highspeed. And finally, prosecutors revealed the reason, they said, behind it all. Justine, like many 16yearold girls had a Boyfriend Hers was named ryan, it was quite hot, this relationship. He was her world. But that day in march, there had been a tiff in their worlds, and so that night she rove ryan home asked him to get out of the car and he said that they were through. Then justine drove north to clear her head and she was on her way home when detectives, testified, that she began texting ryan. Apparently well behind the wheel. The first tax half an hour before the crash. Goodbye ryan, just live your life knowing you did change me. My last words, i love you run. Then her texas became threatening. If i won, i would have you. And i wouldnt crush my car. And ryan and serge. You kill yourself, i kill myself. So come on, dont be selfish. That is the only thing i want to live for, you ryan, you keep me living. Stop. You hurt yourself and ill know, and ill do the same. That is why im going to wreck my car, because all i can do is up. It shows you would rather me die because i want to kill myself. Goodbye ryan. I love you. Then, the final message from ryan. You killing yourself is just another way for you to run away. And just five or six minutes laters Justine Winter drove her car into Erin Thompson lane of traffic to commit suicide but instead killed a mother, child and an unborn baby. The prosecution had made its case for murder. Now the question was, what would Justine Winters attorneys possibly say to make a jury believe otherwise . Coming up. The defense takes on the heart of the case. Those texts. When dateline continues. E continues. When Eye Allergens attack, the itch can last 24 hours. But with pataday once daily relief extra strength you get fast, 24hour relief in one drop. Make it a pataday with the drop thats right for you. Now without a prescription. Everywhere. man eye contact. Elbow pump. Very nice, andrew. Very nice. Good job. Next, apparently carvana doesnt have any bogus fees. Bogus . now we work hard for those fees. No hundreddollar fuel fee . Pumping gas makes me woozy. Thank you. No 600 doc fee . Ugh, the printing, the organizing. No 200 cleaning fees. Microfiber, that chaps my hands. You know, we should go over there right now and show em how fees are done. vo never pay a dealer fee. With carvana. Ats happening. Threats against members of congress have more than doubled according to u. S. Capital police. The agency reported 107 increase compared to 2020. The numbers expected to continue to increase. A former president barack obama announced the former first dog bill has died. He was given to the obama children by senator ted kennedy and his wife in 29. Moore was a portuguese water dog. Se water do g. Welcome back to dateline. Im craig melvin. The prosecution had made their case. Now it was the defenses turn. Could they convince the jury to seek Justin Justine winters Text Messages in a different light . Once again keith morris. Every day in this montana courtroom, the family of, now 17 year old Justine Winters, dutifully shuffled to the front row seats directly behind the defense tables. Their faces, like theyre different their attorneys decrees they say, was unintentional blank. Emotionless. Their parent demeanor, a spurn on the already angry town. With almost no one knew what was really going on. Justines mother mary who had been struggling with alcohol, caved into the stress. Tell me how its changed her life . Iran away from all of it. I couldnt deal with it. I just left the house. I didnt come back. Justines brother, kyle dropped out of college, to help keep things together and take justine turn medical appointments. And randy her father, the strong and tall as a must tender spruce firefighter, turned angry, bitter at the continuing prosecution of his little girl. I could be sitting in The Living Room watching tv and All Of A Sudden, i hear something. I just completely lose it. I just start crying. The whole world said justine s dad seemed intent on misunderstanding than demonizing his little girl. Yet he said shed always been so good, kind, thoughtful. And responsible. Was getting almost three days in high school. But mostly wouldnt harm a bug, literally. And cared about people. Would never, never want to hurt that sweet woman or her son. Or baby. Always had a smile. Always wanted to help is, who she was. What kind of little girl is this . She was a good girl. But my interest you to know that as the Winters Spokes was here, they were doing so against the express advice of their attorney. And when it was time for justines defense team to make his case in court, Attorneys Maxwell Battle And David Stufft to luxury that everything the prosecution told them, everything they knew about the case so far, was wrong. What happened out there was an accident. Including where the crash occurred. Remember the prosecutions expert testified there was in no doubt justine crossed the centerline and veered into Erin Thompsons lean column thing the crash. But referencing engineer hired by the defense said his research turned that finding on its head. He claimed it was erin who drove out of her lane in that Construction Zone and struck justine. And the defense went further. Claiming that slap a mark near the 85 mile per hour mark on the edge was planted there by investigators. That the black box had measured speed and breaking was plain wrong. That justine always or her seatbelt. And finally, a psychologist said will actually a lot of experts said the spat with the boy wasnt enough to lead to suicide attempt. That those checks, they should not be considered a suicide note at all. It was a way of exercising power and control in the relationship. To make that kind of threat. But it was always clear that it was never meant. What would Justine Winters say about what happened here that night. About those checks . The jury would never know. She did not testify. The advice of her attorney said her families, and of course that was her perfect right. But there was another reason, to. Justine suffered a brain injury in that crash. So her recollection of the last few days leading up to the crash, that night itself here, she doesnt remember. She is charged with a crime, about which her memory is, a complete blank. So then, how could the jury know that justine knowingly cross the centerline. Having decided to commit suicide by committing hitting the other car. A question we put to the prosecutor. In order to draw that conclusion, you have to read her mind essentially. Youve been a prosecutor for years. You know Car Accidents happen in the most bizarre ways. People do crazy things on the road. But you clearly said, this was a situation in which i know what somebody was thinking. When they drove across that lane of traffic and into the other car. No. I just dont know how you can know what she was thinking. We cant know what she was thinking. She doesnt know what she was thinking at the time. Exactly. All i can do is base my decision on what the evidence shows. Did the evidence clearly show that Justine Winters had made up her mind to commit suicide by driving into an oncoming car . Up to the jury no. Coming up. Everyone just cried about it. A verdict comes quick. But the pain and one final question remains. When dateline continues. Advanced nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer can change everything. But your first treatment could be a chemofree combination of two immunotherapies that works differently. It could mean a chance to live longer. Opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer that has spread, tests positive for pdl1 and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. Opdivo plus yervoy is the only fdaapproved combination of two Immunotherapies Opdivo plus yervoy equals. A chance for more starry nights. More sparkly days. More big notes. More small treasures. More family dinners. More private desserts. Opdivo and yervoy can cause your Immune System to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. These problems can be severe and lead to death. See your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain, nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems; muscle pain or weakness; joint pain; flushing; or fever. These are not all the possible side effects. Problems can occur together and more often when opdivo is used with yervoy. Tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if youve had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. Heres to a chance for more horizons. A chance to live longer. Ask your doctor about chemofree opdivo plus yervoy. Thank you to all involved in our clinical trials. Facing collagen thats all hype . Tolay collagen peptide 24 with derm recommended peptides. Hydrates better than the 400 cream. For visibly firmer skin. Olay. Face anything nexgard is the flea and tick protection thats 1 with vets. It even prevents the infection that causes lyme disease. Your vet trusts nexgard for her patients and her own dog. Plus, its delicious beef flavor is 1 with dogs. Ask your vet about nexgard. So with your home auto bundle, youll save money and get roundtheclock protection. Sounds great. Sure does. Shouldnt something, you know, wacky be happening right now . We thought people could use a break. Weve all been through a lot this year. That makes sense. Yeah. So. Nows not a good time 3 5ths of nsync. Are you sure . You have us booked all day. Read the room, guys. Yeah. Right . As a monetary jury prepare to decide the fate of 17 year old Justine Winters, the members of erin and cadens Family Struggle to hand on to their good would. They had tried so hard not to be angry at justine. That is until they were served with that loss, blaming the crash on aaron. And then watch Defense Attorneys battle and stufft, twist their facts of the case. We you are unusual as victims because of this willingness to forgive justine. Its the adults in her life our steering her in this direction. Is not her decisions. Its these adults. So i had plenty of anger towards them. But for justines family, there was considerable strain. There was so much that justines father Randy Buckled under the pressure and was not in the courtroom. I will ask the court to file the verdict and read it please. When after just four hours of deliberation, the jury came back. We the jury enter the following unanimous verdict to the charge of deliberately homicide for the death of Erin Thompson, guilty. For the death of caden adel, guilty. This was absolutely horrible, numbing experience. I put my head into my knees. It was like the hold courtroom, i felt like everyone just cried about it. How did she look at, mary . When she was going off to jail . Youre little girl . She looked very stunned. Just a week after that verdict, Justine Winters marks her 18th birthday in a jail cell. And then came sentencing day. And everyone wondered, would justine finally tell aarons husband, her family, while they desperately wanted to hear. In your ideal world, what would you like to hear from justine . To be sorry for what she took from us. Because it was huge. Just before sentencing, the family received this. A statement written by justine. And it wasnt even close to what they were looking for. In a she called herself a miracle who was wrongly convicted of a horrific crime. She wrote that she would never, ever, in 1 million years take her own life or anyone else is. That this was an accident that had been blown out of proportion. That she didnt need time behind bars. Just a chance to turn a horrific situation into a positive one. And so with a statement in mind, the family of erin and caden, took their stand to have their own say. I want for you to make something positive of your life through this. But you still have yet to grasp the truth. Cadens the same message, more anger. You took him. You did it. And you need to own it. You killed my boy. You need to and finally cadens stepfather, the Elementary School counselor, first displaying compassion. Then a rear stream of venom towards justines attorney, Thank David Stufft and maxwell battle. Ive chosen to not believe that you wanted to think about harming them. But it has been very, very, very, very difficult to hold on to that thought. Given that youve been led by these two men and influenced by them to not do what was most important in all of this. And to show and demonstrate to us you are sorry for havent taken them. Then finally the moment when Justine Winters herself took the stand to speak to the first time. I wanted to speak with you for two years now. I want to let you guys know that my heart goes out to you. And as every single one of you came up here today with, my heart was breaking. But i just hope that you guys will be able to forgive that i will never be able to see that i intentionally crossed the centerline, wanting to take three lives from all of you. But before the judge allowed justine to leave the witness stand, the prosecutor sent to the podium and asked a question on behalf of the victims families. A question that froze the courtroom. Leave wanted to hear from you for a long long time also, is im sorry. Can you tell them that . Im sorry for your loss. But i cannot royal i dont know what your meaning by you want me to say that im sorry. As so the hammer came down. Since the order of the court, defendant is committed for a period of 30 years. With 15 years suspended. Justine was sentenced to 15 years in prison. And her father, back on his feet and in court for sentencing day, began his own prison term. The one deep inside his own soul. The system betrayed me. You see a certain country, you feel betrayed about it. You feel betrayed by the country fought for . Yes. About the jewish judicial part of the system. They took her, this ones promising College Bound honor student, to a cell in the montana womens prison. Where she instantly became the youngest inmates in the place. And two months later, those attorneys stufft and battle, who declined our quest for interviews, were off the case. That civil lawsuit was dropped. And thats when Justine Winters decided to tell us her side of the whole, sad story. Coming up. An exclusive interview with justine. You say he probably calls accident. Are you able to say i take responsibility . When dateline continues. What can i du with less asthma . With dupixent i can du more. Yardwork. Teamwork. Long walks. Thats how you du more, with dupixent, which helps prevent asthma attacks. Dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. Its an addontreatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma that can improve Lung Function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. And can reduce, or even eliminate, oral steroids. And heres something important. Dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. Get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection, and dont change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. Are you ready to du more with less asthma . Just ask your Asthma Specialist about dupixent. This past year has felt like a long, long norwegian winter. But eventually, with spring comes rebirth. Everything begins anew. And many of us realize a fundamental human need to connect with other likeminded people. Welcome back to the world. Viking. Exploring the world in comfort. Once again. Oh when june hit that guy yes wait i dont remember that its in season 4 dont tell me you havent seen it i watched season 3. You wont stay caught up for long unless you keep watching the best shows from hulu, peacock, starz, showtime, and hbo max, all year long. Just say watchathon into your voice remote welcome back. To add a channel or streaming service and stay caught up. Teenager Justine Winters was convicted of deliberate homicide from a car crash that killed with a mother and son. Would the victims family finally get the apology they have been waiting for . Here is Keith Morrison with the conclusion of our story. Shortly after Justine Winters walked out of this courtroom, she landed here, more than 450 miles east across the state, and the womens prison in buildings. She sat down with us, quite well aware of how all of this time, she had been the target of so much curiosity, and anger. I am curious to know what your Thought Process was, as you went about saying, yes, i think i will talk. I do not know, i guess it is probably that, i was being shown in a different light than what i wanted to be shown in. When you read accounts of your case, when you see the comments that people right, what is that like . They are really hard to read. I heard one that said, i needed to hang from a noose on a tree. What does it feel, like inside, when you saw that comment, for example . I am really weird. And with my brain injury, i feel it in a second, but it is hard to recall it afterwards. That brain injury is the reason she says she sometimes smiles when she does not mean to, why everything came out wrong, she says, when she took the stand and spoke at sentencing, and why she says and even the Prosecutor Says he believes this, that she recalls nothing about the crash. I do not remember the night of the accident, but i remember events that i know has had to have happened right before the accident happened. What events would those be . I remember doing stuff to get ready for prom, because prom was supposed to be two days after the accident, but other than that, i dont really remember a whole lot about march. What do you remember, the last time you saw your boyfriend . I have no idea. I remember that we spent some time together. You are inseparable . Pretty much. In love . Kid love. Well, that is pretty strong love, that kids love, isnt it . Yes, i remember, if i was not with him, i was texting him all of the time. As for those texts, following the argument with ryan just before the crash, justine says beside what many believe, she would never, ever have tried to commit suicide. Knowing if she does, her grandmother, randis mother, killed herself when her dad was just a boy. In fact, she says the most likely explanation is that she was just playing a game of sorts with ryan. He liked controlling everything, having to do with my life. He had threatened suicide twice, thats what i think was happening, i was playing his own card back at him. Oh, i better kill myself than . Yes. I do not think that they were Text Messages that were to be taken seriously. Well when you look at them through justines eyes, they dont look seriously, but the jury did not look at it through your eyes . No. Despite her conviction, and all of that evidence and the fact that she has no memory of that night, justine still claims that she must have been wearing her seatbelt, and cannot imagine driving her car at 85 miles an hour, just not the sort of thing she ever did, she says. Something happened. You swerved across, which that other car. Does that sound about right . Yes. It is probably you, causing the accident, that is fair to say . Yes. And if you say it was probably you who caused that accident, are you able to say that yes, you know, if i did it, and i probably did cause it, i just feel horrible about that. Yes. And i take responsibility for that. Is it possible for you to say that . I mean, if i knew, then i would take responsibility for it. You know, if it was me, i take complete, utter responsibility for it. And i do. And now, finally, having said the words almost, but aaron and cadence family long to hear, justin says that she is finally through with what she calls a pity party, she held for herself. All i would change about that accident is that they lived. And if it had to be, so be that they lived and i did not, i would be okay with that. Because i do not, i do not like seeing anybody else in pain. I know that my family was put in a lot of pain because of the accident. But, they got to see me grow up. And the other family cant see that. Yes. And i dont want to put them in any more pain than they have already had to have been put through. And i want to make everything ok for them. After serving a little more than four years of her 15 years sentence in prison, in 2015, Justine Winters was granted parole. For aarons widower, jason, his dream is gone. Only an empty chair, and an empty acre, as he and so many in the family, as if climbing those Montana Mountains tried to keep putting one foot in front of the other. It is a dance between the grief of their loss, to the joy and blessing of having experienced them. It is like seeing a meteor. You would use purse your luck that you saw this meteor, but be thankful you are blessed to see it. So we just have to cling to that, like, wow. How amazing that weve got to spend a good part of our life with two of the most precious people on the planet. That is all for this edition of dateline. Im craig melvin, thank you for watching. U fo watching im craig melvin. And i am natalie morales. And this, is dateline. Her name is pepper. I lived a secret life. She was kidnapped at age four we got in the car, and we never went back. She spent decades trying to find her way home again, and she finally made it. Or, so she thought. I said, i think that i am rhonda patricia christine. I said, do you know her . And there was a long pause. Her story had manyps