Having an affair. Where was she. There was just no answer. Nearly 30 years, 60 investigators, and it all kept coming back to one elusive suspect. He just calmly said, i know how to get rid of a body so it can never be found. It was basically a nowornever situation. Hello and welcome to dateline. When Kathy Heckel disappeared, the police didnt know if they were dealing with a missing Person Case or a Cold Blood murder. Decades later, a young detective who was a young kid when kathy vanished dusted off the old files. Investigators couldnt solve her case then. Could he help solve it all . Here is Josh Mankiewicz with she didnt come home. Time can be like a river, a long stream of events rushing by. Most barely make a ripple. But a few, like the sudden loss of a close friend, a child, or a parent, have a way of circling back upon us in a ceaseless loop of memory and regret. Thats the way its been for John Heckel and his sister Alicia Talbot ever since that completely normal morning in 1991 when their Mom Kathy Heck l kissed them goodbye, left for work, and never returned. Do you remember her leaving that morning . Yeah. I i mean like every other day. Yeah. Same routine all the time, every time she left us, she kissed us goodbye. It was a july morning. Alicia, 13, and john, then nine, were home for summer vacation. A little after 9 00 a. M. , alicia says her mom called from her job. We discussed having dinner and having pork chops. Uhhuh. Yeah. Because that was one of My Favorite Things that she cooked. Later they tried to contact their mom at work. One of the times we tried to call her was around lunchtime. And she had left for lunch. Yeah. And then we waited and called after lunch, and she still wasnt back to work yet. At 40, Kathy Heckel had spent half her life working at the local Paper Plant in Lock Haven, pennsylvania. I cant remember who i was speaking to at the office. But you could hear in their voice that there was some concern there that she hadnt come back yet. And you picked that up. Yeah. It was not typical for her to not come back and not tell anybody. With their dad out of town, they kept trying to reach their mom. Nothing. At about 6 30 that evening, alicia called her grandparents, Clarence And Margaret dolan. I answered the phone. It was alicia. She said, gram, can you get us some milk . and i said, what what do you mean, can i get you some milk . She says, well, mom didnt come home yet, and she says, we dont have any milk. And i said, alicia, i will be right there. And youre thinking what . I didnt know what to think. But as a mother, you know that this is something bad, something very bad. That night, Kathys Mother and father contacted everyone they could think of. No one had heard from her. And that was i remember picking up on that, that they seemed they seemed worried. I mean you could just tell. Your grandparents were acting differently. Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Their dad, john, was in Upstate New York that monday, training with his national guard unit. He didnt learn his wife was missing until the next day. You get that phone call. Its your mom. Yeah. Whatd she say . The gist of the conversation was that kathy didnt come home from work on monday night. And they didnt know where she was. And now its tuesday. And now its tuesday evening. And you think what . I said, time to call the State Police. With the permission of his commanding officer, John Hecle immediately left for home. He had plenty of time to think on that five and half hour ride. He thought about the time kathy donated a kidney to save her Brothers Life and about the December Day in 1972 when he first gazed at kathy dolan. She just had the biggest brown eyes you could look into. Six months later, they were married. Like any marriage, i think we had our ups and downs. But overall, i was happy about the fact i didnt have to worry about my family with kathy. You thought you were going to stay married forever . Yes. The problem was john was already married to the military. Johns career frequently took him away from home, sometimes for weeks at a time. Kathy didnt like that. And john says his wife of 18 years seemed to have that on her mind when shed dropped him off for his latest guard assignment. She asked me why i had to be there so early, which didnt make sense to me because i was always the first one there. And i said, its my job. She didnt want you to go. She didnt say i dont want you to go. But you felt it. I could feel that something was wrong. The look on her face when she said it, its it just didnt set right with me. Now kathy was missing and her disappearance would eventually drag into the open secrets that some in and around Lock Haven would have rather kept hidden. There was no doubt that kathy took good care of her family, but as investigators soon learned, this Wife And Mother was also a woman who was sometimes lonely. Coming up i asked her mom if she was seeing anyone. She said she had reestablished contact with an old friend from school. And that old friend had a confession to make. He did admit that they had had a physicality relationship, and it had only been a few days before she disappeared. When dateline continues. When dateline continues at this Homeandautobundle Xtravafestasaveathon, theres no telling what we might bundle Homeandautobundle Xtravafestasaveathon bundle cars, trucks, colonials, bungalows, and that Weird Hut your uncle lives in. So strike up the Homeandautobundle Xtravafestasaveathon band for the deal that started forever ago and will probably never end. Homeandautobundle xtravafestasaveathon. Say it with me. Homeandautobundle No Ones leaving till you say it right. Homeandauto. We do it every night. 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And i knew the worst had definitely happened if he was that worried. And that was the first time i saw my Dad Cry too. And, you know, he was always this big, strong man. And when you see that, you its like, okay. This is this is not good. Thats got to be a terrible thing to tell your kids because they want they want you to tell them, this is going to be okay. Dad always had all the answers. And you cant tell them this is going to be okay. No. You dont want fabrication. Across town that morning, Pennsylvania State Trooper Fred Caldwell was on the case. His first call had been to margaret dolan, kathys mom. I remember asking her if she had noticed any changes recently or anything in her demeanor that was unusual. And she said that in the last four to six weeks or so, she just wasnt herself. Then the trooper asked one of those probing and indelicate questions that cops have to ask. I asked her mom if she had any indication that she was seeing anyone. And she said that she had reestablished contact with an old acquaintance, an old friend from school. That Mans Name was Dennis Taylor. He and kathy had recently reconnected at a wedding. Taylor had been singing and playing guitar. The Trooper Jotted down the name Dennis Taylor with the idea of calling him later. Next he dialed the Paper Plant where kathy was last seen. One of kathys coworkers picked up the phone. She kind of corroborated what her mom had said, that shed been a little different in the last few weeks, personality just seemed a little quieter maybe. Then he asked Question Number two. I also asked her if she felt that there was a possibility that she may have been having an affair or seeing anyone. And she said she had no evidence, but she suspected that she may have been. The Coworker Wasnt talking about Kathys Friend Dennis Taylor. She was talking about a man at the plant named Loyd Groves. They both played on the same volleyball team. They spent some time after hours together. And i think just the closeness of the two, and she just kind of suspected that they may be. The trooper learned groves was the quiet type. Married with children. Sometimes he led plant tours and gave papermaking presentations to local schools. A call to Groves Office revealed he wasnt in yet. So the trooper left a call back message. And not long after, the trooper says mr. Groves showed up in person at the State Police barracks. He was very calm. He said that he knew her. They share they worked in the same office areas. He said they were friends. I did ask him if he had any type of physical relationship with her and he said no. Shortly after Loyd Groves left the State Police barracks, the other man on trooper Caldwells List walked in. Dennis taylor, the Guitar Man. Like groves, taylor was a married man with children. And right off the bat, he told the trooper he had a confession to make. He did admit that they had had a physical relationship briefly, and it had only been a few days before she disappeared, as i recall, the first contact, physical contact. Like a balladeer who knows his audience is hanging on every lyric, the Guitar Man kept singing to the cops. Taylor told the trooper Kathy Heckel had called him at work the day she disappeared. Her voice, he said, had a strange tone. She called him just before lunchtime and was upset or anxious and said that she had something she wanted to talk to him about. And he was busy. And he said, i cant talk. Ill call you back, and hung up. He did try to call back then sometime later. And she had gone for lunch. Taylor said hed played golf with friends that afternoon and had planned to meet up with kathy later that night. Denny goes to their location where theyre going to meet. Kathy doesnt show up. He was concerned that something may have happened. It was then the Guitar Man struck a familiar chord. Kathy heckel, he said, had also been seeing another man, a guy named Loyd Groves. According to taylor, this fellow groves was a bit of a stalker. He said that he had met kathy at a park, a nearby park. He said that there was a Gray Van parked nearby. He recalled seeing the van. And the next time he talked to kathy, she said, did you see that van . That was loyd. And he was following her. Was the Guitar Man being helpful, or was he trying to implicate a rival to save his own skin . The trooper knew this much. If Kathy Heckel had been juggling simultaneous affairs with married men, there could be a lot of people who wanted her to disappear, including her husband. He was definitely a person of interest. Exactly how much did John Heckel know about what was going on in his Wifes Life . Coming up were police looking for a runaway wife or her killer . There were just no answers. And that was that was the worst part. Did you feel like you were ever a suspect . Never worried about it. I knew they were trying to find where kathy was and what had happened, and if that included questioning me, i have no problems with that. When dateline continues. When dateline continues ally in a better place. Except now you have uncontrollable Body Movements called tardive dyskinesia td. And it can seem like thats all people see. Some meds for Mental Health can cause abnormal Dopamine Signaling in the brain. While how it works is not fully understood, ingrezza is thought to reduce that signaling. Ingrezza is a Prescription Medicine used to treat adults with Td Movements in the face and body. People taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most Mental Health meds. Dont take ingrezza if youre allergic to any of its ingredients. Ingrezza may cause serious Side Effects, including sleepiness. Dont drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. 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While how it works is not fully understood, ingrezza is thought to reduce that signaling. Ingrezza is a Prescription Medicine used to treat adults with Td Movements in the face and body. People taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most Mental Health meds. Dont take ingrezza if youre allergic to any of its ingredients. Ingrezza may cause serious Side Effects, including sleepiness. Dont drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. Other serious Side Effects include potential Heart Rhythm problems and abnormal movements. Shift the focus more on you. Ask your doctor about ingrezza. Its simple. One pill, oncedaily. 1 prescribed for td. Learn how you could pay as little as 0 at ingrezza. Com any investigation in which someone goes missing or turns up dead just about Guarantees Family members will be considered suspects. Kathy Heckels Husband john was no exception. We did consider that John May have known that his wife was having an affair and that he may have taken some action on his own. Did you feel like you were ever a suspect . Never worried about it. I knew they were trying to find where kathy was and what had happened, and if that included questioning me, i have no problems with that. At some Point Somebody said to you, we believe she was having a relationship with some other people. Was that shocking to hear . It was surprising, because that wasnt the Way Kathy was. In his interview with trooper caldwell, John Heckel said hed noticed a change in his Wifes Demeanor in recent weeks and wondered if she might be having an affair. He was emotional. Theres times when john and i just sat together with my arm around him and he would cry. He was concerned about his wife. And i felt very bad for the man. John Heckels Alibi checked out. And police found no evidence hed paid anyone to hurt his wife. By now, kathy had been missing for two full days, and John Heckel feared the worst. Kathy heckel would never on this earth abandon those two children. Trooper caldwell still didnt know if he was working a missing persons case, an abduction, or a homicide. Then on the evening of the third day, investigators got a big break. They found Kathy Heckels car parked behind the local hospital. The keys were missing. I think they recovered one print. But i dont know that it was ever identified. It was from the exterior of the car. Investigators were now pretty sure that someone, possibly her killer, had moved Kathy Heckels car to the hospital parking lot. And then the case hit a dead end. Days turned to weeks. Those weeks stretched into months. Kathy heckel was somewhere in the wind. We had Cadaver Dogs come down often. And we would have troopers go out, and we would search the area looking for remains or whatever. While some investigators focused on finding Kathy Heckel, others concentrated on Finding Evidence of a crime. As far as investigators could tell, the Guitar Man, Dennis Taylor, had been honest, confessing his affair with Kathy Heckel. Loyd groves, on the other hand, had seemed a bit dodgy. Troopers had searched Loyd Groves home, office, and van, and while some items of interest were found, the local prosecutor didnt think police had enough to make an arrest. There was a Big Hole from an investigative standpoint. Ted mcknight was Clinton County District Attorney at the time. If you can imagine a yardstick and probable cause is at the 2inch mark and Beyond A Reasonable Doubt is probably at the 34inch mark, everything else in between is the difference between are you going to get a Convex Or Arent you. Which means you dont go forward unless youre reasonably sure you have the evidence for a conviction. Correct. He says the fact that Kathy Heckels body had not been found was a big problem. How do we prove Beyond A Reasonable Doubt that she is dead . If she was killed, where did the killing occur . What county did it occur in . Maybe its not even your jurisdiction . Correct. For the heckel family, Kathys Disappearance was a defining event. I remember being depressed. I didnt know what that meant when i was nine years old. But just thinking about how low and sad i felt all of the time. I think people deal with things differently. And i certainly chose, i think, the avoidance method. Not think about it. And not think about it. There were just no answers. And that was that was the worst part. In 1998, seven years after kathy disappeared, John Heckel had his wife declared legally dead. That did not make the mystery any easier for him to understand. Can you sep accept the idea that maybe there were needs that she felt that she had to meet with men who were not you, but that she still loved you . Oh, no. I believe she did love me. She had a secret life that she wasnt Showin Anybody else. But you dont know how long that secret life was, and neither do i. It could have been her plan to wanna end that the day when she asked me why i had to leave so early. I dont know. But im not going to hate her for being human. Do you blame yourself . Little bit. 22 summers came and went. John heckel remarried. The kids grew up. They started new lives out west. Alicia became a ski pro, john, a fishing guide. But through it all, their mother was never far from their thoughts. She missed all those childhood memories. I mean, things like going to the prom and boyfriends and kisses and just just everything. Yeah, she missed our weddings. I mean, she missed our graduations. She doesnt know her only grandchild. And you probably thought about her at each one of those. Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Clinton county never forgot Kathy Heckel either. Shed become a part of history that just wouldnt go away. And as one generation of lawmen retired, another rose to take up the Unfinished Business and discovered enticing details buried in a very old file. Coming up when i obtained this case, it was 22 years old. And it had passed through a lot of other hands. 60 investigators. He was 8 when kathy disappeared. Now he was in charge of her case. What i remember growing up is, where was she . Where was kathy at during all this time . And a leading suspect suddenly leaves town. About three weeks after the disappearance of kathy, he moved his family back to beaver, pa. When dateline continues. P. When dateline continues is olay better than your clean beauty . Olay has 99 pure niacinamide. Its dermtested. And now, its cleanest formula with hydration that beats the 400 cream. Tried. Tested. Never bested. Shop at olay. Com you dont know how much pressure you put on your septic system. But ridx does. In a 21 month study, scientists proved that Rid X reduces up to 20 of waste build up every month. 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Investigators suspected Kathy Heckel may have been murdered, but with no body and little evidence, the case went into a Deep Freeze for decades. Kathys family had never been able to shake the chill of their inconceivable loss, but now a new detective was about to turn up the heat. Here again is Josh Mankiewicz with she didnt come home. For more than 20 years, Kathy Heckels children lived with a feeling of unfocused fear. Its an unsettling feeling that an unsettling feeling of fear that essentially something great In My Life can be taken away at any moment. And you think that can all be traced back to your mom . Absolutely. Absolutely. For their father john, those were years spent struggling to let go and move on. I talked to kathy a lot about it. What do you say to her . Just talk, just ramble on. And you just start talking to her out loud . Yeah. Somethingll come up thatll remind me of something we did. Law enforcement had not forgotten Kathy Heckel. In the summer of 2013, a native son inherited the case, State Police investigator curtis confer. When i obtained this case, it was 22 years old. And it had passed through a lot of other hands. 60 other investigators. 60 . 60. And you thought im going to close it or be the 61st and in a little while, there will be a 62nd. Well, josh, what was interesting was it was 400 pages of reports, and i just read it. To this 61st investigator, the reports were riveting. Hed heard the story as a child, and even had a connection to Loyd Groves, whose name was all over that file. He came to my Elementary School and did a presentation on making paper. You saw a photo of him giving these yeah. And i went, you know what . I remember him doing our school. Confer was now convinced that at the time this picture was taken, Loyd Groves was having an affair with Kathy Heckel. Only two months later, investigators considered groves a suspect in her disappearance. What i remember growing up is where was she . Where was kathy at during all of this time . John heckel was my brothers soccer coach. The Case Files were chock full of details. A gun found in Loyd Groves desk drawer. Ammo found in his van. A curious chunk of carpet missing from the back of the van. What was loyds explanation for cutting the carpet out of the van . In 1991, he said that the kids were playing with Tar And Oil and they got Tar And Oil in that section of the van. That confirmed by anybody . No, it was not. That wasnt the only thing to jump off the page. The original investigators had a Witness Whod reported seeing Kathy Heckel and Loyd Groves together in his parked van many times in the weeks before she disappeared. And there was evidence that on the day Kathy Heckel never returned from lunch, loyd came back so late he missed a 2 00 p. M. Meeting. Something that the original investigators found was that Loyd Groves wrote a letter to his wife announcing to the family that he was going to be arrested for the murder of Kathy Heckel. This is right after the disappearance . This is right after the disappearance, and he wrote detailed notes to his wife on how to take care of the tractor, how to take care of the car. This is a guy who likes to plan. He is a planner, yes, meticulous. But hes not arrested. He was wrong. Yeah, he was not arrested. About three weeks after the disappearance of kathy, he moved his family back to beaver, pa, and then eventually selling his home, leaving leaving a lot of his personal items at his home. When he finished reading the case file, confer called the local Fbi Office looking for some items connected to the case. It was then that he connected with mike hutson, a veteran State Trooper assigned to a joint terrorism task force. After confer explained what he was after, hutson asked to see the file. I thought it was a very good case. I felt that there was, you know, a very real suspect. When hutsons partner, Fbi Agent and former prosecutor kyle moore, read the file, he, too, was hooked. This is something we wanted to do something about. We wanted to see if there was any way that, you know, we could actually bring it to a conclusion. So within days of getting the case, Investigator Number 61 had a team to help him. They had so much knowledge that i didnt have, it was by the grace of god that they helped me with this case. Time, it became clear, was not on their side. It was basically a nowornever situation, and i always felt we were just a heartbeat away from losing a witness, to not having a case. As they worked the case, the investigators knew they had one ace in the hole. In 1991, specks of blood had been found in Loyd Groves van. Advanced Dna Tests were done in 2004. Based off the fact that there wasnt a Dna Sample from the victim, they essentially had to construct one from the victims mother and father, essentially building the victims dna profile. That Dna Test proved the blood was Kathy Heckels, but Trooper Confer says it seems that bit of evidence fell through the cracks because the Lead Investigator and primary prosecutor at the time took medical leave. One thing was clear to all three of the new investigators, this case needed more resources and more prosecutorial muscle than Clinton County possessed. We requested that the District Attorney relinquish the case to the attorney generals office, and the d. A. At the time agreed. In early 2014 a Grand Jury was impanelled to review the evidence. Hutson, moore, and confer hit the road. So we did interviews in different states, and traveled the country a Little Bit. The new investigators tracked down old witnesses and even found a new one. A man who remembered an argument between Kathy Heckel and Loyd Groves on the day she went missing. The question was did police have enough to make an arrest . Coming up i got to know this family. I was worried a lot about them because i knew this would be an ugly trial. Will it be kathy who ends up on trial . Every single indiscretion of hers was going to be announced in open court. She was going to be punished for being murdered. When dateline continues. When dateline continues alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. Say hello to your Fairy Godmother Alice and longlasting Gain Scent beads. Part of the irresistible Scent Collection from gain if youre 55 and up, tmobile has plans built just for you whether you need a single line or lines for family members, youll get great value on americas most reliable 5g network. Like 2 lines of unlimited for just 27. 50 a line. Thats our everyday price. 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No. It its more like, we need more. The investigators went looking for more. They tracked down new witnesses and dug deep looking for Kathy Heckels body, which they never found. Even so, on january 28th, 2015, a Grand Jury indicted Loyd Groves for murder, largely on the strength of the same evidence that had been in the files all along. It was literally just like television. We got there early, at like 5 00, and we set up. As he was walking to his car, we rolled right up, jumped out. And when i put the handcuffs on him, i said, youre under arrest for the murder of Kathy Heckel. Did he say anything . Yeah. He told his son that he needed to get a different ride to work. So it really didnt faze him. Lo and behold, Loyd Groves is arrested. What was that like to hear . Inner thankfulness that we were getting somewhere. Still a long way to go. Yeah. Still a long way to go. In many ways, the arrest of 65yearold Loyd Groves was the easy part. Legal maneuvering delayed his trial another three and a half years. For the defense, the delay gave their investigators time to poke holes in the prosecutions case. This case had holes you could drive trucks through. Tom bruno and his wife amy were the Defense Teams investigators. We were in the case for nearly four years. We actually talked about him, i would guarantee every day. Tom, a former cop, knew how to look for flaws in the police work. Amy, a Lock Haven native, had grown up with the Kathy Heckel story. You talk to anyone in town, they would all say that loyd killed her and he put her in a vat of acid and dissolved her body. That was the Working Theory for years. But tom says the files he read didnt prove any of that. In fact, he says he found a Silver Bullet in those piles of documents. We actually discovered that in the police reports, in medical records, that she had cut her finger at work. It was bleeding so badly that she had to get it treated three times. And this was at the time that she was allegedly in her in Loyds Van every day. So if the prosecution planned to make a big deal out of a Dna Test showing Kathy Heckels blood in Loyd Groves van, the Defense Response now would be so what. They think it came from kathy because loyd killed her. But yet, heres Kathys Blood because she cut herself at work. I mean, if this isnt reasonable doubt, what is . As the case went to trial in november 2018, pennsylvania senior Deputy Attorney general Daniel Dye knew the defense would do more than just attack their evidence. He feared they would attack Kathy Heckel too. I got to know this family. I worried a lot about them because i knew this would be an ugly trial. And that every single indiscretion of hers was going to be announced in open court. She was going to be punished for being murdered. The prosecutions case, almost entirely circumstantial, began with testimony from Kathy Heckels children. It was a little difficult. But it felt good to be in front of Loyd Groves and have him look at me and listen to my story. And how scary it was. Mmhmm. Mmhmm. According to friends and family, Kathy Heckel was a devoted daughter, a loving mom. At the same time, she was also restless. Tell me what was going on in her life at that time. Her life at that time was a lonely life. John heckel is a good guy. But his first love was the military. And kathy was, you know, having affairs, and one of them was with Loyd Groves. Another lover, the Guitar Man, Dennis Taylor, said kathy had told him all about that unraveling affair. Kathy was trying to break off the relationship. We know that. Loyd did not want the relationship to end. And he specifically wanted to meet for lunch on that day. Did Loyd Groves know about Denny Taylor . He did. We had evidence in the case that groves was following kathy. Dentist taylor testified that kathy had expressed some fear about loyd. Right. In a special hearing, two former Paper Plant employees whod been in poor health had their trial testimony prerecorded. One said hed overheard Kathy Heckel and Loyd Groves arguing the Day Kathy went missing. Just loud. The other said she saw Loyd Groves Staring Daggers at Kathy Heckel as she left for lunch that day. His face was so red, just like he was terribly angry. He was looking at kathy. Kathy pulls out. Loyd pulls out after. We believe that they did meet. That somehow, some way, kathy was cajoled into one last meet just to hear loyd out. And at that point in time, loyd shot her, shoved her in that van, likely with a head wound. According to witnesses, groves was back at the plant sometime between 2 00 and 3 00 that afternoon. You think Loyd Groves kills her, disposes of her body, and manages to get back to work that Day And Act like nothings wrong and get away with it . I think its because hes smart and a good planner. To him, i think, murder is something that can be done over a Lunch Hour. The prosecution wrapped up its case with two witnesses, people who only surfaced shortly before trial. The first was Loyd Groves now exwife. There was something she had been holding back on telling for the past roughly 30 years. And that was that Loyd Groves did come home over the Work Hour on july 15th, 1991. Something he almost never did. Which he never did, and changed out of his clothes, and she never saw the condition that those clothes were in. The next person to testify was this woman, gayle taylor. She also had a story to tell that shed kept to herself for decades. It was the mid90s. Taylor said that she and groves worked together in ohio. According to taylor, she went to groves one day to vent after Shed Discovered Drugs in her sons room. I was like, i dont know what im going to do with this kid. Hes going to get into trouble. Hes going to end up dying. If he if if the drugs dont kill him, his mother will. And loyd was sitting at his desk and he just very calmly said, well, i know how to get rid of a body so it would never, ever be found. The Defenses Argument was he was joking. I sure wouldnt joke about being able to dispose of a body where No One could ever find it, if i had been investigated for killing somebody and they had never found the body. The prosecution closed its case by asking who but Loyd Groves could have killed Kathy Heckel . And in return, the defense stood ready to ask a provocative question of its own. Could Kathy Heckel have simply run away . Coming up did you really think she lived past that day . I certainly have a reasonable doubt as to whether she died that day. Would The Jury have the same doubt . It was a nervous moment, absolutely. When dateline continues. N s [whispered] Air Wick. Do you want more control of your fragrance . 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Wow big deal . We get unlimited for just 30 bucks. Sweet, but mine has 5g included. Relax people, my wireless is crushing it. Thats because you all have Xfinity Mobile with your internet. Its wireless so good, it keeps one upping itself. Switch to Xfinity Mobile and save hundreds on your wireless bill. Plus, save up to 400 when you purchase a new Samsung Phone or upgrade your existing phone. Learn more at your local xfinity store today. Welcome back. Decades after Kathy Heckle had disappeared, Loyd Groves was on trial for her murder. Prosecutors relied largely on circumstantial evidence to make their case, including testimony from a woman who said loyd told her he could get rid of a body permanently, but loyds attorneys insisted he was innocent and were ready to put Kathys Love live in the spotlight to prove it. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with the conclusion of she didnt come home. The Loyd Groves Defense Team could hardly wait to make their case to The Jury. It was like youre Playing Cards and you have four aces, and youre waiting to play them. Thats what we felt like over the last few years. George lepley was one of two lawyers defending groves. I dont think there was enough evidence. And what evidence they did present had issues questioning whether it was reliable enough to justify taking the rest of a mans life away. For a Defense Team that had spent years reviewing police reports, one thing seemed obvious. When the police learned of something that implicated loyd, they were on top of it. Whenever there was another avenue to pursue, it just kind of falls by the wayside. This was more about the police trying to prove that it was Loyd Groves that did this crime than it was about them trying to find out who killed Kathy Heckle, if, indeed, she was killed. The defense argued the Guitar Man Dennis Taylor should have gotten a closer look. Yes, she had an affair with loyd, but she also was having an affair with Dennis Taylor. Taylor had told the police that he played golf the afternoon Kathy Heckel went missing. They went to check his alibi out, 13 months later. Not right away. And when they go there, a log that he has to write in to show that he was golfing there, the pages are missing. Isnt that convenient . And, of course, the defense argued, Kathy Heckels affairs could have also provided her husband with a motive for murder. Weeks after Kathy Heckel disappeared, the defense noted, John Heckel discarded some of her personal items. Her husband throws away her purse, her wallet, her photo i. D. It isnt that he throws it in a garbage can in front of his house where somebody might see it. Its in a dumpster in the back of the reserve base. Youre saying that he wanted to conceal that. What more logical conclusion is there . Did John Heckel have something to hide . The defense didnt offer an answer for that, and John Heckle says he doesnt remember much about those days. I dont recollect throwing anything like that out. The defense even suggested that Kathy Heckel may not have died on july 15, 1991. Did you really think she lived past that day . I certainly have a reasonable doubt as to whether she died that day. To support that theory, the defense introduced statements John Heckel made more than 20 years ago. In one, heckel said he thought his wife may have siphoned thousands of dollars from a joint bank account. In another he asked investigators if a woman pictured in a Swingers Magazine might be his wife. Is there any credible argument that Kathy Heckel squirreled away money, vanished, Ran Out On her husband and her family, and then posed for pictures that were put in a Swungers Magazine that anybody could have seen . I certainly dont think it has been disproven Beyond A Reasonable Doubt that that could have occurred. On the stand, John Heckel said those decadesold statements had been the frantic musings of a desperate man. I was grasping anything i could think of to try to find out what happened to my wife. The defense conceded groves did go home that day to change his shirt but said that was because hed gotten dirty at the plant where he had to lead a tour for a group of children at 3 00 that afternoon. And that Lunch Hour trip home, they argued, simply made the Prosecutions Version of events even more unlikely. If you factored in all of the witnesses when they saw him at the plant, how does he have anywhere near enough time for him to have done what they claim he did . For 27 years the question of what had happened to Kathy Heckel had hung over Lock Haven. Now it was up to a Clinton County jury to finally provide an answer. It was contentious. Shaun sanford, a toddler at the time Kathy Heckel disappeared, was The Jury foreman. The very first vote we took was 75, 84 for guilty. I thought it was going to be the other way for acquittal. Why did you vote for acquittal on that first vote . If you looked at every piece of evidence individually, you could poke holes in all of it piece by piece. After breaking for the weekend, The Jury returned on monday morning, rested, but still deadlocked. There was one juror in particular who was voting for acquittal originally, who couldnt get over the fact that he thought the Prime Suspect should be John Heckel. Over and over, jurors reviewed and discussed the evidence. Then just before 3 00 that afternoon, jurors notified the judge they had reached a verdict. It was a nervous moment, absolutely. I i was nervous. And we were all holding hands. On the charge of first degree or premeditated murder, the verdict was not guilty. Then in what seemed to be a compromised decision, The Jury found groves guilty of thirddegree murder, which is legally considered a spontaneous act in the heat of the moment. You look at groves during that time . No, i spent more time looking at Kathys Picture and crying. In a letter to dateline, Loyd Groves once again denied ever having had an affair with Kathy Heckel and said hed been wrongly convicted. At the age of 69 groves was formally sentenced to serve 10 to 20 years in prison. Even with the thirddegree sentencing, hell still spend the rest of his life in prison. Thats enough for you . Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Its been more than a Quarter Century since the Summer Morning when Kathy Heckel kissed her children goodbye. And although their wait for justice is finally over, they are still no closer to knowing where their mother is than they were on that Summer Night in 1991 when she didnt come home. So unless your moms remains are found accidentally, you might not ever know. Are you going to be okay with that . We have to live with it. I mean its sad. And its disappointing that we will never know, or we may never know, but we have to be okay with it. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Im natalie morales. Thank you for watching. First up on msnbc, new developments in the texas abortion fight. A District Judge siding with planned parenthood, temporarily blocking an antiabortion group from suing them under the states strict new law that bans abortions after six weeks, the White House now vowing to fight back as a press Secretarys Exchange with a male reporter goes viral. He believes that its up to a woman to make those decisions and up to a woman to make those decisions with her doctor. I know youve never