Clues would be hard to come by. I thought it was over. She was just dead And nothing was ever going to be done about it. Not if this family could help it. We started looking And looking for what happened. There was still water in the tub. We pulled the drain And saw black Scuff Marks. A case that would see the suspect leave town. And unearthed dark deeds from the past. She would wake up And he was be stAnding over her. Thats creepy. She told me that he was following her. Yet justice was anything but certain. You want that smoking gun. Uhhuh. And theres just not one. Hello And welcome to dateline. Cassy farrington was building a new life. The single mom had two kids, a doting boyfriend And an exciting new job. But that future was washed away. Cassy was found dead in her bathtub. Cassys parents set out to solve this mystery And would stop at nothing to get justice for her daughter. Here is Keith Morrison with suspicion in Silver City. Out in the middle of new mexico, hours of Desert Highway from better known haunts like Santa Fe is an old Mining Town called Silver City, And such an unusual place it is, quirky would be a good word. Very old west. Theres a lot of history in Silver City. A vast arid desert one way out of town. Lush Green Mountains the other. Fourth, fifth, sixth generation ranchers And silver miners coexist with artists And hippies And wideeyed newcomers. As we say, quirky. Its just lots of different perspectives, which is always fascinating. But, of course, this is not a travelogue. No. No, this is about what happened here, or more precisely, what happened in there, inside that little house to her. She was beaten from head to toe. She had bruises from the top of her head down to her feet. Her name was Cassy Farrington. And what was done to her in the bathtub of her own house was dreadful. Shes in the bathtub. And I Cant even do cpr. Shes stiff. It was also, for a very long time, an unsolved mystery. Cassy brooks was her name then. Her mom And dad, darlene And chuck. She was very, very outgoing, driven, motivated. From when she was a little kid . Yes, from the time she was little. Straight as all the way through. Perfect grades. Wow. She worked hard. Cassy seemed to be good at pretty much everything. She lettered in five sports her senior year too, And she was in the national honor society, future business leaders of america. She aced High School in just three years. She never quit. I would have to make her take down time. No, dad, i have this. No, its time for a break because she just pussed herself so hard. She aced High School in just three years. She anouvensed to her family that she was going the to be a doctor. And then she was 16 years old. She tried to hide what happened, but of course couldnt. She was pregnant. Med school was not going to happen. And then, said cassys siblings, elizabeth And beaux, Events Kind of whizzed by. She had a baby. Got out of the hospital, graduated High School. Got married And moved out in one month. Wow. It was yeah. Super fast. But the marriage didnt last. By 22, cassy was on her own in Silver City with two small kids. In fact, she moved into a house owned by one of her nursing professors. This woman, charnelle lee. Was she a good tenant . Oh, yes. Like, the best. Spit spot all the time. Always. Yeah, she was awesome. Just around that time, charnelle was heading toward a breakup with her husbAnd, billy. Billy was also a nurse, maybe a mentor of sorts to cassy, And he seemed to be very fond of her. Saw her a lot, at work, around the house. Then, pretty soon, a serious boyfriend came along for cassy, david berry. He was wonderful with the children, And that was something that she really liked about him. Cassys friend And coworker, mary flores. They had a relationship that was fun. They were just building a life together. Especially on the morning of March 24th, 2014. Something Billy Lee had been trying to arrange for her came through. She had just been notified by Billy Lee that she was getting off of the med surge floor, going to the e. R. , the job she wanted. Cassy had just finished her Graveyard Shift at this Silver City Hospital when she called her mom to tell her the news. That was the plum job, The One she always wanted . Yes. Then she went home to get the kids off to school And have a nap before meeting her Friend Mary again later. I had heard that the shift was particularly difficult, so i texted her And told her to go home And get some rest. And then when she got up to get the kids from school, we could all they could come by, wed go get Ice Cream or something. The afternoon came. No cassy. I understAnd. You have kids, And who knows . I mean, A Million things could have come up. And when Cassys Parents got a call from their Andsons-school'>GrAndsons School to say she didnt show to pick him up, they werent really worried. I was hoping that shed just slept through her phone because shed worked Graveyards The Night Before at the hospital. But eventually a request to charnelle, the lAndlord. Could she check on cassy, please . And so i drove down from my house up at the hill. Up there. Down yeah. Down this way And up here uhhuh. To go in And check on her through the Back Door. Which is where she noticed the strangest thing. I looked through the door, And there was water. You could see through the door, there was just water rolling out. And i knocked. Was it coming out under the no, it was door . Just over there. Rolling out into the kitchen, right there. Weird. That would be very strange yeah, it was to see. Very strange. And then as soon as i saw that And i knocked, And i called for cassy, And nothing happened. And then so i had to go back up to the other house to get the key. And then just came right back here. Yeah, And then then i unlocked the door. Dread gripped her then. Something bad in there. And where was cassy . A home full of water, an ominous sight. But nothing compared to what came next. Youre a nurse. Youve seen lots of things. Yeah. But that cant have been easy. No. Wow, thats a low price. Ooh, thats a low price. Huh. That is a low price. Whats a low price . Ahh, thats a low price can you let me shop . Hmm, thats a low price. Im gonna get it at amazon, anytime is a good time to save. I want to break free vo ready to break free . Its time to get away to a place where we can finally be free. Ive got to break free Vo Plan your Future Getaway with norwegian. Sail safe. Feel free. Were carvana, the company who invented Car Vending MachinesAnd buying a car 100 online. Now weve created a brAndnew way for you to sell your car. Whether its a year old or a few years old. We wanna buy your car. So go to carvana And enter your License Plate Answer a few questions. And our Techno Wizardry calculates your Cars ValueAnd gives you a real offer in seconds. 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So she ran to the master bathroom, intending to turn off the water. And there she was. I saw her in the bathtub. It was like ive never seen anything like it. It was heaped up, And the waves were just, like thats a deep big cresting. Deep bathtub, too. Yeah, it was, like, cresting. And she was on the top. Oh. And she was in the water. Yeah. She was upside down. And it was face down. Right. Right. I mean, youre a nurse. Youve seen lots of things. Yeah. But that cant have been easy. No. Well, at the time, you know, youre just in like emergency mode, you know . You just you dont even stop to think. You And so i just went And grabbed her And pulled her over to here And turned her over to see if there was something i could do to help her. I mean, it was kind of horrifying because she was still in her nursing scrubs. And then i checked to see if she had a pulse an she didnt. Nothing to do now but call 911. Shes been in the bathtub And i I Cant even do cpr. Shes stiff. Okay, so shes unresponsive right now. Shes dead. As charnelle talked to the 911 dispatcher, she turned off the faucet And oh, my god, why is there Water Running everywhere . Thats weird. I heard Water Running in the extra bathroom. At the other end of the house. Yes. So charnelle ran back there And discovered Water Running in the other bathtub, too. No flooding. That drain was unplugged. And when she turned off the water, charnelle noticed that the Towel Rack was broken. This bit right up here. Yes. It was just sort of yanked Off The Wall then, huh . Totally yanked Off The Wall. Huh. And then thats her leaving a gaping hole or something, right . Right, yes. By then the Grant County Sheriff deputies were arriving, And they asked charnelle to leave. Whatd you see . I saw water on the ground on the North Side that had been coming out of the trailer. It was still dripping, in fact. Lieutenant Ray Tavizon was the supervising chief deputy. While his lead detective, jose sanchez, took charge of the scene And the investigation, tavizon had a look around. Any sign of forced entry anywhere . No, no. No sort of footprints or Tire Marks or anything . No. The way the ground is, the gravel And stuff, there wasnt any. And inside the house . We saw that there had been what looked like maybe a scuffle in that bathroom. What told you that . Well, there was a broken Towel Rack uhhuh. Laying on the floor. There was a pair of glasses laying on the floor. And then from there, we went to the North End of the trailer. Her bed was made. It hadnt been slept in. Her lunchbox, her backpack And her purse were all on the foot of the bed. In other words, this was not a robbery. Apparently not, no. It didnt look like it. They would have taken that stuff. Correct. There was a laptop in the bathroom. Uhhuh. And then she was laying on the floor. And at that point, i went out And called my superiors to inform them what we had. There is no getting over the Phone CallCassys Parents got then. All i remember is she starts screaming, no And then she told me, they found cassy dead in her home. And i just grabbed my car keys, And we were out the door And gone, headed to silver. What was that drive like . It seemed like it took forever, but it was the fastest id ever made that trip. What goes through your minds . Were just hoping that theyre wrong. Yeah, hoping they were wrong. But they arrived in time to watch cassy being carried away in a body bag. And then, traumatic as that was, as they stood there, Lieutenant Tavizon approached them And seemed to say it looked like shed committed suicide. Lieutenant tavizon mentioned to you how many times, three times . Three times in that evening. He brought up suicide AndAnd i said she wasnt suicidal. As if, what, hes trying to persuade you that thats what it was . Yes. It wasnt a suggestion that was made. It was a question that was asked. But sitting here, all this time later, Lieutenant Tavizon told us they must have misunderstood him. You heard that they eventually decided that what you had done was suggest that it was suicide. Well, yeah. They were they were upset because i asked the question. Did you think so at the time . No. So what did the lieutenant think . A young lady just doesnt die, you know, just out of the blue. We consider it a homicide till were proven otherwise. Sure. Of course, there was that other matter that needed proving. Who did this . Coming up after just a few hours at the house, detectives leave the scene. How can you be done with your investigation that quick . So the family decides to do a little detecting of its own. There was still water in the tub. We pulled the drain. And we saw black Scuff Marks. When dateline continues. E. And thats all thanks to this guy, ted. ted oh, just a matter of perspective, really. brad apartmentsdotcom. The most popular place to find a place. 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And what happened to her, as the deputies could clearly see, was close up And intense And murder. Did you see any obvious injuries on her body . Well, there was some bruising on her arms. There was some bruising around her neck. What was less clear, however, was exactly how her death was caused although did It Leap out at you, though, And say, somebody beat this girl or strangled her, or something . It was suspicious. Very suspicious. The sort of thing that could keep Crime Scene Investigators busy all night. Swiping for dna, taking fingerprints, collecting all the bits of evidence. And yet And this was very strange after just a few hours, during which they didnt do those things, the deputies left And told Cassys Family, go on in if you want. Yeah, they released the house. You can go in. And they put their hAnd to at the door, you can all go in now. How can you be done with your investigation that quick . Odd. Not exactly normal protocol, especially since once people start walking in And out, the scene becomes highly compromised. Did you go into the house that day . Yeah, when when they said, you can go into the house, we went in. They were hoping to find some Sign Or Clue to explain what happened to cassy. But they never imagined theyd find evidence that the deputies just left behind. There was still water in the tub, so we pulled the drain. And when we pulled the drain, then we saw black scuffmarks, like, from shoes, rubber. Black rubber in the tub . In the tub. And where did those Scuff Marks come from . From a struggle. They also found cassys glasses And a Hair Ribbon near the broken Towel Rack. No one had bothered to collect them as evidence. So they did. Its so strange to have the family as a kind of csi group. Yeah. We gathered up the hair with the Bobby PinAnd the ribbon, her glasses. Did it seem shocking we were gathering evidence. To you that you were gathering evidence And not that was the police . Frustrating. Yeah. Kind of, like, a tell right off the top. This isnt gonna necessarily go well. Deputies did return to the house the next day, though, And discovered the carpet in her bedroom was gone. Billy lee, the lAndlord, goes in And starts rippinthe carpet up. Wait a minute. Yeah. Youve got a guy going in right after, And the First Thing he does is rip the carpet out of the Master Bed well, its soaking wet. And that finally seemed to get the attention of the lead investigator, Sergeant Sanchez, who by then already had a few reservations about mr. Lee. Why would he remove the carpet . To get rid of evidence . And what was his relationship with cassy . Mr. Lee told him that he really didnt have any dealings with cassy. Then later found out that she had applied for a position in the in the emergency room. And Billy Lee was The One that was helping her. And thats what threw red flags up for for sanchez. Why . Well, because he was thinking maybe he was there to try to collect a favor for for getting her the job. Did cassy reject Billy LeeAnd pay a terrible price . A few days after cassys death, the investigating deputy set out to officially question billy. But billy was gone, had quit his job And left town, was far, far away in alaska without his wife. I was like, wow, hes going to alaska. Maybe sanchez is on to something. But thats exactly what people do. You know, they get in trouble. They take off for Alaska Or Someplace like that, or mexico or something. But for whatever reason, no effort was made to bring Billy Lee back to Silver City for questioning. And investigators quickly turned their attention to another man in cassys life, her livein boyfriend, david berry. His behavior the first few days after her death was very strange And peculiar to me. How so . I, myself, never really saw him shed a tear. But i was suspect of everyone that had any contact with her. I didnt trust anyone. At the funeral Cassys Casket was left open to tell the world what was done to her, said her siblings. Her face was covered in bruises. Her neck was a Giant BruiseAnd swollen. Her hAnds were black. But who had done it . For months, all anyone could do was speculate. I thought it was over. I thought she was just dead And that was it And nothing was ever gonna be done about it. At the sheriffs office, investigative Supervisor Tavizon questioned his deputy, sanchez. Why hadnt he even dusted for fingerprints . He said, no, he said, its too clean. To him it wasnt anything that wouldve been helpful to the investigation. Kind of an assumption there, huh . Well, i guess i would thats what you could call it. Whats the old expression . To assume makes an ass of you it makes both And me. Yeah, exactly. So, with zero physical evidence to point to anyone, the case of the murder in the bathtub went cold. Until . Until six months later, a particular friend, once suddenly gone, just as suddenly reappeared. Time for a pertinent question or two. Coming up Billy Lee back from alaska admitting he And cassy were close. We were real good friends. But what will he say to this . Did you inflict any injuries to the victim on March 24th . We did it again. Verizon has been named americas most reliable network by rootmetrics. And our customers rated us 1 for Network Quality in america according to j. D. Power. Number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. Most awarded for Network Quality, 27 times in a row. Proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. Thats why were building 5g right, thats why theres only one best network. Growing up in a little red house, on the edge of a forest in norway, there were three things my family encouraged kindness, honesty And hard work. Over time, ive come to add a fourth be curious. Be curious about the world around us, And then go. Go with an open heart, And you will find inspiration anew. Viking. Exploring the world in comfort. Welcome back to dateline. In the hours And days after cassys death, her lAndlords husbAnd. Was acting suspicious. Detectives wondered if billy had something to hide, but failed to call him back for questioning. Cassys family Felt The Investigation was being botched. Here again is Keith Morrison with more on Silver City. Cassys parents were in pain, deep endless, about her murder And the Long Wait for justice. That period of waiting . Hard. Very difficult. Difficult on us. Between us. How come . I was crying all the time. Few things eat at a marriage quite like grief. Even the best marriages. All she wanted to talk about was cassys case. When months went by with no arrest. I got to the point where i told her I Cant do it anymore. But the topic was unavoidable. The medical report didnt come out for four months. When it finally did, it was vague. It was homicide by undetermined means. Undetermined means . You saw bruises all over her body And apparent strangulation. And they wouldnt classify it as strangulation was the cause of death. Multiple mechanisms is would cause the death they knew that vagueness could be a problem, that is if it went to trial because the investigation seemed to be going nowhere. The family found things out like how boyfriend, david, had a solid alibi. So why wasnt he officially cleared. Why did darlene seem to be a more active investigator than the deputy. She drove me nuts. Too hard, maybe . Detective sanchez said im tired of mrs. Brooks calling me all hours of the night. But they kept pushing anyway i said did you get Billy Lee down from alaska . He said, yes. Now, remember, he lived on the same property as cassy And was married to her lAndlord And hours after the murder he ripped out her Bedroom CarpetAnd then went to alaska. The question was, why . Months after he left, billy returned. My name is Billy Lee, or william actually. And Sergeant Sanchez had his chance to question him. How long did you know cassy . I knew her when she was a tech in the emergency room. Curiously sanchez did not ask why billy removed the carpet or why he suddenly doing off for alaska but he did ask about the nature of Billys Relationship to cassy. We were real good friends. We didnt go to bars together And we didnt go fishing together. We didnt do that kind of stuff but we had a Working Relationship that was pretty close. Really . Back at the crime Scene Day of the murder, he claimed he barely knew her. Now they were pretty close. Too close . Billy told the detective he had an alibi. He And a buddy were out in the country working on his cabin. We were working on that roof And when i got the call, wed been out there for a couple of days. But, of course, as any detective could tell you people lie all the time about alibis. Sanchez asked billy to take a polygraph. Did you inflict any injuries to the victim on March 24th . No. The results were inconclusive . Not so good for billy And that alibi . It just kind of sat there unchecked. Until finally a year later Lieutenant Tavizon did some checking And confirmed his alibi was absolutely solid, though, when we tracked him down, he said this they never did in my mind ever really truly suspect me because i had such an alibi. I hate to say it but ive looked at what they were saying. You were their Number One person of interest. At least one Investigators Number one person of interest. They never told me that. Billy also found any suggestion he was too close to cassy particularly offensive. Absolutely never even thought in my mind to have a where with cassy. Not even a little bit. Treated her like a daughter. Why take off for alaska after the murder. Got a lucrative Job Offer up there so i took it. Not even thinking of that it would look bad. Yeah, why would it look bad . He felt the same about the carpet he ripped number cassys bedroom. There were some people thought billy took it out because billy didnt want evidence to be found. What would have been there more than somewhere else. You knew that question was being asked about you. After the fact. Yeah. Yeah, sanchez said, why did you take the carpet . I said, because you released the place And we needed to save the flooring. What about the polygraph . Why that inconclusive result . I can tell you why, instead of you ever been in the house, i said, yes. And she kind of raised her eyebrows because that was our rental house, of course i been in the house, multiple times. Maybe they should have asked Cassys Family who didnt for a Minute SuspectBilly Lee. They would have told the deputies it was long past time to focus on someone new. And who could that be . The person the family had suspected all along. He did it. He killed her. We know he did. Coming up disturbing stories about one of the men in cassys life. She would wake up And he would be In The Dark watching over her. Then a new theory of the case. He said a cop did this. That this had been dOne By someone who had been trained in police tactics. When dateline continues. Thats why inside every miracleear store, youll find a better life. It all starts with the most innovative technology. Like the new miracleearmini, available exclusively at miracleear. So small that No One will see it, but youll notice the difference. And now, miracleear is offering a thirtyday riskfree trial. You can experience better hearing with no obligation. Call 1800miracle right now And experience a better life. So whats going on . Im a talking dog. The other issue. Oh. Im scratching like crazy. Youve got some allergic itch with skin inflammation. Apoquel can work on that itch in as little as 4 hours, whether its a new or chronic problem. And apoquels treated over 10 Million dogs. Nice. And. The talking Dog Thing . Is it bothering you . 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Maybe because the investigation of Cassy Farringtons murder had been going nowhere for so long, even while the family kept trying to tell the detective, sanchez, that a particular Silver City cop killed cassy. But the Detective Hadnt done a thing about it. He never questioned him . Huhuh, And i asked him that. And he said he was trying to eliminate everyone else that could be possibly a suspect, And then he was gonna talk to him. But sanchezs supervisor, Lieutenant Tavizon had already confirmed Billy Lees alibi. Boyfriend davids too. We know he was at work, he left at 5 00 in the morning to go to work in demning, And all that was verified. And still nothing happened. So one day months after the murder, the anger Cassys Family was feeling boiled over. I called the d. A. s office, asked for a meeting to complain about the sheriffs department. And complain he did. Forcefully, said chief Deputy District Attorney george zsoka. People got a little hot under the collar, the sheriff, the undersheriff were there. And Lieutenant Tavizon was also there. He And the others had to admit that lead detective, jose sanchez, had made mistakes, many mistakes. I had no reason to doubt him, but i should have. I should have micromanaged him. So maybe the whispers about some Blue Code were understAndable, said deputy tavizon, just not true. We do not protect officers if an officer makes a mistake or commits a crime. We treat them just as we would any other person. The real reason behind a stalled investigation . Just, uh, laziness. The decision was swift. Sanchez was off the case. And this Ranch OwnerAndVeteran Detective stepped in. I came in one day And i was told, hey, were going to assign you to the to the Cassy Farrington case. Sergeant jess watkins. See what you can find, they told him. First thing i did was i sit down, read through all the interviews, read through all the reports. And then he listened as Cassys Family told him about the City Police Officer who had never even been questioned about the murder. I knew it was farrington that did it. Brad farrington, cassys estranged husbAnd. When cassy died, the two had been separated for more than a year but were going through a nasty custody battle. As soon as we found out she was dead, we all thought it was him. Cassys family told Detective Watkins that cassy had been living in fear of brad for years And wasnt shy about saying so. He had her convinced he was gonna kill her. Watkins listened to their stories. Many stories. One, when Cassys Mom was right there watching. He has her against the wall on her side, but he has her in a headlock. Didnt you wanna call the police . Yes, but i felt like if i did anything, he would hurt her. And she would wake up during the night And hed be In The Dark, stAnding over her, watching her. Thats creepy. Yeah. That is the first time she said, hes going to kill me. And she really believed this . Yes. The first time . Uhhuh. How many times . She told me at least three times. And then there was this, what brad did to the kids. Binding their hAnds And feet together, even taping the babys mouth. Cassy told her mom about it, said he called this a game. They were relieved when the couple finally split. And they liked her new boyfriend, david berry. I thought when she moved in with david, that maybe shed be more safe, could get on with life. The kids loved him. Yes. Tristan actually started calling him daddy david, which cassy would be like, you cant call him that. Your dads gonna get mad. And sure enough, said cassys sister, he did. He expressed to cassy that he didnt like it. That the kids better not call him that. He blamed cassy for it. Yeah. And a few weeks before cassys death, she told her parents, Son Tristan came home from a visit with brad utterly terrified. They ask him, whats wrong, tristan . He says, daddy said hes Gonna Kill MommyAnd david. He was 5 years old. I dont think a 5yearold makes that up. By then brad was no longer on the police force. And things werent going so well for him. When Sergeant Watkins finished reviewing it all, police reports, his own interviews, what he felt was something like amazement. Wow. Nobody in this world is pointed out as having any reason to want to harm her other than brad. As long as she was alive, cassy had the kids And a new man And a great job. And he was losing everything. He no longer was working at the police department. You know, they hadnt reached any agreements on these kids. I think that was his way to take what he could from her. Just say, hey, look. Those kids are gonna theyre not gonna have you. Was watkins right . We asked to hear the Farrington Side of the story from brad or his family or both. We asked multiple times, but they told us they didnt want to be interviewed. Anyway, for Sergeant Watkins, the evidence was too compelling to ignore, especially what came right out of the autopsy. Photos which the detective said to the prosecutor told an unmistakable story. He said a cop did this, that this had been dOne By someone who had been trained in police defensive tactics. Whatd you think when you heard that . Well, i thought, we now have the evidence we need to charge bradley farrington. Five weeks after Sergeant Watkins took over the case And a year And a half after cassy was killed, Law Enforcement tracked down Brad Farrington in tucson, arizona, where he had taken the children, And they arrested him And charged him with first degree murder. Just one nagging worry. There was no evidence at all to put brad at the murder scene. And without that, odds of conviction werent good. I was scared that he was gonna get off. Coming up at trial the defense comes out swinging. It will be clear that other people had access, motive, And ability to complete this crime. What will the jury think . I was so nervous. I just paced up And down halls, in And out. When dateline continues. Cial distance. Shingles doesnt care. I stay within my family bubble. Shingles doesnt care. Because if youve had chicken pox, youre already carrying the virus that causes shingles. In fact, about 1 in 3 people will develop shingles, And the risk only increases as you age. So what can protect you against shingles . Shingrix protects. Now you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90 effective. Shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years And older. Shingrix does not protect everyone And is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. An increased risk of Guillainbarre Syndrome was observed after vaccination with shingrix. 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And get started with a great offer on fast And reliable And-voice'>Internet And Voice for just 64. 99 a month. Plus, ask how to get a prepaid card up to 500. Call or go online today to learn more. Comcast business. Welcome back. When sergeant powering possibilities. Jess watkins took over the Cassy Farrington investigation, he came to believe what her parents had been arguing from Day One cassys exhusbAnd, brad, was the only person who would want her dead. Now brad was heading to court, charged with cassys murder. But with no physical evidence tying him to the Crime Scene, could prosecutors prove it . Here is Keith Morrison with the conclusion of suspicion in Silver City. It was the day the Brooks Family feared theyd never see, Brad Farrington on trial for murdering cassy. I never thought we would get this far. Too far . The prosecutors Opening Argument was a warning to the jury we dont have a lot. No one saw the defendant enter Cassy Farringtons home. No one saw the defendant strangle her. No. And there was absolutely no evidence from the Crime Scene to help their case. The prosecution didnt even call the nowretired detective, jose sanchez, as a witness. What we were rather brief on was the scene. That was a weakness, actually. Well, i dont know if i would call it a weakness, but it wasnt a strength. You should be in the diplomatic corps. Well, there just wasnt anything there that was terribly useful, so we showed the scene so the jury could see, you know, this is where it happened. It was unilluminating, And that was a problem, until the prosecutor argued for the right to present hearsay evidence, normally disallowed, And he won. Brad was being verbally And physically abusive toward her. So, One By one, cassys friends repeated stories cassy told them about her fear of brad. There would be times where she felt like he was following her. Cassy was And then Cassys Mom told the jury what she saw when brad was with cassy. And he had her in a Choke Hold on the bed. When you say a Choke Hold, can you describe for us just how he was holding her . His arm was up on her neck like this. He had her neck. To frighten, control . Darlene wasnt sure. But shortly before she died, said her mom, cassy confessed there was another reason, too. He liked to choke her during sex. How did that relate to murder . Remember, the Medical Examiner was vague about the cause of death, but not this guy. Dr. Michael hunter, then chief Medical Examiner in san francisco. Were seeing bleeding within some of the muscles. He made it crystal clear to the jury that cassys killer strangled her. Once you see injuries to the neck, hemorrhages, evidence of assault, that you can form an opinion, And i have formed an opinion, that this represents strangulation. But why should the jury decide brad did that . He was in the academy from January 2006 this is ed reynolds, retired Silver CityPolice ChiefAnd also once brads police academy instructor, the man who taught him the chokehold. So eerily similar to what darlene demonstrated. His arm was up on her neck like this. All of which was interesting, said Defense Attorney nathan gonzales, but did not prove that brad was the killer. In fact, he told the jury they arrested the wrong man. It will be clear that other people had access, motive, And ability to complete this crime. But their Star Witness to drive that Point Home was none other than retired Grant County Deputy jose sanchez. And what he said on the stAnd . Oh, my. Mr. Farrington a suspect in your investigation . No, he was not. Not my suspect, no. Now that was shocking, because sanchez had told Cassys Parents that brad was a suspect. He believed there was an altercation, a fight, And that he killed her And then took her And put her in the other tote. He told us that the day after her death . This is sanchez . This is what sanchez said. But now in court, sanchez told a different story altogether, which, if the jury believed it, would undermine the prosecutions entire case. I was focused already on mr. Lee . Mr. Lee. Mr. Billy lee. Why did you choose to focus on mr. Lee . There was just too many discrepancies. Remember, billy was cleared, had a solid alibi. But now the defense was using sanchez to raise doubt about who the Real Killer was. Theres a lot of smoke here but no fire. Mudles it up. And that, i believe, was the defense strategy, that if you have enough of that, then the Jury Wont see through it. The jury retired to consider. Oh, i was so nervous, i just paced up And down the halls, in And out. Four hours later, they were called back into court. Has the jury reached a verdict . We have, your honor. The defendant shall please rise. We find the defendant, bradley farrington, guilty of firstdegree murder. When they announced their verdict . There was a lot of tears, a lot of sighs of relief. One of the Deputy Attorneys says, thank you for not giving up, thank you for pushing. And i said, how could i . It was my little girl. Brad farrington was sentenced to life. No parole for at least 30 years. Hes filed an appeal. Cassy is but a memory now, And so, her parents remember their way through their pain to the good in her life. The kids live with Brads Family now. And when we last spoke to chuck And darlene, their one hope was to see their grAndchildren again. They dont allow us to see or talk to them. What would you want to say to them, if you could . That we love them. That their mama loved them unconditionally. Thats all for this edition of dateline. Im natalie morales. Thank you for watching. Im craig melvin. And im natalie morales. And this is dateline. I called my mom immediately. I just cried. I cried. I couldnt feel. My body went numb. I told her karlyns gone. Shes gone. She was a beautiful young mom doing important work. She was an intelligence specialist. Some of her work was very sensitive. Top secret. I believe she had Top Secret clearance. When she was found dead, everyone wondered, did her Work Cost her her life . I remember them telling me