>> the clues that lover's triangle, cash and a bearded lady. >> said it looked like a woman and a really thin guy. >> a mystery with so many head-snapping turns that it took two trials. >> you waited 18 years for justice only to have the carpet pulled out from under you. >> to uncover the truth. but was it the truth. >> an adulter is a person that have done evil things but does not make them a murderer. >> i said let's go down to the comic bookstore. i knew immediately all of the crime scene tape was there. they said you can't go through. we are investigating a homicide. investigating a comic bookstore. >> it was a mom and pop shop in a strip mall in detroit. out front, bins of the fantasy big guys, spidy, hulk and xmen. most of the time we were there on friday nights. >> july of 1990, a friday the 13th, tom and lenora stopped by the comic book shop. >> she knew our names and would light up with a smile. many times she would come around the counter to greet us. >> not on this summer evening. just after 6:00. there was no one behind the counter to take their money. >> it wasn't uncommon common would not be at the cash register. but a longer than normal time. we thought we would stick around. we liked her. >> teenage customers were also in the shop browsing and were itchy to pay and go. they were the first to peek into the back room. >> tom and i rushed to the back storage area and found barb on the floor. she was blue around her mouth. her pupils were dilated and big. i could not find a pulse. >> lenora happened to be a nurse and took charge and noticed a small amount of blood and concluded barb suffered a heart attack or seizure. >> i had never done cpr on someone i knew and loved. please god let it be okay. she is a mother. >> as the ambulance rushed barb to the hospital. lenora felt she had done her professional best. >> i knew she was medically in dire straits. >> the woman was barbara george, a little heavy but physically fit and enthusiastic softball and volleyball player. >> if you can give 100 compressions per minute to the patient, the better the chance of reviving the heart. >> after 15 minutes it was all over as a doctor pronounced bash -- barb george dead. >> my first thought as a nurse there had to be a bullet hole there. >> barbara george, the nice lady behind the counter shot to death. >> shot in the head. did not seem like it could happen to such a good person. >> back at the comic book shop friends and family arrived at what was supposed to be a surprise birthday party for michael george, bar b's husband. all of the guests stunned to find the party turned into a crime scene and barb, the hostess dead. what could be two key clues to solving the mystery? witnesses reported seeing a speeding car. >> we thought to ourselves and said it to each other boy that car is it going too fast. >> a man waiting outside the comic book shop. >> had on a dark outfit for that time of the year. greek fisherman's cap is how i would describe it. >> when dateline continues. n das or something like that. but lenders don't even use that score. creditrepair.com has a free credit snapshot that can show you exactly what's happening with your credit score. and killing my interest rates. well, great seats though. -thank you. -like really. just knowing your score won't improve it. instead, work to actually fix your credit with creditrepair.com. >> their hole in the wall shop comics world had been barb and michael george's passion. he collected thousands of comics over the years and he liked superheroes way more than selling insurance. with help from bar b's parents they opened up their shop in a strip mall in the winter of 1988. when we met joe he earned a living by removing dents and dings from cars. back in 1990 he was the kid brother looking up to his sister, admiring her on the softball field where she was a stand out. >> i would go to her games, i remember going to the tournaments with the family. she was your typical older sister, always there to help you. >> barb was brought up in a polish catholic family. when she found herman, michael george, marriage was the organizing principle of her life. >> was she a happy bride. >> she couldn't wait. >> when children came along, two girls, barbara george seemed complete. >> her kids were a pride and joy. i think that was everything to her. >> the night of friday the 13th, brother joe and girlfriend drove over to the comic shop for what was to be a celebration, barb's surprise birthday party in the store for michael. he was turning 30. michael's mother was going to keep the two kids at her house for the weekend while barb and michael took off for a cozy couple of days in the lodge. >> that would be a romantic weekend. >> a weekend not meant to be. by the time they got to the comic bookstore before 9:00 there were cop cars. >> joe rolled down the window. the police said you can't go through. we are investigating a homicide. somebody was killed. >> i immediately thought mike. nobody hated my sister. absolutely nobody. >> but the victim was not mike, it was joe's sister. and it was up to detective sergeant stepper. he was the detective on duty when the woman came in with a shot to the head. as the detective's team scoured for a tossed weapon, clothing, something, he turned over the few facts he had. a woman with children gunned down execution style in the back of a comic bookstore. police interviewed merchants and customers at the mall. had anyone seen anything out of the ordinary. tom and lenora ward did. they had picked up on something when they first arrived. a speeding car in front of the comic shop. >> we both thought to ourselves and then said it to each other boy the car is going too fast. >> later they wonder if they have to go with the get away style. >> he had on a dark out fit, greek fisherman's cap. someone wearing what appears to be a fake beard, a bearded lady. the shop was small, deeper than it was wide. filled with comic books out front of the register and a door to the back storage room. barbara george was found inside the back room. a locked door that led to the alley in the rear. >> inside the comics corner. >> they began videotaping the crime scene. there was $750 in the cash register untouched. in a glass case behind the till a wall of collectible vintage comics, the good stuff that hadn't been ransacked. some bins were toppled over but the emts might have done that as they rushed in to assist barb george. more than $400 was found in her pocket. later the medical examiner determined the shop owner was shopped from above. another bullet fired first police believe missed and went through a swimsuit calendar on the wall and into the empty shop on the other side of the sheetrock. if it was a robbery it was an unusual one. just after 8:00 detective was told the husband of the victim arrived. >> identified himself and said what is going on. well there has been an incident here. we are sorry to tell you that your wife has been injured. >> he doesn't know what happened. >> to our knowledge he had no idea. i said you need to go over to the hospital because your wife is seriously injured. >> michael george was informed his wife died of a gunshot wound to the head. a few minutes later the girlfriend was undone by the awful news. >> i am blown away and shocked. i wasn't related to her. i was devastated, crying and upset. >> there was someone not as upset as mary was, the new widower. why was she so suspicious of the comic book man. coming up. >> not a tear in his eyes. he just had nothing going on. all an act. >> untroubled husband with a troubled marriage. >> they were really close giggling and arms were crossed. >> we started receiving phone calls that you might want to look at his relationship with an employee named rene. >> cozy, check it out. >> yes. e. >> cozy, check it out. >> yes >> barbara george has been shot to death in the storage room of the comic book shop of the store she owned with her husband mike. michael george returned to show the detective around the crime scene. where barb was shot is where michael said a robbery must have happened and noticed two important white boxes were gone. >> he looked and said there were two cardboard boxes full of very expensive comic books missing. two boxes. they are gone. >> michael george made a written list of stolen comics and estimated at value at $12,600 and would file an insurance claim for spiderman, green lantern and ironman. >> his whole scenario had to be robbery. >> michael george told the detective he had no idea what happened to his wife and said he last saw her after 4:00 when she relieved him behind the counter and he said he took the two kids over to his moms and remained there napping on the couch before 8:00 when he returned to the comic bookstore. >> let's get to all of this. were there any girlfriends, no. any affairs, no. any problems with the marriage. everything was fine. >> the girlfriend of barb's brother couldn't make out what he was feeling because his eyes were concealed behind dark sunglasses. >> something like a blind person would wear. >> mary sensed michael was acting strange and goofy and increased after a visit to the trailer park home where michael and barb had lived. >> he grabs the vaccum. he showed more emotion with his vaccum. he is saying this was barb's vaccum. she is never going to use the vaccum again. she is never going to be in the kitchen again. i am looking at him like a screwball. all of these appliances. not a tear in his eyes or swelling. he had nothing going on. it was all an act. >> the police were chasing down bank records and insurance policies and looking for leads on the speeding car. the man in the greek fisherman's cap and the bearded lady and whether it could have been a botched robbery after all. they were also getting a crash course on the value of vintage comics. the case detectives had not found the gun and they hoped for forensics like a bloody print were not there. the investigators were getting calls about michael george maybe having a girlfriend. >> when did you learn about a shop assistant named rene. >> two days later. we started to receive phone calls from people advising us that we might want to look at his relationship with his employee named rene. >> cozy, check it out. >> yes. >> it was barb george who met and befriended rene at their children's school and brought her to work at the comic store. she had five children and needed the money. her floundering marriage ended in divorce three weeks before barb's murder. not long before she remembers dropping in at the comic shop along with her brother joe. they saw michael and rene canoodling. you look around at the world like why does the world keep moving. here this man is, he is as happy as a clam. you would not think he had a care in the world. >> michael and rene would set up a new home together with the life insurance pay out he received as beneficiary. >> is he becoming what cops called a person of interest? >> at that point he was. he had to be. >> talked to the police casualally at the store that night and acasually at the store that night and a formal interview six days later. >> they would stop talking. >> exactly. >> this is a big unsolved case. >> yes. >> how much frustration is building within the family? >> what can you do? you can take the law into your own hands. what will happen with that. >> did you ever talk about it? >> i felt it. there were times that i felt that i should do something. you know, i am a catholic. i couldn't live with it. >> in the comics, superheroes are ageless. but the comic book shop in the clinton township strip mall wasn't and closed the doors in 1992. michael george the shop owner and rene moved from town and settled 375 miles southeast in an old coal mining town. on the main drag the georges opened their new shop. comics world. with his two kids and rene's five raised together in the spacious new home they found friends among the other parents involved in the kids sports teams. michael coached basketball. never missed a game. >> tremendous family man. helped business person in the community. >> jeff lively had the electrical supply shop three blocks down. his life was for rene. the georges endeared themselves to towns where families went back generations for the make a wish charity. besides the good works his friends said he was just plain fun. >> the guy had a smile on his face. everybody enjoyed being around him. >> he had all but severed ties with his family. he rarely saw barbara's two girls. come the year 2000 was michael george even aware michael george, the chief of police in his former town had passed away. the chief died without sagging the nagging case of the comic book murder. >> everyone in if the town was aware of the crime. more so because my dad was the chief of police. >> eric smith. >> i drove by the store a thousand times. every time we drove by there, there was something he said. >> still gnawing at him. >> no question. >> eric smith was elected chief prosecutor. he became responsible for all of the criminal cases in clinton township and beyond. >> i can't remember the amount of times a family member had been killed and nothing had been done. they thought the system passed them by. if i am going to be the chief law enforcement officer of the county, i can't let people think we don't care and started a cold case unit soon after i came in. >> one of his first acts in office is to send out a all right asking police chiefs and detectives to look at their old unsolved with fresh eyes. >> i did it with michael george in mind. at the time i was hoping we would get a lot of cases. i would hope they would pick it up. >> resolve one for the old man. >> that is the case unsolved for my dad. >> just as he hoped they reopened the dusty comic book murder case and what a surprise the detectives found there. someone had a vital piece of information about the murder. how could police have missed it all of the years? coming up, a phone call to the comic book shop that seemed to come at a very bad time. >> did he say, you know, i got to go? >> no. just short. >> he kept coming back to mike. we started off looking at a lot of things and a lot of people and it just narrowed down like a funnel. >> when dateline continues. funnel >> when dateline continues >> i am cori coffin here is what is happening. in times square attendance capped at 15,000, far less than the tens of thousands that usually watch the ball dropped. celebrations were cancelled in atlanta and san francisco. tributes are pouring in for betty white who died weeks before her 100th birthday. best known for mary tyler moore and golden girls she was one of hollywood's first female producers. now back to dateline. >> the comic book murder files out of the archives. he took it personally that someone out there had gotten away with murder. the lieutenant identified with the victim. >> i was april the same age. i had children the same age. maybe that is something that stuck with me. >> this is stuff to pick off of the stack. >> i knew you that going in but i operate with the theory if you don't shoot, you don't score. i owed it to myself and i owed it to barb too. >> shoe leather cops to make the calls and knock on doors and recruited two detectives and the three of them re-read police reports. there are a reason crimes stay unsolved, a lack of evidence. the three wondered if they had one of those here. >> is this even doable. we came to the conclusion we need to notify the family. in early 2007 the detectives laid out what they found for barbara's brother and other family members. >> we don't know how successful we will be with them. >> after the meeting with the detectives they allowed themselves to be optimistic. >> i told my sister when we walked out of the police station that something will come out of it. >> joe and mary had broken up after barbara's murder but remained close over the years. >> my dad was in the hospital at the time. i told my dad what was going on. he could barely talk. he lit right up. he said good. good. god will get them. >> the detectives started their investigation as though it was july 13th, 1990 and the 9-1-1 call just came in. >> no weapon, blood smears, hair, fibers. >> in terms of what people are used to seeing now with d.n.a., we didn't have it. we had detective work. get out there and interview people. >> they say they chased down the old leads again, the speeding car, the man in the greek fisherman cap, the bearded lady. and re-examined the old motive. was it possible barbara was shot to death over a pricey collectible comic book. the cold case detectives interviewed over 100 people. of all of the fresh 2007 interviews the one they did with this man turned out to be the game changer. a girl's softball coach cofined to a wheelchair after a accident. he was a college senior and spiderman fanatic. july 13th the night of the murder he placed a call. he thought it was 5:30 or so. the avid collector wanted to know why one of his comic books zoomed in value. a voice he knew well answered the phone. >> no. just a short. >> something you can hear in his voice. >> we would b.s. a little. there was no time for b.s. >> the cold case cops struck gold. his story was the missing puzzle piece was the report. it does nothing less than demolish michael george's alibi that he was napping at his mother's house. the phone call story meant george was lying and was certain he talked to the store owner at the shop and the brief conversation must have taken place a few minutes before barb was killed. the embarrassing thing about the nugget of a clue is that mike told the same story to the police in 1990, the day after the murder. what looked like a case breaker in 2007 had simply slipped through the cracks back when. they had it in the case file all along. there it was. a record of his july 14th phone call to the police. he stated he called comic world around 5:30 and talked with the owner, michael george. >> that is the piece that was missing. >> it was a piece that had flaws as evidence. there were no existing phone logs to corroborate the story or pin down the time he said that he placed the call. to this day the former detective does not know how the note went astray but was unaware of the comic book collector's story talking to the husband in the shop. >> how did you not see it? >> i never saw it. if we would have seen it we would not be sitting here today. >> you would have gone for an arrest and indictment. >> no doubt about it. >> now the investigative leads pointed just one way, towards the husband. >> it it was like a funnel effect. we started off looking at a lot of things and a lot of people and it narrowed down like a funnel. >> it was time for the cold case detectives to take a road trip to pennsylvania. a trip across miles and time. they were going to make a surprise visit to michael george at comics world. the one time husband finally collectible. coming up. >> i think barb was at the wrong place at the wrong time and i think somebody wanted to get back at me. >> a vendetta and barb took the bullet meant for him. >> that was something different than he told the police in 1990. >> a conversation a suspected killer never expected. >> you are going to show up tomorrow let me know and i will get a lawyer. when dateline continues. a lawyer when dateline continues. small businesses like yours make gift-giving possible. now, comcast business has an exclusive gift for you. introducing the gift of savings sale. for a limited time, ask how to get a great deal for your business. and get up to a $500 prepaid card with select bundles when you switch to the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses. or get started with internet and voice for $64.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee. give your business the gift of savings today. comcast business. powering possibilities. >> two of the cold case detectives, rico and hall punched in a mapquest address for comics world in pennsylvania and motored southeast. 2007, 17 years after the murder. like commando synchronizing watches, the detectives decided to execute simultaneous surprise interviews on michael george's turf. >> we had teams of detectives go to all three locationsa the same time. >> michael at the store, rene at the house and michael's mother at her home in hazel park, michigan. >> unannounced. >> the two detectives waited for customers to leave, checked watches and sauntered in. >> mike george was on the phone, we assume talking to rene. he said there is nobody here. he turned around and said they are here. he got off the phone. he looked pretty sick at that point. >> detective hall switched on the tape recorder he concealed in his jacket. >> mike was pretty much unemotional. hey. come on in. have a seat. started to talk to him. >> this is some of the conversation. >> we have a few questions for you. >> okay. >> what did the police tell you back then our department? >> they had leads. they never told me what the leads were. >> he didn't say much at the beginning. >> did he say this is great news. i have been waiting for you guys. >> no. >> no. does not give the typical response like you found somebody or that is good. what do you have. he just started staring. >> 17 years on michael george claimed a flickering memory of events. i remember the funeral. i don't remember anything -- i remember the funeral because there were so many cars. >> is he getting sweaty? >> very pale. head looking down towards the table. >> in 1990 in his conversation with the lead detective. michael george speculated barb was killed in a botched robbery. >> what was taken? >> very old books. >> they were golden aiming books. the whole case was gone. >> he couldn't remember exactly how many comics or the amount. >> he was sketchy on the details, he had no trouble coming up with a totally new answer. listen as michael's theory switches from robbery to revenge. >> i think barb was in the wrong place at the wrong time and somebody wanted to get back at me. i don't know who it was. i should have been there. so she could raise these two girls instead of me. >> barb took the bullet meant for him. >> exactly. that was something entirely different. >> is that as interesting as anything else you heard that day? >> very interesting. he came up with a new motive. >> the son of the one-time police chief was deeply curious about how the swoop down interview was going. >> were you surprised to hear he talked to them and hasn't lawyered up. >> very surprised. but i think he was so shocked by the fact that we are still looking at him. so shocked. he didn't know what to do. that is why we didn't call him. >> as the interview continued michael george as he hadn't in 1990 now owned up to the philandering. >> describe to me your marriage. >> it was rocky because we had all of the pressures. i just quit my job and opened up that store. we would have our arguments. >> people have arguments like that. >> anything like an extra marital affair. >> yeah. my side. >> the conversation circled back to robbery, the supposed theft of valuable comics. the detectives asked if anyone knew he kept the good stuff in the back storage room and listen as his passive tone becomes more confrontational. >> how would the suspect have known they are there unless it was an inside job or it was insurance fraud. >> you are saying i am lying? >> no. that is a possibility. mike, you have to look at all options. >> now you are saying i lied. now you are saying i better get a lawyer. >> that is a possibility. >> okay. okay. stop. if you are going to show up tomorrow let me know because i will get a lawyer. >> the next day he would need a criminal defense lawyer. the michigan detectives and the pennsylvania state police arrested him at his workplace, the comic bookstore. as he was led away he loudly proclaimed police nabbed the wrong man. >> they know. they know i didn't do this. >> the cold case had turned red hot. michael george would stand trial for the first degree murder of had his wife. prosecutors knew it would be hard to prove because there was no forensic evidence. it would come down to a single witness and his recollection of a solitary phone call he said he made on friday the 13th, 19 90. a twist in court few would have predicted. >> did you expect it would be possible to say the case is diss -- dismissed. >> probably the toughest moment i ever had as a lawyer. >> when dateline continues. s a r >> when dateline continues [♪♪] you no longer need to visit a dermatologist for top skincare ingredients. introducing dermageek's detoxifying facial serum with twice the amount of beta hydroxy acid. it delivers brighter, hydrated skin! try the new dermageek >> in a michigan courtroom not far from his comic bookstore michael george was standing trial charged with the first degree murder of had his then wife barbara. in early 2008 the man that intended to put george away the trial prosecutor for the county's cold case unit. >> it is true we did not have forensic evidence supporting the case. >> he knew nothing but circumstantial evidence made it a tough one to win. something he would never let on to the jury. >> if it is a murder there is only one person in the world that had a reason to kill the wonderful person. that is michael george. >> proving it all boiled down it a case of who do you trust. would the jury believe michael's mother who said her son was sleeping on the couch at the time of the murder or accept the word of the comic book collector who said the defendant was in the store answering his phone call. >> who answered the phone? >> michael george. >> how long did you talk to the defendants? >> less than five minutes. >> what time did you call the defendant? >> 5:15 to 5:45. >> do you remember how he seemed to you? >> like he was in a hurry. >> how important is he to your case? >> without michael we cannot place the defendant physically in the store close to the time of barbara's shooting. >> then came a routine moment we have all seen in courtroom dramas on the tv. the defense response in this michigan courtroom just as predictably is to try to get the case to be thrown out, asking a judge for a directed verdict. >> when you just don't know you have to pull the plug. you have to say that's it. >> then it got really strange. >> you said your honor, the state hasn't proveds it case and we ask you dismiss it and that it not go to the jury. happens all the time and almost always rebuffed. >> you are rebuffed within 10 to 15 seconds. >> didn't happen here. >> no. >> this time the judge listened intently for 20 minutes as michael george's defense lawyer argued there is no way the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant was in a comic book shop with a gun in his hand. >> a trial judge isobligated to make a call to say whether or not there is sufficient evidence. >> the judge has to regard all evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution. he took 30 seconds arguing why the case should go to the jury. >> the evidence presented to the court creates a question of fact for the jury whether michael george is the murderer and the motion should be denied. >> then the judge retired to the chambers to ponder the motion to dismiss. stayed out for hours. eric smith was the county's chief prosecutor. >> what was going on? >> well, i can tell you what was going on on the prosecution's end. we were fit to be tied. we tried hundreds of cases. these motions are dismissed almost immediately. >> did you expect it would be possible to say the case is dismissed. you are released. >> initially never crossed my mind. after a couple of hours still hasn't crossed my mind. >> carl was feeling better by the hour. >> i remember walking outside with my client saying this is obviously good news. i cannot lie to you. judges don't take this long to decide the motions. >> after hours of watching the clock go round, the defendant out on a million dollar bond praying with his friends and family. >> the court has been reviewing the matter for approximately five hours. i think an extraordinary length of time to review any motion for directed verdict. >> he started, there was a case to be made for the defense. it can be argued that the evidence is marginal and pointed out the merits of the prosecution's argument. >> thissed is -- this is in many ways a classic murder case. the jury could reach a finding of guilt. >> on the one hand and the other. where was the judge going? >> the court cannot substitutes it judgment for that of the jury. >> he decided for the prosecution, there was enough evidence to go forward. the defense had lost a five-hour long high stakes game and apparently by the closest of margins. >> that is probably the toughest moment i had as a lawyer. i thought i might have delivered the guy from a horrible, horrible experience of not only losing his wife and being falsely blamed for it after all of the years. i thought the ordeal was almost over. >> the jurors filed back in for the defense case unaware of how close they were to be thanked and sent home without hearing more evidence. fired up by the knowledge that the judge almost tossed out the case, the defense set out to counter the prosecution's crucial phone call seem to place the defendant at the scene. >> michael could not have been at the store committing the murder. >> the lead detective said it was impossible to be in two places at once and called michael george's mother to tell the jury michael arrived sometime after 5:00p.m. >> he said he was tired. i said lay down and take a nap for a while. >> she testified she took her granddaughters to the playground. >> when you got back did you observe michael? >> yeah. >> where was he? >> on the couch, sleeping. >> now up to the jurors to decide whether or not they believed michael george's mother or the witness who said michael george answered the phone call. decision day. michael george prayed quietly to himself. his freedom, family, the life he enjoyed in pennsylvania were at risk forever. a murder conviction meant mandatory life with no possibility of parole. the jury of eight women and four men filed in nervously. >> my hands were sweating. i looked at michael george. i saw his family. i was numb. i was scared at the same time. >> he said this is it. >> coming up, the verdict. >> count number one, first degree murder. >> when dateline continues. mur. >> when dateline continues (swords clashing) -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. michael george was on trial for gunning down his wife in the back of their comic book shop. his future was about to be decided. the foreman read the verdict. >> we find the defendant guilty. >> guilty of first-degree murder. michael george slumped and sobbed in his attorney's arms. >> please be seated. please be seated. barb's sister and two brothers seemed to share a gasp of relief. >> he took away my oldest sister. she didn't get to see me get married. she didn't get to see my son being born. she'll never get to see him do anything. i mean, he took a part of me away. >> across the room the convicted man's younger daughter, one of barb's two children, collapsed into her stepmother's arms, renee. michael george would go on weeping for a full two minutes. >> i didn't do this! >> but lieutenant craig keith, the cold case detective who rediscovered the crucial evidence, was unmoved by george's tears. >> mike showed no emotion back in 1990, and now he cries, and my impression of that is mike is crying for himself. >> it was devastating. it was just devastating. >> barely able to stand, george was helped to the podium to face the judge, the same judge who had apparently been a heartbeat away from dismissing the case altogether. >> the jury has found you guilty of all charges. at this time i'm remanding you to the custody of the macomb county sheriff's department. >> the comic book man was now a convict. >> okay. >> put your hands behind your back. >> george! >> i didn't do this. his hands were cuffed, and deputies led him away. >> i had no doubt that the verdict that we came to was the correct one. >> the jurors had returned to their deliberation room. they said they could hear george sobbing, but that didn't shake their confidence in their verdict. they said it had come down to the testimony of the man who said he called about a "spider pman" comic. >> i think i hear you all saying he was tripped up by answering that phone call from michael renaud. >> yes. he should not have been there when mike renaud called. >> the cold case unit started by prosecutor eric smith with this case in mind had won a conviction. >> i really thought he was finally going to face the just punishment he deserves. >> and smith had notched one up for his dad, the late police chief, or so he believed. >> my next thought went right to my old man. i wish he was here to share this with, but i know he's smiling. >> the losing defense lawyer voiced the kinds of comments you'd expect to hear. >> i think that the jury got it wrong. i believe we have a strong shot with this judge to get either an outright reversal or a new trial. >> but that wasn't brave bluster. in this case, michael george's defense attorney was being prophetic. six months later the defense tried again, a motion for a new trial before the same judge. one of the grounds for the appeal was prosecutorial misconduct. >> this is not a robbery. it's not a robbery. it's a murder. >> what happened was in his closing argument the prosecutor had a display for the jury. and out of the judge's eye shot began when assembly pieces of a photo like a jigsaw puzzle. the punch line when you put the picture together, jurors, there's your killer. maybe clever or maybe cornball, but either way the prosecutor may have overstepped his bounds. the image of the finished puzzle was a mug shot of michael george that was never introduced into evidence and according to defense lawyers showed him in a bad light. prejudicial error, the defense argued, strike one. strike two was newly discovered evidence in the police case files possibly favorable to the defense. judge biernat had had enough. >> a judge ruled michael george should get a new trial in the 1990 comic bookstore murder case. >> biernat threw out the murder verdict and gave michael george once again another chance to win his freedom. >> it was just elation. it was, like, okay. the greatest injustice that i had ever been associated with as a lawyer has just been corrected. we are going to get a new trial. >> carl marlinga and joe always believed in their client's innocence and now they won another chance to prove it. >> michael was devastated by the verdict. >> i didn't do this. >> suddenly he's got new life. suddenly he has faith again in the system. >> i think he had two things working. he had new evidence and unfairness in the closing argument on top of this real heartfelt feeling by judge biernat that an innocent man had been convicted. >> the county prosecutor eric smith wasn't buying any of it. >> the judge seemed to have directed that there be a new trial because of prosecutorial misconduct. he hung his hat on a lot of things and that was one of them. since the case began it appeared he was not comfortable with this case and what he did was set aside a murder conviction which was unheard of. >> smith was beside himself even though the controversial decision was backed by michigan's highest courts. >> you wait 18 years for justice, and you finally get justice only to have it -- the carpet pulled out from under you. >> after the 2008 guilty verdict, barb's brother had gone to her grave site to share the good news. >> we finally got him, you know? he didn't get away with it, and, you know, you can rest now. >> but now there was the judge's blockbuster decision. >> it tore a hole in our hearts. it was something that here we thought it was over. >> barb's family would have to go through the painful ordeal all over again and with even more uncertainties this time around. though the jury had found michael george guilty, the judge clearly had serious doubts. a new jury could go either way, especially since the defense now had new evidence, more possible alternate killers and just dug up dirt on the prosecution's star witness. but two completely new prosecutors were revved up for the coming courtroom battle. steve fox and bill cataldo teaming up to make michael george face the music one more time. the trial of the comic book murder, vacuum 2, was now at hand. coming up, a different jury, different prosecutors. >> michael george fell prey to the two issues most known to common man, sex and money. will there be a different verdict? when "dateline" continues. when "dateline" continues. ♪ and savings like that follow you everywhere. ♪ now, save more with allstate. ♪ because better protection costs a whole lot less. you're in good hands with allstate. call a local agent or 1-888-allstate for a quote today. september 2011, in the nearly three years since the last comic book murder trial michael george had been locked up in the county jail where he said inadequate care caused a vitamin b-12 deficiency that crippled him. he was now confined to a wheelchair as his second trial got under way before a new judge, mary chinowski, but if the defendant's disability made him appear feeble and more sympathetic to you are jurors, the new prosecution team would work hard to demonize him. >> michael george fell prey to the two issues most known to common man, sex and money. >> what was your theory for the jury? >> i think motive is important, and it was easy. $130,000 in insurance proceeds, and the fact that he really didn't want to be married. he didn't like his wife. he found her completely unattractive. >> he wanted a new life. >> in his opening argument, prosecutor steve fox told jurors that in 1990 michael george was having a torrid affair with his assistant, renee, now his second wife. >> he wanted to get rid of his overweight wife and move on to someone better. >> before the murder the husband wasn't bothering to hide his disdain for his wife barbara according to this prosecution witness. >> she testified she and her son went to comic book world the saturday before the murder. >> theresa, they were in the store when theresa walked in. >> i had remarked how beautiful his girls were. >> what did he say? >> he said if it wasn't for his daughters that he would not have been with his wife, he found her unattractive and heavy, and if it was up to him, he would take the girls and move to florida. >> what was your reaction to that response? >> i couldn't believe he had said something like that to me while she was right there in the store. >> and that same customer was shocked again days later when michael made what she thought was a pass at her during his own wife's viewing at the funeral home. >> he gave me a very inappropriate hug. it would have been a hug that i would only had given my husband. >> meaning? >> it's a very intimate hug. >> a little creepy, but the following saturday as was their custom, teresa and her son stopped by comics world. michael slipped her a note. >> would you read that note for the jury. >> you look very, very, very pretty today. thanks for coming in. sincerely, michael. >> publicly scornful of his wife, hitting on other women and now a longtime friend of barbara's was testifying that her friends and family were all well aware with of capital t, trouble, in the marriage. kathy got a call from bausch weeks before the murder. >> she was crying, very upset. mike wanted a divorce. >> and did she convey to you whether she would agree to that? >> oh, she did not want a divorce. >> prosecutor fox then asked the witness about seeing the defendant at barb's funeral. >> i overheard mike saying to his mother yelling out, mom, did you call the insurance company? it just didn't sound good because of the phone conversation i had with barb and then now her death. >> michael george, a one-time insurance salesman himself received $130,000 tax-free from his wife's life insurance policies, not bad money in 1990. a witness who worked with michael in the insurance business was asked about the money. >> what does the document say? >> this is a claim statement for payment of the proceeds. >> who signed the claim? >> michael george, looks like. >> on what day? >> 7/18 of '90. >> july 18, 1990. >> yes, sir. >> are you aware that barbara george was buried on july 16, 1990. >> yes. >> womanizer, scoundrel. the prosecution dissected his character and referred to him as the only possible killer. >> our concentration was to show that he was the only guy, that he was the one who had to have done it because no one else on earth would have. >> speak loudly. your first name is kim? >> yes. >> prosecutors called this witness who worked at a nail salon in the same strip mall as comics world. >> i would say i witnessed about 30 to 35 arguments. >> she testified she'd heard many arguments between michael and barbara that summer, but the one she heard that day, friday the 13th sound uglier. >> it was much louder. he was much angrier and seemed much more violent. >> than the ones in the past? >> yes. >> less than four hours later, barbara george would be discovered by customers on the floor in the back of comics world. yet in this public place of a strip mall, customers coming and going, cars, no witness remembered hearing gunshots, though, two had been fired. and no one remembered seeing anyone leave the store, and no witness saw michael george at the store from the time he left after 4:00 until he drove up at 8:00 for what was to be his birthday party. by then police were all over the scene. >> he told us who he was, identified himself, and wanted to know what happened in his store. >> lead detective donald steckman, then of clinton township p.d. testified that michael said his wife was working at comics world. >> i advised him there had been an incident at the store and his wife had been injured. >> did he ask you about her condition? >> no. >> did he ask you about how it happened? >> no. >> steckman told the husband that then lieutenant donald brook would be driving him to the hospital where he could find out about his wife. >> the former lieutenant testified that michael started chatting without prompting. >> he made a statement that i thought was noteworthy. >> what was that statement? >> something must have fell or dropped on her in the back room. >> why is that statement interesting to you? >> because i never told him that mrs. george was in the back room of the store. >> he knows things he shouldn't know. >> he knows evidence that only the shooter would know, not realizing how unique that information is. >> later that night according to police, michael george told investigators the two white boxes of expensive comics were missing and that poor barbara must have stumbled into a robbery gone bad, a theory police and prosecutors subsequently rejected. >> this is why it was not a robbery. the diamond ring was on her hand and we know it was worth at least $2,500. there was $700 in the register. expensive comics behind the glass were untouched. the safe, untouched. >> the safe was in the back storage room where michael claimed the missing boxes of comics had been. >> what's unique about that is these two white boxes were unmarked. they didn't say expensive comic books here. >> missing comics were never found, but prosecutors believe they were never stolen, either, even though michael recovered a $12,600 insurance claim for them. >> there were a hundred unmarked white boxes in that room. the only way to know which ones to grab would be if it was an inside job. >> the only inside job, according to the prosecute errs, was the murder itself. >> the reason it's an inside job is because of the accessibility to that door. >> that door was central to the prosecutor's theory of the murder. michael george, they said, sneaked in the back door and concealed himself until his wife was alone in the store. when she came into the back room, their belief was he fired two shots. the first one hit a swimsuit calendar in the wall, the second striking barb in the top of her head as she was ducking away. >> the murder took place and where he went from there our theory is out of the back door and gone. >> slipping into the alley, sight unseen, but not before doing only what he could do. >> he left through the back door, locking that lock, double locked. >> indeed, the door was locked from the outside when police arrived, something prosecutors claimed only michael george could do. >> you'd have to have both keys. >> no one but the defendant had keys to the back door. prosecutors maintained, and they added any supposed robber would have fled through the busy front door and would have been spotted. >> there were too many witnesses that started walking in a minute to two minutes of that gunshot. no one saw anyone leaving with boxes of comic books. no one saw anyone running out the front door. >> what about people spotted by witnesses around the comic book shop minutes before and after the murder? the guy in the greek fisherman's cap, the suspicious character who seemed to be wearing a fake beard, the so-called bearded lady. police made a sketch of the bearded lady, but prosecutors say none of the would-be suspects ever amounted to anything except in the case of the bearded lady. prosecutors theorize that this person may have been michael george's accomplice. now the prosecutors would offer up their star witness, the sole person who could say the husband was indeed in the store as the minutes were counting down to murder. comic collector mike renaud. but this time the defense was ready with new evidence to challenge not only renaud's credibility, but also his memory. in 1990 you used marijuana and you drank alcohol on the weekends, did you not? >> so the strategy is to go nuclear lar on michael now? >> i wouldn't say nuke collar. we were just trying to bring out the facts. >> when "dateline" continues. int the facts. >> when "dateline" continues (swords clashing) -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. ♪ ♪ at lowe's, with endless ways to organize what you need, you'll find some of the peace-of-mind you want. at prices you'll really want. start the year fresh at lowe's. shop lowe's store & save event now in-store and online. i'mi coffin. in times square attention be was capped at 15,000 people while celebrations were canceled altogether in places like san francisco. a raging fire tore through thousands of acres of land and thousands of home. so far no decks have been recorded in what the governor calls a new year's miracle. now back to "dateline." once again, michael george's guilt or innocence would likely come down to the man who said he made an innocent phone call about a "spider-man" comic book. >> we would call mike renaud. >> in the first trial, the jurors bought his account of speaking to the shop owner over the phone apparently minutes before the murder. the judge, however, had seemed skeptical. but now 12 new people would be deciding the case. so prosecution and defense lawyers had to start up fresh with the all-important star witness. the stakes couldn't be higher. >> michael renaud, without him would you have a case? >> no. he's the only one who puts the defendant at the scene. he's the only one that alone can destroy the defendant's alibi. >> without him we don't even issue a warrant. the defense lawyers knew their client's freedom depended both on them challenging renaud's story and reinforcing the defendant's alibi. >> it's a win/win for the prosecutions side. >> what we hoped to direct the jury to focus on was specifically that alibi. >> the defendant's 1990 story was that he'd left his clinton township shop some time after 4:00 p.m. to go to his mother's house. she lived in hazel park about a half hour away. it's michael george's alibi that he was at his mother's house from 4:30 to 7:30. a little after he arrived, his mother said she took her grandchildren to the park and he was sleeping on the coach when they got back sometime after 6:00. barb was murdered a little after 6:00. if michael george's account is true, he was at his mother's at that time and, therefore, could not be the killer. but according to prosecutors, michael george wasn't napping on the couch at all. they contended he'd returned to comics world and sneaked into the storage room with a gun when barb left to order pizza for his birthday party and about what time was that? >> between 5:00 and 5:30. >> that's the timeframe when this witness, a friend of bausch's, came to the store. it was locked, and she had to wait for barb to return from the pizza place. >> if she was not in the store at 5:30, she couldn't have answered the phone. >> if someone answered the phone, it would have to be someone other than her. >> correct. >> prosecutors questioned the one witness who could identify who answered the phone. >> michael renaud. >> yes, sir. >> mike renaud. in 1990 a decade before his disabling accident, renaud was married, had a young daughter, and was holding down two jobs. >> were you also attending school? >> yes. i was going to wayne state. >> how well did you do in wayne state? >> i graduated cum laude. >> the prosecution wanted to regard renaud as knowledgeable and a comic book collector. >> before july 13, 1990, how frequently would you go to the store? >> at least once a week. >> the day of the murder he stopped by comics world before work, but renaud's critical story with the jury had to do with the phone call he made later in the day to the shop. he had a collector's question about a "spider-man" comic he owned. >> he called because he was excited that some book had jumped from $8 to $40. >> did you contact anyone to discuss the reasons for it going up in value? >> yeah, i called mike. >> he knew the voice. he knew the time that he would be there, and that's the whole case. >> tell me about the demeanor of michael george in that phone call. >> the answers were very short and he seemed to kind of be in a hurry to get off the phone. >> you might wonder as many people did if michael george was lying in wait to murder his wife in just moments, why would he be so dumb as to pick up a ringing phone in the store? >> he picks it up for one of two reasons, either as a businessman, it's a call and he doesn't want to lose business, or number two, it's his accomplice from the outside letting him know what's going on. >> couldn't investigators simply pull the phone logs and verify renaud's story by seeing what time the records showed the call coming in? not in 1990. the phone company didn't keep those kinds of logs on local calls, but remember, renaud's story had fallen through the investigative cracks altogether until a cold case cop craig keith came upon it in 2007, and in that rediscovered file was a statement saying that a guy named renaud had called the police department the day after the murder. he wanted the detectives to know that he'd spoken with michael george in the comic shop at 6:00 p.m. on the fateful day. after you hung up with the department, did you think about it further? >> yes. >> why? >> i did not want to get mike in trouble if i was wrong on my time. >> and according to those newly discovered police records, renaud had called the police back almost immediately to amend the time he'd spoken to michael george. >> what did you advise police this time when you called back? >> it was closer to 5:30 instead of 6:00. >> there were multiple calls to police. we actually saw that as a strength rather than a weakness. he's actually trying to help michael george, and he's trying to tell the police don't get him in trouble because of me. it's establishing that he's not in this because he has some ill will against the defendant or he's making it up for 15 minutes of fame. >> that's not how the defense team saw renaud. they thought he was basking in the limelight of the big murder trial. >> we think he's just exaggerating his own importance in his mind. he saw a way to become important in a homicide investigation. >> when the defense had its crack at renaud on cross-examination, it wanted the jury to question his motives, memory, and credibility. >> first of all, this guy mike renaud makes himself sound like he's a good buddy of michael george. he talks to him all the time. michael george doesn't remember him at all. >> as the defense told it, renaud's multiple calls to the police changing his times indicated that this witness didn't have a good handle on his recollections and was, therefore, unreliable. >> he calls back several times being uncertain of the time when he was making the call. >> if the call to michael george happened at all and the defense disputes that it did, defense attorney marlinga believed it must have been placed before the shop owner left for his mother's house. that was more than an hour before the murder. >> so you're saying renaud is not just mistaken with his times, that he is -- >> he's a little bit motivated. >> he's a person of mischief. >> we think he wanted to -- to become a hero. >> in fact, since the last trial renaud had tried to bolster his story by adding new facts according to the defense. renaud revealed for the first time that he went to the clinton township police department days after the murder to make a report in person. marlinga's tough cross-examination brought out that renaud's memory of that police interview was at best hazy. >> the person that you met with in the face-to-face conversation, do you know the name of that person? >> i do not. >> how about the gender? male or female? >> it was a male. >> old or young? >> i cannot say. >> was this person in a uniform or in a sports coat or a suit? >> i cannot say. >> do you remember seeing a badge? >> i cannot say. >> did you ever see a police report that was generated as a result of that interview? >> no, sir. >> there is, in fact, no police report of that interview. was it another example in the defense's theme of inept police work or a figment of renaud's imagination? >> either the police department lost a very important police report or the lack of police notes is a fact because the interview never happened. >> isn't it true, sir, that you invented that you made up this conversation? >> i did not do that. >> but now the defense was moving on, telling the jury there may be a reason why renaud's memory is so hazy. back in those days, the lawyers asserted, he was often in a haze of pot smoke. >> can you even remember the times that you were high? >> objection. relevance, argumentative. >> so the strategy is to go nuclear on mike renaud? >> i wouldn't say nuclear, no. we regard it as just bring out the facts. >> and you drank alcohol on the weekdays, did you not? >> i was in college, so that would not surprise me. >> the homicide that we're talking about occurred on friday friday july 13th, your two initial calls into the clinton township police occurred on saturday, july 14th of 1990. we are agreed that friday and saturday are weekend days, correct? >> correct. >> correct. >> when questioned whether he got high on the only weekend that mattered, july 13th and 14th, 1990, renaud had to admit he just didn't remember. >> you could have used it, or you could not have used it. you don't remember. >> correct. >> again, the defense's goal was to raise reasonable doubt about renaud's recall and credibility. >> marijuana can cause a time distortion, so we're talking to a person that does not have the best handle on time. >> now that the defense believed it had shredded renaud's story, it was ready to tell the jury who really murdered barbara george. coming up -- >> another possible suspect in an impossibly strange disguise. >> he said it looked like a woman in a fake beard, a really thin guy. womanly hips or something. >> when "dateline" don'ts. >> when "dateline" don'ts. every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. michael george had been married to his second wife renee for almost 20 years. through thick and thin, they still seemed very much in love. >> this case will show you -- >> but at his 2011 trial the defense acknowledged right up front that during his first marriage michael would never have won an award for husband of the year. >> this is not a matter of suspicion, innuendo, discussed with the person for having affairs. this is a matter of evidence. >> so lead defense attorney carl marlinga reminded jurors the defendant was on trial of murder. >> an adulterer is a person that does evil things, but that does not necessarily make him a murderer. >> the victim's shoe could be seen. >> as for any hard evidence that michael george killed his wife in cold blood, the defense maintained it just didn't exist. >> and you have no weapon, no witnesses. >> no. >> no forensics. >> nothing. >> there's nothing to tie him to the crime. >> there's nothing. nada, nothing that ties him to the crime. >> the jury, your honor, the people rest. >> just as in the first trial came that moment when the prosecution rested and the defense filed a motion saying, your honor, they haven't proved their case. >> there is no physical evidence which links michael george to the crime. >> but this time there was no five-hour retreat to chambers for the judge to think about it. her ruling came in seconds. >> the court is finding that the prosecution has presented substantial evidence. the defendant teared up. there was enough evidence, the judge declared, to go forward. >> the basic conclusion, gentlemen, is that the motion is denied. so with that setback, not unexpected, the defense began its three-pronged line of attack, that the original police work was inept, that there was evidence, some of it new, that someone else committed the murder, and, thirdly, that michael george had a strong alibi. >> we decided that our strongest evidence was the alibi, and that would normally be sufficient to win, but knowing that we are dealing with michael's history and the affairs that could make him an unlikable character, joe and i realized that we really almost had to prove innocence. >> michael george told police that he'd left the store with his daughters a little after 4:00 p.m. that friday. they went to his mother janet's house about 30 minutes away. he said he was asleep on his mother's couch when, tragically, his wife was shot. janet george, the mother had testified in the first trial and backed up her son's asleep on the couch story. >> he was on the couch. >> but defense attorneys altered their strategy for trial number two. >> ma'am, do you swear that you will read word for word everything that's in that transcript? >> i do. >> mom didn't testify in person this time around. the defense had a stand-in read janet george's 2008 testimony into the record, in a time that michael arrived after 5:00 p.m. that day. she said he was tired while she took her granddaughters to a nearby playground. >> when you got back, did you observe michael at all? >> yeah. >> where was he? >> he was on the couch sleeping. >> if the jurors believed the story being recited to them, michael george couldn't possibly have been at his shop at 5:30 answering the phone. that's when the star prosecution witness mike renaud said he talked to him. >> janet george was the alibi. why didn't you put her on the stand? >> tough call. we agonized about it. the problem with janet george is that she loves her son, but she's a wild card. her -- her memory is fading. >> the lawyers were confident about their decision not to call the mother because they had a strong witness to substantiate parts of her story. >> okay. >> peggy was janet george's next-door neighbor. on that friday the 13th, like most days, peggy said she got home from her job between 5:45 and 6:00. >> as you got close to your house did you see anybody? >> i actually saw janet and the two girls in the school playground at the end of our street. >> when you saw them there, what, if anything, did they do? >> we just waved. >> as you pulled into your house, what, if anything, did you see in front of janet's house? >> there was a van parked in front of the house. >> okay. did you recognize whose van it was? >> i assumed it was one of michael's vans, yes. >> in the prosecution's theory of the time line, there was a missing link of logistics. how did michael get from his mother's place and back to the store in time to kill barbara? >> the neighbor's sighting of his van outside his mom's could plant the seed of reasonable doubt. >> she has no dog in the fight. she's not a close, close bosom buddy or lifelong personal friend of janet and michael's. she's a neighbor. why wouldn't you believe her? >> when you take the combined testimony of janet george and peggy, you have solid evidence that he was at someplace else. >> and that neighbor was a person the defense team had found on its own. the police had never knocked on doors to corroborate michael's alibi of being at his mother's, evidence in itself, the defense argued, of shoddy police work. even the former police lieutenant admitted on cross-examination that aspect of the investigation could have been better. >> if you were the officer in charge of this case, would you have conducted a canvass of his mother's neighborhood to see if people could have placed him there at or about the time of the homicide? >> yes, sir. >> inept police work was a defense theme. for instance, the police never tested michael george for gunshot residue the night of the murder. >> in the rear entry door. >> and also failed to dust the prosecution's critical back door for fingerprints. >> if the bad guy reached for the handle to get out that way, he would have left some prints, but we'll never know that because the police didn't dust for prints. >> there were some plastic storage bins. >> and police photos inside the comic storeroom where barbara was found was clutter blocking the back door. how could michael george have gotten in or out past all of that? >> does that look like the room? >> the former detective did not know how to read that junk apparently in the way. >> was that leaning up against the door? >> i can't tell the perspective. it's hard to tell. >> the defense felt it had already raised enough reasonable doubt to secure a not guilty verdict, and even though they in no way had to, the lawyers wanted to offer the jury other possible murder suspects to consider in a scenario of a robbery gone bad. >> the defense calls mr. thomas quinton. >> the defense put on a witness who told a story about being with two friends outside a comic bookshop in flint, michigan, some 50 miles away from michael george's shop. a sinister-looking guy was peddling what appear to be hot comics. >> a man approached us in the parking lot and asked us to take a look at old comics that he wanted to sell. >> this new defense witness said he came forward only after watching the first comic book case on "dateline." he testified that the then teenagers didn't trust the seller and bought nothing from him. >> the vibe the gentleman was giving us told us no way. >> the witness said that encounter took place july 14, 1990, significantly, the day after barbara george's murder, but his friends, called by the prosecution, contradicted him and said it actually happened weeks earlier. >> and we were walking towards the building. >> but the defense wasn't out of alternative suspects. one of the store customers who had initially come upon barbara george, thomas ward recounted seeing a suspicious man lurking about when he got to comics world a little after 6:00 p.m. >> it appeared that this individual was looking, trying to gaze into the store quite focused, in a quite focused fashion. >> warren said he remembered the man because of his distinctive hat. he had a greek fisherman's cap, black cap. >> a cap like this. >> let me show you defense exhibit 105. >> yeah. >> and still another new witness testified that in 1990 she briefly dated a guy who wore a short-brimmed hat like that. a guy who carried a gun and was up to no good and was up to no good with the comic book stores. >> i realized after we left these comic bookstores that he was stealing these comic books. >> these were all possible suspects, the defense claimed, but on the top of the list of curiosities was someone who became known as the bearded lady. witness joe gray, a friend of the georges, came to the store before 6:00 to drop off supplies for michael's birthday party. gray was with a friend who had gotten a gander of something strange. >> he said it looked like a woman in a fake beard, a really thin guy with womanly hips or something. >> gray and his friend were so concerned about this weird bearded lady out front they even warned barbara george to be on the lookout, it didn't feel right. >> why would somebody be wearing a fake beard? maybe someone would come to the party as a joke or maybe they were trying to rob the place. it was joe gray's friend who helped police make the sketch of the so-called bearded lady. >> i believe the person with the fake beard and mustache is the killer. >> that's your solution to this. >> that's right. it's a fake beard and moustache on a july day with no theater productions or halloween parties, and this is just too suspicious in these circumstances. that person is the killer. >> what would 12 fresh jurors believe this time? the comic book murder case volume 2 had one final chapter left. coming up. >> all right. the jury has a verdict. >> -- when "dateline" continues. >> -- when "dateline" continues. we're carvana, the company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your 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through a mock cross-examination that sprang leaks. they said his memory was faulty after all that time. >> i put together a pattern of cross-examination questions where he had to say i don't remember about 20 times in a row and we have two solid alibi witnesses. it's almost malpractice to put him on the stand. >> but the prosecutors believe his reluctance to testify was more about him not being able to stand up to the grilling he would have faced in a real cross-examination. >> my wife was murdered, that's the most important day of my life, and i forgot what happened that day? it's because maybe i talked myself out of wanting to remember. >> i wanted to hear what he had to say. >> these jurors said the entire panel was disappointed that it didn't hear the story from michael george's own mouth. >> i think you can see a lot about a person when they talk about themselves. >> "dateline" talked to 10 of the 12 jurors, and they told us the first vote revealed a split. seven guilties, five not. >> and your not guilties, what? needed to be persuaded? >> it was the robbery. >> the clarification. >> it was clarification and a couple ready really had an idea that maybe the robbery did happen. >> the central question for each juror was which story to believe. the comic book collector who said he talked on the phone to michael george in the shop just before the murder or the defendant's mother, his al by witness that he was napping on her couch across town at the same time. >> to me, ultimately, it came down to michael renaud's testimony and the phone call that he made that placed michael george at the scene of the crime. >> so did the defense damage mike renaud's credibility by attacking him as a marijuana smoking, beer-guzzling college kid? not to this juror. >> i think they were trying to personally attack him to get us to believe that he couldn't remember anything because he was a drug abuser. >> and several jurors questioned the mother's recollection of events. >> i'm not saying she would lie for him, but, i mean, would you stick up for your kids? >> the jurors talked it through for three days and finally took a vote. >> all right, gentlemen. we have a verdict. >> their job was done. >> all rise for a jury. >> michael george cried quietly. his wife renee, remained stoic. on the benches across the court, barb's brother hoped for justice from a second jury. >> it's 12 people. you don't know what they're thinking. >> the foreperson read the verdicts. first-degree premeditated murder of barbara george, guilty, first-degree premeditated murder. >> guilt, murder in the first degree and guilty of the other counts as well. felony firearm and insurance fraud. michael george didn't break down this time. he closed his eyes and seemed to talk to himself. behind him his wife renee buried her head. barb's brother contained his joy out of respect for his nieces who lost their mother and now their father. >> it's a little bit bittersweet. i mean they still have to come to the realization that their father's a murderer. >> the prosecutors quietly congratulated each other on the conviction. >> it was a huge relief to know that finally the family was getting what they deserved, they were getting the justice they deserved. >> michael george was led out of the courtroom to begin the rest of his life in prison, no possibility of parole. a terrible injustice as his staunch defense attorney saw it. >> i've lived with this case for four years, and i just don't see any evidence that he was there committing this crime. i prosecuted killers, defended killers, this man is not a killer. >> i don't know why god has put us through this. i do believe he loves us. >> six weeks after the verdict, michael george did finally speak out, but as a convicted murderer at his pro forma sentencing hearing. >> the catastrophe of putting people away that are innocent has not started with me and will not end with me. before this, i've never been accused of any crime, no domestic violence. i have no police record, no problem with drinking or drugs. i can only hope and pray that the lives that are destroyed by people being overzealous in the police community will find mercy in god above. >> barb's brother joe expected nothing and said he got it. >> once again, no apology. he thinks he's better than everybody else, and he thought he was going to get away with it. >> and as bausch's family saw it, since 1990 he did get away with murder until eric smith's cold case unit finally made him pay. >> do you still talk to barbara? >> yes. >> did you talk to her in the courtroom that day? >> yes. >> what did you say? >> that i love her, that we miss her, and that we finally got him and hopefully she can rest in peace, and we can move on. st in peace, and we can move on. (swords clashing) -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." all after sudden i realized, what's going on? why are they late? something definitely was wrong. he said, your family was in an accident. and my whole world just dropped out from underneath me. >> the scene told the story. >> what did you find? >> something i don't want to see again. >> a deadly crash on a dark road. two gone, one barely alive. a tragic accident. but look closer. in all of the broken glass and

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