i >> was always very slowly to, we're in very faction. it >> everybody was suspect. then, a break. tips from other women who had been targeted to. >> he wanted to get me in there, and i didn't budge. all of the bills we're going. off >> i jumped in my car and took off. i felt i dodged a bullet. >> the who was frightening, but the why, much worse. >> in my wildest dreams, i never imagined that something like this could even exist. >> he had a motive. >> yes we. did >> it was afternoon of november 15th, austin texas, 4 pm. there was something ominous in the air. suddenly, the smell of it. the similar -- storm coming. something big. >> they did tell us on the news, if you don't have to go out tonight, don't, because we are going to get relentless. rains >> and in the sky overhead turned dark, like midnight in the afternoon. >> and when, it gets a bit like that it's pitch black -- you have fear for tornadoes. >> sure enough, so the announcers on tv. twisters has been spotted, headed towards parts in the city. included the northwest. >> diane lived in the northwest. i called her, i said, hey girl, they just said there's a tornado heading in your direction. she said, my? direction i don't know what to do. i've never been tornado. >> she was kind of freaked a. >> she was very freaked out. >> and then, the ferocious rain and hellish winds, fickle funnel clouds, dipped in swirled around the city. the next morning of friday, it was all over. friends checked on friends, but nobody could reach diane. the freaked out one. diane worked from home. for ibm. that friday morning, unlike her, she missed a conference call. >> hi diane it's, 2:00. just worried about. you want to check and make sure you're okay. >> all day, phone calls rang in. from friends, one voice. male >> diane, hey. this is sharon. i was calling to see if you're gonna be -- >> she didn't. >> i've got to the club and i was waiting, she didn't come, she income. i spent all my time wondering when she was in a show up. >> had she been part of the? storm was her house hit? a coworker called the police, who cruised over to diane's exclusive neighborhood. to her big house, unscathed. they appear through windows, and saw nobody. they had a key, one upstairs, and there, all by hidden behind a guessing bed, they found diane. >> somebody had killed her. i actually had a scream of some sort. like, this is not true. this is not would happen. this is not diane >> but of course, it was. diane hall, like 43 years old, suddenly the unlikely center of a strange and discerning mystery. and the most unlikely victim of murder. >> absolutely lived a life with gusto. she was a vibrations, be the full woman. >> little poor had known her since the 90s, when they started working together ibm. >> she loved her friends, she loved her family. we would vacation together. we have so much fun and just laugh, and laugh, and laugh. >> well, a lot of things we like to do all together was hit the clubs, a lot. >> lots of dancing. >> lots of dancing. >> diane met alameda lock me, and sharon cooper in the ladies'room of an office in barr. >> she was in there, she said oh, you've got on cowboy boots, you must know or country bars? i said, yeah i do. my best friends coming, and we're going to get there when she gets here. she said, cool, i'm going to go with you all. first time i ever met her. >> she had only been in town three weeks. >> diane said, well i'm not dressed for the club, -- wear her clothes, our inserts pulling western wear and putting them right there in the parking lot. she was crazy >> throwing on thin -- so we all went dancing, all night long. she was having a blast, she was so happy that she had met the two of us. because, she said now i have some dancing buddies. >> so magnetic. which, said her colleague lynn, made her a fine recruiter for ibm. >> i would send off to college is. these kids would just gravitate tour. she had a personality that just stood out. >> and her attitude? endlessly in veterans. >> one time, i remember sending her off to do a recruiting trip. she got out there and they were doing a balloon fest. she called me up and said, i need half a day off. >> i'm jumping in a balloon going. >> she would always test the edges, would? she >> always. >> she would throw all kinds of parties at her house, invite everyone she knows >> so they may not know her but, everybody knew? her >> yes. and she was great. she just loved having all of these wonderful people around her >> in any, room any crowd, diane was allure. especially two men. >> it was never a problem going on with her because she was like a magnet for all of us. >> there was always been around when dianne was there. always. >> so, there were. now she was dead. not one people seemed obvious, there in the second floor bedroom. would happen to diane, the mark of a man. coming up, a killer is calm and cool as he is coldhearted. >> you commit the act of murder, and then you leave, you don't want to get caught. this person couldn't do that. that in itself was odd. >> the suspected murders, somewhat close to diane. >> an interesting happen when she hit 40. she decided that i need a partner, i want marriage. >> when dateline continues. hen dateline continues one of the worst things about a cold sore is how it can make you feel. but, when used at the first sign, abreva can get you back to being you in just 2 and a half days. be kinder to yourself and tougher on your cold sores. wondering what actually goes into your multi-vitamin? at new chapter its innovation organic ingredients and fermentation. fermentation? yes, formulated to help your body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness well done >> i got a page saying a woman was found deceased in her home. >> the detective learned if the call out did not tell them much, the crime scene probably would. when diane was murdered. >> we had the body. we had the scene. that was all in the beginning. >> they looked for evidence of forced entry, and there was none. >> the doors were locked. windows were all intact. >> either the killer knew her or she let the person in. in any event it did not look like a robbery turned deadly. >> she still had the watch on and her tennis bracelet on and a charm stuck in her hair that was on a necklace that wasn't around her neck and she had money sticking out of the pocket. >> maybe diane's body would tell the story. the killer had hidden her under a bedspread. >> it appeared she was strangled. >> could have been a rope or flex bands used to exercise. >> clearly not somebodies hands. >> no. >> what about her eyes and face. >> she had it in the eyes. she appeared to have a bruise on the cheek like a rubbing type of a bruise. she had four of them on her stomach. >> a rubbing type of bruise. >> as if you were being dragged across the carpet. >> we also found a spot of urine where her body would have been. >> she must have been killed there and dragged behind the bed where they found her body. >> any indication she was sexually assaulted in any way? >> no. >> her clothes were not messed up. nothing to indicate that. she had no scratch marks. as we look at the body we notice faint red marks on the lips. that was interesting. there was no tie. there was no rope. there was no tape. >> just red marks. >> yeah. >> just red marks. >> little red marks that somehow looked familiar. >> it looked like two parallel lights and then perpendicular to those were little lines probably 1/16th of an inch apart. i have seen these before. wow, he used zip ties to bind her. >> he cut them off afterwards. he did we knew that immediately. >> the detective's mind went to the darkest of places. diane must have been restrained, helpless and terrified as she watched her killer prepare the ligature and put it around her neck and the killer must have stayed for a while, carefully erasing any sign of his or her presence. >> that was odd. you commit the act of order and you leave. you are scared. you want to get out there. you don't want to get caught. this person, male or female, we dont know, but they did not do that. >> who was the person, so deliberate and cold-blooded? this was no straightforward case or nothing simple about it. as they chased down their endless questions. what does that lead you with? was it a targeted killing? somebody was angry with her? >> those were all possibilities. sometimes you're killed by someone you know very well. we are all familiar with domestic violence. you know, we want to see who is in the immediate inner circle of her life. >> diane friends learned she was married years before and spent most of her adult life as a single woman and happily so until she changed her mind. >> she loved her single life and loved her independence. when she hit 40 she decided i need a partner. i need a marriage and i want the things my friends have. >> diane set out to find a mate with the help of the dating service it's just lunch. pretty soon met a divorced father of two named dennis conley. >> i think they truly immediately had a chemistry and i think they were in of love. he was successful businessman, handsome and took her everywhere. >> two months later dennis presented diane with a $20,000 engagement ring. >> he loved her. he treated her like a queen. >> she liked his daughters and cared very much for them. >> they made plans, as lovers do. dennis moved from austin to houston. the idea is that diane could sell her big house and move down there too. it was a down market then. diane said she met at least one potential buyer. but now diane was dead. and there were all those questions. not a robbery. yet as the detectives soon discovered, something was missing. that $20,000 engagement ring. nowhere to it be found. so police wondered where was fiance dennis during the violent storm, and did he know something? coming up, the storm outside and in. >> they argued a lot. >> we had our ups and downs no question. >> no physical fights? >> nothing, never. >> when dateline continues. r skin if dupixent has your moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis under control? hide our skin? not us. because dupixent targets a root cause of eczema, it helps heal your skin from within, keeping you one step ahead of it. and for kids ages 6 and up, that means clearer skin, and noticeably less itch. hide my skin? not me. by helping to control eczema with dupixent, you can change how their skin looks and feels. and that's the kind of change you notice. hide my skin? not me. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. when you help heal your skin from within, you can show more with less eczema. talk to your child's eczema specialist about dupixent, a breakthrough eczema treatment. ♪♪ for skin that never holds you back. don't settle for silver. #1 for diabetic dry skin #1 for psoriasis symptom relief and #1 for eczema symptom relief. gold bond. champion your skin. after my car accident, gold bond. i wondered what my case was worth. so i called the barnes firm. when that car hit my motorcycle, insurance wasn't fair. so i called the barnes firm. it was the best call i could've made. atat t bararnefirmrm, our r inry a attneysys wk hahard i could've made. atat t bararnefirmrm, to get you the best result possible. call us now and find out what your case could be worth. you u mit bebe sprisised >> it was true, all of her ♪ the barnes firm injury attorneys ♪ ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ friends knew it. diane was in love with the man that she met through the dating service, smitten like a teenage girl. but the road of love as we always know is not smooth. they were engaged so quickly. too quickly? before long they encountered serious issues said her friends anita and cheryl. >> they argued a lot. >> about, one example, her dogs who were like children to diane. but she told her friends that dennis did not want any dogs in the new house in houston. they fought, said her friends, about what he seemed to want her to be. >> she was always talking about how he didn't want her to do this or that and that would cause arguments. >> she would not go along with it. >> no she wouldn't. >> she was independent. >> what was he? >> controlling. very controlling. >> that could be a difficult combination. >> yeah. >> so it was confusing. she proudly wore the spectacular ring, but the engagement was off and then maybe on again. and yet that very week, said her friends, diane told her she still didn't know what to do. >> she was back and forth? >> yeah. emotionally a roller coaster. we couldn't see how it would work and none of us could see how it would work. >> she told sharon she made a date with another man. >> we said if you are still wanting to do these things, you are not ready for that. >> she had her house for sale. >> she was going to downsize. if she didn't get married to dennis she would downsize because the house was way too big. >> waffling on her plans with dennis, date with another man, anita said she had seen dennis angry. after diane was murdered she wondered. >> maybe he just lost control this time and killed her. that was my first thought. >> the detective asked dennis to come into the station where he agreed to speak to him without the aid of a lawyer. the detectives focused on the timeline. they believed diane had been killed the stormy thursday afternoon or evening. her body was discovered 5:30 p.m. on friday. >> we were interested where he had been for the last few days. >> at the station, dennis seemed upset but composed as he told investigators he was in the office in houston the night of the big storm. but exchanged online messages in austin that afternoon. >> it was just like i am working late. i am getting ready to go home. she sent me an i love you. that was it. >> you were at the office? >> dennis said he got home from work late thursday and was back at the office early friday. >> we looked at it, could he have driven down to austin, murdered diane and driven back in time for work. and yes, he probably could have. >> checked diane's answering machine and found messages from him, left on friday the day after the big storm. she was dead by then. >> hey, you. if i don't hear from you in an hour i am calling the freaking police. i have to go by your house. >> another message saturday morning. >> diane. what is going on? give me a call. you have me worried to death. bye. >> that could have been some sort of cover-up. dennis admitted their relationship was, iffy. >> we ran into rough spots. we were going to build a house in houston. and i decided that, given the fact we were not getting along together very well. i mean there was no fight. we don't fight. everybody carries baggage into your relationships at this age. our baggage was clashing. we were working on it. we decided not to be engaged anymore. we stopped building the house. >> he said they were going to therapy, which was helping. >> i mean we were really, really making breakthroughs. >> about diane's dogs. >> she thought i was accepting the fact that her dogs were going to be in the house. >> not long before diane was killed- >> i remember her saying, you know, that she loved me. that she would jump at the chance to be in a relationship and marry me. you know, no matter how long it took. we had our ups and downs, no question. >> no physical fights? >> never. never angry or loud words. it was just -- it's stupid you know. she thought i should be more of a handymankind of guy, like her dad, right? i thought that she should be more appreciative. >> was she faithful to you? >> i would be shocked if she wasn't. i would be stunned. >> everyone has his or her version of the truth. dennis'story not at all what the friends have been hearing from her. >> i wanted to say so many times that you are stupid. >> the detective took fingerprints, collected his dna and checked his alibi. dennis, before he left dennis brought up another name. >> has anybody gotten a hold of ray. >> ray was a colleague of diane's at ibm. >> he seemed to worship the ground she walks on and seems to be attracted to women not attracted to him. if i were a woman he would give me the creeps. >> according to dennis, ray and diane were not on good terms. >> they had a falling out a month or so ago. i don't know the exact nature of it. >> time for a talk with ray. coming up, a co-worker with a crush, but did he want something more. >> always very affectionate. she didn't like it. when dateline continues. ,, the mcmichaels, the father and son who initiated the chase, which led to ahmaud arbery's murder. their sentences do not have the possibility of parole. and sidney poitier, the first black artist to win the award for best actor. -- the hollywood icons presents extended well beyond the silver screen. he was 94 years old. now, back to dateline. s old. now, back to dateline. >> suspicion, there was a lot of it to go around, after diane was choked to death in her own guest bedroom. dennis, the man who said he was her fiance. was he anymore? dennis swore it was not him but maybe he was suspicious too. what about this guy? what about ray? >> there was a man she worked with by the name of rafeal and she hired him at ibm. >> he was johnny on the spot. >> it seemed off to dennis. ray's happy with diane said it was cozy ... obsessive, maybe. he was felt the rates lookalike and her, and was varied infatuated with her. and offered to take care of her dogs when she was out of town and, wanted to be kind of close to her. he thought maybe that he had too much of an interest in diane. what's more, ray had his own personal key to diane's house. and remember, there was no forced entry. the killer was either invited in or had a key. the detective asked wray to come into the station to answer a few questions, except it was ray who seemed to be full of questions. >> unfortunately i didn't know anything about diane holik until i went to her house last night. >> he seemed excited to share what he knew. >> how long have you knew diane? >> two years. he was an odd character. supery gotta help us, almost too eager. to the point where it just threw us off a little bit. >> i've been materials i would always take care of >> i would take always care of her her dogs dogs. >> i always had a crush on diane. >> she didn't reciprocate her feelings? >> she was just a friend. >> did that cause problem patina? >> never. in the beginning, i was always very spoil it to her and very faction it and she didn't like it. >> they played good cop, bad cop. >> did you have a relationship. >> no. not even kissed her. >> did you want to? >> always wanted to, never did. no our friendship was a little more formal than that i guess. >> you never had a sexual relationship with her? >> never. >> your dna shouldn't be found on her. >> he was at work the day the day she was murdered. >> those cameras all over the place, there's a scan, because some of the records. even for the record. >> ray said he stayed late at work and drove home through the terrible traffic created by the storm. after that he stayed. >> last night i stayed at home and didn't go anywhere. i don't know what time. back to work the next morning. got to work, i guess, 8:00. >> of course, they would need to verify all of that. when they asked him about dennis, the fiance. >> that is a loaded question. >> uncomfortable. they were having problems. >> diane had complicated relationships with dennis and ray. just as they had done with dennis, police fingerprinted ray and took a dna swab. sharon told the detectives diane had a date with a man the very night she was killed. they couldn't figure out who the man was but they tracked down every man they met from the dating service it's just lunch. >> i interviewed every date she had through that service. police wondered if diane was strangled by a man she met through the dating service? yet something seemed to be missing. but what? this wasn't going to be easy. coming up, the funeral and a wedding and what some say was a former fiance's extremely strange behavior. >> oh, god. he did a morbid thing. i mean beyond belief. >> and finally, a clue. >> was this one of his mistakes? >> when dateline continues. 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. that is an affluent powering possibilities. neighborhood. it is not normally where you find >> darla davis was worried. diane's body was barely cold when the prosecutor, davis, jumped on the case and encountered the problem. >> the fact that she lived by herself. >> there was a man wanting to change the single status and there was certainly reason to look at them carefully. but the prosecutor worried too about another possibility. >> we might have a stranger on stranger offense. which is way harder to solve. >> essentially the dead body, not much evidence around and no idea who did it. >> exactly. and i decided we were going to monday morning quarterback the crime scene right away. >> she and the investigators went back to diane's house and took a more in-depth look. >> went over it with the alternate light source. to do it in the dark you would take it and put it on carpeting and any kind of fabric or the wall or anything and certain things will flores. >> they were looking for semenal fluid. >> it did not look like diane was sexually assaulted, but they had to know for sure. when they tested. >> there was no indications that there was any semen. anywhere. in that room or different parts of the house we checked. >> nothing. no semen. no blood. no evidence of sexual assault. apart from her missing engagement ring, nothing in diane's house seemed out of place, expect in the middle of the otherwise pristine living room. >> and there on the love seat is a towel. >> weird. >> it was definitely out of place. >> it was maybe left behind by the killer. >> was this one of the mistakes? >> was there anything found? >> hairs. >> her hair? >> no. >> there were seven hairs found on the towel. >> they sent the hair to the dna lab and waited. while her friends planned the details for diane's memorial service here in austin. >> the sheriff found the funeral home and the lady to do the makeup. we went in and helped her pick out the casket. >> and her dress for an open casket. >> i need to make sure that whatever we got looked right, and covered the appropriate parts. seeing where the wounds and the marks were is as difficult as the day i found out she passed. >> dennis came to the service. >> he tended not to speak with anybody. which i found strange for a man who was so in love with diane. >> didn't come and sit front and center? >> no. that somewhat surprised me. >> they watched him through a haze of grief and suspicion. when diane's parents flew her in for the funeral, diane's friends went along as did dennis. as diane lay in her casket. >> he did a morbid thing that infuriated her parents. >> dennis brought a minister with him to the funeral. >> to say the marriage vows to him as she was laying in the coffin. took her hand and put that gold band on. i thought my arm would come unglued. >> diane's parents removed the ring said a friend. diane's family was a pppalled a the friends suspicious, investigators were looking at all kinds of possibilities. wouldn't be the first time that love turned to murder. but that word prosecutor davis talked about. was killer some random red tape. >> you will have to expand into the possibilities of something that it was a stranger to her because that makes it so much harder. >> the second search confirmed everything, being that the killer had been chillingly careful and had prepared for what he or she was going to do. >> this person who is trying to avoid being captured. >> he cut off the zip tie and took it with him. removed the evidence but just a passing comment. as the huge storm was rolling through austin. >> she said they had somebody that came back and looked at the house and was impressed with it. she said that is good. >> could that visitor be connected to diane's murder somehow? or the discarded wet towel with the seven tiny strands of hair. coming up -- a stranger knocking on doors. what happened next still haunts the woman who opened the door. >> i jumped in the car, locked the car. >> i stood there. he wanted to get me in there and all of the bells were going off. off. you'll really want. start the year fresh at lowe's. shop lowe's store & save event now in-store and online. when you really need to sleep you reach for the really good stuff. new zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep. >> the detectives investigating the death of diane were all too aware that stranger killings are among the hardest to solve. >> when you were driving around and talking to people did you have any idea what you were looking for? >> no. none. >> especially if the stranger is as careful as diane's killer appears to have been. >> it was a true, who-dun'-it. >> the medical examiner looked carefully for evidence of sexual assault, semen, the killer's saliva, dna under the fingernails. and, there was none. none at all. police 101, maybe one of the neighbors saw something or someone suspicious. they agreed he was tall, dark slicked back hair and a big nose and said he wanted to pay cash for a nice house. is he the man that toured diane's house the day of the storm. >> you always want to find the last person to see the victim alive. we thought this person could be the last person to see the victim alive. >> did anybody get a name? >> we did get a name, walter miller and a number. >> walter miller? they looked up the walter millers around austin and found two of them and neither fit the description. the phone number ended up being a fax machine. the wife of a man him matthew's policy. >> why was he all about? he did have a background that involved some drug addiction, assaults. he had a restraining order put against him. we eventually tracked down matthew. >> they realized right away he couldn't be the killer. >> he was in a neck brace and was in a bad accident and had paralysis in the armarms. >> the visitor had left a fake name and phone number. who would do that? then they found another neighbor who talked to the guy and heard his story. got a good enough look at him to help with the composite sketch. >> austin police asked for help in solving a murder. police want to question a man seen in the area a few days before the murder. white, between the ages of 35 to 45. 6'0" and neatly dressed. >> hoping to get tips. >> before long, women started calling with tales about a man who wanted to buy a house. what were you hearing from people that may have had a visitor, was it the same story? >> we are getting a story about a guy who sold his ranch in south austin. he wanted to pay cash. they were looking to do it quick. the physical description, they were all the same. >> some callers added curious details. >> he had on brand-new jeans that were three sizes too long. >> it was the kind of strange thing that you remember, said the real estate agent, tammy. had on a striped shirt with wrinkles in it. he just bought clothes, i am sure of it. suspenders on which nobody wears suspenders. not like his pants were falling off. >> it is when she showed him into the house her nerves went on alert. >> he said after you. after you. there was a stand off at the bottom of the stairs. my stomach was tight inside. >> she was weary. years earlier she was raped at an armed customer at a store she managed. >> i knew my instincts and all i had been through was the reason that i was nervous about him. >> he said his name was jim sage and kept trying to get her into the upstairs rooms. >> he wanted to get me in there. i didn't budge. all of the bells were going off. >> the next day tammy called the police to report the jim sage. >> did he hurt you? did he threaten you? did he put his hands on you? i had to say no. he said i'm sorry. there is nothing we can do. >> now diane holik had been murdered, strangled and with a shutter tammy remembered the man's odd suspenders that he used them on diane holik's neck. >> when did that hit you? >> after i found out she was strangled. >> the calls kept coming in. women with stories of a strange man posing as a home buyer. some hair raising stories about what happened to the ex real estate agent six months before diane was murdered. a man called her about one of her houses. >> it was a vacant listing. i asked if he was prequalified by a lender. i am paying cash. i drove over to meet him at the house. i go to the door to greet him. and immediately he was behind me. he would never walk in front of me. >> that made melanie uncomfortable, especially because he only wanted to see vacant houses. >> the whole time that i was showing him the home, he was never looking at any room. he seemed to be more interested in looking out of windows than he did the actual room. >> she said something else seemed off about him. >> he has a tick in his neck, he is constantly popping and cracking his neck and breathing very heavy. >> melanie wanted to leave. then the man noticed an attached garage. >> he was adamant about getting in the garage saying i really want to see inside the garage and he started the neck popping. >> her hands shook as she tried to work the key into the door. >> she drove home still shaking. >> i never cried or prayed so hard in my life. because i felt like i dodged a bullet. >> melanie called the police too. >> did he touch you or hurt you? >> no he did not. >> i looked at the sketch and immediately knew it was the same man. >> meanwhile, the police and the prosecutor investigating diane's murder were working every angle they could think of. >> we were coming up with a zero. >> whoever the killer was knew what he or she was doing. >> that is the impression that we were getting. and that is what was increasing our anxiety. >> so, they waited for dna results from the tiny hairs found on the towel in diane's living room. they listened to the women that called in talking about being frightened by a mysterious would be homebuyer. who was he. one more call. and they knew that this could be their break through. >> she said she had seen the news and thinks the man came to her house and possibly had a flyer he handled that he had left behind. we were really excited about that. >> that means there could be fingerprints. >> she picked it up and put it in the back of the stack. >> what happened is a story that sounded too familiar. she followed him into one of the bedrooms. she was excited to sell her house. she said there was an awkward silence and just stared at her. >> and just then in a nearby room, the woman's baby cried. >> it gave her the opportunity to break the encounter with him to grab the baby and he followed her into the room and was standing behind her and it must have spooked him rmpt are he just left leaving behind the flyer. >> they picked it up and brought in a latent fingerprint expert. they found no prints in diane's house to compare them to and even diane's own prints were hard to find. saying the killer may have wiped them clean. >> not even the fingerprints you would think you would find in a house that was occupied. >> that was very rare, and scary. >> scary because they couldn't know who he was or if he was a stranger looking for a convenient target he had seen the stories on tv and knew they were looking for them. but then there was one more. >> she immediately got a creepy feeling from him. this woman wrote down his license plate. coming up on dateline. are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh way longer than detergent alone. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks, make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. >> reporter: the murder had something to do with selling her house. even the friend who remained so suspicious wondered about that. >> i had a fleeting moment that maybe it was somebody dealing with the reality because there were quite a few people that came in. and i thought maybe a husband found her attractive, you know. made a move and she didn't go for it. >> reporter: several shared a similar story, he claimed to be in the market for a new home but seemed to be shopping for something more sinister. but remember detectives thought the crime scene had been wiped clean, so no way to match it back. but there was a new caller. and she was about to give them more. >> she told us months earlier this man had come to her home but in a different neighborhood. >> very affluent. >> and he was very insistent about wanting to see that house. she immediately got a creepy feeling from him and told him no. and her husband said if he ever comes back, you need to call the police or get his license plate because it really scared her. and about six months later he came back and was very insistent on going in to see her house. and she told him no, she was not going to allow him to come in. so she called the police. >> reporter: nothing happened then. the reaction she got was like those other women. the police could hardly arrest some guy for just seeming creepy. but this woman did something different. she wrote down the name and phone number the man gave her, but more important, his license plate number. stuck it on her fridge. instinct? luck? maybe both. >> she didn't know if he would come back again. she thought it was concerning enough that she would just leave it on her refrigerator just in case. and she gave us the original piece of paper that she wrote his license plate down with. >> reporter: and -- >> we immediately ran his license plate, and it was a minivan, and it was registered to patrick russo and his wife janet russo. >> reporter: patrick russo? could he be the guy who creeped out all those women? could he also be the killer? his last known address was in a rural area outside austin. so before dawn, unannounced, they paid a visit. it was a pretty drive. but at 4:00 a.m., the detectives weren't exactly taking in the view as they drove to his home. hoping that this could shed light on diane's murder. but remember, all they had was a creepy guy looking for houses for sale. was patrick russo that guy? maybe. maybe not. dawn was hours away when they knocked at his door. the man who woke up to answer it looked like the composite sketch. coming up -- patrick russo seems an unlikely killer. >> i got my ged, i went to college. i studied for theology to become a minister. >> but an odd coincidence. he was in diane's area the day she was killed. >> do you remember ever talking to her? >> reporter: when dateline continues. eporter: when dateline continues. which is why we do everything in our power to make buying a car an unforgettable experience. happy birthday. thank you. we treat every customer like we would treat our own moms. because that's what they deserve. are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh way longer than detergent alone. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks, make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. a tip called in led the detectives to the doorstep of patrick russo. a man matching the description of the mysterious stranger seen this diane's neighborhood day of the murder -- >> we told him his name had come up in an investigation in austin and he basically told his wife that these things will happen from time to time because he's a convict and out on parole. and not to worry, that he'd be back in a couple hours. and we left. >> reporter: on the ride to the police station, he said he went by his nickname, tony, and he wasn't surprised they wanted to talk to him. >> thing goes wrong in your town or something, it's a possibility that people will look at you. and that's okay. i understand that. >> reporter: he seemed eager to help. and wanted detectives to know he'd turned his life around when he was in prison. >> i spent my entire eight years in prison doing nothing but engulfing myself in a better life. i got my g.e.d., i went to college. i studied for theology to become a minister. >> reporter: it was behind bars where tony met his wife janet. she a church volunteer. since his release, he said, he published an autobiography about his tough childhood, his battle with drugs and his redemption. >> i have a ministry that i go into prisons with. testimony with them on how they can deal with, you know, youth or whatever they're headed in the wrong direction. >> reporter: at his local church, he said he'd become the minister of music. >> what is your job at the church, what they pay you for? >> my job is to make sure that the music for the praise team or any kind of music that's being done for church services is handled, whether i play it or have someone play it. >> reporter: and in his spare time, he fronted a christian rock band. >> what's the name of your band? >> broken silence. >> broken silence. good name. >> reporter: again, said tony russo, he was more than willing to cooperate with the investigation any way he could. >> i will be happy to do whatever it takes to do whatever you guys need. so i'm not -- i don't have any problem with it at all. >> reporter: so they asked him, where was he when diane was murdered. did he have an alibi? >> thursday? that was a big storm day, wasn't it? thursday i spent some time in the church again. i went to go to knle here in austin. >> reporter: knle is a christian radio station. tony said they were helping him create a website for his christian rock band. >> okay. about what time was that? >> i think it was about -- let's see. i talked to my wife. i was pulling in the parking lot. so that would have been about 4:00, i believe. when no one came to the door, i went ahead and left. >> so you made the trip up there for nothing, basically? >> pretty much. >> reporter: then, of course, he got caught in that awful storm. >> i got lost for probably a good hour or so. i got on the phone with my wife. she stayed on the phone with me. it started getting later. that's when the heavy winds started coming, and the tornadoes, i guess. >> what time did you get home finally? >> my wife's better at the timing on this than i am. 5:30, i guess or 6:00, i'm not really sure exactly the time frame. >> reporter: thing was the house where she was killed was not far from the radio station. >> do you remember ever talking to her? >> uh-uh. no, sir. >> reporter: tony was adamant he'd never seen diane. >> you never talked to her? >> no. >> reporter: interesting. then detectives asked had he been doing some house hunting. >> is there any reason why you'd be in a neighborhood looking for a house? >> no. >> none whatsoever? >> uh-uh. >> reporter: of course, they knew a thing or two about that. so the detectives leaned on him a little. >> do you want me to tell you how serious this is. >> i would appreciate it because i feel like i'm getting pretty banged here and i don't even know what it's for. >> she's dead. i don't know if you noticed when you walked in here, this is a homicide unit. >> i've done a lot of things wrong in my life, and i don't care what anybody is saying about me. i'm telling you that, as badly as i feel for this woman here, i'm sorry, but you guys are barking up the wrong tree. >> reporter: go ahead, he said. search my house, my car. he even offered to take a polygraph. >> and i don't care how hard you dig, you're not going to find me committing any crime like that. any crime, period. >> reporter: tony's wife janet was very helpful, too. and her story about that day was just about the same as his. >> yeah. i was telling him where the tornadoes were. i think he had gotten pretty scared. he doesn't know his way around austin all that well especially that direction. next thing you knew he'd actually circled back around and gone west because he was back on -- he said, well, there's candle again. >> reporter: candle is a nickname for knle, the christian radio station. when the interviews ended, tony asked to see janet. >> i promise you, i never did anything to anybody. i promise. and all i think about is how this affects you and our church and everything we worked so hard for. i know. >> reporter: tony and janet russo had answered all their questions, had been cooperative, and tony even gave them a swab of his dna and his fingerprints. so the police thanked him and took them home. coming up -- the interview, part two. this one a little tougher. >> is there any reason why somebody might have seen your van over there? >> surely i don't have the only pewter ford minivan in this entire town. >> you have the only pewter ford minivan that has that license plate on it. >> that's true. that is true. nger need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. do you struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep? qunol sleep formula combines 5 key nutrients that can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. the brand i trust is qunol. this is your hour's top stories. the number of children under age five hospitalized with covid-19 has reached its highest point since the start of the pandemic. latest data shows four in 100,000 young children testing positive in the hospital, nearly double what it was mid-december. and a judge sentenced three white men to life in prison for the murder of ahmaud arbery, both travis mcmichael, who is 35, and his father's sentences do not have the possibility of parole. a third man will be eligible for parole after 30 years. now back to "dateline." the day after police interviewed tony russo and his wife, they brought him back in, and again he was cooperative. said he was surprised to be a suspect in, of all things, a murder. >> two years i've done everything i can to make the best life for my family and myself. being caught up in this whole thing is such a mind-boggler that i feel like i'm in a nightmare state right now. >> reporter: but bits of information and the women's stories about a creepy man who looked a lot like him were stacking up. detectives asked him about the upscale neighborhoods where several women had reported seeing him. often driving his minivan. >> is there any reason why somebody might have seen your van over there? >> surely i don't have the only pewter ford minivan in this entire town. >> you have the only pewter ford minivan in this entire town or in the entire state of texas that has that license plate on it. >> that's true. that is true. >> reporter: by the time the detectives interviewed tony, they'd already checked for priors and, guess what? that conviction, the one he was on parole for was for kidnapping. with a very particular twist. >> he had gone into an office where a woman was alone, and tied her up with zip ties the and choked her. did not kill her, but did choke her. >> reporter: disturbingly familiar given what happened to diane holik. back then, a decade before diane's murder tony confessed to kidnapping and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. it was there he met and married janet and soon after was paroled after serving only one-third of his sentence. but the kidnapping charge, it wasn't all they found in tony's record. even earlier, years earlier, there was her. >> it had actually been a quiet day. >> reporter: donna schenk who encountered tony when she was a 21-year-old apartment manager in lake jackson, texas. all alone late one afternoon in her building's rental office when a man walked in. >> and he wanted to look at a two-bedroom apartment for himself and his girlfriend he says. >> reporter: donna showed him an available apartment. >> we're walking down the hallway, we get back to what would be the master bedroom. so i open the closet door, and went into the closet to turn the light on. and in a split second he had me by the throat. >> reporter: she struck out at him, tried scratching and slapping at him to get away, but he took her down. >> before i knew it, i was on the floor face up and he was straddling me with both of his hands around my throat. just squeezing. >> reporter: tight. >> very tight. i wasn't able to speak. i wasn't able to breathe. i was thrashing and -- >> reporter: grabbing at him and things. >> bucking, everything i could do until he grabbed his hands and pinned them i guess under his knees. but i couldn't move my hands. it just dawned on me, okay, well, this is it. this is the end. >> reporter: is this absolute terror or is it sort of -- >> it is absolute terror to where your life flashes before your eyes and -- >> reporter: you think i'm going to die? >> and this is it. >> reporter: then she thought, no, this would not be it. and she thrashed about until she was able to free her hands. >> and i put my hands on his forearms trying to pull him away. i had sort of a high-necked sweater on, he kept pulling my sweater down to look at my neck. and his eyes are very different. very scary. and it was completely different. it was like flipping a switch. like a very scary, crazed look. >> reporter: then donna, in a panic, said all she could think of saying. >> i've been gone too long. they know what apartment i'm in. they'll come looking for me. he would say, you're lying. don't lie to me. you better not be lying to me. and would call me profanities and would strike me. >> reporter: he's still holding on to you, your throat? >> yes. >> reporter: but he seemed to realize, yes, there was a possibility somebody would be coming to look for her, and as quickly as he had become a monster -- >> his expression changed again and his eyes went softer, then he completely took his hands off of me and just went like this and just covered his face and then sat back up and he said, i can't believe i did this. are you okay? >> reporter: like he's a different person now. >> yes. to the point that he was apologizing profusely for doing it, asked me if i was hurt, asked me if i was okay, helped me up off of the floor, helped me collect my necklace that was, you know, torn off and thrown about. >> reporter: he begged donna not to call the police, but she did. and he confessed. he was convicted of misdemeanor assault and was put on probation. but as the years went by, he attacked five other women in similar ways including his kidnapping victims. and now he's being questioned by austin police about a murder involving zip ties and choking and was denying he knew anything about it saying the similarities with earlier incidents were merely coincidence. >> it's disgusting to sit here and listen to you talk about being such a devout christian and how much you've turned your life around when one point after another this whole thing goes back to similarities that i'm sure coincidental back in 1989, 1990, '91, '92, you know, but you're this reborn christian? and you're going to sit here and lie about it? >> reporter: the truth was at that point police could only prove patterns of behavior. patterns tony insisted he broke when he became a born-again christian. but really? so the detectives set up a little trap and asked him if his fingerprints could possibly be found on a real estate flier. >> have you ever handled a real estate flier for a house for sale in west austin? >> no. >> then your fingerprints shouldn't be on there? >> correct. >> reporter: even as tony insisted otherwise, they had already received the test results from the real estate flier saved by that woman. >> thank you, lord, tony russo's fingerprints were positively on that flier. >> reporter: what happens in the gut? >> we knew it was him. we weren't able to put him anywhere. now we had him dead to rights. >> reporter: true, they had him recently in the home of a woman who had been terrified by his behavior, but they didn't have him in diane holik's house. to get that evidence, they needed time. and they worried would he run? and then the prosecutor had a canny idea. when tony russo said he didn't touch the real estate flier, that was a lie. and lying to the police was a parole violation. >> so the d.a.'s office cleverly came up with this charge that allowed us the time we needed to send off all the dna and physical evidence to see if we could actually put him at her house. >> put your right hand back. >> reporter: so into jail went tony russo. coming up -- >> there were five guys standing like on a theater setting. >> showtime with a script as his victims come face-to-face with tony russo. >> repeat the following phrase. do you have any information about the floor plan of the house? >> do you have any information about the floor plan of the house? >> i did not expect him to be right in front of me. that was extremely frightening. napoleon was born and raised to conquer. but he was just kind of over it, you know. watching prime video he realized he should follow his dreams. so he ordered a microphone with prime next day delivery. now the only thing he cared about conquering was his audience. prime changes everything. why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number? because every great play starts the night before. my sleep number 360 smart bed tracks my circadian rhythm, average heart rate, and breathing rate so i know how well i'm sleeping. it's also temperature balancing so i stay cool. and it senses my movement and automatically adjusts to help keep me comfortable all night. sleep number takes care of the science so i can focus on other things. the sleep number 360 smart bed is on sale now. only from sleep number. [♪♪] 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 it was a bit of a reach, frankly. jailing tony russo for lying about leaving his fingerprints on that real estate flier. still, tony was on parole, after all, and his lie was technically a parole violation. but mainly detectives wanted him safely behind bars where they look for evidence to tie him to the murder of diane holik. mind you, they'd already noticed something. like the fact that tony changed the look of his van after he became a suspect. >> he took all the pinstriping off of his van, which several of the women noticed. >> reporter: so he went to some trouble to make his car look different. >> yes. >> he even changed the symbol of the christian fish that was a sticker on the back windshield. he took that off. >> reporter: of course, they searched tony's van top to bottom, but they didn't find diane's engagement ring or anything else that belonged to her in the van. and a search of tony's house came up empty, too, though some rolled up wire fencing outside the house they found zip ties. which appeared to match the markings on diane's wrists. they tracked down his alibi, too, of course. asked employees at the christian radio station if tony could have knocked on the door without being seen that afternoon in the big storm. and the radio people said, no, not possible. because -- >> as part of their tornado protocol, everybody in the building had to go to the front lobby of the radio station. there's no way that he could have shown up there with them not knowing because there's probably 20 people sitting in the lobby and they would have seen him. >> reporter: yet his cellphone pinged in the area which happened to be near diane's neighborhood. and those women calling in that described a big man with big nose and beer belly, could they help make a case against tony? >> we had so many women that had let him into their homes in different neighborhoods all over austin, south austin, north austin, even real estate agents that he had called when he wanted to look at vacant houses. >> stand in your assigned position. >> reporter: but could any of those women actually identify tony russo as their guy? >> we felt like we needed to do a live lineup because the phrasing in his ruse that he used was so specific and the women remembered his voice and they remembered his story. >> reporter: so they rounded up some austin police officers who looked like tony and put him and them in a lineup and brought the women in. >> there were five guys standing like on a -- like a theater setting. >> number one, take one step forward. >> a couple of feet above me, and we're down below. >> number two, repeat the following phrase, you have a beautiful house. >> you have a beautiful house. >> we had a script that each person had to step forward and exactly repeat what the detective was telling them to say. >> i'm going to pay cash for a house. >> i'm going to pay cash for a house. >> it was everything that was said to each one of these women when he went into their homes. >> i came to this house before, didn't i? >> i came to this house before, didn't it? >> repeat the following phrase. do you have any information about the floor plan of the house? >> do you have any information about the floor plan of the house? >> he was number one right in front of me. i did not expect him to be right in front of me. so that was extremely frightening. >> i picked him out of a lineup immediately. i was feeling a lot of guilt. i don't know why. you know, you just feel what could i have done? somebody's dead. and this man was with me. >> reporter: how many of those witnesses picked out the right guy? >> i believe it was 15 women. >> reporter: out of the total of how many? >> i think it was 30. >> reporter: eyewitness testimony is notoriously not great and often doesn't carry much weight in the trial so you needed something more, right? >> yes. >> reporter: what they needed was something definitive to put tony russo in diane holik's house. we sent in samples from where her ring had been yanked off to that towel from the couch. finally the results. what did the dna tell you? >> the swab on her hand was a mixture that was consistent with a combination of diane holik and russo. >> reporter: was it enough to say for sure, though -- >> no. >> reporter: because dna -- >> no, we can't exclude him. it's consistent with him. but it's not the kind of dna that you can eliminate the rest of the world. >> reporter: right. just really increased suspicion is all. >> yes. it was helpful. it was not dispositive. >> reporter: and the hairs found on that wet towel left on diane's couch? >> we sent the hair off to a lab, and they did a mitochondrial dna test on the hair, and again we could not exclude mr. russo. >> reporter: you couldn't say for sure it was him. >> couldn't say for sure, no. >> reporter: so close, just not quite the absolute proof they'd been hoping for. but the dna did provide one very helpful service. police had confirmed the alibis of diane's fiance dennis and her ibm friend ray, these tests definitively eliminated them as suspects. >> we could not eliminate mr. russo. >> reporter: finally six months after diane's death, tony russo was charged with murder. a risk? maybe. they'd only get one shot. and the evidence they were going to take to court did not absolutely link him to the murder of diane holik. then when the trial was almost upon them, they found something. something almost beyond belief. >> in my wildest dreams, i never imagined that a website like this could even exist. coming up -- the dark side of the web, and tony russo. >> you certainly had your motive. >> yes, we did. her personality was like this giant bubble that just kept getting bigger and she put as many people around to be in this bubble of fun of life. she lived life to be having a good time. >> reporter: two years after diane holik's happy, vibrant life was so suddenly asphyxiated, her friends gathered again for a murder trial. friends and a whole group of women who had never met each other or diane holik but -- >> you could see they were all attractive women. looked like he had a type. >> it was obvious what this man was looking for. everyone had the same look. >> reporter: and the same determination to testify against tony russo, music minister, born-again christian, happily married man. but the case against him, not so easy. >> the most complex murder case, definitely the most complex murder case i've ever tried. >> reporter: that's because without hard evidence linking tony to the murder or even putting him in diane's house, she'd have to assemble all the jagged puzzle pieces of coincidence into a coherent pattern for the jury. >> when you're getting ready for trial, you put it together almost like a play. you know, what are you going to tell them first? so you script it out. >> reporter: there were the zip ties on his property that seemed to match marks on diane's wrists. his cellphone pings near her house. the radio station alibi was a lie. the dna, though it wasn't absolutely definitive, could not eliminate him. and all those women could identify him as that creepy guy claiming he wanted to buy a house with cash, cash which he certainly did not have. but then -- >> he really wasn't looking for houses. he was looking for victims. >> reporter: like realtor melody blount who cried and prayed afford her encounter with tony russo. she found it so terrifying to testify, but did. >> i did not expect for patrick anthony russo to be sitting across from me within 10 to 12 feet. and having to testify with that man looking at me, it was petrifying. >> reporter: and most unsettling when she noticed something all too familiar. >> now i'm glaring at russo, and what does he do? he starts that tick in his neck, starts that popping. and i raised my hand up and said, there he goes, he's doing it right now. >> reporter: the state called his victims from earlier years including donna, the young apartment manager he attacked in lake jackson, texas. >> this phone call out of the blue after all of that time. >> reporter: she was not only surprised, she was angry. very angry. >> why did that have to happen? why does someone have to be killed before this man was stopped? >> reporter: and the emotions of that whole ugly ordeal flooded right back. >> my heart started racing. it was just being terrified all over again. just like being blindsided. >> reporter: but some of the compelling evidence came courtesy of tony's first wife. as he'd been married once before. >> the first wife said that he could not get aroused sexually unless he was choking her. and that he choked her when they had sex. >> reporter: and the second wife? >> second wife confirmed that he also choked her while they had sex. >> i mean, i will say that he does tend to put his hand on my neck. any time i feel like my airway's getting restricted, you know, then -- and he always lets go. >> reporter: so the strange and potentially dangerous fetish, but was that all it was? isn't it possible though that he didn't really want to kill diane holik? >> it's my belief that he did. that just choking and not killing, it was no longer enough. it wasn't enough anymore. >> reporter: and why was she so sure? because of what turned up during a forensic analysis of tony russo's computer. the i.t. people landed on it just as the trial was about to begin. disturbing is perhaps too bland a word to describe what was in there. >> he was a member of a website, one that you had to pay money to see. it's described as tastefully erotic death scenes. and mr. russo had chosen the sub category of asphyxiation. >> reporter: omg. >> mm-hmm. in my wildest dreams, i never imagined that a website like this could even exist or that anybody would want to look at it. >> reporter: you certainly had your motive. >> yes, we did. it's called sexual sadism. >> reporter: so he felt a compulsion to go and choke people? >> yes. and that he was sexually aroused by women being choked. >> reporter: oh, boy, that gets into pretty dark territory, doesn't it? >> yes. >> they nailed him big time. >> reporter: diane's friend anita was in the courtroom when the state rested. and she waited to hear tony's defense. >> we were all thinking, okay, well, here we go. we're really going to hear a whole bunch of stuff. and the room was packed solid with people. and so his attorney just stood up and said, defense rests. and there was like a huge gasp in the room. and then totally silent. >> reporter: diane's friend lynn arrived just in time to hear the closing argument from the co-prosecutor. >> he kind of stood quiet for a minute, then went over to the jury and looked them all in the face and said, i need you to understand what happened to her that night. he put his hands up in the air like that and he put his thumbs down and he shook his hands like this as though he was choking someone. >> then he said, imagine, it took her 2 1/2 maybe even 3 minutes for her to die. >> reporter: as he's holding on to her. >> yeah. stood there and looked at his watch and just waited. and for at least 2 1/2 minutes nothing moved in that courtroom. >> and it was silent and he held that position with shaking hands until enough time had passed that a person would have died from being choked. >> all of a sudden slams his hand down on the table. i mean, he said, that's how long it took for her to die. and the whole courtroom just -- we all broke down at that point. to think that that's how long it took for her to die. how long she suffered. >> reporter: the defense which did not call a single witness instead made its case in the closing argument. for all the drama, the state, they said, failed to prove because it couldn't prove, that tony russo was ever in diane holik's home, couldn't prove he killed her. tony did not testify, but he did talk to us. coming up -- the verdict. >> when the jury walked back into the jury box, i can't even look at them. why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number? because my sleep number 360 smart bed is temperature balancing so i stay cool. and senses my movement and effortlessly adjusts to help keep me comfortable. the sleep number 360 smart bed is on sale now. only from sleep number. donna davis had put everything she had into the case against tony russo. >> when, not if. will this sexually sadistic predator stop. >> reporter: she believed he was a dangerous man who should never be let loose to victimize another woman. her circumstantial case was powerful, overwhelming, but not even the tiny bits of recovered dna could absolutely prove beyond a doubt that tony russo killed diane holik. so prosecutors, investigators, friends and family were anything but calm as the hours passed and they waited for the jury. then, after 11 hours -- >> when the jury walked back into the jury box, i can't even look at them. even now. just looked down at the table and i wait for the judge to read. >> reporter: and then. >> we the jury, find the defendant, patrick anthony russo, guilty of the offense of capital murder. >> it was great. we really worked for this one. >> reporter: so they did. and won a case which remains as relevant a cautionary tale as it did back in 2004 when the jury pronounced its verdict. seller beware. >> that was quite eye opening, the effect on not only her friends but the community as a whole and the real estate business. >> people need to see this and be aware so maybe this will stop that from happening. >> reporter: and tony russo? his hair has gone silver now. he's in prison for life. and here one friday morning he brought his bible to the barrier that separates his world from ours. his holy stamp of assurance that what he was about to tell us about his role in the murder of diane holik would be god's truth. that jury comes back and says guilty. what's that like? >> devastating. when you're innocent, it's devastating. >> reporter: innocent? yes. and -- so i hear from the warden that you have -- you got your bachelor's in divinity. >> yes, sir. if i had to spend the rest of my life in here, i want to use it for christ. >> reporter: throughout our talk, he wore his christianity like a badge. and like an accusation. >> i notice that in the media they love to sensationalize any christians or people who claim to be christians that somehow they just got some hidden secrets in their life. and -- >> reporter: but your victims were christians, too. >> saying you're a christian and being a christian are two different things. >> reporter: you are saying you have to be totally honest to be a christian? >> you don't have to be totally honest but there are things in your life that you'll exhibit whether christ is in your life or not. >> reporter: the evidence against him? he had answers for everything. like why he lied to the police when he said he wasn't looking at houses when in fact he was. >> i did deny in the interview because i felt like i was going to incriminate myself in the original interrogation. i did, however, share with my attorneys -- >> reporter: right. >> -- what had been going on. >> reporter: which was, he said, perfectly innocent research. >> looking at the different designs and things. for a long time we had talked about building a house. one of my friends from church had lived in a mobile home while he built a whole house on the back of his property. >> reporter: so we wondered, why did he behave in a way that terrified all those women who testified in court against him. you got to admit it was a pretty creepy thing to do. >> well, i don't know how creepy it is to look at houses -- >> reporter: to tell people a whole shaggy dog tale, a bunch of lies about why you're there, to follow them around the house, to make them nervous. >> well, actually, i preferred not to follow anybody through a house. they're the ones that want to show you the house. so they tend to lead you. >> reporter: the rental agent he attacked and half strangled back in 1989 -- what do you have to say to a woman like her? >> okay. i don't remember her at all. i don't. >> reporter: and yet he actually confessed to attacking that woman back in 1989. and what about the witness so frightened by his visit to her house that she and her husband saved his license plate number. and they kept it because they were so freaked out by you. >> they actually kept about four license plate numbers of people that looked at their house and wanted to look at their house without a realtor. >> reporter: not true said darla davis. his license number was the only one they saved. i also asked him about his decision to take the pinstriping off his van just then. he said that wasn't because police were looking for it but because it had been vandalized. >> i was going to redo the pinstriping since i had originally put it on there. >> reporter: the zip ties police found wrapped around fencing on his property? they belonged to a friend, he said. and the statement by his wife, jafrn l. jafr will will janet, that he sometimes choked her during sex. >> i mean, i will say that he does tend to put his hand on my neck. >> i never choked anybody. >> reporter: you choked your wife. >> no, i did not. >> reporter: she said you did. you did that as part of the sex act. that's how you had sex. >> no, that's not true. that's a manipulation on what she's saying. >> reporter: by whom? >> i'm just telling you that's not what she said. >> reporter: but we reminded tony that he'd been married twice. and in marriage number one, same issue. but your ex-wife says you choked her. and that's how you got sexual arousal. >> okay. >> reporter: the only way you can get sexual arousal. >> well, i'm not going to go into detail to embarrass her, so i'd rather not say anything about her. >> reporter: you know that's a tactic, don't you? i've seen this done a thousand times. >> you can call it a tactic. >> reporter: if you've got something to say about the woman, say it. but don't do that where i'm not good to say a bad thing about her because it would be mean to her. that's b.s. and you know it. >> under the world standards, yeah, that would be b.s., but as a christian, it's not. >> reporter: we asked about the pornographic website purported to show asphyxiation of women. the one he had to register and pay for before he could access it on his computer. >> i cannot help that porn sites pop up on my computer. >> reporter: they don't pop up unless you look at some porn site or whatever. there's an explanation for everything. >> well, there's a truth to everything. >> reporter: oh, yes, tony russo had an answer for everything. >> i am absolutely innocent. and it disgusts me that every time you try to say you're innocent, everybody says, isn't that what everybody says? >> reporter: and you confessed the ultimate sin to god? >> what's the ultimate sin that you're talking about? >> reporter: murder. >> if i had murdered someone, i would definitely have. >> reporter: you say with your hand on your bible -- >> i will die proclaiming my innocence. people will believe it or not believe it. i am absolutely innocent. i don't care how guilty i look. i'm innocent. >> reporter: he couldn't convince any courts of that, though. all his appeals failed. so here he will stay. outside this institution several women still struggle with the anxieties and fears in prisons of their own created by him. >> it comes back any time i get a call from a man who wants to see a house who is single. every time. i could have been a victim. >> reporter: absolutely. >> i was an intended victim. that's why he called me. so that's a hard thing to think about. >> reporter: and they told us, the trauma lives on. though -- >> it's comforting to know that he's in there, that he can't hurt anyone else. >> reporter: they are sorority sisters of a sort. who, unwilling to live their lives as silent victims, came together to help get tony russo off the street for good. >> we did our job, and we got him convicted. >> reporter: so they did, this sisterhood. for the sake of a woman whose fate might have been theirs, diane holik, whose friends came together to remember how they miss her even after all these years. >> she was a constant friend. she was in my life every day. and all of a sudden she was gone out of my life. in an instant like blowing a candle out. >> reporter: you see the smile in all these photographs. was she always smiling? >> always. always. >> yeah. she had a magic smile. it was infectious. if she was smiling, everybody else had to. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> he was a wealthy doctor with a perfect life and the perfect wife, until the day he says he found her dead. valentine's day. >> my wife -- my wife's -- i think my wife is dead. >> she had enemies. >> there were calls that were made to susan that scared her. >> so imagine everyone's shock when they charged him with murder. >> he just couldn't have done it. >> sure they'd had their problems -- >> a huge number, close to 100, phone calls to this phone