in her life. was someone involved. the age range went. >> you know is a person in. this >> the acts. >> the brand-new boyfriend. >> someone knew that we were seeing each other and did not like it. >> and the unbelievable thing. >> they were all there the day of the murder. so who did it. >> my stomach was in my throat. >> all of us were little taken aback. >> it was really hard for my brain to wrap around that. >> it was early morning, still dark. the spring air was a cold blanket around the pick up parked and running near the main street of little glendive, montana. at 5:20 am, the passenger side door open a woman stepped out and hurried across the and the street to the entrance to her downtown apartment. her coat, disheveled. her bar some over one arm. the man's i followed her through the dark. john as other men's eyes were, like moths to flame. to her. to the woman now crossing the sidewalk to her doorway, susie. lightning in a bottle. they were all there. >> they're at susie's front door. >> each one of them was part of that crime scene. but how many and who? who in the eyes in the dark that started that awful cascade of events. of terrible things. >> i just dropped the phone and cried and cried and cried. i just couldn't believe that that could happen, three times in one family. >> sunlight in the badlands of eastern montana is like nothing else. that wide blue arch of an sullied sky. the vast rolling prairie. dotted sparsely with tiny old hamlets in which businesses personal. and we're friends and families have worked the same field for generations. places like circle, population 600. susie's hometown. >> she liven things up a lot. this is susie's elderly sister, carly. >> it was nice to have that breath of fresh air in the family because of the rest of us were more quiet, you know? >> susie was the fifth of six kids born to marlene hand her husband jack. then the county undersheriff. >> she loved horses and she love to go right in. she was she and i would go right in quite a bit. >> sue's is love affair with horses grew as she did and shaped her work ethic. her sister in law, val. >> she was not afraid to be out there shoveling before manure or fixing a fence. just feisty. >> but if there was one word used most used to describe susie, it was not so much feisty as -- >> fun with a capital eight. >> she was very impulsive so she didn't think a lot ahead. she just went with the movement. >> so when susie went off to a technical school three hours away in billings and found herself a boyfriend, perhaps what happened next shouldn't have come as a very big surprise. >> it was oh, she's pregnant. and you know, you get married, fastest what you do. >> and so she did. they made a big happy thing of it. the whole family gathered in circle for a real country, church wedding. we're susie introduce her parents and siblings to her new husband. nicknamed marty. >> what was that like for you to, finding out that she was pregnant? and things were going to be a little bit different than you thought. >> the whole family accepted it because it was susie's choice. >> before long, susie give birth a little bird girl named maria. followed by a son but again no real surprise. the marriage didn't last. >> she really loved her kids. they were really a big part of her life. and then when her and marty split, they were really everything in her life. >> so, late 90s now, susie was working as a medical transcription is in a place called glendive. that's where she met ted casey. he was the real deed deal. a grown-up this time. a ranch or 14 years older than susie. >> he had horses and that was just right for her. >> wedding number two. this was 1998. the kids, shea and maria called ted dad. then there were two more kids. girls. and for almost a decade the marriage seem to be just fine. but by then, susie was sharing secrets with val about ted. >> he wanted to tame her i think. [laughs] i guess i kind of joke around and say that he wanted her to be home in time for the 10:00 news. he didn't want her to sail and have fun. >> at the casey ranch, love started to see like one more picture to put off to tomorrow. >> i think they grew a part. they just really both change. >> then one liquid evening down at a bar, things went seriously sideways. ted got mad, dumped a beer susie's head, slapped her, spend the night in jail. not long after, ted field pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic assault. susie it was gone from the ranch. >> she wasn't very happy with ted, as she was starting to make some good decisions too find some happiness again. >> as so, by the spring of 2008, susie and the kids were living at the ponderous apartments here in downtown glendive. and a town like this people notice when what susie was up to. like tour said family acquaintance a living, but notice. >> people thought of susie as someone that was going through a time. some of that was showing some wild oats. she liked to have fun. and she was having a lot of fun. >> then it got to that friday evening in april. >> when she came into see me. she was really happy and she had makeup on, which wasn't really a susie thing. and that was great. so i knew something was up. >> and still val watch as susie rounded out the door to take her two youngest kids to ted for the night. while the two older kids fended for themselves. then susie headed out on the >> and i'm like, this girl has got to have a date tonight. >> and the very next morning -- >> mom, pick up. >> when susie's were children in free creasing leave frantic family call to check on her. >> call me whenever you get the message -- >> susie who always kept her phone within reach did not answer. coming up. susie casey's sudden disappearance triggers a desperate search. can the people she loves help solve this mystery? >> i mean, what do you do? how do you help find somebody? >> i was going to backtrack all of her steps. you can tell her house was dark and it was kind of -- it was like an eerie feeling. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues 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. what happens when you block heartburn ta with one prilosec otcema speci in the morning?xent, heartburn doesn't stand a chance - day... or night. excess stomach acid can cause heartburn. prilosec otc works differently by preventing excess acid production. so don't fight heartburn, block it. prilosec otc. one pill in the morning blocks heartburn, all day and all night. >> the morning sun on another glory spring day. glendive, montana. but in the ponderous apartments it was anxiety that infected the air. as 14 year old mariah tried again and again to reach her mother, susie. >> call me when you get this. >> mariah knew very well that her mother enjoyed evenings out and trusted her two olr children to look after themselves in the apartment. but she never wants failed to come home. mariah's next call was to her grandparents. >> she told grandma, mom is in arou. >> and so, memorize anxiety infected jack and more lean to. >> sometimes you almost talk to mariah as a mom, because mariah was pretty grown-up and smart for her age. >> she was a somewhat more levelheaded one? >> right. >> soon phones were ringing all over. susie sister, karlyne. >> i thought this is silly, she went somewhere, the kids forgot, and it's all going to be a funny moment. >> the kids were sufficiently independent to get themselves up and leave for their respective activities. but from susie, not a word. across town, sister in law val hadn't heard yet that susie failed to come home. >> we had a craft show in town and i thought maybe she would want to come with me. >> hey, it's val i'm down at spring fling just wondering if you are coming down? when she didn't respond that morning, i thought that was kind of odd. when i was actually actual craft show iwhen i got the call from the rest rusty. >> rusty rusty limesand, val's, susie's little brother. >> what did he say? >> he told me that the kids couldn't find susie when they woke up. and that everybody was just worried because this was in susie and she would never just not tell her children or be there for them. and she was not there. >> val's next attempt to reach susie wasn't quite so calm. >> you need to call me back. your dad is freak out because nobody can find you. >> i mean, what do you do? how do you find somebody? >> i was a detective. i was going to backtrack all of her steps. that's exactly what i did. >> val made some calls. found susie had been drinking with friends the night before until about 11 pm. when she left for what was apparently a date with a new boyfriend. someone susie had just started seeing after her separation from her husband, ted. val's mind was racing. >> i also thought she'd maybe just fainted somewhere or had a heart attack. or an accident, or anything. >> still, when her mind settled her first move was -- >> i just figured that i had to go to ted. >> because? >> maybe she was at ted's and they were having argument and she could answer her phone. >> maybe something happened over there? >> maybe something happened, exactly. >> remember, ted casey had pleaded guilty to assaulting susie six months before. that's why she moved off the ranch. to the apartment. but when val arrived at ted's place. you can tell the house was dark and there were no cars there, it was like an eerie feeling. i just felt like i couldn't get out of the car by myself. >> so, she decided to leave, picked up her husband, rusty. the two of them got a key to susie's apartment. they opened the door. and here's what they found. this is a videotape that police made later. >> as we walk through the apartment and really realized that she was in there, thinking that adrenaline burst of something is awry. something isn't right. >> is empty, she's not there, she's gone. >> she's not here, yes. >> so val decided to go find that new boyfriend susie had a date with. the last person to be seen with her. his name was brad holzer. >> he would know where she was. brad lived with his soon to be ex-wife less than five minutes away from susie's apartment. val drove over and knocked on the door. >> i said, susie's not home. we can't find her. she's not answering our calls and we're all really worried. and i remember exactly what he said to me. he said, what do you mean she's at home? i dropped her off at 5 am. that's when it hit that we're going to the police, something 's not right. >> it certainly wasn't. a man whose marriage was breaking up, the last man to be with her, didn't know a thing? really? coming up. susie's new boyfriend feels fields a few questions down at the station. >> did you guys make out or anything, before -- >> probably five minutes, yeah. >> before she exited the truck? >> yeah. >> did you ever wonder about brad iowa if he was capable of any bad thing? >> when she went missing and i wondered about everybody. everybody was a suspect. >> when dateline continues. moments with coricidin. now in sugar free liquid. does sinus congestion and pressure make breathing feel impossible especially at night? try vicks sinex. unlike most sinus treatments, it provides instant relief that lasts up to 12 hours. its powerful decongestant targets congestion at the source, with a dual action formula that relieves nasal congestion and soothes sinus pressure by reducing swelling in the sinuses. for instant relief that lasts up to 12 hours, try vicks sinex. from vicks - trusted relief for over 125 years. [sfx: voice relief] when a truck hit my car, the insurance company wasn't fair. [sfx: voice relief] i didid't t kn whahatmy c caswa, so i called the barnes firm. i'm rich barnes. it's hard for people to k how much their accident case is worth.h barnes. t ouour juryry aorneneys hehelpou the insurance company getenwasn't fair.ity y cablele. i didn't know what my case was worth, so i called the barnes firm. llll theararnes rmrm now the best result possible. >> people disappear all the ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ time in america. many of them turn up again. and maybe in some big cities some were susie's absent wouldn't have raised the alarm quite so fast. but here -- olivia reager it was a young lawyer than. >> i just thought, you have to be kidding. this is glendive, she has to be around somewhere. >> but when susie's brother and sister in law roared around town looking, it only made them more upset. >> as a kid, when you're younger, you always wish you had things you didn't have. and i just always wished i had a big sister. and when i met susie, she was my big sister. and i guess i just never imagined she wouldn't be in my life. >> mid afternoon, val and her husband rusty drove over to the glendive police department. they sat down with then captain ty ulrich. >> they said susie always answers her phone, always. and i went to my office strikes twice and tried to call. and to voice mail. >> in the town the size of glendive, the police were keenly aware of susie's history. they'll be six months prior at the hands of soon to be ex-husband ted. >> i had a little insight and kind of knew the dynamics. >> but then val told the chief susie's life had just become even more complicated. the night before she disappeared, said val, susie was with another man. a guy named brad, who she said she was crazy about. and who had to have been the last person to see her before she vanished. >> did you ever wonder about brad and whether he was capable of any bad things? >> when she went missing, i wondered about everybody. everybody was a suspect. everybody was, your mind just continues to play and play and play, differences scenarios of what could have happened. and where she is. >> and while that question remained unanswered -- >> have a seat -- >> brad holzer came in for an interview. >> we appreciate you coming in. >> no problem. >> brad told the police that he and susie actually had quite a long history. >> how long have you know susan? >> well, we went out in high school. >> okay. >> she was 16, i was 19. probably went out for a couple months, is all. >> then they lost shots for nearly two decades, said brad, until st. patrick's day 2008. just three weeks before she disappeared. when their eyes met downtown. >> out of blue, came up to me and said hi. and i knew who she was right away. record nicer immediately. >> and in the weeks since? >> brad said he and susie spend every possible moment together. though given her kids and their respective and marital issues, it was complicated. the night before she disappeared, said brad, susie had been drinking with a couple of girlfriends. before he picture up and they drove out of town to sit by the yellowstone river. >> and then, that's where we were from going on 10:45 or 11, until 5 am. we drove out there i'm parked. and we do the same thing we usually did. talked, kiss, stuff like that. >> it was just about five in the morning, said brad, when he drove back to town and parked across the street from susie's apartment. >> did you guys make out or anything, before? >> probably for five minutes, yeah. >> before she exited the truck? >> yeah. >> she got out, walked back to her -- across the street to her place. like she normally does. i know she was at least halfway across the street when i turned and started backing out, so she was that close to getting into that apartment. >> brad swore he drove straight home and went to bed. and then brad cast suspicion. elsewhere. >> right do you know or susan's at? >> i have no idea where she is. i wish i did. >> okay. where do you think she is, if you had to guess? >> my guess would be ted -- . i can't help but think he had to be behind this somehow. >> and there was one more thing, said brad. somebody sent him a weird email the morning before his last state with susie. maybe ted was behind it somehow. here it is. how's your girlfriend? how does your wife feel about it? the sender, age in the denise johnson. >> still in the dark as to who said that. and who the hell is denise johnson? >> that made the cops ears perk up. a missing woman, a mysterious email, one guy pointing toward another. >> there's somebody out there, some jealousy, probably. i need to find out who send those emails. >> so they told bride, don't leave town. and they set out to talk to susie's soon to be ex, ted casey. coming up. >> so much pressure, and after a while it -- you know, explodes. >> the scorned husband was brought into the interogation room. details of the confrontation with susie. >> i wasn't very happy. >> your thoughts about ted's were very friendly ones at that point? >> no. >> when dateline continues. line continues where does your almondmilk come from? almond breeze starts here with our almond trees in our blue diamond orchard in california. my parents' job is to look after them. and it's my job to test the product. the best almonds make the best almondmilk. blue diamond almond breeze. 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. >> by the sunday of that is anxious weekend in eagle 2008, the whereabouts of susie casey was a local preoccupation in glendive, montana montana. >> there was a lot of talk about about we saw her walking about down the street sometime. maybe somebody picture up. >> the young attorney and fleming acquaintance olivia reager, couldn't help but hear what people were seeing. >> did she go home with someone? did she drive off somewhere? >> susie's mother was afraid something awful had happened. and for the second time she called sister karlyne, two hours away in north dakota. >> and that's when i knew something was really, really wrong. and so we packed up suitcases and headed to glendive to see what we could do to help find her. >> but where could they look? glendive is the biggest townin a sparsely populated county the size of delaware. far more hiding places than there are people. >> we had a few things off a cell phone tower. so we had maybe a nice way of were her phone would've been last. we had horseback, four wheeler's, airplanes, headlock up to his, people on foot. and nothing. >> meanwhile, they processes chevy trail blazer for any sort of as evidence. same in her apartment. and found, nothing. nothing of particular importance anyway. but then they had a look around outside susie's apartment building. and found something kind of curious. a couple of curious things, actually. thing one was a shoe print in the alcove of the building next door to susie's place. and thing to, over in the alley maybe 40 or 50 feet away, looked like something had been dragged. something heavy, along the ground near the dumpster. did either of those things have anything to do with susie's disappearance? maybe they rejected husband could tell them, ted casey. the morning susie vanished, he went to work, help his rather with a project and went to a rodeo. so by the next day, police were very eager to talk to ted. >> your thoughts about ted were not very friendly winds at that point. >> no. >> ted had reasons to be upset with the woman who is leaving him. he was angry, humiliated. a costly divorce was looming. charles support to play pay. first, they asked about that incident in the bar on the night they arrested him and put him in jail. >> i dumped a drink on her head. you know, barely slapped her, because she threw herself on the ground. i mean, we were both drinking. and you know, didn't mean to. it just happened. but, you know, i suppose you get to sochi -- so much pressure. and after a while it -- explodes. >> explodes? that was a curious thing to say. ted insisted he last saw susie around 7:00 the evening before she disappeared. when she dropped off the two little girls at his house for the night. but ted did admit he did he confronted susie on the phone a couple hours later. after receiving a strange phone call himself around 9 pm. >> and what was said? >> just that brad holzer, whatever his last name is, has been with his wife. >> brad holzer, susie's boyfriend of three weeks -- >> what do you think about this deal with brad when you heard it? >> well, i was in very happy. i mean -- i called her up and said, hey who is this bride holzer? or whatever. i said, i just got a call that you've been doing him. oh no no, i had never do that, and never cheat on you. i said, you know we are still married. even though we're not living together. and i just hung up the phone, you know? well, she called me right back. and then she admitted that she knew the guy. she knew who he was. and that was about the end of the conversation. >> was he upset? yes, of course he said he was. and yet told his interrogator he fell asleep right away. then got up around 5 am to do chores and drop off his girls with a baby sitter. and met coworker at city hall by six. >> it was by 6:00 at the very latest. i was thinking it was like 10 to 6 or something like that when i got there. >> but here's the thing -- ted drove right past susie's apartment. he is admitted as much, on his way to the meeting at city hall. in and his own timeline put him right there around her front door within minutes of when she walked across the street, all disheveled, after making all night with brad holzer. the very time susie vanished from the face of the earth. >> as the police department checked out the story, ted went home to look after the two youngest girl who are now living with him full-time. while susie's two older kids went to live with val, her and her husband. >> mariah was just tormented. she just didn't know what to do with herself. she was so close to her mom. it was just really, really hard for her. >> harder and harder for everyone as day after day, the search for susie produced nothing. >> as time went on, it was clear that she was around anywhere. it was just a really scary time. >> what were those days like? >> they were pure hell. we just sat and wait and wait for the phone to ring. >> and then, nearly a month after susie's disappearance, it did. coming up. >> the hardest day of my life. >> the horrifying discovery on the river. and another discovery at the station. brad holzer's wife. what was she doing there? >> honestly, i'm a suspect? >> right now, both of you and brad are. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues new year, new start. and now comcast business is making it easy to get going with the ready. set. save. sale. get started with fast and reliable internet and voice for $64.99 a month with a 2-year price guarantee. it's easy... with flexible installation and backing from an expert team, 24/7. and for even more value, ask how to get up to a $500 prepaid card. get a great deal for your business with the ready. set. save. sale today. comcast business. powering possibilities. >> nearly a month after susie casey vanished, an early spring morning in glendive, montana, it was the yellowstone river that finally gave her back. >> i was actually sitting at my desk and the sheriff at the time walked over and said there is a body floating in the river. >> fallon is a small town 28 miles upstream from glendive. >> we jumped in the vehicle and by the time we got there it was unsure. we took a look. i knew at that point were changing from missing person to homicide. >> susie's family gathered at val and rusty's house. >> i knew it couldn't have been anybody else. but it didn't go over all the way. because i had a job to do. my job was to keep this family together. and to get us through this. then the authorities came and told us that it was her body. i didn't let my emotions just run with it. because i knew we had those children downstairs. >> the older two, maria, 14 and she, 12. karlyne is the one who told them. >> i think that's the hardest day of my life. and i've had a lot of hard days. that was the hardest, i think. that was tough. but when we finished up, i stepped outside and they were to perfect double rainbows. and i thought, it's going to be all right. it just felt like a sign that susie was letting us know that, okay, you finally found me. now will work through it. it's going to be all right. >> as word spread that susie had finally been found, the town of glendive both mourned and relaxed to somewhere degree. >> i think it was almost like a sense of relief. we found her, we can move forward and see what happens. >> by this time, agents from montana's department of criminal investigation had been called in, to help the local police. the agent lead johnson -- >> we determine from the autopsy that she was not breathing when she went into the water. so it was not a drowning. >> all right, so she was killed first? >> that's correct. and the autopsy autopsy revealed that hy bulb was broken, which is consistent with manual strangulation. >> strangled. but when? and by whom? >> this time, brad, the last person known to have seen susie alive -- >> i'll be right back, okay. >> okay. >> had been interviewed time again. >> when she left, she was wearing my white sweatshirt. >> and they talk repeatedly to brad's wife. though she and her husband maintained they had no motive to kill susie. they were headed for a divorce. >> basically, i need you to start from the beginning. >> but how did she feel, really? after all they were still living together. did brad's wife who might be considered the odd woman out in a love triangle, have a reason to get rid of susie? >> honestly, am i suspect? >> honestly, we have a variety of suspects. and yeah, right now, both you and radar. >> but brad story didn't change. he and susie were out all night. he dropped her at her apartment around 5 am. then drove a few blocks home and went right to sleep. and his wife insisted that was true. said she came home from the date of her own about 6 am and found him already asleep. >> i went in, and the door the bedroom door was close. and i look in, and he was in bed sleeping. >> but brides wife added to the mystery as well. because it turned out she to claimed she got a strange phone call that week. the week susie disappeared. >> they said, can we leave a message for brad. and i said okay. and they said, tell him to stop messing around with married women. and i said, what do you talking about? and then she hung up. >> so it was a female? >> yeah. >> a woman? >> this was getting stranger by the minute. ted remember, claimed it was a male who called him to rat on susie. brad said a female named junius johnson sent him an email. asking how his wife fell about his girlfriend. but what police really needed was something concrete. something physical. proof of brad's whereabouts to backup his story clear his name. and -- >> it was just by flu that we decided to check the bank for the footage. and sure enough, there it is. >> the bank. a u.s. bank blank just a couple of doors down from susan's apartment. >> of course it had up a camera >> of course it had up a camera on its atm. on its atm. so they asked to see the video. and what do you know? though very grainy and extremely hard to see clearly, so they asked to see the it appeared to back up everything brad said. early in the morning, just video. and what do you know? though very grainy and extremely hard to see clearly, it appeared to back up everything brad said. early in the morning, just before for ivm, for 52 to be exact, you can see a pick up bullet up across the street before for 5 am, for 4:52 to be exact, you can see a pick up bullet up across the street from the ponderous or from the ponderous or apartment. >> we see brad holzer pull up apartment. >> we see brad holzer pull up in his vehicle on the security in his vehicle on the security cameras and susan casey is with him in that vehicle for a period of time. 20 minutes. cameras and susan casey is with the light comes on. him in that vehicle for a we believe that's when susie period of time. 20 minutes. exits the vehicle. and this was about 5:19 am. the light comes on. we believe that's when susie exits the vehicle. and this was about 5:19 am. >> then brad's pick up pulled away, out of frame. >> then brad's pick up pulled >> when brad holder's wife is interviewed, she had been out away, out of frame. all night. >> when brad holder's wife is interviewed, she had been out she comes home and said when all night. she comes home and said when she got home at 6 am that brad she got home at 6 am that brad was embed sleeping. was embed sleeping. we have a timeframe from 5:20 we have a timeframe from 5:20 am to 6 am were brad holzer has am to 6 am were brad holzer has to commit this homicide and has to commit this homicide and has to dispose of the body. or he has to hide the body somewhere and dispose of it to dispose of the body. or he has to hide the body somewhere and dispose of it later. later. and we just didn't feel that and we just didn't feel that mr. holzer had strong mr. holzer had strong opportunity and in that time opportunity and in that time period. period. and certainly didn't have much and certainly didn't have much of a motive to murder susan of a motive to murder susan casey. casey. >> that was quite a relief as you can imagine for brad. >> that was quite a relief as who has replayed the scene you can imagine for brad. countless times. who has replayed the scene countless times. saying goodnight to susie and pulling away before she got inside the apartment door. >> in hindsight it bothers me that i didn't wait and watch her. but there's no reason that anybody should be there. it's five in the morning. the whole town was dead. i just remember needing to get home. wanting to get home as soon as possible. it didn't cross my mind for a second that anything had happen. or that anyone was there. >> the gala little gesture he didn't make. brad holzer has all kinds of time to think about that. >> sometimes i think about it, yeah. i wonder what we would be doing right now. there could've been a future with her. >> susie was laid to rest on a sunny day in may, 2008. in the little cemetery outside her hometown. no one the slightest aware of how much more was still to come. coming up -- >> seems that you didn't make it home last. night >> and angry message from susie's husband, ted. and a closer look at his story. >> you know were you are a person of interest? >> yeah. >> exactly what did he do the morning of the murder? when dateline continues. 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>> a little check and reveal that ted was in fact at work that morning, as seen by a coworker, exactly when he said he was. >> if he did commit a homicide, when would he have time to dispose of the body? >> remember, they found susie in the yellowstone river, 28 miles upstream from glendive. once again they point out that atm video from the u.s. bank. the one beside susie's apartment building. ted said he dropped his girls off at his brother's house that morning around 5:45 am. then drove to city hall to work. it's a small town and city hall is just blocks from susie's place. ted said he drove right past her apartment. and sure enough -- >> we could see adrian vehicle driven by at approximately this time ted sadie drove. by the ponderous apartments the video. >> the time, 5:52 am, just like ted told police. >> so he's basically got a 15 minute window where he's dropping his kids off he's accounted for. and then he drives to city all and works there for a period of time. >> given how close together everything was, it wouldn't have taken much time to kill susie, hide her body and retrieve it later for disposal. possible? quite, thought police. mind you, phone records seem to calling susie the night she went missing. the angry message he left on her voice mail, the time stamp proved it was hours after she vanished. meaning that either ted was trying to fool the police with the voice mail and his public movements that morning. or he didn't have any idea what happened to susie. and therefore, this time the husband didn't do it, if he was telling the truth. that is. >> do you know you are a person of interest? >> yeah. and you can expect that. >> sure, but how was it to be treated that way? >> it doesn't feel good. you know every place you go, everything you do, you've got people watching, talking. pointing. but i did nothing wrong and i have nothing to hide from. >> did the police believe that? you'd think if they did believe him, they'd make some sort of announcement that ted was in the clear. but they did not. and so it was awkward. especially when they were looking for susie. did you take part in the search? >> i did. >> what was that like? >> it's a tough situation. what happens if you find her? if you're by yourself and you find her? >> that would suggest were you knew where she was in the first place, because you put her there. >> it could. >> ted was still a target to the investigation. and also quite suddenly a single parent to two little girls. cabana and charlie, age 60. >> six days seemed like six months. you are sleeping much. i had headaches every day for over a month. all day long. >> how do you tell a little girl that her mother is never coming home? that she's dead? >> i guess i just told them. >> how did they take it? >> they broke down. they didn't let me out of their sight for quite a few days. >> i can imagine. >> especially when it came nighttime, they were glued to you. >> there was, remember, an insurance policy on susie's life. ted was the beneficiary. it was a lot. but they cut the check. and ted casey cashed it. >> what did you do with it? >> paid her funeral expenses and what was left, a split four ways between the four kids. >> you could've kept it? >> could have, but that's not the right thing to do. >> was it enough to be very much help to the kids? >> not much. there was probably maybe, three, $4,000 left. after a funeral expenses. but a helped shape and mariah to. >> so, does ted sound like a guilty man? but if it wasn't him, and it was in the boyfriend brad, then who killed susie? and why? there was something in the air that night. no doubt about it. not every deadly sin, but certainly several, swirling in one city block on little glendive, montana. who owned those eyes in the dark that watched susie casey in the moments before she disappeared? >> mom -- >> from the first moments of don that the kids, parents, and siblings, that susie casey had come home. >> as you know, everybody is looking for. you give me a call. >> not all of them. >> give me a call. >> tried calling the woman who never went anywhere without her phone. >> hello. just me. >> that phone was her lifeline. >> as susie's brother rusty and sister in laval said during their interviews with investigators. >> i appreciate you guys coming in. >> ty ulrich. >> i see i said let's see which phone call she had. >> that is what a very strange story began to emerge. >> and that's where we saw all these phone calls from a number that we didn't know who it belonged to. >> a number nobody recognize calling susie again and again. all night long. but did that mystery color leave a message? >> neither val nor rusty knew how to access susie's voice mail. but they didn't know who just might. >> when i called marya, i asked her if she knew her mother's password to get into her voice mail. she knew it instantly. and ty was sitting across the table from us. and the messages started to play. >> if you don't call me back by 1:00 -- >> over and over again. it was the same voice. >> i would love to hear from you and make sure everything is okay with you. >> and they were starting to get more desperate and needy. >> i don't know what to do. you will answer me. >> it really reminded me of when you're a teenager and you have your first crush. and the guy or the girl goes to call them the next day they don't answer. usually most of us would stop. >> please let me know that you're okay. >> but as the teenager, sometimes they emotions are really under control. and will continue to call, and call, i call. >> i need to hear from you, please. >> it was like that. but the messages just continue to get closer together and just more desperate. >> please let me know that you're okay. please. everybody is very worried about you. >> i just thought that this guy is strange to call that many times. it's really kind of obsessive. >> were you all worried? >> who was he talking about. >> and on to the point, who is this guy? who was he to susie? and why in less than four hours did he leave not one or two, or four, or six, but 20 to voice mail messages for susie. >> coming up. oh, susie, where are you? where are you? >> the mystery caller revealed. and a revelation from the police. >> were you thinking that you too would get back together? >> that was the plan. >> when dateline continues. ...surprise parties. aww, you guys. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks... ...for 3!... ...so i can du more of the things i love. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. it's an add-on-treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. and can reduce, or even eliminate, oral steroids. and here's something important. dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection, and don't change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. are you ready to du more with less asthma? 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sister-in-law val racked her brain for answers, and then suddenly she knew. susie had only hinted at it, but there was another man in her life. someone from her past with whom she had reconnected as her marriage to ted fell apart. this man, her long ago first husband, the father of her two older children, marty larson. >> did she talk about him at all? >> i knew that she had had a previous marriage and she had shay and marya, but i didn't know anything more beyond that. >> marty had been out of susie's life for nearly a decade. no contact, no child support, nothing. but then in 2007, marya, curious about her biological father, found him on the internet and reached out, and marty came to visit a time or two. at least once, susie took the kids to see him three hours across the prairie in billings, montana. her parents were among the very few people who knew. they were not happy. >> we got into an argument. i said, susie, you don't want to do this, and i said, you know, the family isn't going to really go for this, and she said, you mean everybody's going to disown me? and so i just backed off and i told him. i said, i'm not going to lose my daughter over him. and that was the end of it. >> how serious it got, nobody knew really. maybe they were just friendly. maybe it was more than that. now investigator ulrich typed "marty larson" in the datta base. >> and it popped up. i'd seen criminal trespass. >> remember, susie married ted pretty quickly after she left marty back in 1998, but that wasn't the end of it. not long after the wedding, apparently in a fit of pique, marty drove three hours down the highway from billings to glendive and turned up outside the newlyweds' house with a shotgun. what he ever did of it wasn't made clear, but he was charged with criminal trespass and slapped with a lifetime restraining order, no contact with susie or ted ever. >> at that time i had a red flag go up and said, boy, this is something we need to look at here. >> marty and his given first name was walter was very worried about susie. desperate even as those nighttime hours went by without a word from her. marty lives three hours away in billings, so was that where he was calling from? one surefire way to find out, check the cell towers. >> we looked at marty's cell phone, and we actually started seeing him pinging from billings all the way to glendive. >> it's a long lonely road under the montana moon, and even at the elevated speeds allowed on i-94, it's a good three hours, east-northeast across the rolling prairie from billings to the apartment building in downtown glendive. ping, ping, ping, past the ever-listening cell towers, and suddenly the cop had some homework to do. >> i had no idea who marty larson was. >> he was the third man to put himself near susie casey the night she vanished, which is why he called the state department criminal investigation. agent lee johnson found himself standing outside the apartment staring at this freshly washed mini van. video, again, courtesy of the police. >> it was obviously very clean on the exterior because it had gone through an automatic car wash. the interior had heavy condensation on it. >> what did you find inside? >> the carpets had been cleaned. when you get into the cargo area, the back of the van was vigorously cleaned out with water and some type of cleaning solution. >> and in marty's apartment -- >> there was an empty bottle of toilet bowl cleaner in the kitchen garbage. detectives looked at the toilets in the residence. they didn't look like they had been recently cleaned, and yet we had an empty container of lysol bathroom cleaner. >> that wasn't all they found in the garbage. there was this. it appeared to be a list of expenses, as if someone was planning quite seriously for a las vegas wedding. >> basically a breakdown of the trip for lodging, paying for a minister to marry them, and the return trip home. >> then when investigators asked marty to take off his shirt, they saw scratches on his back. how in heaven's name would he have gotten those? some struggle perhaps? so while the search for susie was still going on, the agents suggested they all sit down for a little q & a, and marty said sure, but -- >> can i ask you one question first? >> sure. >> am i under arrest for something or being charged with something? >> no. >> marty said he and susie had reconnected the year before mostly for the children, but right away, said marty, they fell for each other all over again like true soulmates. that time ten years prior when he had taken a shotgun to ted and susie's house, all forgiven. he was a different man now. >> the ten years we were apart i spent thinking she hated me and she spent thinking i hated her. in fact, we still loved each other very much. >> did you think you two would get back together? >> that was the plan. >> so said marty, just before susie went out the night she vanished, he talked to her on the phone. >> i told her before she went make sure you eat, make sure you don't drink too much. you don't need to get a dui and get in trouble like that. >> she promised to call him back later. >> if i'm sleeping, don't worry about it. it's okay. wake me up. >> after all, thought marty, they were a couple again. it was his business to worry about her. and when she didn't call -- >> then i called her at 12:30 because i hadn't heard from her. i thought i'd make sure everything is okay. >> if you don't won't call me back by 1:00 -- >> i didn't know whether she had gotten arrested or what was going on. >> okay. >> and then i thought i'm going to go up there and see if she's okay, make sure she got home, make sure everything's okay. >> what time did you leave billings, do you recall? >> about 1:30-ish. >> time stamps said 1:39 a.m., so he drove, he said, calling and leaving voice messages for susie during the entire 220-mile trip. >> i just need to hear from you. please, please call me. i'm worried. i don't hear anything. >> he expected to hear from susie saying, i'm fine, don't worry, don't come. but susie's call never came. >> what time did you get into glendive? >> 4:30, 5:00. >> again, true. marty's cell pinged from a glendive cell tower. he said he parked around the corner and walked to her apartment. her car was parked outside as if she was home. >> i went in the building. i knocked on the door softly because her bedroom was near the door hoping it would wake her and not any of the kids. >> mm-hmm. >> hoping, you know, she'd come and tell me she was okay. and there was no answer, so i went out and called and texted a few times, hoping to wake her up. >> so did you ever encounter susie at all? >> no. >> okay. >> i wish i would have seen her. >> he swore he didn't see susie arrive just before 5:00 a.m. with brad. didn't see what they were doing in the truck. didn't see her cross the street to the door at 5:19 a.m., but he did leave town, he said, and video from another nearby bank seemed to back him up at 5:45 a.m., leaving one last frantic voice mail. >> hello. just hoping to hear you're okay. >> police, of course, are paid to be skeptical. >> there's no doubt in my mind you saw her this morning. >> no, i didn't. >> but marty stuck to his story. and when detectives asked him why his mini van was so freshly washed -- >> on the way up there, i did kind of have one sort of major thing. there was a dead deer in the road that i hit and there was a bunch of deer stuck to the bottom of it. >> okay. >> so i went and cleaned the bugs off of that. i was hoping going through a car wash it would spray everything off, but it didn't do a very good job though. >> a deer? really? but -- >> did you check into whether or not he actually did hit a deer? >> we did. we checked with the highway patrol. it was consistent with a deer. it was not a live deer that he hit running. it was actually lying in the interstate. >> and when they tested the tissue on the van, sure enough it was not human. it was animal tissue. but then when police asked if there was anyway they'd find susie's dna in, on, or under the van, marty said something as he often did that made police wonder. >> well, i guess what i'm saying is -- what i know is -- my thought is that was a deer. i guess i don't know for certain that it couldn't have been her. >> what? was he trying to tell police he ran susie down? >> is there something you want to tell us? >> no. i haven't done anything. you can scrape everything off from underneath that van. it's deer, as far as i know. >> and if that wasn't weird enough, as the detectives left the room -- >> oh, susie, where are you? where are you? those kids need you. i need you. i love you, susie. just wish i knew where you were. >> marty was now the prime suspect, the man in the crosshairs. but suspicion is so easy. the real question was did he do it. what cop or prosecutor would want to stake his or her career on a wild bet like that? coming up -- >> susie's death consumed him. he was going to find justice for the family, even if he had to do it himself. >> a whole new tragedy is about to hit susie's family when "dateline" continues. susie's fn "dateline" continues a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam is the #1 cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam. zinc that cold! once suzie's family found she had been with marty in glendive, her family's reaction was quick and to the point. >> if i had known all this ten years earlier, i would have took him for a ride. >> meaning -- well, you know. >> it didn't add up that it was brad, and it didn't add up that it was ted. >> but marty perhaps? there were signs like those excess irv voice mails. >> please call me. >> and the bank video. his own admission that he hoped to reunite with suzie. the problem is he saw susie canoodling with brad, the mini van washed on his return home and yet marty larson was not arrested. >> i think that frustration was really, really hard for the family. >> what was your expectation? that they would look at this material they had and just go and arrest marty? >> i guess i just anticipated these things would move forward and that who was responsible would be held accountable, and time just kept on going. >> the thing is at that point suzie's sister-in-law val and her husband rusty were still hearing that marty and ted were both suspects. at the time, susie's two youngest kids were with ted. the older two, shay and marya, were living with val and rusty. >> it was extremely difficult for shay and marya both. i remember we were so excited for him to have his own bedroom, his own space, but at night he couldn't sleep in his room. he had to sleep with marya. >> because? >> i think he was scared marty was going to come and take him. >> his own father. >> i don't think he ever really called him father. i don't think any of us really did. i think he was just afraid of marty. >> val had a newborn of her own to go along with those extra responsibilities and an overwhelming sadness that sneaked into her bed, her kitchen, her life, an unwelcome house guest that simply refused to leave. >> my son was 4 months old when susie was taken from us. i don't remember him walking. i don't remember those moments i should remember as a mother. >> meanwhile, the investigation was stuck in the weeds. >> i was thinking couple months and we're going to have an arrest, and we just didn't have the pieces at the time that we needed. >> 2008 went the way of all years. ted kept to himself. marty moved, left billings, went to phoenix, got a job. and at home in glendive, susie's brother, val's husband rusty, was having trouble with the rage. >> susie's death consumed him. when he went to sleep at night, he told me one night that he just wanted to stop feeling. i think it just haunted him that he felt like he could have done something. >> and by the time a representative at the montana's attorney general's office met with the family, many felt they were teetering on the edge of sanity, still wondering, marty or ted? what was the holdup? >> that day i asked if she could tell us as a family that ted was no longer a suspect because the two little girls were living with ted and marya and shay were living with me, and i felt like i was the only person trying to salvage the relationship with the little girls and their siblings, and i wanted her to crash that wall down and say he was no longer a suspect, and then her response was the case is still moving forward and he's still a suspect. >> quite a thing to hear. >> yeah. i just felt like i needed to hear that at that time, and i didn't get to hear that, and that it was still possible he could have had involvement. >> ted, who still lived under a cloud of suspicion, believed that marty killed susie. >> there was a lot of nights i didn't sleep real good wondering if somebody was going to show up in the middle of the night with a gun. >> but it was rusty during his many sleepless nights who devised a plan to do what police and prosecutors seemed unable or unwilling to do. >> he was going to get justice for our family, even if he had to do it himself. >> what did you mean by that? >> he had made several plans about how he was going to kill marty, take marty's life just like marty took susie's. >> what would you say to him when he said things like that? >> that the case was moving forward and that that wasn't something that he needed to do, that he had a son and his son needed him and me and that he couldn't leave us. >> eventually it all came to that anyway. first, val and rusty divorced. and then in november 2011, three and a half years after the night susie was murdered -- >> i got a phone call in the middle of the night. it was really impossible to believe that. >> rusty, her brother, 32 years old, died by suicide. >> we've already lost susie. this can't be happening, too, you know. so it was really hard for my brain to wrap around that. >> so jack and marlene went to the little cemetery in circle to lay another child to rest. >> it crushed them, and then to lose their two youngest, it just seemed like they aged 15 years. >> do you think rusty would be around today if they had moved quicker on that case? >> i try not to go there. i mean, there's all this what-ifs, what-ifs. >> it wasn't long after her rusty was put in the ground, a new county attorney was elected in glendive. you've already met her. olivia reager. >> i felt we had a duty to give some explanation to jack and marlene and their family as to what was going on. if the case was going to go somewhere or if it wasn't, they needed to know. they couldn't be left dangling out there. >> and they certainly were dangling. >> absolutely. >> and if that were all, the hope for an answer and justice might have simply ended there, but one morning as olivia was settling into her new office, there was a knock at the door, and a man had come to call and he smiled and said -- >> hi, i'm brant light and we're going to try a homicide. >> a new angle no one saw coming. >> it hit you pretty hard, didn't it. >> when "dateline" continues. h, didn't it. didn't it. >> when "dateline" continuesmeds to treat mental illness. it includes the compassionate healthcare professionals, the dedicated social workers, and the supportive peer counselors we work with to help improve - and even change - people's lives. moving from mental illness to mental wellness starts in our circle. this is intra-cellular therapies. why burn a candle when you can switch to air wick essential mist? 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[ no audio ] >> a storm is headed to the east coast bringing snow and ice to the region over the weekend. some portions of western new york and pennsylvania could see up to a foot of snow. coastal communities are expected to be hit by strong winds and rain. now back to "dateline." olivia reager could scarcely believe her eyes. the man at the door, the man who clearly intended to enlist her in some sort of cause was one of the best known prosecutors in all of montana. >> so when you saw him at the door that day, what happened to you? >> i think my stomach was in my throat because especially when he said, "we're going to try a homicide," and i thought, are you kidding me because i am new here. he brought boxes of files, and he said, i'm going to be back in six weeks, and i want you to get on this and read all this stuff, and we're going to talk about how we're going to do this. >> thisis brand light, who before he showed up at olivia's door was appointed as the a.g.'s prosecutor. they often handled big cases. >> how did you get involved in this particular case? >> well, i had come to the attorney general's office. there was another chief prosecutor at that time simply didn't think there was enough evidence. i took her position and i told my team, let's look really hard at this. months later after a really hard look, i thought it was a great case. i thought circumstantially it was overwhelming. >> then brant light met with susie's family after their patience and promised he would issue an arrest warrant for marty larson. >> i saw my family and their family, a good strong family, and to have this death occur, to have her get out of a car and then never make it to the front door 20 steps and we can't explain to them what happened in those 20 steps, i thought they deserved to find out. >> in february 2012, almost four years after susie's murder, a phoenix s.w.a.t. team descended on marty larson as he walked out of his apartment on his way to work. back in glendive, a certain ex-suspect finally relaxed. >> when you knew he was under arrest and in jail, how did it change your life? >> it took a lot of stress off me. >> mr. larson, i'm the assistant chief with the glendive police department. how are you doing? >> and the man who originally took susie's missing person's report sat down to interview marty. >> when i walk in, i expect someone to say you're crazy, i didn't do this, i don't want to talk to you at all. >> but -- >> i find a guy sitting in a chair with his legs crossed and his arms across the side. >> the only thing i have to say, i have no idea what happened to her. i don't know how she passed away. that's it. i pretty much knew when i was targeted years ago that something like this could happen at any time. i knew this day could come, so -- >> what did that say to you? >> that said to me that he always knew in the back of his head that he could always be arrested for this crime. >> they took marty back to montana, stuck him in the county jail to await his murder trial, and as the spring of 2012 arrived, it seemed as if things were finally looking up for susie's family. >> it was a lot of relief. especially mom and dad felt like susie would finally get some justice. >> there was another reason finally for the family to celebrate. susie's eldest child marya was graduating from circle high school. senior photos were taken, announcements were printed up and sent out, a party was planned in circle. then the day before the ceremony -- >> she had said, you know, it's going to be my graduation, and my mom is not here to see me, and i said, i know, but i said, she'll be with you, and she cried. >> and so marya and marlene dried their tears, and the young girl bounded out of the house and drove away. >> what happened anyway? >> they said she fell asleep. >> went off the road. there were no skid marks or nothing until she hit the ditch and it rolled. that kid would never leave without her seatbelt on, and that night she didn't have it on and it threw her out. >> marya larson was just 18 years old. >> all i remember is answering the phone and my mom telling me, and that's all i remember. i just dropped the phone and just cried. cried and cried and cried. i just couldn't believe that that could happen three times in one family. >> i never really grieved for susie, just like i never really grieved for rusty until marya's accident. and that was the day i grieved for all three of them. >> i can't imagine that scope of loss. i don't know how you managed it. >> i don't know either. >> that hit you pretty hard when she was killed. didn't it? >> yeah. >> is that the point that gets you every time? >> yeah. >> marya was laid to rest in that little cemetery outside circle next to her uncle rusty and her mom susie. >> she had a hard time living without her mom, and i guess that's why she finally went to be with her mom. that was tough. just about didn't make it through that one. three of them. >> and right along with the family that day was the new prosecutor on the case. >> it showed me a lot about brant light because he traveled from helena after only meeting that girl only one time. he came from helena to her funeral. >> and he had a message for the family and for marty larson. >> it was very clear in this case from both sides there was not going to be any plea negotiations. we never talked negotiations. we simply talked about trial. let's go to trial. >> bravado? circumstantial cases, especially like this one, can be tricky things. coming up -- that shoe print, those drag marks, and that surveillance video from the bank, would any of it point to marty? >> he looked like a different person. all of us were a little taken back. >> when "dateline" continues. ta back. >> when "dateline" continues when they' sick, they get comfortable anywhere and spread germs everywhere. wherever they rest protection nothing kills more viruses, including the covid-19 virus, on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. lysol. what it takes to protect. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? 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more on that in a minute. first, prosecutor light listed what he said were motives for marty to kill susie, motives as old as time, jealousy, pride, rage. >> i think marty was absolutely convinced that he and susan were going to get back together. i think he really thought that was going to happen and all of a sudden here comes brad. >> that's why, said the prosecutor, and phone records backed it up marty made those phone called to brad's estranged wife and to ted casey before the murder. alerting these people that something untoward was going on. >> i think at that point he thought, well, let me just break this up. his efforts were all just about breaking them up. >> that effort included e-mails, though, marty denied it. >> did you send the emails? >> no, i did not. >> a search of marty's computer revealed that he created that email account under the name denise johnson and sent those emails to brad asking about how his wife felt about that girlfriend. when police showed up at marty's door for the very first time -- >> he's erasing things on his computer and defragmenting the hard drive. >> appeared to be getting rid of something. >> something, yep. >> the night susie disappeared, phone records revealed that she and marty last spoke at 9:51 p.m. by then, susie was aware that marty had been trying to sabotage her relationship with brad. after the phone call, susie called her daughter marya with a question. >> she wanted to know how to change a number. >> okay. >> i asked her why and she told me because marty was calling and i -- he was calling ted and saying stuff about her. >> the phone records showed susie stopped returning marty's calls. that's why at 1:39 a.m. marty was caught on that gas station surveillance camera, leaving billings to head toward glendive. >> i think when he left billings, it was never his intent to kill her. i think it was his intent to confront her, to find her and confront her about what's going on. >> please call me. >> the jury heard marty left 22 voice mails as he drove over the next three hours. his cellphone pinging in glendive just before 4:45 a.m. then by his own admission, marty parked right around the corner from susie's apartment building next to the bank. and that's when the bank's atm started telling a story like nothing else could. 4:27 a.m., prosecutors argued this figure right here is marty walking towards susie's apartment. >> our theory was he got to susan's apartment before brad, before she returned, and there's a little concave, a little store front. we believe that's where he was standing. >> that, said the prosecutor, is when he left that footprint found in the dust in the alcove next to the building next to susie's. then the tape showed at 4:52 a.m. brad and susan see pulled up in brad's truck. 5:19 a.m., the dome light came on. susie opened the door and got out just steps from her apartment. >> when she stepped out of brad's car, after he had stewed in that concave for 15 to 20 minutes as they were in the car doing whatever they were doing, i think he was extremely angry. when he saw her, i think he confronted her. i think she confronted him right back. >> i think when she told him she was going to continue a relationship with brad and that marty and her were done, think he was a no one's going to have susie sort of guy. >> it came to a head in that little alley there, and i think that's when he strangled her. >> strangled her, prosecutors argued, but not before susie left those telltale scratch marks on marty's back. the state's theory, that marty dragged her body across the alley, leaving those drag marks near the dumpster. at 5:38 a.m. a figure walked back toward marty's minivan. >> after he walks back, the next thing you see is that silver van pull back in front of susan's. there's about a five-minute wait. i believe he's putting the body into the back of that van. then you see the van pull aside. >> that, said prosecutors, is when marty started driving back to billings. >> you have a body in your van. i think the river was the fastest and easiest way for him -- and to buy him some time. >> prosecutors produced this video showing marty at 8:15 a.m. 78 miles down the road stopping for gas, wearing a white t-shirt and black shoes that were never found. did he throw them away when he dumped her body? at 10:29 a.m., marty was back in billings, leaving his first voice mail in almost five hours, this one with a decidedly different tone. >> good morning, sweetie. i was just hoping that you would be willing to talk to me. i have my other phone charging right now. so if you could, give me a call on this one. thank you. >> totally different tenor when he still hadn't talked to her. >> i would have thought he would have been more angry as time went by when she still hasn't returned your calls, they still don't know where you are, and now he's going into alibi mode. >> the final piece of the puzzle for prosecutors? remember how marty vigorously cleaned his mini van inside and out? not quite enough. one hair was found. it was in the back of the van where he had put a body. >> of course, we did the dna and it was hers. >> so, a strong circumstantial case, except the marty who showed up in court did not look a bit like the man in the videos. >> my belief was he tried to change his look so he would not look like the person who was on the bank atm. you know, there's a big husky guy, maybe 210-pound man, and here's a person who might be 150 pounds, 160 poundsful >> but would it work? good question. after all, the state's case was entirely circumstantial. there were no eyewitnesses. the bank video was so bad even the judge wondered at times what he was looking at. and they never found shoes to match the footprints in the alcove. but brad light had take an chance all right, on a difficult case, and the defense was yet to come. coming up -- >> ted casey, i believe, was the only one who had a real motive. >> a shot from the defense. was the wrong man on trial? >> i couldn't have done that. >> can you see how it looks? >> oh, yeah. >> marty larson speaks. >> i can. >> when "dateline" continues. >> 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. powering possibilities. marty larson's defense attorney had one big headline for the jury. >> i don't think anyone knows how this crime happened. >> randi hood is a seasoned and respected montana defense attorney, and her review of the prosecution was harsh. sheer speculation, she said. made for a good story, but offered very little in the way of actual proof that marty killed susie. >> i believe there was not enough evidence to bring this case and that's one of the reasons why it wasn't filed for all those years because other prosecutors had determined there wasn't sufficient evidence. >> much more evidence against ted casey, she said. >> ted casey, i believe, was the only one who had a real motive. they were fighting about the children, the monetary aspects of their marriage, and she had indicated to marty on several occasions that she was fearful of ted. and i i believed that his recounting of what he did that morning, had it been properly investigated, would have found to have been less than a perfect alibi. >> prosecutors, of course, argued that there was no evidence that ted or brad or his then wife or anyone but marty larson killed susie. the defendant himself testified at the trial and agreed to sit down with us too. >> so what do you want people to know about you? >> i guess the main thing is just i had nothing to do with killing susie. i would never have done anything to her or to take her away from my kids or her two little girls. i couldn't have done that. >> marty insisted that his very last contact with susie was that phone call at 9:51 p.m., eight hours before she disappeared. >> what happened in that conversation? why did she not want to talk to you at all afterwards and block your number? >> during that call, she called to ask me -- i don't remember if she asked me or if she accused me of calling ted. >> in fact, you had. >> i did. >> and she was mad about that. >> yes. i told her i didn't do it and it wasn't me. >> why? why would you do that? why would you lie about it? >> lying about it was i knew i had done something stupid and i felt guilty about it. why i did it, a lot of it was because of being hurt, because what she had been telling me was that whatever she had, as far as a relationship with brad, she had been telling me for a week to ten days or so that that was over. >> apparently it wasn't. >> no. and i guess somewhere in my head i suspected that and that's why i sent the emails. there was a lot of confusion. >> confusion or something else that made him decide to drive three hours to susie's place in the middle of the night. >> that's a bad decision, right? you see that now. >> oh, yeah. the whole time i was driving i was hoping that she would respond and say i'm fine, so i could just turn around and go home. that was all i wanted was to know she was okay. >> and still marty insisted that when he got to her apartment, he just didn't sisucy right across the street with that guy brad. no, he claimed he waited for her in a spot where he couldn't have seen her walking to the door. >> that's the part that sticks with me. i'm thinking here's a guy who cares deeply about this woman and what she's up to, and he sits where he can't see the entrance to her apartment building? don't give me that. that's crazy. >> i can't make people believe -- believe anything. i know what i did. i know where i was. >> listen, you put yourself there. that's the point. you put yourself at the crime scene. >> i put myself in a position for them to look at me. >> right. you had the opportunity. you had the motive. >> if just being in the vicinity -- >> you could have, in other words. >> yes. >> can you see how it looks? >> oh, yeah. i can. i can. there are a lot of things i don't understand myself. i don't understand myself why i did it. i don't understand why -- especially now why i couldn't have stayed home and tried to contact her a few times. i guess in my head i had the thought i could do something to help if she needed help. >> sometimes with a girl like susie the thing you can do to help is to walk away. >> yeah, probably -- probably would have been best, at least for me. >> the jury was out about as long as it was for marty larson drove from billings to glendive, the time it took to end susie's life, three hours. the verdict, guilty. >> what was it like to hear that guilty verdict? >> everybody hooped and hollered and hugged. it was just like a big weight just lifted off of you. >> there's something hugely important about justice. couldn't bring her back, of course, but did the verdict matter? oh, yes. >> it did really set my mind at ease. it really did help us to move on. >> every time we get a guilty verdict, the first thing i do is turn to the family. i love for that two or three minutes to look in their eyes, to see the smiles on their faces, to see the joy that they have. for me, that's what it's all about. >> i'll never, ever probably in my whole career that i will have loved being a prosecutor like i did then. >> this is where marty larson went to serve his time. crossroads correctional in shelby, montana, up near the canadian border. >> what did they sentence you to? >> 110 years. >> your first parole possibility is what? >> 2042. >> that's a long wait. >> yes, it is. >> but, of course, it's far more than just a long wait for susie, rusty, marya. the cascade of grief that began that night was deeply long. >> i just can't understand how the guilt and the emotions aren't just consuming him because losing her is still consuming me. >> he took her life and he took part of our hearts, but he'll never break the family up, and he hasn't. >> no, he hasn't. shay, just 12 when his mom was murdered, graduated from high school in 2013. ted and susie's daughters kyana and and charlee were junior bridesmaids when their aunt val remarried. but there are too many from this family in the circle village cemetery. something, not something a family gets used to. they just learn to work around it. they go on. >> we're not victims. we're survivors. survivors keep on living life. and we're survivors. and we're survivors. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." for lovely robin, the late shift was her last. >> she was laying facedown, a pool of blood under one side. >> just one tiny clue -- >> a piece of curved foam rubber. >> there was a suspect, but he had an alibi, until this revelation. >> i said, i have something that you need to know. ♪♪