>> there is no way you could look at this and say, this is a person who ran away. the mystery had this sinister side to it. oh my god, this is really happening. it is happening right now. >> in the dark waters off miami, miles out to sea, a federal agent hunting for drug smugglers spots a suspicious boat. >> i noticed the passenger role a large duffel bag off the side of the boat. >> drugs? the agents never found any, and back on shore, no one could find a missing young mother, either. was there a connection? lynne was just months away from her wedding when she vanished, leaving behind a young son and mystery. any sign that someone had broken and ended up abducted her? >> no. >> the search continued on land and at sea. no bag, nobody, no case. >> i did not have anything that would show she was actually dead. >> decades go by and the mystery is almost forgotten, but not by everyone. >> they knew he was the bad guy. they just could not put him in jail. >> all they needed was a miracle, or a witness. >> hello, and welcome to dateline. a devoted mother with wedding plans, seemingly vanished into thin air. florida police suspected foul play, but with nobody, no witnesses, no crime scene, this investigation went cold. then, a new prosecutor was determined to find out. was this the story of a runaway bride, or a woman who ran into trouble? here is dennis murphy, with what lies beneath. >> you don't need a moon over miami for it to be beautiful by night. the skyline reflected in biscayne bay will do just fine, but it is not for everyone. >> i am so worried about you. >> some people are scared by the dark water, afraid of the creatures that lurked down below, afraid of the creatures above his scuttle through the night on secret errands. >> i have no idea where you are. >> you just may share those fears after you hear the story of a woman named lynne friend. line of -- >> none of this makes any sense to people who knew lynne friend. >> she really was that all american girl, you know, blue eyes, beautiful smile. >> a good mom. >> she adored her son. >> little did anyone suspect that for the next 20 years, the story of lynne friend would haunt a young boy's life in the secret would remain locked away for decades that would explain everything. what happened to lynne friend that put her in the crosshairs of miami tv news was that she was missing, just flat out gone. no one could imagine lynne friend, a responsible hospital administrative a just snapping and walking out of her life, least of all, on her five-year- old son, christian. >> one thing is certain. >> jennifer snell, then, a miami reporter, covered the disappearance. >> for her to disappear without leaving word for her son, was just something everyone knew would never happen. >> esther sanchez met lynne when she came to work at parkway hospital in fort lauderdale. at the time, lynne was still living with her fiance, a business owner named clifford friend. when the two married in 1989, esther was made of honor. >> she wanted what every girl dreams of, getting married and looking forward to having children, the goal of the white picket fence. >> when baby christian came along, lynne, the proud mom, made her by one of the most photographed children in south florida. over the moon with being a mom, less so at being mrs. clifford friend. >> i thought they were a poor match. >> within a year of christian's birth, the marriage was floundering. lynne and her husband parted ways and later divorced. >> she was upset that her dreams had fallen apart, but she was very happy with the fact that she was a mom. >> so, disappointment abounded, but baby christian was not part of it. >> said he was her number one priority in life. she lived for him. >> consumed with being a mom that men were out of the picture for the foreseeable future, but then along came ed o he was a consultant for nashville, working on a construction project at her hospital. >> set eyes on her right away. he was a southern gentleman and he would walk in, say hi, and he would leave. that went on for, i think, a year. then one day, she said i think i'm going to go on a date with ed. >> that one date turned into a whirlwind romance. within months, lynne and ed got engaged and mapped out a future together in nashville. he was very fond of the boy, and look forward to the mall be in a family together. lynne had been awarded custody of the child although she ensured kristin's father, clifford, had generous visitation rights. >> she had agreed to everything clifford wanted to try to play nice. >> in august 1994, the clock was counting down to moving day. lynne was home packing when ed called from nashville about 8:00 on a sunday night. she told him she would be out for a few minutes, but would call him back when she returned home. two hours went by, and no lynne phone call. her fiance left a message on her answering machine. >> hello, it's me. it's about 9:15 and i'm a little worried about you and hope everything is okay. >> close friend esther lived in the same condo complex as lynne. esther noticed her friends car was gone late at night. she became concerned. esther started calling, too. unanswered messages piled up through the night. >> hello, hello. it is 1030, and i had hoped i would hear from you by now. >> i am so, so worried about you. i have no idea where you are. call me, bye. >> the next day, a neighbor spotted lynne's car abandon about a half-mile from her home, the front tire was flat. soon, the cops arrived and esther put them in lynne's condo. >> what i noticed that was very odd, she is very meticulous, neat, and frugal. the television was on. the lights were on. the air-conditioning was on . >> lynne appeared to have closed the door of her townhouse north of miami on a sunday night and vanished into the thick night air. >> so, now it is very scary. >> what in the world had happen to nice lynne friend? law enforcement officers from all over south florida were looking for any trace of her, coming up empty. >> a wedding, a move, a new job. lynne was facing enormous changes in stress in the days ahead. is it possible she just took off, and if she was a runaway bride, had she run into trouble? >> did you think maybe she got cold feet and was just taking a time-out somewhere? >> without her son? never. >> when dateline continues. never. >> when dateline continues. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd, and certain other conditions. but i'm protected. arexvy is proven to be over 82% effective in preventing lower respiratory disease from rsv and over 94% effective in those with these health conditions. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. i chose arexvy. rsv? 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(music) have heart failure with unresolved symptoms? it may be time to see the bigger picture. heart failure and seemingly unrelated symptoms, like carpal tunnel syndrome, shortness of breath, and irregular heartbeat could be something more serious called attr-cm, a rare, underdiagnosed disease that worsens over time. sound like you? call your cardiologist, and ask about attr-cm. call dennis murphygist, (voiceover): days passed and clues were few in the disappearance of lynne friend. the missing mother of a five-year-old boy seemed to have gotten in her car on a rainy sunday night and never come home. days passed and clues were few and lythe disappearance ofn lynne friend. the missing mother of a five- year-old boy seems to of gotten in her car on a rainy sunday night and never come home. lynne's friends and fiance, ed o >> all i know is i want to marry her and take her away and live happily ever after. >> they handed out flyers and search the residential area where her car was found abandoned. >> honestly, i was very afraid. >> a townhouse she left with the tv still on. eddie royal, an investigator assigned by the florida department of enforcement was perplexed by what he did not find at her condo. >> there was no sign of any struggle at lynne's house. it was exactly as you would expect it. she was two days away from moving. she had boxes ceiling to floor. >> any sign that someone had broken in and abducted her? >> no. >> cops also came up empty for the searcher abandoned car with a flat tire. inside, they found a waist pouch with her drivers license. >> there was no evidence, fingerprints, no foreign dna in it. >> forensically you are not coming up with this clue that explains everything. so, what did happen to the 35- year-old single mother? with too few forensic clues to examine, the investigators were learning who this missing woman was. when you peel back the layers of lynne's life, what they saw right away were big, stressful changes on her horizon. a new marriage in a new city, a new life altogether. had it all become too much? her best friend, esther sanchez. did you think maybe she got cold feet and moving to tennessee and was just taking a time-out somewhere? >> without her son? never. lynne would have to be dead to not have christian. >> and, what about her son, christian? could he help fill in any pieces of the puzzle? sensitive thing here. the child was five-year-old that -- but does he have a story to tell? >> i don't know how much a five- year-old child could tell at that time. >> in truth, very little. christopher had been with his father for the weekend. like lynne, he had also met someone he met 21 years before. he was engaged to a woman named janet leary. >> chris had called me and said he had received a phone call stating that lynne had disappeared. they found lynne's car and they did not know where she was. >> that's a very traumatic thing going on. he has lost his mother. did they shield him from it? >> okay, the news -- we shielded christian as much as possible. >> meanwhile, the massive investigation into lynne friend's disappearance had one goal. to find her, or at least her body, if she was, in fact, dead. >> are you prepared to deal with the worst? >> no, know. i cannot think that. i will not think that. lynne is the woman that i'm going to marry. she is my life. >> i think he really wanted to hold it together and to be dignified. >> jennifer snow was a reporter for miami's nbc station. >> i think is the words that come out of his mouth he would realize that what he was actually saying was that the love of his life was dead. >> i have to believe for christian's sake that his mother is still alive because is just a five-year-old child and he needs his mother loves his mother so much. >> ed o he would not give up on trying to find the love of his life. he called everyone, even the president, to ask for help. >> ed o campaign, writing to president clinton and lo and behold, we got a call from the fbi saying they would not like to join the investigation. >> but, even with the top law enforcement agency in the country in on the search for lynne friend, there was still no break in the case but then, out of the blue, the deep, dark blue, a chance encounter produced a lead from a most unlikely place in the case of the missing woman. >> coming up, a federal agent on the lookout for drug runners runs into something strange. >> i tell one of my crew members, light him up. as soon as he lights up the book, the chase is on. >> when dateline continues. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in ra and psa. relieve fatigue for some... and stop joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor have an increased risk of death. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. done settling? 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oh, wait there it is. back in to play! and that's in! what an impossible shot! dennis murphy (voiceover): the waters off miami beach are where the vigilant agents of the us customs and border protection service go to work every night. and here, the cat and mouse game of law enforcement pursuing cocaine cowboys in their miami beach is where the vigilant agents of the u.s. customs and border protection service go to work every night and here, pursuing cocaine cowboys in their fast boat was the reality back in the 1990s. >> in 1994, drug smuggling was very prevalent. >> on that long-ago sunday night, lynne friend disappeared, agent tim stillman and his crew left the dock on the miami river at dusk. they knew nothing of the missing woman case, the focus was on intercepting drugs and smugglers. they headed outside into the dark ocean waters that lead into the bahamas, a hotbed of smuggling. about three minutes out, they idled and doused the running lights. >> it was a beautiful night, the ocean was calm. we had the engine shut off and were listening for any boats that might be in our area. so, i hear this book coming out in through night vision goggles, i could see that there were two people on board. the two people were in dark clothing, goggles, bandannas around their heads. >> it was around 11:00, stellhorn and his crew trailed the boat but quickly, the element of surprise was lost. >> i watched the passengers turn around and he spots us, i think, into one of my crew members light him up with the spotlight. i noticed the passenger role a large duffel bag off the side of the boat. the chase is on. we think we have a narcotics case, smuggling case that went bad, and at some point, they just stopped their boat and both of them put their hands straight up in the air. >> the two were zipped up during the questioning that followed. agents returned to the spot where the bag was dunked -- dumped, but it had already sunk and with no drugs found on the boat, agents released the two, but their boat was seized for a follow-up investigation. just another night in the office in the war on drugs, or so agent stellhorn thought. >> so, a week goes by and i'm sitting on a couch reading the newspaper and on the back page is a story about a missing woman, lynne friend. friend is an unusual last name so of course it registered with me that i just stopped about a week prior with a guy named friend on board. >> it was clifford friend, lynne's ex-husband. with him was a miami beach man named alan gold who turned out to be the co-owner of the book. >> at the bottom of the article was a detective's name and a phone number so i called the number. at first, he didn't believe me. thought it was a prank call. >> lightbulbs clicked. missing pieces fell into place. missing ex-wife, a former husband busted dumping something offshore on this very night. leslie d ambrosia was an investigating agent with the florida department of law enforcement. >> the customs officers in this case did such an amazing job. >> now, 10 days after lynne's disappearance, investigators in the media, laser focused on clifford friend. and then, there was this investigative nugget. ed o that the night lynne disappeared, she told him she was going to clifford's house to pick up a child support payment. when detectives heard that, they got a search warrant for clifford's place. they seized some items in his car, but found no evidence of foul play anywhere. >> i never gave thought that he had anything to do with lynne's disappearance. >> but, investigators were not so sure, so they turned their attentions to the area where customs stopped clifford's boat. with waters 1000 feet deep, agents asked the u.s. navy for help. >> the u.s. navy is precluded from providing assistance to law enforcement without reimbursement, so they were willing to provide us three days of searching for $48,000. >> and you were going to get a bill at the end of it. >> we had to pay up front, actually. >> two months later, the fee covered, the u.s. navy was ready to join in the search. the ship was fitted out with side scan sonar that could scan the ocean floor. >> but no gym bag. >> the navy said i had to pull the plug when the money ran out but lynne's fiance, ed o stepped in. >> ed o check to the navy for $13,000 to extend the search one more day. >> the extra day brought one promising siding. >> we saw what we thought was a black bag on the ocean floor. >> grappling hooks were sent down. searchers on deck held their breath but it was not what they were looking for. >> a plastic garbage bag. it turned out to be beer cans, garbage. >> the navy search had fizzled out. detectives were back at square one, and had already ruled out one of the people closest to lynne. >> what about ed o have to suspect the fiance? >> not at all. he was in tennessee at the time all of this occurred. we have the phone records. >> so, after lunch, detectives were no closer to solving the case. they had no dna, no forensics, blood spatter, nothing to help and despite their suspicions about clifford friend, law enforcement cannot say definitively what happened to his ex-wife, lynne. >> we did not have a body and we did not have any eyewitnesses. >> back in 1994, catherine fernandez rundle had been the miami dade state attorney for two years when this case came into her office. she was determined lynne friend's name would not end up in some cold case file. >> this was not the easiest case. >> if she was dead, she might've taken at midnight train to georgia, nobody knew. >> that is correct. we did not know she was missing. we believed it. really, what you had was very little, so you had to really build -- you had to stay tenacious. >> tenacious, indeed, because clifford friend actually had an alibi. when he was not proud of, perhaps, but it explained what he was doing that night and why there were two men in a boat. >> coming up, an undercover sting that did not quite go as planned. >> he said oh, i took a recording device and i propped it in the diaper. >> when dateline continues. dupixent is not for sudden breathing problems. it's an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. and can help improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks... and can even reduce or eliminate oral steroids. can you picture it? 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>> he was a great dad. they went and played ball together. they went fishing together. they went on travels together. cliff is a phenomenal father. >> meanwhile, up in tennessee, lynne's one time fiance ed o life, too. married, now, with children. dwindling friends of lynne thought they would never see a resolution to the case of the missing woman, but there was one person in particular who did not like to see the dusty jacket of unsolved cases in his file. in 2010, one of miami's most experienced prosecutors, michael von zamft, took over the case along with assistant state attorney mari mato. >> i had nobody, i had no witnesses, and i did not have anything that would show she was actually dead. >> well, i think that especially now, juries have high expectations. >> the csi so many prosecutors given jury selection. >> well, they expect physical evidence. they want to see a body. >> the two re-examined the 16- year-old file and took a look at a fresh lead from back then that had never panned out. an acquaintance of clifford, someone named robert missing, told police about a disturbing conversation he had not long before lynne went missing. >> clifford told him well, she's never leaving the state with my child. she's going for a boat ride and she's never coming back. >> this is dynamite for an investigator. >> it was great. we managed to convince missy that he should become our ally. >> in other words, a snitch, missy, a convicted felon on quotation -- probation at the time, agreed to wear a wire and meet clifford later. there was something that worried him about the earlier breakfast meeting. >> and that, to us, give us confirmation that there had been an actual conversation at the ihop, and there was probably a discussion about the disposing of lynne friend. >> missy turned out to be a hapless, technologically challenged informant. at another meeting, he wanted to make sure clifford did not discover his concealed wire, so he used his own baby as cover. >> we asked him what was wrong with the baby, we can hear, the baby was screaming. he said oh, i took the recording device and dropped it in her diaper, and the reason she was screaming is that those things get kind of hot. we were just all appalled that he had done that. >> investigators did believe the initial ihop story, but after missy was caught out in a lie on something else, he was quietly retired from the investigation. now, 18 years after lynne friend went missing, prosecutor michael von zamft decided to tell missy's ihop story to a grand jury, absent missy himself. >> we use that as a part of the basis for the indictment. >> marginal evidence, but nonetheless, a good strategy. the grand jury indicted. in 2012, prosecutors charged clifford friend with first- degree murder. his attorney was flabbergasted prosecutors would dare to build a circumstantial case with nobody, on the expected star witness testimony of a very shaky informant. >> our investigators had done a tremendous amount of work on robert missy. we had boxes of files of dirt on robert missy. >> what the defense did not know is that prosecutors were putting up a strong hand. missy would not be there star witness at all. >> we were never going to use them at trial. our intent was to use them and have the defense running around looking for him and everything they could find on him. >> while the defense did just that, spinning its wheels, prosecutors are quietly working on reeling in another prize, another better witness, one clifford friend can only hope he would never see again. >> coming up, the other person on the book that night breaks a promise and 20 years of silence. when dateline continues. silence. when dateline continues. well, rest assured, company's in great hands. marci, hit the vid'. 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not me. my own real tears are my relief. ask your eye doctor about tyrvaya. dennis murphy (voiceover): 20 years after lynne friend's disappearance, clifford friend, looking more jowly banker than killer, was on trial for his ex-wife's murder. the motive, prosecutors say, was sitting directly behind him-- the son, christian, now 25. clifford, the prosecutors theorized, killed lynne to stop her from taking the boy out of state to nashville, where she was to remarry. for the last 20 years, christian had always been in that place, right behind his father, never questioning his innocence. in court, it showed the jury his continuing support 20 years after lynne friend's disappearance, clifford friend was on trial for his ex-wife's murder. the motive, prosecutors say, was sitting directly behind him. the son, christian, not 25. clifford, prosecutors theorize, killed linda to stop her from taking the boy out of state to nashville where she was to remarry. for the last 20 years, christian had always been in christian had always been in that place right behind father, never questioning his innocence. in court, it showed the jury his continuing support of his father even as he was about here, until now, untold family stories. among the first witnesses, was ed o fiance. he described his last call with lynne. her call waiting beep and she put him on hold. she said it was her ex-husband, clifford, on the other line asking him to go over to his house and pick up some money. >> so, when you hung up with her that was the last time you ever spoke with her? >> that is correct. >> what did you do when you didn't hear from her? >> i tried to call her, and did not get through. excuse me a minute. >> would you like to take a break? >> no, i would like to get finished. >> to prove clifford killed linda stop her from taking his son away, prosecutors called her divorce attorney. he testified that one week before her disappearance, clifford went ballistic in a family law court when the judge approved the boys moved to nashville. >> he was angrily yelling at his lawyer that nobody, nobody would take him away from him. >> but, these outbursts were circumstantial evidence. prosecution would need a lot more than that. remember, lynne's body had never been found. however, the night his ex disappeared, clifford and his pal, alan gold, were spotted in a speedboat dumping a bag overboard. the state believed lynne's remains were in that bag but alan gold had kept his mouth shut all these years. >> the key was finding a way to force alan gold to want to talk. >> prosecutor michael von zamft made the other man and about an officer -- offer he cannot refuse. he was subpoenaed to testify and given a grant of immunity. if he didn't testify, the hammer would come down hard. >> then i'll force you to testify and let you sit in jail until the trial is over. >> at age 68, gold did not like the prospect of years in jail. he chose the door marked cooperation. stetson in hand, alan gold limped into court with a certain bravado and passed by his former friend, clifford, moments away from telling his version of the fateful night 20 years before. he testified that when he went to clifford's house, the son, christian, who was supposed to be spending the weekend with his father, was not there. it turned out clifford had dropped the boy off of the babysitters and then gold said he right away noticed a large canvas bag on the floor. >> when he pointed to the back or told you about the back, who did he tell you was in the bag? >> lynne. >> gold says clifford told him he and lynne had argued and then things got out of control. >> the next thing he knew , it was over. he lost it. he knocked her down, and choked her out. >> what did you take that to mean? >> it means that she was in the bag, she wasn't coming back and that was the end of lynne. >> clifford said he would need the 30 foot go fast boat they owned together. it was docked behind gold condo on miami beach. >> you wanted to use the boat, take her out into deep water, and dump her. >> when he told you that, did you immediately turn and run out the door? >> no. >> gold said go figure. he decided to help his buddy out of a jam because of his son , christian. >> i basically didn't want to see the kid fatherless, and i figured it was the lesser of the evil. i figured it was just a tragic accident that happened and why make it worse? >> first, gold said, they got rid of lynne's car. the two picked up the bag with lynne's body. >> as you tried to lift this bag, did you say anything to clifford about why it weighed so much? >> i did. >> and what did he tell you? >> it is waited. >> once on the book, gold says clifford waited it down even more. >> he disengaged the anger from the anchor line and stuff that in, as well. >> customs agents who stop them confirm the boat anchor was missing. they also found cement blocks and broke. gold recalled the moment out of see when he gave clifford a heads up that customs was following. >> he said we have to dump the bag. he jumped in the back, grabbed hold of the side of the bag and i grabbed the other and tossed it over the side. >> after a short chase, gold said they had no choice but to surrender. >> i had peed my pants but other than that they basically wanted to know what went overboard. i told them that a tell blew over. >> basically, you lied. >> oh, yeah. i don't want to tell anybody i just got done dumping her body in the atlantic. >> gold was asked why now? 20 years later, why did he finally stop covering for clifford? >> you basically told me that if i refuse to answer you would put me in jail. >> you are certainly not here out of the goodness of your heart. >> no. >> were there any other considerations that kept you from coming forward? >> i made a commitment to the guy 20 years ago. i didn't see any reason to break it. >> you broke it. >> only because you put me in a box. >> a compelling witness, for sure, but was he credible? >> he is a character. he is despicable, but he is believable. >> prosecutors had one more witness to go, a jailhouse snitch named andres garcia florez. the judge ordered us not to show his face. florez testified that one night in jail, he and clifford were watching a spanish tv soap opera. ironically, the plot was about a drug dealer who killed his wife by throwing her off a boat. >> do you remember in english what he said to you? >> wow, remind me of what i did. it's like deja vu. >> you are absolutely certain you and mr. friend were watching a show? >> the defense had done its homework and was ready to pounce. coming up, a son defends the man accused of killing his mother. >> i know that he loves me too much to hurt me by taking my mother from me. >> when dateline continues. >> when dateline continues. sleep supplement, to daily digestive support, to more wellness solutions every day. get more with nature's bounty. what is cirkul? 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>> never. >> while his son and wife still believed in him, how did the defense get the jury to buy his case? an excellent place to start was the jailhouse snitch. he told the damaging story about him and clifford watching the spanish tv soap opera about an oceangoing, life murdering drug dealer. clifford allegedly murdered out -- blurted out something like that's what i did. >> the prosecutor said you can't make this up. yes you can and he did. >> private investigators working for the defense uncovered evidence the state did not know about. it turned out, clifford never did watch that spanish-language tv program with the snitch. >> the problem with the story was, i immediately went and pulled our phone records and cliff and i were on the telephone when this episode was aired. >> the snitch's story unraveled, to the prosecution's great humiliation and unhappiness. after that, judge teresa poehler ripped into the state. >> seriously, you put on a jailhouse snitch and you didn't check any further into his credibility? >> you want an answer? i made a mistake. at one point, i turned to mari mato and said at some point if it's too good to be true, it probably is. >> the judge called in puzzled jurors and told them to disregard the snitch 's testimony. and here was the big point of the defense is newly energized argument. if the state would put on a big fat liar like a jailhouse snitch, what did that say about alan gold, the star witness? prosecutors were concerned. >> that was their whole key was to try to say if they put on one wire, they would put on another. >> the defense would do everything they could to prove that gold was a liar, also, and the reason he decided to tell prosecutors what they wanted to hear is that he was afraid of being charged with murder two. >> i >> the broad, so i didn't care. >> is that what you said, you didn't whack the broad? is that what she is? >> i watch the sopranos a lot. >> it did not take much prodding of the witness to show the court how little respect gold had for the proceeding. >> find this thing to be comical? >> absolutely. >> why is that, sir? >> it took 20 years to get here. >> the judge limited the defense from offering its drug smuggling alibi and the suggestion it was drugs, not lynne's body, and the bag they dumped. still, the defense managed to shoehorn in the thought they were on a drug run that night. >> is it true, sir, you went to go run some drugs, is that true? >> with nobody ever found, no dna, and no physical evidence in clifford friend's house to prove lynne was murdered there, gold admitted he could not , with absolute certainty, say lynne's body was in that bag. >> could you tell from your own senses lynne's body was in there? yes or no? >> it was an april fools. there was a body. >> with the state on the defense now resting their cases, closing arguments boil down to one thing, would jurors believe alan gold? >> alan gold was about as unrepentant a sinner as you are ever going to see. the state put him on because he knew things that only he would know. >> if you cannot believe what alan gold said, he has an agenda, fabricated because of his agenda to save his own life. >> the 20-year-old murder case was now in the hands of the jury. jurors deliberated late into the evening. around 9:30, they announced a verdict. >> christian and i were together, holding hands. i had told him no matter what happened, we would hold our heads high. >> we the jury find the defendant, clifford friend, guilty of second-degree murder. >> second-degree murder. the jury apparently believed gold story, but not that the crime was premeditated. at sentencing a few weeks later, lynne's long-ago fiancee, ed o directly to christian, reminding him of what he missed in life. >> you would not be able to understand lynne's love for you until you have your own child, when you know a love that you never knew possible before. >> christian, who had sat silently throughout the trial, finally spoke and he was still behind his father. >> i'm not going to go into the frustration i feel it hearing that i missed out on growing up with my mother. i'm not going to go into how frustrating it is to hear how you can look at a person in spite of my father, because he is the best person i know. i have been asked why i never question my dad about any of this. many times, by many people, and i never felt the need to. he raised me and taught me right from wrong. you have heard it said many times that my dad loved me too much to let me go. but i know that he loves me too much to hurt me by taking my mother from me. >> in court, judge teresa poehler had the final word. >> you treated lynne friend with unspeakable -- look at me, with unspeakable cruelty. your actions left her five-year- old child to grow up without knowing his mother. the manner in which you disposed of her body is despicable, by so cavalierly dumping her in the ocean. clifford brett friend, for these reasons, i'm sentencing you to life in prison. >> more than 20 years ago, state attorney catherine fernandez vowed that lynne friend's case would not end up in some cold case file. now, she says there is justice for the mother and the young son, even though he disagrees with the outcome of the case. >> ultimately, it's all about a boy, isn't it? >> it is. except i would say that i don't think a father who would deprive a boy of the love of a mother, really loves the boy. he loved himself more, it seems to me. >> markers. out west, there is the great open sky. in south florida, the ocean. always the ocean, the vast churning tropical waters. for the aging friends still remembering, it is lynne's marker, too. after a violent death, the place where they prayed she might finally rest in peace. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am craig melvin. thank you for watching. hello. i am craig melvin, and this is dateline.