Transcripts For KGO 2020 20170312

Around. Tonight, a 20 20 investigation piecing it all together. Its like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It is. And we found a lot of needles. She was extremely scared. 911 what is your emergency . That car smelled a dead body in the backseat of this car . And dozens of calls from men who wanted her her last night. This is buddy. Hey, this is jason. I many name is bill. With no lack of suspects. I have lied about a lot of things. Do you think he killed her . Now the jury says it knows who kill ed a soccer mom of threes secret life has become open in a courtroom. Ryan smith has the very latest on this long journey to justice. Reporter Grand Junction. The largest city on colorados western slope, home to these breathtaking mesas, and a Pleasure Center for adventurers. A place where its easy to get lost, and hard to be found. Hi mom, i was just wondering where you been . Reporter thursday, june 28th, 2007. 8year old jess dixon picks up the phone and calls her mom, Paige Birgfeld. Hey mom, you are really, really mean. You said you would be back before dark and you havent even been back. Reporter jess is worried. Its getting late and the 34year old single mother of three hasnt come home. Paige. Please, please, please call someone. Reporter by friday morning, even more worry. Paiges father, frank, cant reach his daughter either. Give me a call on my cell phone. This is dad, bye. Reporter all of the calls going straight to voicemail. Paige, this is carol. Whats going on . I hope youre all right. Reporter close friend and babysitter Carol Linderholm remembers becoming increasingly concerned. At first i thought, well, shes probably really busy, and then i kept calling her and there was no response. Its carol. Where the heck are you . She said it was completely out of character to abandon her kids. She always created costumes for her kids and had dance classes for the toddlers. Her life was centered around the children. Reporter so the children were really attached to paige . Definitely so. Reporter by saturday, its a full panic. A family friend walks daughter jess, the oldest of three, into the Mesa County Sheriffs Department to file a missing persons report. They gave her father the news she has vanished. I thought this isnt someone who wouldnt come home. Theres a crime here. Frank doesnt waste a minute. He jumps in the car and drives the 200 miles from denver to Grand Junction. When my dad called me to tell me that paige was missing, its the first time i had heard him cry since i was a little kid. Reporter saturday evening, Frank Birgfeld finally arrives in grand b junction. We searched the house, we ser searched the property. By about 9 30 they had blood hounds on the grounds trooing to see whether there was a trail leading away from the house. Then sunday night, a disturbing development. Whats your emergency . Theres a car on fire in the parking lot. Paiges ford red focus is discovered on fire in a parking lot two miles from her home. Do you see flames or smoke . Yeah, theres a lot of flames. But theres nobody around that i could see. Reporter by the time firefighters rooi s arrive, the able to salvage little. The car is vandalized. The fire ruled arson. We have a lot of work to do and we dont know where paige is at. The front seat on the drivers side is pushed all the way back. They asked a woman paiges height to try to reach the pedals. She cant. Plus theres this paiges Daily Planner survives the blaze, almost laminated by the plastic keeping it intact. But someone has ripped out four days of pages. They found the dates, 26, 27, 28, 29 had been torn out. Tells me somebody thought those days were incriminating. Reporter suddenly, the missing persons case is beginning to look more like a kidnapping. This isnt a situation where paige left on her own volition. Reporter Frank Birgfeld goes to the crime scene, and the reality begins to sink in. You know, it occurred to me, i havent cried in a long time. Ive learned how to do that. Thats it. Reporter the family prays, waits, and worries. But paiges mom, suzie, never gives up hope. I hope that shes safe. We want her to come home for her children and family. Reporter she wonders who would want to hurt her daughter . The stunning young woman with the long, strawberry blonde hair, just 34 years old. Shed enter a room and people turn heads. Reporter tell me about the time you first met. I drove up to her house, knocked on the door, she opened the door and i said, oh, my gosh, i said, youre so beautiful. [ laughter ] and she says so sweetly, i havent been told that in so long. Reporter but linderholm soon learns theres trouble lurking behind paiges facade. The soccer mom with model looks is twice divorced. She struggles emotionally and financially after her second marriage crumbles. Paige had definitely fallen on hard times. Reporter journalist Carol Mckinley is following the case for 20 20. Shes suddenly broke, but shes used to living the high life. Her friends told me her exhusband wasnt helping at all with all of those bills. Things happened. They got divorced. She ended up with the house, and that was her home. Reporter but this was no ordinary home. At one point, paige is paying a staggering 6,000 a month for that Million Dollar home. So paige starts taking odd jobs to pay fer mounting bills. All these crazy jobs. Shes selling cooking products for a Company Called pampered chef, selling baby slings shes even teaching children dance classes. Reporter and suddenly her three small children have no idea if theyll ever see mom alive again. As soon as paiges car is discovered abandoned in that parking lot, the search parties assemble. Back in 2007, 20 20 accompanied frank, and more than 200 volunteers flanked out in fields just south of Grand Junction looking for any sign of paige in the scorching colorado heat. Connie led those official searches back in 2007. How many people would be out here . We had anywhere from 150 to 220 a day. Reporter so 150 to 220 people a day walking these mountains and hills looking for paige. Anything they could find . Yes. Reporter when we come back, Frank Birgfeld expands his search, desperate for any clue that might lead to his daughters recovery. Shes out there somewhere and i cant protect her. Reporter while investigators seem to wonder if paiges complicated love life with two exhusbands has something to do with her disappearance. Hat is y . 20 20 saturday continues with soccer mom by day. I mean, this is big country here. Reporter 24 days after Paige Birgfeld vanishes without a trace we look along the bank, look in a snag. Reporter her father, frank, moves his search to this vast canvas, the winding colorado river. I dont know when you give up. When do you say, shes gone . I dont know. Reporter weeks turn into months as investigators and volunteer searchers paddle through murky waters and trudge through dessert scrub brush, but connie flukey says there is no sign of paige. How daunting was this search . This was one of the hardest searches that i personally have been on. Reporter like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It was, but we found a lot of needles. Reporter perhaps the biggest clue came from the unlikeliest of sources. A motorist got a flat tire and pulled along the side of this road to fix it and then notices something strange paiges checkbook. Investigators soon find paiges personal checks, business cards and other personal items dropped all along this road. How important was that trail of breadcrumbs left along highway 50 for your search . I think it was very important for the case, and i think it was very important for the family too, just to know she was brought to that area. Reporter but, who abducted Paige Birgfeld . When a divorced mother goes missing, its only a matter of time before the police zero in on the ex. In paiges case, she had two. Starting with ron beigler. Journalist Carol Mckinley says the two were teenage sweethearts. Paige did have big dreams out of high school. She went to florida to go to school, wanted to be a midwife. But ron beigler followed her out there. Her grades start failing and she drops out. Reporter ron and paige move back to colorado. They have a huge wedding set on a peak over looking the denver skyline, but their youthful rush to the altar ends as quickly as it starts. Early on paige made it real clear to ron she wanted children. She adored children. But ron wanted no part of that. It turned out to be a deal breaker. Her friends say she got a divorce after two years. Reporter in the wake of that divorce, she meets rob dixon, an emergency medical technician who friends say really didnt need to work because he came from a wealthy family. Her inlaws, the dixons, were loaded. They made a fortune getting in on Early Technology with cell phones. Reporter that family fortune lined their son robs pockets for years. He loved spending his daddys money. He had six sports cars. Reporter in a town full of pick up trucks, rob dixon is driving a bright yellow ferrari. That definitely got everyones attention. She was being showered with gifts. There were bracelets, a 12,000 necklace. Reporter rob pops the question with an 85,000 thousand engagement ring. The newlyweds start a family right away. First, theres daughter jess, followed by two adorable boys taft and trigger. Im six and a half, and my sister is eight, and my baby brother is 3 and a half. They appear to be the perfect family. They have beautiful children in the expensive home, theyre living a champagne life in whats really a six pack town. Everything is going well, but then the bottom falls out. Reporter paiges dad says dixon makes a series of bad investments, and those bad investments lead to some bad blood. I think as robs wealth kind of toppled, i think he came under more and more pressure, and it bled out into the relationship. Reporter then one night in 2004, this what is your emergency . My husband and i were in a fight, and he was supposed to watch my children while i went to work. And he said that i would come home and find them all murdered. Reporter no charges were filed against dixon that year. But twelve months later he is charged with assault slapping and punching paige. Later this year, the couple divorced. She had some scary times but she got out of them. Reporter paiges friends barbara campbell, rina stockmeyer and andrea land spoke to 20 20s John Quinones in 2007. Lately, she was very concerned about him being around the kids. She had a lot of worry that it wasnt a healthy situation. Reporter then in march 2007, paige writes this bonechilling blog my children would ask me if dad was going to kill me. I cant imagine what life would be like for them after he killed me. The first person you thought might have done this . Rob was the first person that came to mind. My immediate thought on this thing was, rob dixon. Reporter to investigators, that all sounds like homicide 101 a roadmap leading right to rob dixon. Except dixon has an airtight alibi the night paige disappears. His cell phone records indicate hes 2,000 miles away at his new home in philadelphia the night paige goes missing. It quickly scratches dixon off the list. Hes effectively alibied because hes on the east coast. But then investigators turn their focus to paiges first husband who lives four hours away in aurora, colorado. Reporter and heres why it turns out that paige had rekindled her romance with her first love, ron beigle, and was with him just hours before she vanishes, having a picnic at this park in eagle, colorado. It wasnt anything that was out of the ordinary. We just decided to meet that day. Eagle was the Halfway Point for both of us. We left at the same time and arrived back in our towns at approximately the same time. She called me to make sure i made it back into denver and thats the last i ever heard from her. I need to talk to you about a missing person emergency. Reporter two days later, beigler calls 911 to report his exwife missing. I saw her all day on thursday and then i talked to her when she got back in town. She is definitely missing because she would never leave her children. Reporter her first husband, ron. She was with him that day. She leaves him. Hes the last person to see her. But he was ruled out pretty quickly . Effectively alibied by cell phone, et cetera. Reporter former District Attorney pete hautziner says like dixon, beigler has an alibi, too. Cell phone records place biegler four hours away in denver the night paige disappears, making it impossible for him to be in Grand Junction. So if it wasnt either of paiges exes, who might have had it in for paige . A major complication in the case was the fact that theres such a large number of alternative suspects who have to be eliminated by virtue of what she did for a living. Reporter when we come back, the secret life of the soccer mom exposed. Was it just massages or was it something more . The babysitters revelation about why Paige Birgfeld may have been in harms way with dozens of men. It was after hours. And as she was getting ready to leave, she sees this truck pull up. She just wanted out of there. She was extremely scared. Reporter see wha did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back . Say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. Comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet thats 10 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. Say hello to internet speeds up to 150 mbps. And add phone and tv for only 34. 90 more a month. Call today. Comcast business. Built for business. 20 20 saturday continues with soccer mom by day. Reporter nightfall in Grand Junction, as shadows grow long beneath the cliffs of the western rockies, secrets have easy hiding places. Friend and parttime baby sitter Carol Linderholm recalls the night when 34yearold Paige Birgfeld had a date with danger. She had a call to meet somebody at her office. The building was closed, it was after hours, and shed see this white truck. She went downstairs to the car, and as she was getting ready to leave, she sees this truck pull up. She just wanted out of there. And the white pickup took off. Was she shaken by this . She was extremely scared. She told me about it and she says, ive never been so scared in my life. Reporter in the light of day, paiges office, where she was selling pampered chef cookware, was located in this nondiscript, cluster of commercial office spaces. But after hours, paige reveals to only a few Close Friends it was also a front for pampering a much different brand, a sidebusiness she was running named, models, inc. What did she do . Bachelor parties. Reporter paiges double identity is still a touchy subject for those with whom she shared this dirty little secret, as we found when talking to some of them in 2007. She was learning to give massages. But, you know, lots of people give massages. So, i knew she was doing a little extra on the side, but it fit perfectly. Reporter the little extra was that paige, for the right price, would perform those ma e a massages topless. Surprisingly, even her ex ron beigler knew, and seemed to give it a rubber stamp. Average call was 450. There was no sexual touch touching. No sexual contact. No intercourse. That kind of thing, she charged more for each little thing that came off. Reporter in fact, she had this ad in the local paper, calling herself, carrie, and even posting a picture on a website called, naughty nightlife. Former District Attorney Pete Hautzinger puts it this way. I cant really say i ever knew exactly what specific services she was running. It was clearly an adult Escort Service. It was clearly highly unusual for western colorado. Reporter in her profile, paige seemed pretty adept at doubleentendre, boasting, tired of chopped meat showing up when you ordered filet mignon . She didnt tell you about this other life she was leading . Reporter 2020s John Quinones first spoke to paiges family in 2007. I think she realized that we would not approve. And actually now that i know about it, i think she was trying to keep the house and the kids together. Its not exactly what a brother likes to hear his little sister is doing. Im continually having to talk about things that if i heard people talking about them in the locker room after a football game, id beat the crap out of the guys. But, it was part of her life. And, like it or not, thats the way she chose to provide for her kids. Reporter paiges former roomate, jaime sivernail says that was the only conceivable reason the otherwise wholesome single mom of three would moonlight as a sexy massuese. She felt like its something she needed to do to be able to keep a roof over their head and put food on the table. She needed the money . Yeah, yeah. Shes one more single mom out there trying to figure out a way to make ends means without her kids suffering. Reporter it wasnt until after paiges disappearance, that the shocking news of her Side Business came to light. When it did, it spread like a wildfire across a dry colorado mesa. Investigators say she was a mom who led a secret double life, running her own Escort Service. Reporter paige now had the proverbial Scarlet Letter on her chest. When it came out that she ran an Escort Service it dwindled down to practically nothing. Nobody cared anymore because she was that sort of woman. Reporter but investigators care, and they learn the night Paige Birgfeld disappears, she receives dozens of calls from men seeking her services. Yes this is buddy. I was wondering if you had any girls available this afternoon. Hey this is jim. Im going to go get me a motel room now. Hello my name is bill. Just calling to see if anybodys Still Available for the night. A major complication in the case was the fact that theres such a large number of alternative suspects. Reporter which brings us back to that Office Parking lot, the spot where paige ran models, inc. And a burning question, who was that man in the white truck who frightened Paige Birgfeld right now. What are you driving right now . A pickup. Why . Police have a suspicion, but is this the right man . When we come back, big breaks in the case. A confrontation. Bang on the door. I said i know what you did to paige. A discovery in a canyon. Many searchers had been up that gulch right in that area. Disappearance of Paige Birgfeld have little to go on. All thats come to light is a burned out ford focus, a monthly planner with missing pages, and the clues strewn like breadcrumbs along a desolate colorado highway. The escort missing mom who called herself carrie had dozens of clients, and now one of them is called in for questioning. And you are, um mr. Johnson, right . Jones. Jones. You know what . Thats funny. Sorry about that. Okay. Reporter hes 55year old lester jones, a local rv mechanic whos married, with a rap sheet as long as a winnebago. Im guessing you can probably guess as to what were investigating . He just said hes investigating the disappearance of a young lady. Okay. Reporter without a lawyer present, homicide detective Lissah Norcross questions jones about the proximity of the garage where he works and the spot where paiges scorched sedan is recovered. Does it make you nervous that we may think you did something . No. It should. [ laughter ] okay . It should. Reporter turns out, paige and jones had once been much closer. Investigators discover jones had hired her for a pricey 400 erotic massage a year earlier. And what are you wearing . Um, i had nothing on. Okay, and her . She had nothing on. Okay. We did not have sex. Okay. She tells me up front she doesnt do sex. Okay. Reporter but then they find out jones is one of several men feverishly calling paige in the days before she disappears. Lester jones was calling and calling her. Reporter Carol Linderholm tells investigators jones made another appointment with paige the day before she went missing. This time paige is worried that jones has figured out her true identity. So she sends carol on the call instead. What was your First Impression when you walked in the door . Fear. [ laughter ] reporter really . Yeah, hes a very large overpowering person. Reporter whats the first thing he said to you . Um, i want sex. I i looked at him and i said, then you should probably call another Escort Service, cause its not gonna happen with me. Thats not what im here for. Reporter no sex, but lots of talk. And the topic . Paige birgfeld. Carol says he seems obsessed with paige. And sure enough, he tells her he recognizes paige as the once wealthy wife of rob dixon. You knew when you saw her the first time that she was rob dixons exwife. Yeah. I knew that. Okay. Reporter during 2 1 2 hours of questioning, jones cooperates fully, letting them take his fingerprints, giving them his dna, and handing over the keys to his truck. What are you driving right now . Its a white dodge pickup. White . Reporter a white pickup. Could it be the same white pickup that frightened paige that night outside her office . The nononsense detective norcross puts the screws to the rv mechanic. Do you know where she is . No. Do you know what happened to her . No. Now, i have to be convinced of that. I cant convince you of it. I i dont know what happened to her. Reporter before she disappeared, paige had gotten five calls from a mystery man calling from a disposable tracfone. Jones denies it was him. He tells investigators he doesnt even own a tracfone. Did you buy a tracfone . No, sir. Never bought a tracfone . Never. Reporter cops search his home and scour the mechanics workspace at the rv shop in Grand Junction. They find viagra, condoms, a black victorias secret bra, and under his desk, a gasoline can. Now, you may think, well, maybe he used the gas can. Its rv repair. Maybe they had a gas can. No. Police question the owners and coworkers and there was no reason for him to have a gas can at his workspace. Do you have a gas can at your workspace . Because i dont. Reporter but the most compelling evidence in the trash. Packaging for a disposable tracfone, just like the one jones swears he doesnt own. Abc news chief legal analyst, dan abrams. He is claiming, didnt have a tracfone. Reporter investigators track that disposable phone to this walmart. Security cameras pick up a man that looks a lot like lester jones purchasing it. I have you on video buying a tracfone at walmart. No, sir. Yes, sir. No, sir. The fact he appears to have lied about it makes it that much more incriminating. Reporter desperate for more direct evidence, detectives fly in trained dogs to search paiges burned out car. K9 handler julie jones shows us how she says they found the scent of death. They smelled the dead body in the backseat of the car . A dead body in the car. Reporter a dead body in the back seat. And in the front seat, the one pushed way back . The handler says, the smell of a man. Who else did the dog find in this car . He was given the scent of lester jones and he found the scent of lester jones in the drivers seat of this vehicle. Reporter 64, 275pound lester jones. But many question the science of dog scent evidence. Problem with the dog . You cant crossexamine him. Reporter and the rest of the case against jones is circumstantial without paiges body, hautzinger is reluctant to press charges. We were all sure she was dead. We were sure she was murdered. But i was unwilling to file charges until i actually had a body. Reporter the case went cold until an afternoon in march of 2012. A hiker hiking not far from the highway, just a short distance from where paiges personal items were found, made an astonishing discovery. Down in this gulch, in a dry streambed, amid all of these rocks and weeds and brush, were human remains, the daughter that frank and suzie had been searching for, for five long years. Theres no soft tissue left. All she is, is a skeleton. Reporter unfortunately, the years have hidden the cause of her death. One clue that it was violent duct tape wrapped around the skull. Sheriffs office arrested lester jones in morning in connection to Paige Birgfelds death. You have immediate prosecution. Reporter next, the trial of lester jones, the man charged with Paige Birgfelds murder. And the men Defense Attorneys say should be. Let me talk to you about a few of the real killers in this case. I have lied about a lot of things to protect me. I would have put her in a wood chipper. This is john at motel 6. I was just checking to see if you had somebody coming out or not. Is that your voice, sir . Yes. Does its okay to cry, right . No more we dont want anymore [crying] ahhhhhhhhhh everyday price and no extra monthly fees, unlike cable. Speeds up to 45 megs, for 30 a month. Announcer 20 20 saturday continues with soccer mom by d day. Reporter getting to the Mesa County Justice Center is easy, go to Grand Junction, cant miss it. But getting justice for murdered soccer mom Paige Birgfeld . Much harder. It has taken nearly a decade. Finally, just weeks ago, her alleged killer was hauled into court. There he is, lester jones. Today, a man accused of murdering a single mother is said to stand trial in junction. He is charged with kidnapping and murdering paige whose remains were found in deal the county. Reporter he will be a hard man to convict. I would like to say, the jury, it walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck. It probably is a duck. Man its like a dagger. Reporter the court gets a workout. The prosecution calling 80 people to the stand. Investigators and experts, dentists and former call girls, hikers and dog handlers. Wlafs what was your understanding of where he was . The prosecution theory . Sometime after 8 57p. M. The time of the last known call from her cell phone jones kidnaps and kills paige, then uses her own car to dispose of her body in that gulch down highway 50. A few nights later, telling his wife he has to go out. Where did he say he was going . Back to the shop. He thought he left the lights on that morning and wanted to get them turned off. Reporter investigators believe, instead, he takes that opportunity to burn paiges car, incinerating any evidence of his crime. In his police interview, jones himself conceding things dont look good. Her car was found next door. I have no alibi for sunday night when the car caught on fire. I have no alibi for the whole week and i called multiple times. Reporter prosecutors close their case with a star witness, jones exwife, lisa nance. He said im going to kill you and he just slapped me repeatedly. I could taste blood. I grabbed his hand and asked him to stop. Reporter nance says in the late 90s, when their marriage was ending, jones kidnapped her at gunpoint and threatened to kill her. He said he was going to put me in the bottom of the lake where no one would find me. Reporter she escaped, and jones served five years in prison. But then lester jones Defense Attorneys get their turn. They argue jones is the wrong man and proceed to present a parade of alternate suspects. Theres john livingston. I did call some Services Back then and dumb, but i did. Reporter a ranch hand waiting for paige at motel 6 the night she disappeared. This is john at motel 6, room 237. I was just checking to see if you had somebody coming out or not. You called a company models, inc. That day . Right. Reporter he says she never showed up. Do you have anything to do with disappearance of Paige Birgfeld . No. Have anything to do the murder of Paige Birgfeld . No. Reporter then, theres wayne damico a car salesman and another of paiges clients. Did you know Paige Birgfeld . At some point set up a time and we hung out together on a professional basis. You paid her money . Yes, maam. Reporter he admits he joked about disposing of her body. I said if i had something to do with it, i would have put her in a woodchipper. Believe me. If i could take something back, i would take that back right now. Reporter but the woman who heard him say it, a former callgirl, kristy steves, was worried enough to call the police. I typically have intuition. I was under the influence of drugs but i believed him. I really did. Did it scare you . Yeah. Reporter if anyone had a motive, Defense Attorneys say, it was steven heald. I had no reason to want her dead. Reporter the construction manager, who embezzled 17,000 of his companys money, supposedly buying pampered chef products from paige. She created an invoice. Id paid the invoice. The invoice would say pampered chef, or some other type of work, but it was for sex. Reporter heald first tells detectives paige was blackmailing him to hide their relationship, but then changes his story. Thats the dumbest thing i ever said. She never blackmailed me. Our relationship was mutual. Reporter but heald has an alibi for the night paige disappeared. His exwife says for once, he was where he belonged at home with her. You have every reason to basically throw him under the bus, wouldnt you say . Yes. And i would have. Reporter but if anyone might give this jury reasonable doubt, Defense Attorneys say it is this man another client george coralluzzo. A painter, with a colorful past. Theft, burglary, dui and kidnapping. Phone records show in the hours before paige goes missing, coralluzzo is robodialing her Something Like 20 times trying to set up a massage date. It boiled down to lester jones or coralluzzo and i was the stick in the mud, frankly saying, yeah, i think we have a case against lester jones, but im not convinced that we can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt until coralluzzo has been effectively eliminated. Reporter two days after paige disappears, an acquaintance of george coralluzzo, Meghan Williams says he came to her in a panic. Claiming he had to leave town in a hurry because his family had been killed in a car crash, which was a lie. Was he acting like someone who did something very bad and was trying to get away . He was emotional. He was sad. He was frantic. He was just like, you know, i gotta do things. I gotta go. I gotta go. I cant be here. Do you think he killed Paige Birgfeld . I do think he killed Paige Birgfeld. And i have stuck with that since day one. Reporter but prosecutors say coralluzzo was thoroughly investigated and eliminated as the killer. Coralluzzo cant testify because he drowned in a new jersey river in 2011. Which brings us back to the case against lester jones and two final bizarre pieces of the puzzle. Soon after police interrogated him, jones attempts suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills. Coincidentally, he gets a call from detectives soon afterward, theyre simply trying to arrange the return of his now notorious white pickup. Mr. Jones . Yes, sir. This is art smith with the sheriffs office. Reporter but a groggy jones makes a bizarre statement. You asked if me where i would bury a body . Im sorry . You asked me where i should bury a body . When did i ask you that . Reporter does that sound like some sort of accidental confession . What will the jury make of it . Please rise for the jury. Reporter when we comeback, a courtroom stunner. Gus is a handful. We dont know what this thing is, but someday, gus will because this is the thing that gus will build that will change the world. And this is the thing that could change gus world. Gus doesnt know what this thing is, but we know what this thing is. This is the thing well help gus get rid of. And without this thing, gus can grow up to build this thing, whatever that thing is, because thats what we do. We do health things, and we do those things for northern california, birthplace of pioneers. Announcer 20 20 saturday continues with soccer mom by day. Reporter frank and Suzie Birgfeld spent their summer here at the mesa county courthouse to bear witness to the prosecution of lester jones. Hes the man they believe murdered their daughter, paige, back in 2007. Its been nine long years, for you to get to this place. That courthouse right there . Man, you know what, it its like were on a merrygoround. Except the merrygoround doesnt stop. Reporter the prosecutions Closing Argument . Reminding the jury of that young mother, kidnapped, thrown in the back of her own car, taken off to be murdered. Paige must have been so scared. It is hard to even imagine what was going through her head as she was laying either in the back of the vehicle or in the trunk. Reporter when its their turn, attorneys for lester jones say there was a virus in the investigation. They screwed up this investigation from the getgo lets talk about whos the real killer. Reporter the judge sent the 12 jurors, nine men and three women, off to deliberate. Its not an easy case. Its not a simple case, and just one juror could derail a conviction for prosecutors. Reporter and sure enough, the case that confounded the nation for almost a decade stymied this jury too. We are unable to come to a unanimous decision. Reporter the judge declaring a mistrial. Afterwards, the jurors spoke, revealing nine of them thought jones was guilty, but there were three holdouts. Nobody in their mind thought that there was that he didnt do something wrong. That he committed this crime. Its the fact that there was not enough evidence for them to get past the reasonable doubt. Reporter but the prosecutor wasted in time retrying jones a second time this past november. And this time a new jury locking at the same evidence with fresh eyes, convicts lester jones of first degree murder. We, the jury, find Lester Ralph Jones guilty of count one, murder in the first degree. Nine years and two trials later a junction mother reporter the rv mechanic was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole two days after christmas. As for paiges father, we accompanied him back to that dusty, dirt road to the desolate gault where his daughters body was discovered. We all think were going to live to 100. And, then you get a phone call like i did. Reporter its now a makeshift memorial, where a grieving father can finally put this case and his daughter to rest. You know, i hear this term closure, and im not exactly sure what that is. Its not like we turn the switch off and shes out of our lives. Paige birgfeld, never out of her parents thoughts. Thats our program for tonight. Thank you so much for watching. Im elizabeth vargas. For david close call, a bay area man makes his way over the fence