I have a lot of guilt still in me that makes me sick how i could do Something Like that. Im the responsible one. A working mom, new at the office. She loved her job and really loved her handsome, young boss. The thing that i never wanted to face was the hurt that i was going to cause. A passionate 9 00 to 5 00 affair. So was he. I grabbed his face and i was, like, you know what, i love you. Im not going anywhere. Tell me whats happening. Cheating husbands, scheming wives, being unfaithful to your spouse isnt a crime, is it . That would come next. My god. Oh, my god. Every emotion possible all in one second. I went, oh my god. Murder when you see him on the video, hes armed and ready. Two couples, two families and a single moment that shattered it all. I knew one day that this was all going to come out. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres keith morrison. Look at this place now. So ordinary with its pharmacy, so like the suburban strip malls from bismarck to bakersfield but that night, that cold night a heat gathered here, sweet ter terrifying, doomed. For the longest time, i couldnt go anywhere because i am thinking everybody is looking at me. This is the story of two married couples of the advice they can offer others now that i think if i could tell them anything, it would be put your family first. But of course thats not what happened. And this parking lot, there will be a body here before were done. Oh my god oh my god. Careful when you stir the hot pot of desire. Little brother to bigger boise here in the foothills of the majestic rockies. This is where they got to their perfect place. The end of their rainbow. It was 2006, and luck was on their side. They had just moved from Southern California and they were happy. They were fulfilled at work. They had two beautiful children. They had everything they ever wanted. They were rob and kandi hall. One of those charmed couples who had fallen in love at first sight in their case first sight met admiring each other in the gym. We went out, i think that weekend and then we never stopped. What was it about that relationship . What was it about him that you liked so much that was so good . We just connected instantly. By the time rob and kandi moved to idaho, they had been together for years, had two teenage daughters. Rob landed an excellent job as a computer specialist at the Ada County Sheriffs Office specializing in vehicle locaters inside squad job. As if it was a sign of this is where they longed, kandis career as a paralegal took off, too. She was a natural. She could sell her skills to anybody who walked in the door. It didnt hurt that she was pretty. No, it didnt. And her coworker idolized kandi. You bec we became close. She was like a mother to me. It was all just about perfect and then who knows why these things happen exactly. They just do. And no one imagined why would they. How this thing was going to end. About eight months into his new job, rob started traveling for work. Nothing unusual about that of course. But soon he seemed to be staying away from home a little longer than he really had to. Started snapping at her too, kandi said, about little things. So at this point you begin to suspect something. I start thinking what is going on . Why are you acting like this . And then one night after a late flight in from california, rob laid down beside his wife in bed and it all came tumbling out. He just started to cry. He said, im having an affair. And i laid my head on his chest and i said, rob, please, just fix it. You didnt get upset . You didnt yell . You didnt scream . You didnt cry . You didnt do anything . Thats what shocked him. The typical response is get the hell out. You throw the clothes out the window. Oh, no. The last person on this planet that you would think to have an affair would be robert. Of course it was devastating, crippling. Every day she went to work and every day sophia saw her friend just seemed to witther. I watched her go through misery. Sobbing in her hands daily and just trying to figure out what this woman had that she didnt. Did she still love him . Yes. Dearly. Wanted the marriage to continue in spite of the affair . Yes, she did. She didnt want to believe in her head that he found something in this woman that wasnt in kandi. He felt bad about it. Agreed to go through counseling with kandi but after he confessed to you and you said fix it, he didnt. He didnt know what he wanted. Come on. No, i mean, he wanted to keep going with the affair, thats what he wanted. I for sure told him to stop. Stop right now or ill stomp my foot and hold my breath and he kept doing it. Yeah. It was my fault. He had a void because of me. Thats what i was thinking. What do you think the void would have been . What did you think it was . Boring old kandi hall. Rejected apparently unlovable and nearly 40. And then one day at work kandi was introduced to a recent Law School Graduate who was looking to staff his new office. A boyishly handsome smart as a whip cocky young lawyer. His name was Emmett Corrigan. My friend, she said, emmitt, youve got to meet kandi. Shes as passionate and would be great for you. Something lifted in kandi hall. By the time those words left her friends mouth, kandi knew, she just knew. When we come back, kandi hall has a decision to make and it will have consequences she never intended. Deadly ones. The text popped up and rob read it. Test in boise, idaho, inside this law office in the fall of 2010 was a paralegal whose charmed life was falling apart. Kandi hall was an unhappy woman. Her 40th birthday was bearing down like a chinese bullet train and then one day it got worse. Kandis boss told her she was also unemployed. My husband has had an affair. Now my attorney who i work for has fired me. Pretty low. Such problems. And then there was him. Emmett corrigan fixed everything. He was handsome and he thought and of course he hired her right away for his new law office, and, well, you know what came next. Soon there were racy emails, spicy text messages. I would like to be put on that pedestal and it made me feel that way. It was pretty much an ego boost for me. She really wasnt trying to get back at her husband, says kandi. It made me feel like i was on top of the world. Sitting here now, is kandi still thinking only of kandi. Perhaps as you hear the rest of the story, you can be the judge of that. Back then there were a few hitches in kandis new found fantasy life. To start with, heemmett corrig was also married and lived in a quiet culdesac just a couple miles from kandi with his woman, his wife, ashley. He was just a guy that everybody wanted to be around. Enthusiastic, full of energy . Sometimes too much energy but thats kind of one of the things i loved about him. Just like kandi and rob, ashley and emmett met in a gym. Theirs was in college in utah, in 2003, also inseparable from that moment on and they certainly made a striking young couple. They were married after just six made their vows before god and the church in the lds temple. We both were like, you know what, i think im ready to be a parent. First came twin girls followed soon by a son and then another daughter. He loved being a dad as much as i loved being a mom. In the winter they went skiing, sledding. In the summer they camped and swam at the lake they so loved. They made memories. Ashley never doubted this was how their life was supposed to be. She was pregnant with ft child when her ambitious husband opened his law office in the fall of 2010. And made the fateful decision to hire a paralegal named kandi hall. Not that he had any idea he was sealing his fate of course anymore than his wife ashley understood his private motivations. Did you suspect she was involved with him . With emmett . Yeah. No. Why . He said she just believes in me. She thinks im going to be a great lawyer. You saw her and she was an older woman. She was almost 40. I was 28. It wasnt something that i felt like a competition of i guess. But for the many reasons that plainly escape those who arent seated smack on the hot stove of desire themselves, emmett and kandi thought otherwise. So they tried to keep their hands off each o f little while said their coworkers but if they believed they were hiding their obvious infatuation, suddenly messy hair and hastily rearranged clothes, they were only fooling themselves. I noticed a significant change in her attitude. It went from being depressed about what rob had done to happy. Spring in her step again. Oh, yeah. Such timing. Now that robbed seemed to want to fix their marriage, kandi honesty took a holiday. I was living in a lie. Being in an affair is living one big lie. You lie about everything. And she lied to herself too. You were thinking of you and he together striding across the bow of the titanic. This is going to be it for you forever. Yes. One night a couple months into the affair, events suddenly ticked measurably toward their deadly conclusion. Around bedtime, re text from emmett and she couldnt hide it. The text popped up and rob read it and it said, i wish i was there with you tonight. What did he say . He was angry. Kandi, what is this . I said,ion. He calls emmett. Why are you texting my wife . At this time of night. Emmetts answer two minutes later he showed up at robs and then rob came back inside. Rob tossed my phone up on our bed and he said, you win. I cant compete. Hes young. Hes good looking guy. Hes an attorney. You make him a lot of money. What good am i . He was just devastated. Now you got yourself a pretty complicated life at this stage. Yeah. Of course, that 2011, emmetts life was complicated, too. Ashley could see how stressed he was. Didnt understand it. That or why he seemed to avoid coming home. There was one time when my son asked me if he lived with us anymore and later in the bedroom he was, like, whats that all about . I was, like, well, we miss you. He just kind of yelled and screamed and left. Her fault. She went to marriage counseling. Emmett refused to go. I had felt really pushed away and was trying to find an answer and tried to surprise him by cleaning out his car and found a weird envelope. A weird envelope . Just an envelope that with some sort of pill. I researched online and one of the side effects was problems with intimacy and sexuality. I thought maybe if he was dog that, that could explain why he didnt necessarily want me. Did you take it personally too, though . You want to be everything that they want. It was hard not to take personal. Especially when emmett who had been working out more and more announced he was going to a fitness competition in ohio on their wedding anniversary. What did that feel like . Lonely. Later, but didnt call back. And the night before he came home, my oldest son, who had just turned 4, was screaming one night for probably two hours. My dad is going to die. My dad is going to die. Hes going to die. I just held him. I tried calling him but he never answered his phone. It was a very strange weekend. Strange. Strange is not a big enough word to describe what was about to coming up i literally was like, emmett, please do not leave. And he said, no, im leaving. A secret meeting at walgreens and something will go horribly wrong. I said, no, im not doing this. Hes like, oh, we are doing this. It was the 11th of march, 2011. This was it. The big event. Dday you could say. It was early evening. Cold as the sun went down in meridian. Cold and bleak and in two homes in particular it was very bleak indeed. Kandi hall arrived home from work to find her husband, rob, packing boxes to leave. What other reaco i knew we were probably coming down to the wire. Youre having the kind of unfair fights couples have all the time. They betray each other with abandon and wonder why it doesnt work out. The thing i never wanted to face was the hurt i was going to cause on so many people. I knew one day that this was all now you can only look back and wish it had turned out that way. Right. Around the same time across town perhaps two miles away, Ashley Corrigan had just made the mistake of telling her husband that in desperate state of worry she asked Family Members to pray for them. He said, your family . I hate your family. I could beat your brother up. I could kill all of you. Ab you know what . I love you. Im not going anywhere. I dont care what it is. Just tell me whats happening. And i dont know. I felt like that was the last chance. He didnt take it. He didnt open up about anything. That night though a trusted Family Member who agreed to help counsel the couple called and emmett answered the phone. He went back into our bedroom and i could hear everything he was saying because the baby monitor was on. The hard part then was not a i think she might be sleeping with this person. She says, im the worst father ever, and just things i know i had never done. So when he walked out, i flipped the baby monitor off and i said, oh, how did it go . It went good. He thinks youre as crazy as i do. I said, okay. Well, do i get a turn . He said, i dont care what you do, but youre not using my phone. Tt run to walgreens, and ill be right back. I put the phone down and i literally was, like, emmett, please do not leave. He said, no, im leaving. You must have felt like your life was flying apart and you didnt know what to do. I kind of felt like, okay, maybe this is the grand finale. He needed a wakeup call. He did. He needed a wakeup call. Careful what you wish for. Getting late now. Very dark. Over at the hall house, kandi had been talking to her husband, maybe he shouldnt move out. Maybe they should try to fix their marriage and make it work somehow. And then, right in the middle of that, she suddenly told him she had an errand to run. Couldnt wait. Guess where . I said i need to go to walgreens. Im going to go through the drivethrough. I said, ill be right back. Heres kandis explanation for the way the meeting with her lover was arranged. I was pulling out of the driveway and emmett what are you doing . I said, im going to walgreens. He said, i was just there. Me met met me there. And then what happened next you can watch it yourself right here on surveillance tape. I go to walgreens. Go through the drivethrough. And i pull around and i park my car. He pulls up and i get in his truck and we go to fred myer. There they are again getting gas at fred myer when emmett opened the trucks rear door. He said, well, if you dont want to grow a penis, dont take it. Then he got back in the truck and we drove off. From there, kandi and emmett pulled into a secluded spot and had sex under a street light and thats where they were tangled up in each other when her phone rang. Her daughter, coming home from a date, had seen her car in that parking lot. She said, mom, why is your car at walgreens . Okay. Ill be home in a minute. Too late because now the wind was up. Rob, the unfaithful husband, had to know now he was the aggrieved spouse and as kandi talked to his daughter, here he was in his pickup truck coming to walgreens to look for his wife. Phone call from rob. He goes, are you with emmett . I go took a deep breath i emmett looks over at me and he takes the phone away from me and he goes, yeah, whats up, chief . He says, yeah. Wait right there. Well be right there. You wait right there. And thats when i said, no, knock it off. Were not doing this. Hes like, oh, we are doing this. There are moments in life when big choices are made. This was not a good one. Coming up, a latenht i went, oh, my god. Ill never forget. At ikea, we believe that everything you need should be within reach. In an affordable dream kitchen that works as hard as you do. Should be within reach. In an affordable dream kitchen that works as hard as you do. Get 15 back at the ikea kitchen event. Here at a walgreens drugstore in meridian, idaho, just before 10 00 p. M. On a friday night in march, 2011, time was up. Devil wanted his due. Robert hall was a man on a mission as you can see on these store surveillance videos. Rob parked his pickup truck. Went through the front door. Roamed the beauty and cosmetic aisle looking for his wife, kandi, who was also in a pickup truck with her lover, emmett. Here you can see rob leaving the bmw and then strangely getting back into his own pickup truck pulling out and then reparking it on the other side of kandis car. Curiously his door now just out of range of the store surveillance camera. This is when he made that phone call. The one in which kandi confessed she had been with her boss, Emmett Corrigan, and he said to rob, whats up, chief . Here was emmetts truck speeding through the parkin still time to stop this if wiser heads had been in charge but they werent. Nothing wise about whats coming. I see rob in his truck. He has just this look on his face, like, oh, man. I get out of the truck. But then emmett gets out and then rob gets out and walks over to us. This is just the sort of moment in which a person might have wanted to cool the overheated atmosphere. That is not what happened. Rob is standing next to me. Hes, like, what are you doing out with my wife at 10 00 at night . And emmett said, rob, she doesnt want to be with you anymore. Okay. Shes done. I mean, really, rob, what did you make last year, maybe 40,000 . Kandi, what did we make last week . 27,000. Last week. In one week, rob. Thats how much i make. You dont make anything. Nasty, of course. Young buck who needed to be reminded of something. Rob said, well, what about your kids and your wife . She just had a baby. Theyre at home waiting for you and youre out with my wife. At that moment emmetts eyes got huge and he pushed himself off his truck and went up to rob and pushed rob very hard on his chest. And then the climax. Building for weeks. Thats when i said enough. Thats enough you get in your truck. Rob, we got to go. As i was walking to my car, another car came by. I had stopped and at that point i hear pop, pop, pop. I didnt know what it was. I didnt know if that car just backfired. I had no idea. I stopped. What was that . And all i see in my peripheral in blood like someone poured a can of red blood all over him. Frantically kandis fingers somehow found the numbers, 911. Oh my god. Robert robert the pistol went flying somehow. No one disputes that. There it was lying on the pavement between two men. Both shot. Twilight zone where memories are made that cant ever be erased though as you and the Police Department and lawyers and the judge will soon see, they can certainly be amended. What we know for sure is that she rushed to the prostrate body of one of those two men. I gave him a kiss on his cheek. I will never forget ever. Deep it was very surreal. He was turning gray here to here to here. I didnt have much time to think of much other than thinking to myself, oh my god. Hes dead. But which one and what just happened . A tragic lapse in judgment, a thoughtless but unintended crime listein the shower can help you conserve water, so start your Favorite Song when you get in, and when its done, times up. Youve probably conserved at least ten gallons of water. So great. Ashley corrigan did not go to sleep after her angry husband announced he was going to the walgreens drugstore in meridian, idaho. Morning when the police came. Emmett was dead they told her. Killed by his lovers husband. And ashley entered a Twilight Zone of her own. It was the ultimate humiliation. Not only is your husband gone, but you know that marriage you were trying to save, heres all the answers why it was going wrong. Now, you dont have a marriage to save anymore. It w i went through a divorce and death all in one second. Bizarre. And then i had to get prepared to tell my kids. What story do you tell little kids . Theres been an accident and your daddys spirit left his body so he wont be on earth with you anymore. They all just kind of stared at me, like, what are we supposed to do now . What now indeed. And that very moment a few miles gunshot wound to his head, the result of a botched Suicide Attempt after rob put two bullets from his semiautomatic pistol into Emmett Corrigan, one in his heart, one in his head. And over at the Meridian Police station, kandi halls clothes still covered in blood was telling the first of several different versions of what happened in the parking lot. Quite unprepared of course down on her head. Suddenly youre thrust into the public eye bigtime as a jezebel, as a woman who is at the ender of a love triangle. What is that like for you . Its scary. For the longest time i couldnt go to the grocery store. I couldnt go anywhere because looking at me. Everybody knows who i am. Everybody knows what i did. Yes. But it did happen and i own it. Theres Something Else that happened. On the night of the shooting kandi rushed to kiss her dying lover. She rather soon was back in her husbands corner as his chief supporter especially when robert hall was charged with premeditated firstdegree murder. We felt that the evidence supported that he planned to go to that walgreens and do exactly what he did when he got there. This was no sudden crime of passion, said the prosecutors. Idaho Deputy Attorney general general and jason spillman. This is case of a man hunting down his wifes paramour and waiting 17 minutes to have the opportunity to kill him. Thank you, your honor. Furious about his wifes affair. A man who called emmetts law office repeatedly to berate kandi so loudly that others heard it all. Statements such as youre a whore and why are you with him . The night of the shooting, prosecutors played those surveillance tapes from walgreens showing rob arriving at the drugstore 17 minutes before the confrontation. Walking through the aisles looking for kandi. All the while with a pistol. Not the u but the one kandi gave him tucked in his pocket. And then the jury saw emmett and kandi arrive in the parking lot and eight minutes later heard kandis 911 call after shots were fired. Oh my god Robert Robert what happened . The prosecutor said the secrets of the shots told the story. Two quick shots. A pause and then one more. Rob hall had executed Emmett Corrigan with two successive shots, turned to face his wife, attempted to commit suicide with the third shot. The theory backed up by forensics. The shots were fired from close range two or three feet. There was a heavy concentration of gunshot residue on only robert halls hands and only one mans dna on the trigger guard. The dna matched that of mr. Hall. The walgreens in order to confront Emmett Corrigan, that he took a loaded gun and rob decided that was his opportunity to get his kandi back by killing emmett. Why did he talk to emmett for eight minutes before he fired . The store was closing, said the prosecutor. I think he waited until there were no eyewitnesses and he executed Emmett Corrigan. A neat and tidy theory, agreed the defense, but completely wrong. This fight was started by Emmett Corrigan. Rob was a nice guy, said the defense, and it was emmett that was out of control. Emmett who kept amphetamines and steroids in his pickup truck. Drugsit said a defense expert. He had hyper ability as well as explosivesness, and explosive temper. What really happened . Rob didnt testify that a doctor backed his claim that because of his head wound he couldnt remember. So the defense offered a theory that emmett started a fight and the gun fell on the ground and emmett grabbed it and shot rob and then rob fired back in selfdefense. The courtroom came to a halt. Witness took the stand to support that theory. Would you please state and spell your name for the record. Kandi hall. Kandi, who repeated the story on the stand she told us of emmett pushing rob and emmett becoming enraged and hearing the two men scuffle before she walked away before she heard but did not see the shooting. The only problem, she told the police a very different story the night it happened. That night that you didnt see or hear a physical altercation, isnt that right . I dont know. I dont remember. In fact, kandi changed her story about so many things, all helpful to robs case. Im trying to clarify that your story changed after speaking with your husband. Things were remembered after talking to my husband. In fact, later, the judge he said in all of his 30 some years on the bench he had never seen a witness so thoroughly discredited. Before she left the witness stand, kandi expressed her love and sorrow for the man she cheated on yet still loved. He knew and he still knows in his heart that i never stopped loving him. You dont just stop loving someone. And watching it all, emmetts wife, ashley. You watched as kandi testified and what was that like . Its hard to hear her stand up there and tell her husband how sorry she was and how much she loved him because ultimately it was because of them that i didnt get that chance. And rob halls version of events, hes about to tell you. The very first time he has spoken of this. But first, its up to the jury coming up i wish i had never gone there that night. A husband with a stunning story to tell. Last thing i remember was the gun pointed at my head. Whose story will the jury once he had everything he wanted before he and his wife scratched the itch of wanting more. And now a jury was about to tell robert hall whether for the rest he had a small advantage over the jury. Hall did not testify but he talked to us. His first ever interview to tell us he was sorry about what happened, yes, that but also to tell us that it wasnt his fault. The notion that i brought a gun there to gun down Emmett Corrigan, i didnt bring a gun there to gun down Emmett Corrigan. Halls version that despite what you heard, he did not even know for sure that emmett was having an affair with kandi. That in the parking lot, emmett was the aggressor, pulled him down from behind by the hood of his sweatshirt. I dont think i made four steps before i was ripped off my feet. When i hit the ground, first thing i thought was my cell phone hit the ground. And i looked over and it was my gun. He reached down and grabbed my gun and we just struggled over it. Gun pointed at my head and the feeling of being hit upside the head of a baseball bat and i remember seeing Everything Black and gray. And thats all i remember. Until sunday in the hospital. In that moment of extreme anger and passion, crazy things happen and youre asking us to believe that the crazy thing that happened started when you got shot. Yeah. Yep. And then you must have taken the gun and fired two shots at him. Yep. Of course you hit a hole through his heart and one in his head which sound for all of the world, when you hear that, that those were targeted shots. Is it possible you shot him and then decided you were going to shoot yourself . No, absolutely not. I have never been suicidal. The jury did hear the defense case of course just not roberts but it was enough for a verdict. Robert dean hall guilty or not guilty of firstdegree murder . Not guilty. Not guilty. Hearts rose and fell. But then, not so fast. Is robert dean hall guilty or not guilty of seconddegree murder. Guilty. Guilty of murder. Not premeditation per se but of an intent to kill and disregard for human life. Rob hall looked like he had been punched in the stomach. Tears sprang to his eyes. Hall was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Hell be eligible for parole in the year 2030 just past his 60th birthday. As we hit here now having been convicted of intentional murder, youre still not taking responsibility for it as that. As murder, no. Of this tragedy is more Emmett Corrigan than you . Absolutely. Yes. And so you sitting in prison for the next god knows how many years are as much a victim as anybody else . Its devastating. I wish i had never gone there that night to get my wife. Or if you went that somehow you might not have taken your gun along. I think that. I do the what if game on that. Then i think what if he would have pounded my face into the cement and not stopped and then people would say why didnt he have his gun with him . And thus you encountered one of the elements of classic tragedy. The thing you buy to protect yourself was the thing you used to destroy yourself. Yep. Another thing to contemplate in your jail cell late at night. He also thinks about his two daughters whose lives, graduations, triumphs, marriages, children he will never witness. Two girls who would soon be living alone at the ages of 18 and 14 back then because of a final twist to this story of betrayal and retribution. Robs wife, kandi incredibly is no. She pleaded guilty to charges of grand theft for embezzling some 30,000 from the attorney for whom she worked before Emmett Corrigan lured her away. She served 18 months for that, on parole now and were told, writing a book, her version of things. Before she went to prison, she talked to us about regret. I have a lot of guilt still in me, a lot. His kids and it makes me sick how i could do Something Like that. I am the responsible one and its something i dont know if theyre going to ever be able to get through that . Hopefully one day i can prove to them that it was just a mistake. Maybe her book will persuade five children and a widow named ashley that it was just a mistake, or maybe not. In the years since, ashley has healing and peace has written three books herself and has become a popular blogger and speaker with a message to stand strong and faithful. I think theres thousands of people in this country that come those crossroads and dont know what to do but i think if i could tell them anything it would be put your family first. I guess i would like to say to couldnt this have been something you pictured as you held up the gun and targeted it at his head and his heart . Once in meridian, idaho, were two happy, successful families. Wasnt quite enough for some of them and the wreckage is forever. Thats all for now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us. Every small fire poses a big threat. The fires that started today and the fire danger across three states. The final Campaign Push is coming to colorado. Why both parties want a presence here just in time for a big voting milestone on sunday. Its two hours of nothing, some find a happy place away from the campaign chaos. Record warmth didnt keep winter out of downtown denver. Why there was snow in the city. 9news starts right now. Right now crews are battling very dry conditions in eagle county as they work to contain a small wildfire burning off prior pan road burning about 50 acres into thomasville. Smoke could be seen for miles when the sun was up earlier. The sheriff weighings are possible if the evacuations are possible if the fire continues to spread. Three structures destroyed early this morning and crews had to work fast to keep it from spreading. The three buildings lost were among trail gulch road. Crews kept an eye on for hot spots. The cause of this fire is still under investigation. Any small fire could quickly grow into a big problem. Several small wildfires have burned throughout the state in