Transcripts For MSNBC Dateline 20240608 : comparemela.com
MSNBC Dateline June 8, 2024
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that is it for us, thank you so much for watching. remember, if your friends are busy tonight, had a hot date, you and can watch the nightcap tomorrow night, saturday at 11:00. he's turn right here on msnbc. for now i am signing off and on that note i wish you a very good night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thank you for staying up late with me, i will see you tomorrow. i think back and i go, this was such a senseless murder. and why diane? why, when she was ready to start a brand-new life? i will never know that answer. spectacles kept coming. >> hi diane, it's 2:00, just making sure you are here today. >> at 2:00 it was too late. >> simone have killed her. >> we had her body at the scene, that was all. >> she had a fiance. >> they argued a lot. >> we had our ups and downs, no question. >> and a coworker with a crush. >> he was an odd character. >> i was always very spoiled lead to her. >> everybody was suspect. >> then the break. tips from other women. >> he wanted to get me in there and i didn't budge and all of the bells were going off. >> i jumped in my car and took off. i felt i had dodged a bullet. >> the who was frightening, but the y was much worse. >> in my wildest rooms i would have never imagined something like this could even exist >> we you certainly had a motive. >> yes, we did. >> ♪ it was the afternoon of november the 15th, austin, texas, 4:00 p.m. something ominous in the air. suddenly, the familiar feel of it against the skin, comping. something big. >> they did tell us on the news, if you don't have to go out tonight, don't, because we are going to get relentless reins. >> and then the sky overhead turned dark, like midnight in the afternoon. >> when stuff like that is pitch black out and you have the fear of tornadoes. >> sure enough, so the announcers on tv, twisters had been spotted heading towards the city, including northwest. >> diane lived in the northwest and i called her i said, hey, girl, they just said there is a tornado heading in your direction, and she said my direction? and she's like, i don't know what to do. i've never been in a tornado. >> so, she was kind of freaked out? >> she was very freaked out. >> then the ferocious rain and heavy wind, the thick funnel clouds dipped around the city. the next morning, a friday. it was all over. friends checked on friends. but no one could reach diane. the freaked out one. diane holik work from home, for ibm. that morning, so unlike her. she missed the conference call. >> hi diane, it is to:00. i am just checking to make sure you are safe. >> all day, phone calls from ibm and friends went to voicemail. >> diane, hey, this is sharon, i was going to see if you are going to show up tonight or not. >> she didn't. >> i got to the club and i was waiting, and she didn't come, she didn't come, and i spent all of my time wondering when she was going to show up. >> had she been caught in the storm? had her house been hit? a coworker called the police. they cruised over to diane's neighborhood and found her big house unscathed. they. through windows, the security key. they went upstairs. there, all but hidden behind a guest room bed, they found diane. >> someone had killed her. i actually had a scream of some sort, just like, you can't-- it is not true. that is not what happened, that is not diane. >> but of course it was. diane holik, 43 years old, suddenly the unlikely center of a strange and disturbing mystery, and a most unlikely victim, murdered. >> absolutely lived life with gusto. she was a vivacious, beautiful woman. >> reporter: lynn had a known diane since the 90s when they started working together at ibm. >> she let her friends, she let her family. we would vacation together. we would have so much fun and just laugh and laugh and laugh. well, a lot of things we like to do altogether was we hit the clubs a lot. >> lots of dancing. >> lots of dancing. >> diane met anita and cheyenne cooper at the ladies room of an austin bar. >> she was in there, she said oh, you have cowboy boots, you must know where country barn is. we said yeah, i do. our best friend is coming and we are going to go when she gets here. and she said cool, i'm going to go with y'all. first time i had ever met her, never seen her before. >> she was in town for 3 weeks. >> diane said well, not just for the club, so she gets into the truck where her clothes are and starts pulling at something western and starts putting it on right there in the parking lot. she was crazy. she was throwing things on that she was-- >> stripped right there in the parking lot. >> right there in the parking lot. we danced all night long, she was having a blast, so happy that she had met the two of us, because she said, now i have me some dancing buddies. >> so magnetic. which, said her colleague, helped make her a fine recruiter for ibm. >> i would center off to colleges, and these kids, they would just gravitate to her. she had a personality that just stood out. >> and her attitude? endlessly adventurous. >> one time i remember sending her off to do a recruiting trip, and she got out there and they were doing a balloon fest, and she called me up and said, i need half a day off. and i said why? she said, i'm jumping in a balloon and going. >> she would always test the edges with you? >> always, yes. >> she would throw all kinds of parties at her house and invite everyone she knows. >> so, they may not know each other, but everybody knew her? >> yes. yes. and she was great, she just loved having all of these wonderful people around her. >> in any room, any crowd, diane was the lure, especially to men. >> it was never a problem going out with her, because she was like a magnet for all of us. >> yeah. there was always been around when diane was there. always. >> so there were. now she was dead. and the one thing that seemed obvious, there is that second floor bedroom, what happened to diane for the mark of a man. coming up, a killer is calm and cool as he is coldhearted. >> you commit the act of murder, and then you leave, you don't want to get caught, the that person didn't do it. that, in itself was odd. >> someone close to diane? >> an interesting thing happened when she had 40. i need a partner, i want marriage. >> when dateline continues. tel all bundled with progressive you've got the peace of mind to really wander. yeah. yeah, i just hope it stays this way. once word gets out about these places they tend to -- -are you done? -aaand there it is. willll (rebecca) it wasn't until after they had done the surgery to remove all the toes that it really hit me. you see the commercials. you never put yourself in that person's shoes until you're there. (announcer) you can quit. call 1-800-quit-now for help getting free medication. the virus that causes shingles is sleeping... in 99% of people over 50. and it could strike at any time. think you're not at risk? wake up. because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. hi, i'm david, and i lost 92 pounds on golo. my life partner connie and i were in really rough shapeo your doctor or pharmacist regarding our health. and our doctors told us that we needed to lose weight. i saw a golo commercial and i thought, "we really need to try this." as the weeks went by, the weight came off. we learned to make healthy choices and be supportive of each other. together, we've lost 170 pounds. golo worked for us. since losing weight on golo, i'm feeling grateful and hopeful about the future. (energizing music) i got a page from the supervisor in homicide saying that a woman had been found deceased in her home in northwest austin. narrator: detectives tracey gerrish and eric de los santos i got a page from the supervisor and homicide, saying that the woman had been deceased in her home in northwest boston. >> detectives tracy garrett i long since learned that if didn't tell them much. but when diane was murdered? >> we had the body, and that was all in the beginning. >> they looked for evidence of forced entry, there was none. >> the doors were locked and windows were attacked. >> either the killer knew her, or she let the person in. in any event it certainly didn't look like a robbery turned deadly. >> she still had her watch on, she still had a tennis bracelet on, and she had a charm that was in her hair that had obviously been on that was not around her neck. she also had some money that was sticking out of her pocket. >> so, maybe diane's body would tell them the story. the killer had hidden her under a bedspread. >> it appeared that she had been strangled, a ligature mark around her neck. >> it could have been a rope, it could have been one of those flecks fans that you used to exercise. >> clearly not somebody's had? >> clearly. what about her eyes and her face? was there any sign there? >> she definitely had in the eyes sign strangulation. she appeared to have a bruise on her cheek. it was like a rubbing type of a bruise on her cheek and she had four of them on her stomach. >> rubbing type of ruse? >> as if you are being dragged across the carpet and it was a rug burn. >> they discovered sponges of lipstick and mascara on the carpet. >> we also found a spot of urine, where her body would have been, had she been strangled. so, we knew something that happened there at that particular spot. >> she must have been killed there. and behind the bed where they found her body, was there any indication that she had been sexually assaulted in any way? >> no. >> her clothes weren't messed up. there was nothing indicating that she had been fighting, she had no scratch marks on her neck. why didn't she try to defend herself? so, as we continue to look at the body we notice some red marks on her wrist. that was interesting, because you don't usually see that. there was no ties, there was no rope, there is no tape around her in the room. >> just red marks. >> just red marks. >> little red marks that look, somehow familiar. >> it looks like two parallel lines, and then perpendicular to those lines were little lines , probably a 16th of an inch apart. i've seen these marks before, sometimes on the flex ties that we use. >> ties. zip tied binder. >> but then he would have cut them off afterwards. >> he obviously cut them off afterwards, and we knew that immediately. >> detective santos's mind went to the darkest of places. diane must have been restrained with those zip ties, helpless, terrified as she watched her killer preparing the ligature and put it around her neck. >> what kind of horror did you go through? what was going through your head? >> after she was dead, the killer must have stayed for a while, carefully erasing any sign of his or her presence. >> so, that in and of itself was odd, that doesn't happen. you commit the act of murder and then you leave, you are scared, you want to get out of there, you don't want to get caught. this person that we didn't know, if they were male or female, didn't do that. >> with this person? so deliberate, so cold-blooded. this was no straightforward case, nothing simple about it. >> i probably didn't sleep for 72 hours. >> as they chased down their endless questions. >> so, what does that leave you with? was it a targeted killing? the one who is angry with her? >> those were all possibilities. most of the time you are going to be killed by someone you know. sometimes it is someone you know very well. and of course, we are all familiar with domestic violence, so, you know, we want to see who is in the immediate inner circle of her life? >> diane's friends, they learned, she had been married years before, but had spent most of her adult life as a single woman and happily so. until she changed her mind. >> she left her single life, and she loved her independence, but an interesting thing happened when she had 40. she decided, i need a partner, i need somebody like my friends have. i wanted marriage, i want the things they have. >> so, diane set out to find a mate. with the help of the dating service, it's just lunch. and pretty soon she met a divorced father of two, named dennis connolly. >> i think they truly, immediately had a chemistry. i think they were in love. he was a successful businessman, he was handsome, he took her everywhere, and that is what she was looking for. >> just two months later, dennis presented diane with the bubble of a lifetime, a $20,000 engagement ring. >> he loved her, he put her on a pedestal and treated her like a queen. >> she likes his daughter, she cared very much for his daughters. and that was a strong point. >> they make plans, as lovers do. dennis had moved from austin to houston. the idea was diane could sell her big house and move down there too. it was a downmarket then, but as diane told her friends, there was one potential buyer. now diane was dead. and there were all of those questions. not a robbery, and yet, as the detectives soon discovered, something was missing that $20,000 engagement ring nowhere to be found. so, police wondered, where was fiance, dennis, during the violent storm? and did he know something? coming up. the storm outside and in. >> they argued a lot. >> we had our ups and downs, no question. you know, it wasn't like -- >> physical? >> never. >> when dateline continues. lin it's okay to show off. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch. because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin, some even achieved long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after first dose. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. show off to the world. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. ask your eczema specialist it was true, all her friends knew it, diane holik was in love with the man it was true. all of her friends knew it. diane holik was in love with the man she met , smitten like a teenage girl, but the road of love, as we all know isn't always smooth. they were engaged so quickly. too quickly? before long they encountered some serious issued set her friends, anita and jared. >> they argued a lot. >> about, one example? her dogs, were like children to diane. but she told her friends, dennis didn't want any dogs in their new house in houston. they fought, set her friends, about what he seems to want her to be. >> she was always talking about, hey, didn't want her to do this or didn't want her to do that and that will cause arguments. >> she would not go along with it? >> no. she was independent? what was he? >> controlling. >> oh. >> very controlling. >> that can be a difficult combination to >> so, it was confusing, she probably wore this spectacular ring, but the engagement was off and then, maybe on again. and yet, that very week, set her friends, diane told them she still didn't know what to do. >> so, she had gone back and forth and back and forth? >> emotionally she was a roller coaster, because she just couldn't see how it was going to work and none of us could see how it would work either. >> especially when she told sharon she had made a date with another man. >> we kept telling her, if you are still wanting to do these things, you are not ready for that. >> but she had her house for sale? >> yes, she was going to downsize. if she didn't get married, she was going to downsize anyway, because this house was just way too good. >> waffling under plans for dennis? a date with another man? she said she had seen dennis angry, so, after diane was murdered, she wondered-- >> maybe he had just lost control of his life and killed her. that was my first thought. >> detective gerst ash dennis to come to the station to speak without the aid of a lawyer. the detectives focused on the timeline. they believed diane had been killed that stormy thursday afternoon or evening. her body was discovered about 5:30 p.m., friday. >> we were definitely interested in where he had been for the last three days. he knew he was going to verify his alibi to us. >> at the station, dennis seemed upset, but composed. as he told investigators, he was in his office in houston the night of the big storm, but exchange online messages with diane, back in austin that afternoon. >> it was just, you know, like, hey, i'm working late, i'm getting ready to go home, and she just send me, you know, i love you. that was it. >> and you were at the office? okay. >> dennis said he got home from work late thursday evening and was back on friday. >> we looked at the conference, could he have driven down to austin for diane and theoretically driven back in time for work? and yes, he probably could have. >> they checked diane's answering machine and found messages from him, this one was left on friday, the day after the big storm. she was dead by then. >> hey, you, if i don't hear from you in about an hour, and calling the freaking police. and have to go by your house okay? >> another message, saturday morning. >> diane, what is going on? give me a call. you have me worried to death. by. >> which could have been some sort of cover-up, of course. dennis admitted, their relationship was iffy. >> we ran into rough spots. we were going to build a house in houston and i decided that, you know, given the fact that we weren't getting along to gather, very well-- i mean, there was no fight, we all fight, it's just -- everybody carries baggage of your relationships at this age, and -- and our baggage was clashing, and we were working on it, but we decided not to be engaged anymore. >> okay. >> and stop holding a house. >> but he said they were going to therapy, which was hoping. >> i mean, we were really, really making breakthroughs, you know? >> about diane's dogs, for example. >> she saw that i was accepting the fact that, you know, her dogs were going to be in the house. >> and not long before diane was killed-- >> i remember her saying you know, that she would-- she loved me and that she would jump at the chance to be in a relationship and marry me, and, you know, no matter how long it took. yeah. we had our ups and downs, no question, but it wasn't like -- >> no physical fights? >> no. never, never, never even angry or loud words. it was just -- it's stupid, you know? >> she thought i should be more of a-- like, handyman kind of guy, like her dad, right? and-- and i thought she should be more appreciative. >> what she faithful to you? >> i would-- i would be shocked if she wasn't. i would be stunned. >> everyone has his or her version of the truth, of course. dennis' story, not at all what diane's friends said they had been hearing from her. >> i wanted so many times to just say, dude, you are just so stupid, because she did want to marry you. >> detective geyer garrett took fingerprints, collected dennis's dna and check his alibi, and dennis? before he left, dennis brought up another name. >> has anybody gotten a hold of ray? >> no, we are trying to figure out who ray is. >> ray was a colleague of diane's at ibm. >> he seemed to worship the ground she walks on. he seems to be attracted to women that are not attracted to him. honestly, if i was-- if i was a woman, i would-- he would be giving me the creeps. >> and according to dennis, he and diane were not on good terms. >> now, they had a falling out about a month or so ago. don't know the exact nature of it. >> so, time for a talk with ray. coming up. a coworker, with a crush
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that is it for us, thank you so much for watching. remember, if your friends are busy tonight, had a hot date, you and can watch the nightcap tomorrow night, saturday at 11:00. he's turn right here on msnbc. for now i am signing off and on that note i wish you a very good night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thank you for staying up late with me, i will see you tomorrow. i think back and i go, this was such a senseless murder. and why diane? why, when she was ready to start a brand-new life? i will never know that answer. spectacles kept coming. >> hi diane, it's 2:00, just making sure you are here today. >> at 2:00 it was too late. >> simone have killed her. >> we had her body at the scene, that was all. >> she had a fiance. >> they argued a lot. >> we had our ups and downs, no question. >> and a coworker with a crush. >> he was an odd character. >> i was always very spoiled lead to her. >> everybody was suspect. >> then the break. tips from other women. >> he wanted to get me in there and i didn't budge and all of the bells were going off. >> i jumped in my car and took off. i felt i had dodged a bullet. >> the who was frightening, but the y was much worse. >> in my wildest rooms i would have never imagined something like this could even exist >> we you certainly had a motive. >> yes, we did. >> ♪ it was the afternoon of november the 15th, austin, texas, 4:00 p.m. something ominous in the air. suddenly, the familiar feel of it against the skin, comping. something big. >> they did tell us on the news, if you don't have to go out tonight, don't, because we are going to get relentless reins. >> and then the sky overhead turned dark, like midnight in the afternoon. >> when stuff like that is pitch black out and you have the fear of tornadoes. >> sure enough, so the announcers on tv, twisters had been spotted heading towards the city, including northwest. >> diane lived in the northwest and i called her i said, hey, girl, they just said there is a tornado heading in your direction, and she said my direction? and she's like, i don't know what to do. i've never been in a tornado. >> so, she was kind of freaked out? >> she was very freaked out. >> then the ferocious rain and heavy wind, the thick funnel clouds dipped around the city. the next morning, a friday. it was all over. friends checked on friends. but no one could reach diane. the freaked out one. diane holik work from home, for ibm. that morning, so unlike her. she missed the conference call. >> hi diane, it is to:00. i am just checking to make sure you are safe. >> all day, phone calls from ibm and friends went to voicemail. >> diane, hey, this is sharon, i was going to see if you are going to show up tonight or not. >> she didn't. >> i got to the club and i was waiting, and she didn't come, she didn't come, and i spent all of my time wondering when she was going to show up. >> had she been caught in the storm? had her house been hit? a coworker called the police. they cruised over to diane's neighborhood and found her big house unscathed. they. through windows, the security key. they went upstairs. there, all but hidden behind a guest room bed, they found diane. >> someone had killed her. i actually had a scream of some sort, just like, you can't-- it is not true. that is not what happened, that is not diane. >> but of course it was. diane holik, 43 years old, suddenly the unlikely center of a strange and disturbing mystery, and a most unlikely victim, murdered. >> absolutely lived life with gusto. she was a vivacious, beautiful woman. >> reporter: lynn had a known diane since the 90s when they started working together at ibm. >> she let her friends, she let her family. we would vacation together. we would have so much fun and just laugh and laugh and laugh. well, a lot of things we like to do altogether was we hit the clubs a lot. >> lots of dancing. >> lots of dancing. >> diane met anita and cheyenne cooper at the ladies room of an austin bar. >> she was in there, she said oh, you have cowboy boots, you must know where country barn is. we said yeah, i do. our best friend is coming and we are going to go when she gets here. and she said cool, i'm going to go with y'all. first time i had ever met her, never seen her before. >> she was in town for 3 weeks. >> diane said well, not just for the club, so she gets into the truck where her clothes are and starts pulling at something western and starts putting it on right there in the parking lot. she was crazy. she was throwing things on that she was-- >> stripped right there in the parking lot. >> right there in the parking lot. we danced all night long, she was having a blast, so happy that she had met the two of us, because she said, now i have me some dancing buddies. >> so magnetic. which, said her colleague, helped make her a fine recruiter for ibm. >> i would center off to colleges, and these kids, they would just gravitate to her. she had a personality that just stood out. >> and her attitude? endlessly adventurous. >> one time i remember sending her off to do a recruiting trip, and she got out there and they were doing a balloon fest, and she called me up and said, i need half a day off. and i said why? she said, i'm jumping in a balloon and going. >> she would always test the edges with you? >> always, yes. >> she would throw all kinds of parties at her house and invite everyone she knows. >> so, they may not know each other, but everybody knew her? >> yes. yes. and she was great, she just loved having all of these wonderful people around her. >> in any room, any crowd, diane was the lure, especially to men. >> it was never a problem going out with her, because she was like a magnet for all of us. >> yeah. there was always been around when diane was there. always. >> so there were. now she was dead. and the one thing that seemed obvious, there is that second floor bedroom, what happened to diane for the mark of a man. coming up, a killer is calm and cool as he is coldhearted. >> you commit the act of murder, and then you leave, you don't want to get caught, the that person didn't do it. that, in itself was odd. >> someone close to diane? >> an interesting thing happened when she had 40. i need a partner, i want marriage. >> when dateline continues. tel all bundled with progressive you've got the peace of mind to really wander. yeah. yeah, i just hope it stays this way. once word gets out about these places they tend to -- -are you done? -aaand there it is. willll (rebecca) it wasn't until after they had done the surgery to remove all the toes that it really hit me. you see the commercials. you never put yourself in that person's shoes until you're there. (announcer) you can quit. call 1-800-quit-now for help getting free medication. the virus that causes shingles is sleeping... in 99% of people over 50. and it could strike at any time. think you're not at risk? wake up. because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. hi, i'm david, and i lost 92 pounds on golo. my life partner connie and i were in really rough shapeo your doctor or pharmacist regarding our health. and our doctors told us that we needed to lose weight. i saw a golo commercial and i thought, "we really need to try this." as the weeks went by, the weight came off. we learned to make healthy choices and be supportive of each other. together, we've lost 170 pounds. golo worked for us. since losing weight on golo, i'm feeling grateful and hopeful about the future. (energizing music) i got a page from the supervisor in homicide saying that a woman had been found deceased in her home in northwest austin. narrator: detectives tracey gerrish and eric de los santos i got a page from the supervisor and homicide, saying that the woman had been deceased in her home in northwest boston. >> detectives tracy garrett i long since learned that if didn't tell them much. but when diane was murdered? >> we had the body, and that was all in the beginning. >> they looked for evidence of forced entry, there was none. >> the doors were locked and windows were attacked. >> either the killer knew her, or she let the person in. in any event it certainly didn't look like a robbery turned deadly. >> she still had her watch on, she still had a tennis bracelet on, and she had a charm that was in her hair that had obviously been on that was not around her neck. she also had some money that was sticking out of her pocket. >> so, maybe diane's body would tell them the story. the killer had hidden her under a bedspread. >> it appeared that she had been strangled, a ligature mark around her neck. >> it could have been a rope, it could have been one of those flecks fans that you used to exercise. >> clearly not somebody's had? >> clearly. what about her eyes and her face? was there any sign there? >> she definitely had in the eyes sign strangulation. she appeared to have a bruise on her cheek. it was like a rubbing type of a bruise on her cheek and she had four of them on her stomach. >> rubbing type of ruse? >> as if you are being dragged across the carpet and it was a rug burn. >> they discovered sponges of lipstick and mascara on the carpet. >> we also found a spot of urine, where her body would have been, had she been strangled. so, we knew something that happened there at that particular spot. >> she must have been killed there. and behind the bed where they found her body, was there any indication that she had been sexually assaulted in any way? >> no. >> her clothes weren't messed up. there was nothing indicating that she had been fighting, she had no scratch marks on her neck. why didn't she try to defend herself? so, as we continue to look at the body we notice some red marks on her wrist. that was interesting, because you don't usually see that. there was no ties, there was no rope, there is no tape around her in the room. >> just red marks. >> just red marks. >> little red marks that look, somehow familiar. >> it looks like two parallel lines, and then perpendicular to those lines were little lines , probably a 16th of an inch apart. i've seen these marks before, sometimes on the flex ties that we use. >> ties. zip tied binder. >> but then he would have cut them off afterwards. >> he obviously cut them off afterwards, and we knew that immediately. >> detective santos's mind went to the darkest of places. diane must have been restrained with those zip ties, helpless, terrified as she watched her killer preparing the ligature and put it around her neck. >> what kind of horror did you go through? what was going through your head? >> after she was dead, the killer must have stayed for a while, carefully erasing any sign of his or her presence. >> so, that in and of itself was odd, that doesn't happen. you commit the act of murder and then you leave, you are scared, you want to get out of there, you don't want to get caught. this person that we didn't know, if they were male or female, didn't do that. >> with this person? so deliberate, so cold-blooded. this was no straightforward case, nothing simple about it. >> i probably didn't sleep for 72 hours. >> as they chased down their endless questions. >> so, what does that leave you with? was it a targeted killing? the one who is angry with her? >> those were all possibilities. most of the time you are going to be killed by someone you know. sometimes it is someone you know very well. and of course, we are all familiar with domestic violence, so, you know, we want to see who is in the immediate inner circle of her life? >> diane's friends, they learned, she had been married years before, but had spent most of her adult life as a single woman and happily so. until she changed her mind. >> she left her single life, and she loved her independence, but an interesting thing happened when she had 40. she decided, i need a partner, i need somebody like my friends have. i wanted marriage, i want the things they have. >> so, diane set out to find a mate. with the help of the dating service, it's just lunch. and pretty soon she met a divorced father of two, named dennis connolly. >> i think they truly, immediately had a chemistry. i think they were in love. he was a successful businessman, he was handsome, he took her everywhere, and that is what she was looking for. >> just two months later, dennis presented diane with the bubble of a lifetime, a $20,000 engagement ring. >> he loved her, he put her on a pedestal and treated her like a queen. >> she likes his daughter, she cared very much for his daughters. and that was a strong point. >> they make plans, as lovers do. dennis had moved from austin to houston. the idea was diane could sell her big house and move down there too. it was a downmarket then, but as diane told her friends, there was one potential buyer. now diane was dead. and there were all of those questions. not a robbery, and yet, as the detectives soon discovered, something was missing that $20,000 engagement ring nowhere to be found. so, police wondered, where was fiance, dennis, during the violent storm? and did he know something? coming up. the storm outside and in. >> they argued a lot. >> we had our ups and downs, no question. you know, it wasn't like -- >> physical? >> never. >> when dateline continues. lin it's okay to show off. with dupixent, show off your clearer skin and less itch. because you have plenty of reasons to show off your skin. with dupixent, the #1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists and allergists, you can stay ahead of your eczema. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema to help heal your skin from within. many adults saw 90% clearer skin, some even achieved long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief after first dose. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. show off to the world. ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. ask your eczema specialist it was true, all her friends knew it, diane holik was in love with the man it was true. all of her friends knew it. diane holik was in love with the man she met , smitten like a teenage girl, but the road of love, as we all know isn't always smooth. they were engaged so quickly. too quickly? before long they encountered some serious issued set her friends, anita and jared. >> they argued a lot. >> about, one example? her dogs, were like children to diane. but she told her friends, dennis didn't want any dogs in their new house in houston. they fought, set her friends, about what he seems to want her to be. >> she was always talking about, hey, didn't want her to do this or didn't want her to do that and that will cause arguments. >> she would not go along with it? >> no. she was independent? what was he? >> controlling. >> oh. >> very controlling. >> that can be a difficult combination to >> so, it was confusing, she probably wore this spectacular ring, but the engagement was off and then, maybe on again. and yet, that very week, set her friends, diane told them she still didn't know what to do. >> so, she had gone back and forth and back and forth? >> emotionally she was a roller coaster, because she just couldn't see how it was going to work and none of us could see how it would work either. >> especially when she told sharon she had made a date with another man. >> we kept telling her, if you are still wanting to do these things, you are not ready for that. >> but she had her house for sale? >> yes, she was going to downsize. if she didn't get married, she was going to downsize anyway, because this house was just way too good. >> waffling under plans for dennis? a date with another man? she said she had seen dennis angry, so, after diane was murdered, she wondered-- >> maybe he had just lost control of his life and killed her. that was my first thought. >> detective gerst ash dennis to come to the station to speak without the aid of a lawyer. the detectives focused on the timeline. they believed diane had been killed that stormy thursday afternoon or evening. her body was discovered about 5:30 p.m., friday. >> we were definitely interested in where he had been for the last three days. he knew he was going to verify his alibi to us. >> at the station, dennis seemed upset, but composed. as he told investigators, he was in his office in houston the night of the big storm, but exchange online messages with diane, back in austin that afternoon. >> it was just, you know, like, hey, i'm working late, i'm getting ready to go home, and she just send me, you know, i love you. that was it. >> and you were at the office? okay. >> dennis said he got home from work late thursday evening and was back on friday. >> we looked at the conference, could he have driven down to austin for diane and theoretically driven back in time for work? and yes, he probably could have. >> they checked diane's answering machine and found messages from him, this one was left on friday, the day after the big storm. she was dead by then. >> hey, you, if i don't hear from you in about an hour, and calling the freaking police. and have to go by your house okay? >> another message, saturday morning. >> diane, what is going on? give me a call. you have me worried to death. by. >> which could have been some sort of cover-up, of course. dennis admitted, their relationship was iffy. >> we ran into rough spots. we were going to build a house in houston and i decided that, you know, given the fact that we weren't getting along to gather, very well-- i mean, there was no fight, we all fight, it's just -- everybody carries baggage of your relationships at this age, and -- and our baggage was clashing, and we were working on it, but we decided not to be engaged anymore. >> okay. >> and stop holding a house. >> but he said they were going to therapy, which was hoping. >> i mean, we were really, really making breakthroughs, you know? >> about diane's dogs, for example. >> she saw that i was accepting the fact that, you know, her dogs were going to be in the house. >> and not long before diane was killed-- >> i remember her saying you know, that she would-- she loved me and that she would jump at the chance to be in a relationship and marry me, and, you know, no matter how long it took. yeah. we had our ups and downs, no question, but it wasn't like -- >> no physical fights? >> no. never, never, never even angry or loud words. it was just -- it's stupid, you know? >> she thought i should be more of a-- like, handyman kind of guy, like her dad, right? and-- and i thought she should be more appreciative. >> what she faithful to you? >> i would-- i would be shocked if she wasn't. i would be stunned. >> everyone has his or her version of the truth, of course. dennis' story, not at all what diane's friends said they had been hearing from her. >> i wanted so many times to just say, dude, you are just so stupid, because she did want to marry you. >> detective geyer garrett took fingerprints, collected dennis's dna and check his alibi, and dennis? before he left, dennis brought up another name. >> has anybody gotten a hold of ray? >> no, we are trying to figure out who ray is. >> ray was a colleague of diane's at ibm. >> he seemed to worship the ground she walks on. he seems to be attracted to women that are not attracted to him. honestly, if i was-- if i was a woman, i would-- he would be giving me the creeps. >> and according to dennis, he and diane were not on good terms. >> now, they had a falling out about a month or so ago. don't know the exact nature of it. >> so, time for a talk with ray. coming up. a coworker, with a crush