completely underneath her body? close -- >> you had no fire on the bottom of your feet. in the front driver's seat you should have some kind of was what appeared to be a note. injuries besides a small injury on the top of your feet. >> i don't know why the bottom of my feet aren't burned. i had some kind of weird brac she had rekindled a relationship charring, but you guys have pictures of that. with one of the executives. did i know that i stepped in any >> did someone have something to hide? >> did you murder her? >> no. fire? i don't. >> did you pull the trigger? >> the investigators were also >> no. >> did you can kill her? starting to think that the note in the journal was forged. >> no. >> it was like a script, he >> but to be honest with you, answers for everything. >> your head is spinning and you when i looked at that notebook, realize this is it. >> you are going to hell for i'm going, this ain't right, what you have done in this case. because -- well, it slants one way part of the time. it slants one way part of the ♪ ♪ time. the ds were different -- >> looked like her handwriting to me, but it's not my it was dark, past 3:00 a.m., handwriti handwriting. >> why on the friday before a week in to a crescent moon, vashti died, besides destroying hard drives and cell phones, struggling to penetrate the brett spent time in his office night here in the middle of america. kingman, kansas, population with his door locked, which was 3,000 was asleep except, on a pretty unusual at the training center. >> oh, my god, you know i was quiet residential street a woman locked? screw you. i was crying. unable to sleep watched a crime >> you had the door locked and what was you looking at? show on tv. >> my divorce papers. >> problem is, brett, you're in was that popping noise coming love. you're still in love with her. >> yeah, i am. from somewhere in the >> and she was going to leave neighborhood or was it her tv you. there was no doubt about that. show, or a remnant of the day >> that's not why you kill. licking around her window. the silent night closed in. >> well, some people do. tornado season and there was a >> you have no idea how storm that night. impossible it is for me to kill a whirl wind even then sweeping her. >> but could he answer the them all in to a vor tetex, it central question, explain the thing that didn't make sense to anybody, why vashti, even if she was intent on suicide, why she began with not wind, but fire. would destroy the house, too? >> 9-1-1, what is your why set it on fire? >> she really did not like that emergency? yes. >> what is your trauma? house. we were going to have to fix it >> there's a fire. up, and we didn't particularly >> a man frantic, out of the have the money or resources to breath. >> here is the video of kingman's one officer on duty fix it up. that night, running to his she started really hating that police car and speeding to the burning houses where he met the house. >> but at its heart, said brett, 9- vashti's reason might well have 9-1-1 caller outside, you can had more to do with vanity. hear them both recorded by the >> she was a very, very dashcam video camera. the man's said his wife was in beautiful girl and only thought the master bedroom, back of the about what people would see. house, second floor. and if that was true, didn't i think she might have shot look good for her. a passer by caught this video on herself and then assumed that her face would be really messed his cell phone. the volunteer fire brigade was up, so she lit a fire and charred herself. >> sitting just a couple of feet arriving and not much they can do for the woman inside. away, agent threat yfalletti sh the man said he could only carry his sons to safety. head and said he didn't believe it. so, somewhere in there, his >> we asked him if he thought, if he was in my shoes wife, their mother was dead. interviewing me, and saw the there was more to his story. things he saw and heard what he had told us, would he think that as you will hear. things just didn't add up? much more. but for now, the dismal business >> oh, god, man. >> but you see where i'm coming from, don't you? >> yeah, i see where you're of sorting out what happen, so, coming from. i mean, this is 100 times worse where to begin. than what i had pictured in my the man on the street said his mind. before, i just thought i lacked wife was vashti. >> it was a name out of the book any evidence. and now you're saying there's a of the bible. lot of evidence that i never my dad thought that was neat and so we called her vashti. knew existed. >> well, it looks real bad. >> nobody could believe what >> hard evidence. they heard. >> i first called the sheriff's >> they're adding up to you had something to do with this, department to verify. >> did they help you? brett. we need to know why. >> oh, no. there's no why, okay? did they tell you anything? i didn't do this. >> first, they asked who i was. and i explained my relationship to vashti and he said, yeah, there's been a fire, and we i love vashti. >> i'm sure you did. believe she is deceased. >> and the man standing outside i'm sure you still do. his burning house? but people do things to people that was her husband. they love. brett seacat, her very first >> i wouldn't [ bleep ] my kids love. >> yeah, they met in high like this, ever. school. she did some stats for a team and he was a wrestler. first little love in high i wouldn't [ bleep ] her family. school. first boyfriend. i wouldn't [ bleep ] my family. girlfriend. >> they broke up and got back together a few times as people i don't -- i didn't want to give do until they finally married in 2004, that first love always up vash. holds a special place in your life. >> but by dawn, on the 30th of i fought hard to try and keep us april, 2011. though as you will hear brett certainly knew what to do in a together. >> in fact, said brett, if he crisis. had murdered vashti, he'd have there was nothing he or anybody could do to get it back. made a better job of it. the life he with vashti and >> i'm smart enough that if i their two boys, now motherless wanted to kill my wife, it would have been a lot -- i could have boys, brandon, born in the fall come up with something better than this. of 2006, bronson, less than two this is [ bleep ] insane. years later. this is what a crazy person does. >> when they had their babies, >> no, not necessarily. it was a very happy time. my sister was mother of the year award goes to her. >> and at 4:00 in the morning crazy in love, crazy for his she'd get up and hand make baby kids, yeah. food. >> wow. >> don't try and twist it >> so her kids could have around. >> no, i'm not. >> then falletti got to the organic healthy food. >> hm-mm. point. >> she lived for those babies. >> well, did you murder her? >> no! >> and not just her own kids. >> did you pull the trigger? >> no! >> she was the first to help >> did you kill her? >> no! >> brett left the station then, went to be with his boys, someone, at the kid's daycare, a whatever his thoughts may have little boy had cancer, leukemia, been, but not for long, because no matter how adamant brett's something. she stayed up and baked mini denials were, they just didn't loafs of banana bread and sold add up to the kbi. those to raise the money for however depressed brett said that boy to have treatment. vashti was, it made no sense she >> what was brett like as a dad? would have lit the house on fire >> he did a lot of things with the kids. with her two sleeping sons in i will tell you, he did walks harm's way. the next day, brett seacat was with them. he would play outside with them. taken into custody. he was formally charged three he was very engaged as a dad. days later. he was very proud of his sons. >> brett t. seacat did then and >> brett was a lawman from a there unlawfully, feloniously, family of law men. a former sheriff's deputy. and for the last few years he intentionally, and with been teaching officer recruits of all types at the kansas law premeditation kill vashti s. enforcement training center. where bobby seacat, one of his seacat. your bond is $1 million. >> he was also charged with brothers worked before him. >> he was actually hired to arson and endangering his replace me when i left there. children. brett could not make bond, and so -- >> so, what was the job, so, remained in jail. teaching what? >> brett got in to the accident he would await a jury's decision about what really happened in investigation and collision investigation, but he was much the seacat home in kingman, more in to physical training and kansas, in the early hours of defense tactics than i would. april 30th, 2011. coming up, the note. >> he more interest in that kind >> some of his actions were of thing? >> he did. >> personal combat stuff? reckless because the clock was >> he did growing up, he was in winding down. >> the gun. martial arts and he was in to >> how did it end up completely wrestling in high school and then got in to body building and underneath her body when she was martial arts things. sleeping on her side? he was a lot bigger than i was. >> the threats. >> the training center job gave >> she said, "do you think brett brett a set schedule with would burn the house down with regular hours. me in it?" which was a welcome change from being a deputy sheriff. especially with the two boys, and i was taken aback by that, and i said, "not with the kids clammoring for his attention at home. >> he was close to the boys and at home." >> the prosecutors come on strong. he was very masculine with the >> and so, when those threats didn't work, he had to kill her to maintain control. boys, raise them as boys. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues he wrestled with them, toss them don't bring that mess around here, evan! across the room and on the couch whoo! don't do it. and they would bounce off and don't you dare. run back and want to be tossed i don't think so! [ sighs ] again. >> a terrible thing to have it's okay, big fella. we're gonna get through this together. happen to such a beautiful young [ baseball bat cracks ] family. even if all the fire was all you nice rip, robbie. heard about it. ♪ now, brett seacat headed to the raaah! when you bundle local law enforcement center a home and auto insurance through progressive, few blocks away. you get more than just a big discount. i'm gonna need you to leave. and there he repeated to fellow law enforcement officers, something that he said on the you get relentless protection. [ baseball bat cracks ] 9-1-1 call. that the fire was not what killed vashti seacat. coming up. what did happen to vashti? unstopables in-wash scentection. booster. >> she was laying on her left side like she was under the covers asleep. >> a surprising piece of downy unstopables. evidence in the bedroom. neuriva has clinically proven oingredients that fuel five, >> the firearm was under her left hip that was against the mattress with the barrel facing indicators of brain performanc: memory, focus, accuracy, downward. >> firearm? a gun in the bed? learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for when dateline continues. 30 days and see the difference. now it's all, "check out my rv," and, "let's go four-wheeling." maybe there's a little part of me that wanted to be seen. well, progressive helps people save when they bundle their home with their outdoor vehicles. so they've got other things to do now, bigfoot. wait, what'd you just call me? bigfoot? ♪ my name is daryl. introducing the future of fitness. it's every class you can imagine. live... welcome back to the mirror. you've got this, john. .and on demand. it's boxing, cardio, yoga, and more. it's an interactive, goal crushing, whole family, whole body fitness machine. it's so cool! the future of fitness is at home. the mirror. can my side be firm? and my side super soft? yes, with the sleep number 360 smart bed on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. come on pup, time to go. can it help me fall asleep faster? yes, by gently warming your feet. but can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. so you can really promise better sleep? not promise... prove. it's our 4th of july special, the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed is only $1,299, save $400. plus free premium delivery on all smart beds when you add a base. ends monday. bbut what if you couldg do better than that? like adapt. discover. ♪ deliver, in new ways, as kingman coped with the to new customers. tragedy in its midst, the what if you could come back stronger? smallest victims in the vashti faster. better. and brett seacat story endured at comcast business, what horrors we cannot imagine. we want to help you not just bounce back, but bounce forward. kathleen left her home in and now, with one of our best offers ever, oklahoma to help care for we're committed to helping you do just that. vashti's young sons shortly get a powerful and reliable internet and voice solution after her sister died. and perhaps more than anyone, for only $29.95 a month for three months. she was learning what violent call or go online today. death could do to a family. >> we held those babies all night. they would wake up. they were traumatized by the fire. so, to rock the little 2 1/2-year-old, begging you, please ask jesus, please, bring my mommy back. i'll be good. i need a mommy. that breaks your heart. and this went on for a long time at night, sobbing for hours. >> those poor kids. i mean, you're trying to process that mommy's gone forever. and these people over here think mommy killed herself and these people over here think my daddy shot my mommy? ♪ >> the trial to decide one way or the other finally began in the sun rose over grief and may 2013, two years after the chaos, that last morning of fire. two years in which the local media covered the case in a big april, 2011. way. >> it's looking like brett in little kingman, kansas, seacat will finally face trial for the death of vashti seacat. vashti seacat was dead, her >> brett was entitled to ask to house burned around her and a have his trial moved to another county, which might have been husband and two little boys were just beginning to understand less saturated with news of the case against him, but he elected what had happened to them. to keep it right here in the can't believe it stage, just kingman's historic courthouse, a like our siblings, kathleen and mere two blocks from his ruined home. >> the defendant intentionally rich. >> like i believed somehow it wasn't true. and with premeditation committed you -- you plead with god, or the murder of his wife, vashti you just want a miracle to happen. >> no miracles to be had. seacat. >> but for all the talk that had and that might have been the end been around town, that assistant of it really, an awful tragedy, attorney general amy handley had but these things do happen and for all but loved ones are soon precious little hard evidence to draw upon, not even an autopsy forgotten by the rest of the report to wave around, because the coroner hadn't labeled world. except, those volunteer firemen vashti's death a homicide. were not quite sure what they no, the evidence was not hard. were dealing with. it was circumstantial. so, they took the prudent step and called in the state fire in other words, handley will be asking the jury to look at all marshal and the atf, the bureau the circumstances, then put two and two together. of alcohol tobacco and firearms. >> he got his magnum redhawk >> we get more exposed to the scientific side of things. revolver. he approached her in bed while if you looked at it from the she was sleeping. front of the house, all you really noticed was the fact that he shot her in the head. part of the roof collapsed and as you made your way around he set fire to at least two back, there was very, very heavy places in the house to cover up fire damage to include collapse his actions. of the second and third floor and he did all of this while which is significant. >> so really you had the front facade up and the rest was -- their two young sons, brendan >> it was not down, but anybody and bronson seacat, were in the home. >> the motive? going by could tell there was a quite simple, said the significant fire that occurred inside, on the second and third prosecution -- brett did not want a divorce, but he did want floors. >> did you hear there was a body custody of his sons, and he inside, did you hear anything would do what it took, even kill else? >> normally i arrive on the vashti, to keep them. scene and meet with the on scene their marriage counselor took investigators and the fire chief the stand. and the local officers and they >> he said that he felt like vashti was going to run. he could just feel it, that she had informed me as the first arriving officer got there, he made contact with brett seacat was going to leave him, and that if she divorced him, she was and he indicated that his wife divorcing the entire seacat was inside. >> they also told him that when family, including the children, the first responders arrived, and that he would take the the windows in the master bedroom were still in-tact. children and she would never see them, even if it meant leaving which would have tapped down the the country. so, i told him it was not legal, fire inside the room where that it wasn't going to help the vashti was last season and meant there was a chance at least that children, it would hurt them a great deal, that they needed some evidence would still exist access to both their parents. in there. would not be completely >> did you talk to him about incinerated by the flames and divorced couples having two sure enough, when monte got households? >> yes. >> and what was brett's comments inside what was left of the house, he saw the body of vasti about that? >> he said he'd seen children of divorce, and he didn't think it seacat, lying on the mattress. was worse for them to have just one parent or one household. >> she was lying on had her lef he thought it was better. >> and as for brett's claim that vashti died by suicide, the therapist said she didn't side, her knees were drawn up, believe it for a second. and there was a bit of blanket >> i asked her whether she would and covering on her, like she was under the covers asleep. >> also there, a weapon. commit suicide, and she said, >> the firearm was actually under her left hip which would have been against the mattress no with the barrel facing downward. no, for two reasons. one, her religious beliefs and her faith. >> it became clear the gun had and the second was she couldn't do that for her boys. about the source of a single she just loved being a mom. gunshot wound to the side of her she couldn't leave them. they needed her. lower skull. there were other wounds too. >> the prosecutors showed the jury a photo of the contents of oddly enough, you can hear vashti's purse, which contained gunshots going off in the fire that post-it note listing in the cell phone video shot by various costs, including funeral a passer-by. expenses. >> vashti seacat, as all of her and had to be, agent monte said friends and family testified, was a very organized person, as when the hot fire exploded the remaining bullets in the gun, both a mother and in her career sending bullets in to vashti's at work. and that list is simply somebody planning out what they might do body and something else, courtesy of the unblown windows in their future when they're going to get divorced, which we did not burn up completely. know vashti seacat was doing. >> we noticed a red plastic container close to her back on >> prosecutors also showed jurors the powerpoint papers the mattress itself. >> plastic container, for what? found on the dining room table, >> it was a gas can. the presentation about homicide, >> clearly a gas can? >> yes. suicides, and fire. >> so, what did that tell you? true, brett was a law >> our job that day was to enforcement trainer, said the prosecutor, but those were not determine the origin and cause his subjects. of the fire and to classify it >> he was not teaching arson. he wasn't teaching homicide. whether it was accidental, whether we could not determine a he wasn't teaching wound cause or whether it was evidence. >> no. incindiary or somebody set the but those materials proved, said fire. >> that would certainly make a the prosecutor, was suggestion, gas can on the bed? premeditati >> that would be an indicator, premeditation. it was brett's deadly homework. but what about that last entry yes. in her journal, the one that >> suspicion? read like a final farewell? yes, but maybe not what you are forged, said the state, by thinking. maybe not murder. the answer to what happened to brett. thing is, said the handwriting expert, it wasn't well done. vashti seacat was right in the look closely, he said. that slight shakiness? 9-1-1 call. >> she shot herself, she is in he called that -- >> the term we use in document the fire. >> why would a mother of two is tremor of fraud. little boys would kill herself? >> the tremor of fraud. and it appeared, said the that was a story that only her prosecution, that brett forged widower could tell. that note the day before vashti >> she wanted to make everyone died, the same day he was happy. >> brett seacat has secrets to torching hard drives, the same share. >> he informed us that she put day he asked a staff member at on one face for the public and the training center where he the family and a different could find an overhead person at home. projector, something so >> so brett knew and nobody outdated, it was in storage. else? >> right. >> inside a relationship on the the prosecutor said it appeared ropes. >> i made it perfectly clear i brett used the projection light was going to do everything that to recreate vashti's writing in i could to make sure she doesn't see the kids again. the journal. >> some of his actions were >> when "dateline" continues. reckless because the clock was winding down. >> vashti had told brett he could stay in the house until noon sunday. the prosecutor said she was planning to go out saturday evening in wichita and spend the night there. strengthen your enamel. >> well, it's friday. it's friday evening. this was his last opportunity while they lived in the home polo! marco...! polo! sì? marco...! polo! scusa? marco...! together to kill vashti. >> then there was the lack of polo! ma io sono marco polo, ma evidence where there should have playing "marco polo" with marco polo? been some, if this were a suicide, that is. >> did you find any soot in the surprising. ragazzini, io sono marco polo. airways? >> no. >> any soot in the lungs? >> no. sì, sono qui what's not surprising? >> the autopsy finding that vashti seacat had no soot in her geico helping you save even more on car lungs, in her airways, and that ahhh... polo. marco...! polo! there was no carbon monoxide in now get an extra 15% credit her blood, that was a key piece when you switch before october 7th. of evidence for the prosecution, because what it showed, what the jury could infer from that was that vashti seacat didn't breathe in any smoke. and if she didn't breathe in any smoke, the fire was set after -- >> after she was dead. >> -- she was dead. >> and something else -- weird now get an extra 15% credit if your adventure... keeps turning into unexpected bathroom trips. little detail. and yet, according to the prosecution, it was telling. when she died, vashti's bladder you may have overactive bladder, or oab. was quite full. >> there probably would have been a urinary urgency or the not again! we're seeing a doctor when we get home. needing to go to the restroom. myrbetriq treats oab symptoms of urgency, frequency, and leakage. >> and the importance of that for the evidence is that the it's the first and only oab treatment in its class. claim from brett seacat is that vashti is walking around the myrbetriq may increase blood pressure. house setting these fires, tell your doctor right away if you have trouble holding her breath, not emptying your bladder or have a weak urine stream. breathing any smoke while she myrbetriq may cause serious allergic reactions, has a strong urge to urinate. like swelling of the face, that doesn't make sense. lips, throat or tongue, or trouble breathing. if experienced, stop taking and tell your doctor right away. that's something that the jury myrbetriq may interact with other medicines. needed to decide whether or not in their common sense and tell your doctor if you have liver or kidney problems. experience, whether they thought common side effects include increased blood pressure, that made any sense at all. >> just another point to add to common cold or flu symptoms, the unlikelihood of this whole sinus irritation, dry mouth, urinary tract infection, story that he was telling. >> that's right. bladder inflammation, back or joint pain, >> the claimed suicide weapon constipation, dizziness, and headache. didn't make sense either, said looking for a destination that isn't always the bathroom? the prosecutor. ask your doctor if myrbetriq is right for you. .44 magnum ruger redhawk? and visit myrbetriq.com. such a heavy gun. >> if she killed herself, how was she able to get that heavy handgun up to her head and pull the trigger and do so in just the right downward angle that it slices right through her spinal cord? and if there was some kick, some recoil to the gun, how did it end up completely underneath her body when she was sleeping on her side? >> the prosecutor said the angle of the bullet proved one thing. >> that's consistent with someone standing over her while she was sleeping, shooting her. >> because, said the prosecutor, because that's what he said he would do. brett not only woke vashti up one night to tell her he had a dream that he killed her, but friends and colleagues testified about what they told the kbi, that in the weeks before she died, vashti told them that, incredibly, brett threatened to kill her and burn the house down and make it look like suicide. >> she said, "do you think brett would burn the house down with me in it?" and i -- i was taken aback by that. i said, "not with the kids at home." >> tragedy was, said the prosecutor, vashti didn't believe him, either. >> and so, when those threats didn't work, he had to kill her to maintain control of her. >> in other words, said the prosecutor, planned, premeditated murder. looks bad for brett, doesn't it? but then, you haven't heard the ♪ bombshell the defense had in fire is a terrible thing to store. happen to a family. coming up -- but fewer was only half of the >> vashti had confided in brett deadly event that ruptured the seacat family of kingman, that she had rekindled a kansas. this was a fire and a shooting. romantic relationship that she was having with one of the apparently both the suicidal work of vashti seacat, and executives at cox communication. >> an affair. because it was in a small rural that wasn't the only surprise ahead. >> what other mistakes did they county. it triggered a call to the kbi, make? there's something about the who's special agent, welcomed a investigation that stinks. >> when "dateline" continues. investigation that stinks. >> when "dateline" continues when we started our business chance to hear what happened directly from brett seacat himself. >> brett, remember was in law enforcement himself, and understood that the agent needed to hear the whole story. wat warts and all. >> we interviewed and talked for two hours. he was very forthcoming. >> i'm sorry to have you hear, i will just talk about what happened. >> okay. >> i know it's been a terrible time for you. >> the agent was about to discover that brett was dealing not just with grief, but with a heavy burden of guilt. though it took a while to get to that part of the story. >> usually when we interview people, i want them to start at the very beginning and we did. >> brett told them the story of how he met vashti in high school, and how he was smitten from the first moment. >> she was great. she wanted to make everybody happy. she really, really worked on that. she really cared what people thought about her. almost to the point of nerosis, i always thousand. >> maybe that was why win recen years she was paying too much attention to her job, and even when she was home. >> she was very dedicated to her job and it took time away from her and the kids. the kids and i would be playing in the living room and she was in her office. >> the worst was she was depressed and for a long time. something no one knew. >> he said that she was two vasthtis, one face for the public and one for her family. >> so he was the only one that knew? >> yes. >> she'd never talk about being depressed over it, she was worried how people would view her and even as her boyfriend, as her husband, the only reason we were paying an arm and a leg for postage. i ever even got exposed to it i remember setting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and running. was because i was the one that i was printing out labels and saving money. spent the nights with her. shipstation saves us so much time. >> things were so bad, brett it makes it really easy and seamless. said, her depression was pick an order, affecting their marriage and print everything you need, they were seeing a therapist. slap the label onto the box, and it's ready to go. to help her lose weight, she our costs for shipping were cut in half. took a supplement, hcg, which just like that. has been linked to depression. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers. and he remembered something. that now came back to haunt him, go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free. he told them. that one night, he and vasthti were watching a drama on tv -- >> during which someone committed suicide with a firearm, and she asked if it was a good gun to do that with. he said, yeah, i have one of those, and the dirty harry one would be a better tool to do it with. >> so, he looked back on it then in the interview with you as oh, my gosh, i told her how to kill herself. >> right. >> it got worse, said brett. when vasthti told him to his dismay that she wanted to split up, and served him with divorce powers and he, very upset he said, told her the night she died. >> you and i will go to the mat, and i don't know, i made it perfectly clear whether it was truthful or not, that if this went to court i was going to do everything i could to make sure she had doesn't see the kids again. >> there was no sharing a bed hello. i'm dara brown. anymore. and after he fell asleep on the here's what's happening. president trump spoke at mt. couch down stairs, he said, his rushmore last night at an event that was more like a campaign rally than a holiday celebration. cell phone rang, it was her in his speech, the president decried what he called a far-left fascism, rallying calling from the bedroom. against protesters who have >> it was her had, and she said, taken down statues. are you awake? the event ended with fireworks, and she said, you need to come despite the threat of wildfire. get the boys. >> he jumped up and he heard a mt. rushmore is surrounded by more than 1,000 acres of forest. loud noise. >> it sounded like somebody it is the first fireworks show slammed the door hard. there in more than a decade. now back to "dateline." >> he heard what sounded like somebody walking on the second floor and he bounded up the stairs. brett seacat, unable to pay >> i remember it, there were small flames around the door. a lawyer to represent him, was the flames were that high off lucky in one particular way -- the ground. >> and then he said, he ran in his court-appointed defense the master bedroom. attorneys just happened to be veterans of murder cases. >> the bed was on fire. and the whole room could have been on fire, i'm pretty sure it val wachtal and roger faulk, who was. >> hm-mm. >> but, i was just looking right opened. >> my grandmother used to love to put together jigsaw puzzles. >> a man who understood there and vashti was laying on perfectly well that the puzzle her back right in the spot where didn't always go together the she sleeps. way the prosecution tried to >> he said he reached over her make it look. >> there's a second side to this right shoulder and around her neck -- >> and i pulled her up and she story, and that is that vashti sink down like waffled in my seacat, depressed and confronted arms down straight, not like with either losing her career or somebody was getting picked up and then all of a sudden , it staying in the marriage, decided sort of came to me, dead fire instead to take her own life. >> but why would she do that? here came the bombshell. kids. i just dropped her. >> vashti had confided in brett >> that's when he ran to the boy's room, he said, scooped them up and ran down stairs put that she had rekindled a them in the car and then called romantic relationship that she 9-1-1. and then ran back in to the was having with one of the house to try to get vashti, he executives at cox communication. >> vashti, claimed the defense, covered his face with the dish was having an affair with a cox cloth and tried to get up the vice president. stairs. >> it's pitch black and i cannot and the evening before vashti died, brett gave her an see anything, not even my hand ultimatum -- stay in the in front of my face. i told myself to get out. marriage or he'd expose her >> and now, vasthti was dead and affair. that threat, along with brett's vow to take the children, said he could not stop wondering, he the defense, were the triggers told the agent, wondering if she that sent an already depressed was thinking about the kids as woman over the edge. she prepared to end her life. >> she suffered from absolute >> i have a question, did mommy depression. what can depression lead you to, say bye or tuck you in or say among the various things that can go wrong? suicide is one. >> under cross examination by attorney wachtal, the seacats' knight knig night, night, or did mommy say goodbye? she did love the kids i could see her going in and kissing therapist revealed vashti had a each of them good night. >> brett said, he explained to history of depressive symptoms, the boys, especially the older starting when her brother died in an accident when she was one that mommy is in heaven now. young. >> major depressive disorder she is with god. would be that occurring more >> we talk about that every than once, for a longer period night right before bed. of time, possibly in a pattern. >> and here, cop to cop, it was >> and with regard to what you as if brett seacat was in a wrote down regarding confessional booth. mrs. seacat, would you full of sorrow for threatening describing an episode or a to take away the boys. disorder? >> i was describing that this the trigger, he was sure for her was an episode, but there had suicide. >> did he seem remorseful? been others prior. >> a lot of folks think that if >> yes, he did. you were depressed a week ago, he showed remorse that he driven but you ain't been depressed her to commit suicide. he given her no other out other since, you are cured. than to take her own life. now, i got the expert to say >> coming up. that isn't the way it works. a journal -- >> in the front driver's seat >> nor is it possible to was what appeared to be a note anticipate if or when the to her two children and to depressed person might take brett. their own life, admitted the >> could it be a final message to her family? therapist. even when someone is making >> she'd tell her children to future plans, as vashti was, keep, take care of each other and then made the comment and suicide is still possible, the brett, i took care of the house defense argued. mind you, they're about to say it also wouldn't have been the for you. >> none of it made sense to me. first time for vashti, or at >> when "dateline" continues. least, brett was ready to claim she had attempted suicide businesses are starting to bounce back. before. >> brett wanted to testify about the suicide attempts that vashti had made on herself, some while they were married, some before. judge said, well, show me the evidence of this. and we had looked and looked and looked and could not find hospital records -- >> you looked high and low, couldn't find anything. >> couldn't find hospital records that far back. but that should be no surprise to anybody because hospitals don't keep records anymore. >> even so, by judge's order, brett would not be allowed to make that claim in court. and what about the post-it note found in vashti's purse, the one that listed funeral expenses? >> it could very well be that that is her figuring out what things cost and whether or not insurance is going to cover it. that's what i think it could be. >> but who -- >> who knows? nobody knows. prosecution doesn't know. i don't know. >> but it has some significance, you think? >> well, you certainly could portray it as being significant, right? you could also portray it as being a load of hogwash. >> right. but remember how the prosecution argued that vashti's suicide note found in her journal was a forgery, probably committed by brett? the defense had a handwriting expert of its own who concluded that vashti did, in fact, write the note. and brett asking for that overhead projector at work hours before vashti died, attorney wachtal cross-examined brett's co-worker the one who helped him find it. >> and mr. seacat was not the least bit secretive when he asked you this question. >> no, he was not. >> he goes and asks someone to help him find an overhead projector? those people take him up to where he is. he carries it down from there in full view of anybody who is possibly in that place, and he carries it back. now, that sounds like somebody who didn't have anything to hide. >> and what about the state's point that no soot was found in vashti's lungs? under cross examination, the coroner allowed that it could be possible under the defense scenario that vashti lit a fire just before killing herself. >> if someone lit a fire and shot themselves within seconds, would you expect to see soot in their lungs? >> not necessarily, no. but what if you could do better than that? >> as for the powerpoint found like adapt. discover. deliver, in new ways, on the seacats' table, the one to new customers. what if you could come back stronger? that discussed homicide and faster. better. suicide and fire investigations, at comcast business, meaningless, said the defense. we want to help you not just bounce back, >> what the prosecution would have you assume, right, is that but bounce forward. and now, with one of our best offers ever, this really, really smart cop we're committed to helping you do just that. get a powerful and reliable internet and voice solution was stupid enough to be looking for only $29.95 a month for three months. at all of this stuff the night he tries to burn the house down? call or go online today. please. i certainly wouldn't try to hide evidence by setting a house four blocks from the fire department on fire and praying, right, that they would not get tlt until the whole thing had burned to the ground. that's silly. it's just silly. >> what's more, brett said, most of the powerpoint printout had been in a tray in another room, as scrap paper, but the kbi must have moved those papers to the table, just to make it look suspicious, like they made brett's use of an overhead projector suspicious and his destroying cell phones and computer hard drives seem ♪ hello, here is what is suspicious. it's all too ridiculous, said happening, president trump the defense. >> so, the state wanted you to delivered firry speech friday believe that he was trying to night at mount rushmore, and destroy evidence of the crime. what evidence did he try to denounced demonstrators that destroy? toppled confederate statues they never said what evidence he tried to destroy. across the country. and said that there will be a now, this guy is such a super national garden of heroes. the night ended with fireworks criminal that, where does he go to destroy that? he goes to the kansas law despite the threat of wildfires. mount rushmore is surrounded by enforcement training center, 1,000 acres of forest. which is full of what? now back to "dateline." former cops. and he gets somebody to help him destroy those things. now, if you wanted to destroy those things, there are the known facts were stark. quite clear. innumerable farm ponds. if you wanted to get rid of vashti seacat was dead, a bullet that, you throw it into a farm wound to the head, her house pond and nobody will ever find it. >> in fact, the state's whole investigation, said the defense, burned around her, her boys was at beast incompetent, maybe motherless and her husband a worse. wid brett and attorney wachtal widower. and now, finding the story for claimed that vashti's car or against the apparent suicide, disappeared from the crime scene for three days, even though the whole seacat yard was supposed brett seacat's story was long to have been sealed off, a crime scene. they showed the jury a series of coming. in vasthti's purse, they found a photos taken from different vantage points, which the defense argued made it look like post-it note of expenses. the car had been moved in the the list included funeral days after the fire. this neighbor lived right across expenses and they had a good the street from the seacat look through her volkswagen and driveway. >> when you first observed the in her trunk, they found driveway, was the volkswagen there? >> no. >> it was not? material about coping with >> no. >> do you remember seeing it in that driveway ever again? sdpr >> three days later. depression and anxiety. and something key. >> three days later. >> in the front driver's seat, but you didn't see -- if i was a journal. understand your testimony, you as you open the book and go past didn't see anybody bring it back. >> no. the notes that she wrote in >> i think he was telling the truth. if i thought he was lying, i reference to her children, kind wouldn't have put him on. of bookmarked with the string to me, it implies that the that you usually find in those investigation itself is faulty. types of books was what appeared how do you let somebody get into to be a note to her two children the crime scene and drive it and to brett, and in that note, away? >> so, it was either gross she is trying to explain, tell the children i love them. incompetence or intentional. and she is telling her children >> in my opinion, it would be both. to keep, take care of each other and if that happened, then what and then made the comment, and other mistakes did they make? brett, i took care of the hous r there's something about the investigation that stinks. >> just smelled bad, said for you. >> and the note said she'd be wachtal, that the state claimed it found gasoline on brett's pants, when the defense expert said -- >> i would not make a determination that it's watching over her children from gasoline. >> and maybe worst of all, he said the kansas bureau of heaven. investigation did not even bother checking for gunshot they said vashti had been going residue on brett's hands, test, to a therapist and losing weight which the defense claimed, would have revealed if he actually and taking the hcg supplement, fired that gun that night -- >> if you have ever seen what could it have affected her mood. that gun looks like, everything comes out of the side of that brett's half brother bobby was cylinder. >> right. dumb struck by what happened, >> so, that stuff goes could not comprehend it, he peppered him with questions. >> none of it made questions to somewhere. and onto your skin is where you're looking for it at, yet -- me. >> they didn't look. i said, were there problems and he said, yes, she filed for >> they didn't look. but he's a cop. they're a cop. divorce. they had been going through >> brett seacat doesn't have counciling for six months. much faith in the kbi. and i said, what would cause her to do this? and he said, i use the boys as a >> the defense will call brett t. seacat to the witness stand. weapon. something i never should have >> but the star witness for the defense would be the last done. if she tried taking custody of the boys, i would take the boys witness, brett seacat himself. and run away with them. coming up -- cold-blooded and he was beating himself up killer or grieving husband? about that and i of course said >> i didn't think it was appropriate to be dragging my wife's name through the mud. probably half of all the people that ever got a divorce that have kids involved in that have >> do you love vashti? >> i loved vashti. said something similar. >> did you kill vashti? >> no, i did not. >> bobby was learning things >> brett's story from the stand, about vashti that he never knew. his life on the line. when brett told him that before >> in my heart of hearts, i know that it wouldn't have made any vashti died, that she was difference what anybody said to spending evenings out. >> going out and partying and brett because brett wanted to testify. dancing and drinking. >> where would the kids be when >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues can my side be firm? she did that? >> with brett. >> and i'm not saying the kids did not mean a lot to her had. she was a wonderful person on the surface and there was a different vashti that we were not aware of, and it's upsetting to be made aware of of it. and my side super soft? >> to brett, vashti's going out yes, with the sleep number 360 smart bed on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. was a sure sign of her sinking come on pup, time to go. in to depression. can it help me fall asleep faster? a pattern he saw before as he yes, by gently warming your feet. told the investigators and but can it help keep me asleep? again, bobby was shocked. did not know a thing about it. absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. >> before this happened i had never heard anything about her so you can really promise better sleep? being suicidal. not promise... prove. it's our 4th of july special, the queen sleep number 360 c4 and that is why i have some smart bed is only $1,299, save $400. plus free premium delivery disappointment in my half brother and if he felt a duty to on all smart beds when you add a base. ends monday. protect her, i understand. but, there are other people there to help you through this. and in hindsight, i'm sure he wishes he would have shared those things. >> one thing jumped back at bobby, something he saw the week before she died. she seeped sad and withdrawn, sitting by herself while her sons were hunting easter eggs outside. >> she was not the typical vashti, who was bubbly and ta talkative. >> bobby and his wife noticed. asked how she was doing. >> all she told us that day was she really didn't like work and work was a struggle for her daily. she said i got in to hr on to give people a future and hope. and i don't remember the last person i hired. >> and according to bobby, vashti said when she had to layoff employees it was difficult for her. especially if she was close to them. >> she said, if they are not your friends they take the news and they leave. if they are your friends they stay in your office and cry on your shoulder for an hour. >> as he filled his half brother in on everything, bobby came to understand that apparently the emotions of had her job, and st you're stronger than you know. of the divorce and brett's so strong. threat to take the kids from you power through chronic migraine, her, proved too much, and sadly 15 or more headache or migraine days a month. she took her life, leaving brett one tough mother. and the boys to go on somehow by you're bad enough for botox®. botox® has been preventing headaches and migraines themselves. >> i have gotten past anger before they even start for almost 10 years, towards her now it just bothers and is the #1 prescribed branded chronic migraine treatment. me. there's just things i think in her life that derailed. botox® is for adults with chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, >> but, to set the house on fire each lasting 4 hours or more. with other own little boys effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks inside? >> we are trying to assign after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, ration breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness rationalthinking to somebody that was getting ready to take their own life. can be signs of a life-threatening condition. >> so for brett's family, it was side effects may include allergic reactions, starting to make sense. but for vashti's family, it made neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. don't receive botox® if there's a skin infection. no sense at all. >> coming up, questions and tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, and medications including botulinum toxins, suspici suspicions, he did not like as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. people. he more wanted to isolate my go on with your bad self. you may pay as little as zero dollars for botox®. sister and have her all to himself had. ask your doctor about botox® for chronic migraine. >> i don't care what you are being told, i don't care what you think you are seeing, you you got this. are dealing with a murder. >> when dateline continues. n das kelcee loves how essential oils help her chill you may come forward and be sworn, please, sir. and now she has those same scents >> it is, call it unusual, for a in the laundry room defendant to testify at his own murder trial. ahh... dangerous, his lawyer might new gain with essential oils detergent advise, to subject himself to the objective questions of a skilled prosecutor, but -- >> in my hearts of hearts, i know that it wouldn't have made any difference what anybody said to brett because brett wanted to testify. he wanted to. he had to. he believed that if people just listened, the truth would out. >> mr. seacat, will you tell us your full name, please? >> brett theodore seacat. >> at his own request, no video was taken of him. audio recording only. as brett set out with confidence to tell the jury what happened, beginning 21 hours or so before the fire. >> on that morning, when i said good-bye, she said, "see you tonight" and actually gave me a big kiss, which i thought was odd. >> why'd you think that was odd? >>, um, because in the last week, week and a half, we had been back and forth about 50 times on divorce. and so, it just let me know that we were back on the not-divorce track. >> but by the time he returned to the house that evening, said brett, things had changed. >> i couldn't figure out why she was -- she was in a big hurry to get a divorce, which was something that had never happened before. i told her, we haven't really worked on our marriage very much. my angle in the discussion was, i'll give you a collaborative divorce, if we work on the marriage for three to six months. >> brett said vashti seemed to agree to that, especially when he made it clear what he'd do if she went forward with the divorce right then. >> basically, i told her, if this goes to court, that i was going to do everything, everything in my power to destroy her. >> brett told the jury things he never told the kbi investigators, that he threatened to share private photos of her and that vashti had several recent affairs, including one with the executive at cox, and that brett threatened to expose her. as for why he didn't tell the kbi earlier about those alleged affairs -- >> i didn't think it was appropriate to be dragging my wife's name through the mud. >> as it was, brett and his defense team didn't put on any evidence about an affair with the cox executive or with anybody, for that matter. and then his lawyer finished with the key questions. >> did you love vashti? ♪ >> i love vashti. >> did you kill vashti? the vigil for vashti seacat, >> no, i did not. >> did you pull the trigger on was held had. the ruger redhawk that resulted kathleen and rich was there, and so was brett with his two sons. in the bullet going through her not easy for any of them. and truth, as the siblings, rich neck and severing her spine? and kathleen knew, there's a way >> no, i did not. >> so, his direct testimony, hours of it, seemed to go pretty of looking at it differently. well. but now, of course, here came the prosecutors to put him on the spot. which is why he called the >> cross examination. sheriff's office. ms. handley. >> i said, i don't care what you >> she wanted brett to explain are being told. how it was possible for him to i don't care what you think you are seeing. i said, you are dealing with a do what she thought was impossible, make that 911 call and stay on the phone while murder. >> a murder. even as they grieved, kathleen trying to get vashti's body out of a burning house. >> my wife is upstairs! and rich had become suspicious i'm about to go upstairs and try to get her out. of brett. ever since he called kathleen oh, there's smoke everywhere! and told her the news, and phrased it in an odd way. >> he said, vasthti killed just a second. i have to get a rag. >> how he was able to make that herself and set the house on call and talk to a dispatcher fire. while he was supposedly running so, how it was said to us was up and down the stairs twice in backwards. and just from conversation cans her and i had, i knew. smoke, in fire, wetting a rag, holding onto his phone. i just new. how he didn't drop the phone, >> what did he sound like? fall, cough, gasp. >> turn the water faucet on, >> no emotions, very calm. no tears, no hysterics, and just grabbed the dish cloth. >> yes, ma'am. >> you're holding your cell phone, too? >> i don't think i'm holding it to my ear, but it's certainly matter of fact. i'm hysterical and i'm not still in my hand. >> well, you're talking to 911 at this time, right? >> you're correct. it must have been to my ear. married to her and she is not the mother of my children, and i just don't remember that i'm hysterical and he wasn't. element of it. >> and then she asked him about >> he drove to oklahoma to speak the divorce. >> vashti wanted the divorce, with kathleen and her husband. >> he answers for everything. right? why she did what she did. >> depends on which ten minutes you talked to her. why she thought what she thought. >> and when she told you that it was like a script, answers for everything. she was thinking about divorce, where normal people would be that when you would threaten confused. and there was a picture of her her. >> i'm sorry? that was a poster size picture >> when vashti told you she wanted a divorce, you'd threaten her. wouldn't you? on my fireplace. and i looked over at it and said, she was such a good >> no, vashti never -- we talked mother. and i broke down and he said, about divorce a lot, but the oh, i'm over that. first time that i found out vashti wanted a divorce was when i'm just kind of angry at her she told me that she had filed. and ready to move on. >> but they had to admit that >> and then, then, point blank, she accused him of murder. >> you threatened to kill brett's social interaction was a little cold, and sometimes vashti, burn the house down, and make it look like she committed inappropriate and his reaction to her death, was not out of a suicide. >> i absolutely have never said character. >> he didn't like people. anything even remotely like he more wanted to isolate my that. >> you never made that threat to sister and have her all to vashti? >> absolutely not. >> you killed your wife, didn't himself. i almost felt like vashti and you? >> no, ma'am. >> you shot her in the head. the children were more of a possession. >> impossible. >> possession. >> you burnt the house down >> then -- around her. >> i would never burn our house. >> they were his. >> like your clan. >> and you did it while your two >> everybody stay away from my kids, 2 years and 4 years old, stuff. >> yeah. >> so it's a different kind of were in the house. >> absolutely not. love than maybe what i would i would never expose my children to any situation like that. define as love. >> early on, at least according >> the investigation was to her siblings. thorough in this case, and the kbi agents looked for any sign vashti questioned her decision that would lead us to a to marry brett, wondering if she different conclusion than that should stay in the marriage, brett seacat killed his wife. that was until she found she was and all of the evidence that was pregnant with the first of her sons. uncovered and all of the >> i do think brett treated her evidence presented at trial by both sides led to that well. he was proud he was going to conclusion. >> vashti's family was upset have son sks and the seacat nam about things brett said on the stand about vashti's character, but they said they found his would be pushed on. testimony revealing. several times in the marriage, it did not feel right. >> i was almost embarrassed that i know she missed family. he was still claiming he was she wanted to reconnect with innocent when there were just so friends. she felt forced to not have the same friends and that bothered her. many things that would have had >> did it change the way she was, her personality? to have lined up perfectly, that >> those boys were her life. would have had to have been a i think she was so focused. fluke. >> yeah, focused and wrapped up >> but brett's brother, bobby, felt the trial only confirmed in the children that, you know, what he had always believed. she probably did not notice it >> i left that courtroom 100% like we did from the outside. >> by the fall of 2010 said convinced that he didn't do it. >> up to the jury now. kathleen, vashti was miserable >> your head's spinning at that point, because you realize, this again, she was feeling depressed then. and so, she and brett started to is it. and it was scary. d it was scary see a therapist together and coming up -- double drama in alone. but things didn't get any the courtroom. better. and so, in the spring of 2011, the verdict. >> ladies and gentlemen, have you reached a verdict? >> yes, we have, your honor. vashti filed for divorce. >> it was not a spontaneous, i >> and something even the judge think i will get divorced. never saw coming, when "dateline" continues. never saw coming, when "dateline" continues i know she thought it through devin, did you know geico is now offering well enough. an extra 15 percent credit on >> she had enough of him and car and motorcycle policies? ok? told kathleen so. that's 15 percent on top >> she said, he is a grandios of what geico could already save you. so what are you waiting for? dj khaled to be your motivational coach? narcacist and it's not going to yo devin! remember to brush in a circle motion. get better or change. >> was vashti depressed as brett thank you... dj... khaled. tiny circles, devin. was saying? not anymore, said kathleen and do another one. rich, they talked to her all the another one. is this good? put in that work, devin. time, though she was sad about the divorce, she was looking don't give up. forward, finally to a happier geico. save an extra 15% when you switch life. she felt liberated they said, by october 7th. was excited about her job, was losing weight, starting new friendships and planning a chances are you have some qhere are a couple answers... lysol disinfectant spray and disinfecting wipes viction wi together can be used on over 100 surfaces. vacation with you? >> and a concert and a couple of trips and we had just went shopping and the clothes were and kill up to 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. still in the bag in her house and in fact, she had so many things lined up for us to do i was thinking i cannot keep up with her. unfortunately, we can't answer every question >> so they didn't buy brett's you have right now. story at all. >> she was not depressed. lysol. what it takes to protect. she was anything but. >> the wednesday before vashti died, when brett was served with the divorce papers, she spent that night with her sons at a friend's house and was going to stay there until friday when brett was supposed to be out of the house, that was the plan said kathleen. >> he got ahold of her on thursday and told her to come home. that she owed it to him to let him say goodbye to his kids. he told her he could not be out by friday. he nowhere to go. his parents did not even know they were contemplating divorce. he did not have any friends to go stay with. he said, he needed a few more days to get out. could she please come home, and let him tell his boys goodbye and just talk. i begged her to not go. and she said, kathleen, my only way out is to try to reason with him. and she said, i'm not a monster. i'm not a monster. he has nowhere else. >> rich talked to vashti that friday, about dinner time. >> it's the whole conversation we were paying an arm and a leg for postage. i remember setting up shipstation. was you know, hey, sis, how are one or two clicks and everything was up and running. things going and in light of the i was printing out labels and saving money. situation and everything she shipstation saves us so much time. said was, well, brett's having a it makes it really easy and seamless. really hard time with this. pick an order, print everything you need, and brett's really struggling slap the label onto the box, with this. and it's ready to go. >> it hurt her. our costs for shipping were cut in half. it hurt her that she was so torn just like that. up. >> and less than 12 hours later, shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers. vashti was dead. go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free. kathleen and rich told investigators that was the truth as they saw it. they were certain brett killed shipstation. the #bbut what if you couldg of onldo better than that? vashti, made it look like like adapt. discover. suicide and because he was a man deliver, in new ways, who actually trained law to new customers. enforcement officers. what if you could come back stronger? >> you were worried because of his training he knew how to beat faster. better. the system. >> oh, yeah, he would brag about at comcast business, we want to help you not just bounce back, it. he books. you know, he knew how to do it. but bounce forward. and now, with one of our best offers ever, >> coming up, brett seacat, we're committed to helping you do just that. under scrutiny. get a powerful and reliable internet and voice solution >> if he bent over a bed that is for only $29.95 a month for three months. on fire to get his wife, i would expect his chest to have some call or go online today. type of singing, and there was nothing. >> and a desperate family. >> i remember grabbing somebody working the scene and i said give me hope. and he said in this instance, justice will be served. >> when dateline continues. >> when dateline continues -yeah, as a mother, i wouldn't want my kids to see that. -good mom. -to see -- wait. i'm sorry. what? -don't kids see enough violence as it is? -i've seen violence. -maybe we turn the word "bundle" into a character, like mr. bundles. -top o' the bundle to you. [ laughter ] bundle, bundle, bundle. -my kids would love that. -yeah. there's no rule of thumb, nothing that works, anyway, to allow a person to successfully predict a jury's verdict based on the time it takes to make it. brett seacat's jury deliberated six hours. what did that mean? brother bobby was nervous, of course, but had a good feeling. >> i think that the state in every respect failed to prove and make their case. >> ladies and gentlemen, have you reached a verdict? >> yes, we have, your honor. >> we, the jury, find the defendant, brett t. seacat, guilty of murder in the first degree. >> guilty on all counts. the reaction in the courtroom was muted. >> it was a strange mixture of emotions, because there was this part of you that thought, when they say "guilty," i'm just going to get all this off my chest and i'm going to feel good. but then there's this big part of you that realizes, at the end of the day, it didn't bring her back. >> the truth is, everybody was just as hurt. no one won. so, you think, why am i not feeling better? because what got better? he is behind bars, and he needs to be behind bars. but the lives that it affected will forever be affected. >> lawyer val wachtal all but said, "i knew it," because -- >> i don't think mr. seacat got a fair trial in kingman, kansas, and i will never think that. >> but it was brett who insisted wherelove...feels the same.. truths are universal on being tried in his hometown and in his lawyer's view, he joy... is a joint expression, and health... is an essential need for all. paid the price. >> and i'm certainly not blaming the jury, right? it just -- to me, it became yet with so much we share, there's one thing we don't: patently obvious that this jury around our world, millions live in places with little to no access to hospitals. did not exactly look kindly upon mr. seacat. >> it was going to be an uphill at mercy ships, we've made it our mission to change this. battle. >> it was an uphill battle before we even got started. you can join us by calling or going online now... >> but agent falletti saw things just $19 a month is all it takes to help our very differently indeed. >> i believe mr. seacat believed that whole house was going to go volunteer doctors and nurses embark on floating hospitals. up in flames and law enforcement and fire were not going to find very much there, and that he to heal the lives of others. knew this local police department, and they probably to uphold the truth that love is indeed universal. would just think it was what he said it was and gone about their and a healthy family iseverything. business. but the kingman police department and the sheriff's call the number on your screen or go to mercyships dot org office called in other agencies to assist. >> right. >> and, fortunately for vashti and her family, we were able to your gift of $19 a month will save and transform lives. give today find evidence to convict him of these charges. >> but brett seacat is an unusual man, adamant that he is we were paying an arm and a leg for postage. innocent, certain that he was i remember setting up shipstation. set up by the state, which was one or two clicks and everything was up and running. out to get him, by in-laws who i was printing out labels and saving money. didn't like him, and even by the shipstation saves us so much time. judge. in fact, particularly the judge, pick an order, which became abundantly clear at print everything you need, brett's sentencing, when our costs for shipping were cut in half. seemingly out of the blue, brett lashed out with a truly just like that. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers. remarkable, incendiary, venomous go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free. attack against judge solomon. >> this day belongs to you, judge solomon. this is your day. this is the day you get to take your place in front of the cameras and pass sentence on a man you worked so hard to ♪ convict, a man you know was innocent but a man you had to it's not always so straight help convict so you could get forward, determining from this day, your day. evidence what's suicide. so go ahead and collect the 30 what's murder. pieces of silver, judge solomon. brett said it was obviously go ahead and sell custody of my suicide. her family said, no way. little boys to vashti's family. >> so now investigators had to go ahead and pass sentence you figure out who was right. think will land you a spot on the kansas supreme court. they scoured the wreck of the go ahead and pass the sentence that guarantees your spot in seacat house for clues. hell, just like amy handley, i remember grabbing one of the jeff newsum and those 12 jurors, kbi, or fire, just somebody that you are going to hell for what was working the scene, and i said give me some hope, or are you've done in this case. your corrupt decisions will bring an appeal. the evidence will be presented, you finding something that's and i will be freed. going to let everyone know what and with that, i'll step aside and let you have your day. happened? and i remember he looked at me after all, you purchased it with and he said, i will tell you your soul, so you've earned it. this, in this instance, justice will be served. >> what did you make of that, of his statement? >> but what did that mean? >> i like the fact that he said as another investigator told what he thought. them. >> justice will be served. when you believe you are innocent, why not say you are and maybe justice is he did not inno did it? here's how the judge responded. do it. we don't have emotions in this. >> i heard a few things i didn't anticipate. we are hear to collect facts. >> and collect, they did. including a bit of unburned i won't bother addressing them, material on the dining room because they're so bizarre, they don't deserve a response. table in the seacat home, quite they merely affirm to me that a odd. >> it was a powerpoint, almost jury of 12 kingman county like an instructor would be teaching a classes on different types of deaths. citizens made the appropriate suicide, homicide was listed on decision in this case. this there, fire. blunt force trauma, things that you claim to be vashti's an officer or investigator would protector, and in the next be looking like if they are investigating a death of some breath on the stand said the sort. >> it makes sense if he was a evening in question you would destroy her. at trial, you've made every teacher of policemen. effort possible to drag her name >> that could be looked at like and her memory and her that. >> and brett said that was what it was. >> it was paperwork that he brought home from school and class that he had taken, i reputation through the mud. believe in college, and it was just scrap paper and he pulled vashti was not indecisive about it in there because on the night before the morning she passed divorcing you. she was not depressed, and she away, they had been working on a was not suicidal. budget and we did find, what the families hit it on the head. looked like somebody was preparing a budget for the bills so did several witnesses at together, because they had separate accounts and he was trial, about you being arrogant, trying to show that he could about you being controlling, help her out in paying off the bills. >> and that was the activity in about you being self-centered the evening before she died? and narcissistic. >> correct. you live in some sort of >> so it was a kwcooperative bizarre, alternate reality. active. >> and when he said he ran in you haven't admitted guilt. you haven't admitted the burning bedroom, he was wearing pants, no shirt or responsibility. and you didn't this morning even shoes. so -- >> i would have expected to see some type of injury to fire. all we ended up finding when we express remorse that vashti's no longer on this earth. photographed him was minor s >> and with that, he sentenced brett seacat to the maximum allowed under kansas law. he'll serve 30 years before his first shot at parole. synging, and he a couple of minor blisters. and now, now their once graceful if he bent over a fire on a bed home has been torn down. to get his wife, i would expect the reputation of brett's family, a family of lawmen, is tarnished. injury, and there was nothing. the seacats' sons are growing up >> there was a small amount of gasoline on the pants that he without either parent and will was wearing. have the heavy burden of knowing their father was convicted of suspicious? maybe, proof of murder and staging the scene? not close. killing their mother, vashti, there was an autopsy of course, the results of which could be the woman named for a queen. seen as suspicious or not. >> i miss her every day, you >> there was no soot in her airway or lungs. know. just dumb things like seeing a that means there was no breaths dragonfly or fireworks or taken prior to the fire getting in -- >> fire was lit after she was something. it will not go away. dead. >> you could make that assumption. >> is it possible that she could i hope that i figure out what my have poured the accelerant around the places in the house new life is going to look like and lit them all, hopped back in at some point and i can accept bed covered up, and shot herself it, but with time, they say it and then died. gets better. with and still had no, no soot i just think -- i just hope it does. in her lungs? the fires were just getting started? >> it's possible. but, if she is made that decision to go to that length i would expect that she'd be very i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. excited, her respirations would >> and this is "dateline". be rapid, and she'd be breathing heavy, and -- >> there would be something in ♪ we're agonizing for the last two years. her lungs? some indication? >> that would be my experience. initially it was panic and then as i have worked multiple f eed it turned into torment. >> i was concerned that she was hurt somewhere. i felt so helpless. over the years. >> facts are facts and the coroner said there was not enough of them to determine ♪ kelli bordeaux was always there for others. >> she liked to help people that whether vashtis death was needed help. ed homicide or suicide, too much >> there for her friends, there fire damage to know for sure. for her country. >> this was a good fit for her, they poked around for whatever the army? >> she wanted to be an officer. circumstantial evidence there may be. they went to where brett worked >> her personal life was a and were told by co-workers of little more complicated. the law enforcement training she was estranged from her husband. >> were they talking divorces center that on the day before vashti died, he took two computer hard drives and asked how to destroy them. and he used a torch that burns at a high temperature and he used it to torch the hard drives. >> and then threw them away. two different trash cans. along with a couple of cell phones which he first pulled apart. troubling. and on the other hand, was not like he was skulking around or hiding that unusual activity. he even asks colleagues for help. so back to the house, and to the neighbors around it. three doors down from the seacat house, was a woman that said she was having trouble sleeping that night and so was awake in the wee hours watching tv in her living room. >> and at some point, she believes she heard what was a gunshot, and she believed that it was some time before the fire trucks and the police officers showed up in front of the seacat residence. >> exactly when each of those things happened, she could not say for sure. reviewing the tv show she was watching, she could tell them which scene was playing when she heard the gunshot, and that's how the kbi was able to determine the gun went off long before brett called 9--1-1. >> we believed it was 30-35 minutes prior to mr. seacat calling 9-1-1. which when she heard the gunshot. >> right. >> and the atfs mounty found out that the fire was not a matter of lighting the bed on fire. >> was that where the fire was started? >> in my opinion there were multiple fires started. >> it did not recall out vashti starting the fewers. >> there was a lot of things in limbo. >> yes, but the suspicions were going toward brett. his half brother was preposterous, as a remember for cop and cop trainer himself, bobby just knew his brother did not do it. >> when you are in law enforcement and you know about identity theft, those are i think this is you -- those are things you do. he was well versed in identity theft, he was a substitute instructor of it. i think in hindsight, if he known what was about to happen that very night, he would not have thrown cell phones away. he would not have burned hard drives. he would not have done anything and he especially would not have spent the night in that house. >> because it would draw attention to him. make him look guilty. >> absolutely. >> was it just appearances, or was it more than that? >> coming up. things are not looking good and adding up to you had something to do with it, brett. we need to know why. >> okay, there's no why, okay. i did not do this. >> anger and accusations. >> did you hurt her? >> no. >> did you pull the trigger? >> no. did you >> no! >> when "dateline" continues. yo >> no! >> when "dateline" continues water let's skip the rinse. new finish quantum with activeblu technology, designed to clean without pre-rinsing. switch to finish and skip the rinse to save water. protect your pet with the #1 name in flea and tick protection. frontline plus. trusted by vets for nearly 20 years. when brett seacat arrived for that chat with investigators looking into the death of his wife, vashti, it was from all t

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