Her story was concerning about a masked man, shooting her husband and leaving her alive. Im worried, did she hire somebody . Then a revelation. The dead man had a dangerous dream. Ended up finding a lot of people related to the oil business. I remember him telling us, im going to make millions of dollars. A big money venture oozing with outlaws. A violent individual, been to prison for robbery. 250 pounds of steroid, rock muscle. Greed is what killed my dad. Greed is what caused all of this. A thirst for oil, an lust for blood. A sociopath. What can happen in a quiet Little Prairie town until oil comes around. Yeah. Among the green and pleasant landscapes of american privilege is the rise of historic land called the south hill. Its been the home of spokane, washingtons elite, in their queen anne and craftsmans homes and not the sort of story were about to tell. Ambitious men, dark plots and dames. I asked him. Am i just the dumb blonde who missed it . Or did everyone miss it . The one so many people missed, before that dreadful vent here in the wooded enclave. He thought that god was blessing hem and my mom. We thought we were walking on water. Here they were, empty nesters, all alone in their house on the south hill, convinced that their successes, their six grown kids, their good life were products of an unflinching trust in god. You know, we finally got out of the desert. And he was going to get into the promised land. Yes, the promised land. Riches beyond imagining. As the not so dumb blonde knew so well. It was a madhouse, it was the wild west. So maybe thats why the thing on the south hill wasnt going to stay here. My life will never be the same. Im sorry. It was wintertime when it happened. Christmas season, 15th of december, 2013. A sunday evening after church. 911, what are you reporting . Theres been shots. A man kicked into our house and shot my husband. This is how our story began. In an ugly splash of violence and terror. Hes going to shoot me. But was this the beginning of the story . Or the end . That was the evening Spokane Police detectives brian sesnick and Mark Burbridge were pulled into the strangest case of their careers. It was the most unique homicide id investigated, and i knew that from the first moments of my involvement. Really . Just you knew . Yes. It was sesnick who drove over first to the address at south hill. The sort of place a homicide detective can go a whole career without visiting a single time. The house is in a very upperclass neighborhood. And the south hill, thats where you want to be. Right. The street that its on, id never been to before. Why would you as a homicide detective . Theres just not crime up there in general. So it was very odd. The home the detective was going to was owned by a businessman named carlile. Sesnick walked into the house. It was just a weird scene all in all. This was december 15th. Theres Christmas Music playing throughout the house. Thats bizarre. It was very bizarre. Theyre very religious people, so theres religious scripture written on the walls. Them you have this horribly violent and gruesome murder. It was a very, very odd scene. Doug carlile was lying on the kitchen floor, clearly the victim of a closerange shooting. There was a lot of blood around the body. A lot of shell casings. A lot of bullets laying around. How badly was this person damaged . Hed been shot seven times. It was obviously a very brutal attack. It wasnt just a one time shot and the person ran out. Clearly someone was making sure. Correct. Whoever had done this, we knew they wanted to make sure he didnt survive. And whatever happened here didnt appear to be the result of a burglary. The house was locked up tight. Windows, doors. He still had his wallet and cell phone. Everything was in place. Nothing was ransacked that we could find. It was elberta, dougs wife, who called 911 in what sounded like a state of abject terror. Investigators found her hiding in an upstairs closet. They took her downtown. I want to see my husband. The detective was ready to sympathize, but something looked a little off. A little off. What did you make of her . Shes unique in some of her responses, threw up red flags, made me concerned about whether she was involved in this or not. Not. What kind of responses . She didnt care about the police investigation. All she cared about was her husband, praying over him, she was upset that the patrol officers wouldnt let her do that. P that. I want my husband theres nothing we can do for your husband right now. Well, i can hold him. P well, i can hold him. Him. P him. I could have prayed for then when the investigator asked what happened elberta told a story, and neither the telling or the story made any sense at all. R all. Coming up im worried whether she had a motive. Jealousy. P jealousy. Questions and suspicions. Burbridge had seen a thing or two during his time on the force, floods of phony tears. So he paid careful, experienced attention when elberta carlile told him what happened that sunday evening in the house on south hill. What happened tonight . We went to church. Then we went to a church function. Nothing, i dont know what happened, a nightmare. Thats what happened. And elbertas story, said detective burbridge just didnt add up. All of a sudden i hear its okay, its okay. Then i hear back off, back off, back off then when i heard the back off, i saw, i looked and saw a man standing there in all black. Her story was concerning about a masked man wearing all black, coming into the house and shooting her husband and leaving and leaving her alive. Made me worry that maybe she hired a hit man or maybe she was making up the story and she was involved in what happened. The thing was, the killer saw elberta. She came right out and said so. They stared at each other, soul to soul. So why would a hit man leave an eyewitness alive . Unless she was in on it. Im wondering whether she had a motive. Money, jealousy, boyfriend, girlfriend. Did she kill him herself . Did she hire somebody . Did she get one of the children to do it . These are all my concerns. Besides, says burbridge, hes seen many people caught by sudden violence and grief, and elberta was agitated, certainly, but to his practiced eye, her emotional reaction was somehow flat as if practiced. It bothered him. How long had you been home . It happened instantly. When we got home, it was like somebody ambushed him. The way she told her story about a masked man killing her husband of 42 years. It almost seemed like it was rehearsed or like she thought about this and what could i say . Rehearsed is a good word. It sounded that way to you . Yes, it did. But you dont have to take it from the detective. We were able to arrange an interview with elberta, too. My whole life was over as i knew it. Elberta said with she and her husband returned from church that evening they drove through the gate of their property as usual. Ill get the gate, you get the door. Did anything look unusual . No, it just didnt feel right. I got all the way to the top of the stairs and i started down the hall when i heard muffled voices. Headed right down the stairs, i got back to the bottom of the stairs and i called out to doug, doug, is somebody here . And i looked to my left. The man was standing right in front of the doorway. How far away from you . Ten feet at the most. Nine feet. And i looked at him. And it was a man. All in black. And he had a mask on. And he had a gun pointed where i knew my husband was standing. You couldnt see doug. I couldnt see doug. I only saw this man in black. He a mask on. Only thing i could see was his eyes. And he looked at me. He never moved the gun. And he blinked three times, and i thought, why is he blinking at me . Why is that guy in my House Holding a gun . I thought oh, my god, hes going to kill me. I tried to go up the stairs. My legs werent working and i started going up the hall when i heard multiple shots. Did you realize right away what must have happened . Oh, absolutely. I knew my husband must have been shot. So i thought i have to hide. She ran to a closet and shut the door and called 911. Stay on the line for me, okay . Oh, my god. Oh, god hurry. Im hiding in the closet. I want you to stay on the line. Do you remember what it felt like in there, what you felt like . Oh, sheer desperation. Just sheer desperation. And this overwhelming need to go to my husband. I wanted to go to him. I wanted to comfort him. Doug carlile, remember, was an excavator, not an oil man. But, of course a whole army of ambitious, hardworking men had established careers to grab a piece of the wealth by north dakotas oilfracking boom. Thus, were prairie towns on steroids and men bursting with pentup testosterone. The wild black gold rush around the bakken airfields had peaked. But investors looking for a big payday wouldnt have known that yet. And with eager cash, they chased a stake in what they hope were billions still in the ground. Apparently, doug carlile was one of them. According to family, he got turned onto oil by a friend who knew a guy. He told us about north dakota. Hey, its booming there. You should go check things out and see whats happening. First, doug partnered in a Trucking Company that served north dakotas many oil rigs. Black stone, started by the guy his friend introduced him to. Then opportunity knocked. One of those opportunities of a lifetime, ordained from above, according to doug. The whole thing kind of fell into his lap. And i think he felt like that was his calling from god to move forward in that lease. An oil lease that is. A lease that would give doug and any partners he could bring in, the exclusive right to drill for oil on 640 acres of land on the mha indian reservation. But that opportunity doesnt come cheap. So you had to raise some money. Yes, he had to raise 2 million. He tapped his Business Partners and kids. I put 100,000 in it. It wasnt for a return or anything. It was to help him with his dream to fulfill that. But the next step to fulfilling dougs dream was even more daunting. Finding investors to pay for drilling as many as eight wells on the property and that price was more steep, more than 100 million. But the potential payoff was immense. And doug firmly believed, gods will, a reward for his faith. We thought we were walking on water. This is a miracle. I remember him telling us were going to make millions of dollars, this is for the family. Were all going to be rich. He sat on the couch and said what would you do if you had all the money you could ever want . If we had this money, we would use it to serve the lord, to serve ministries, to serve people, our family. But now all those good intentions, all those dreams were gone. Now detectives slogged through the paperwork on doug carliles desk. Those documents in arabic turned out to be a scam a con man was trying to run on doug. But doug you could see had been making promises, too, to investors. Promises he couldnt keep and he must have known it. 100 return practically overnight . Impossible. Many of these were partners who had come in, and now he may have owed them a tremendous amount of money. Correct. They may have a reason to be pretty mad at him. And our suspect list kept growing. How many partners did that guy have anyway . About ten that we could find, there may be more. Detective burbridge began calling dougs partners and discovered most of them lived in or around washington. Anyone of them who could be considered a person of interest was hundreds or thousands of miles away from spokane the night he was murdered. I dont believe in coincidences like that. Coincidences that they were not there . Yes, sir. That they may have planned not to be there when something happened . Yes, sir. How did you know which one to target . I was running this investigation in about eight Different Directions trying to eliminate a lot of Business Partners, trying to see if he had a secret life. He had a lot of failed business dealings in his other businesses. So i had a lot of concerns. Angry exBusiness Partners . Angry current Business Partners . What, if anything did she have to do with it . Yeah. I mean, obviously, i didnt know at the time what he was doing. Coming up detectives learn about a charismatic couple kneedeep in dougs oil venture. They looked like ken and barbie, their perfectly white teeth and tans. Did they know anything about the murder . And then finally, investigators have someone to question. I researched his criminal history and knew he had a very significant criminal history. I was concerned, was he my hit man . Were going to Start Talking about some things honestly here. When dateline continues. And it helps prevent streaks and haze. Stop cleaning. Start swiffering i wanted more from my copd medicine thats why ive got the power of 1, 2, 3 medicines with trelegy. The only fdaapproved oncedaily 3in1 copd treatment. Trelegy the power of 1,2,3 trelegy 1,2,3 trelegy woman with trelegy and the power of 1, 2, 3, im breathing better. Trelegy works three ways to open airways, keep them open and reduce inflammation, for 24 hours of better breathing. Trelegy wont replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Trelegy is not for asthma. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. Think your copd medicine is doing enough . Maybe you should think again. Ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy and the power of 1, 2, 3. Trelegy, 1,2,3 woman save at trelegy. Com. And here we have another burst pipe in denmark. If you look close. Jamie, are there any interesting photos from your trip . Ouch, okay. Huh, boring, boring, you dont need to see that. Oh, here we go. Can you believe my client steig had never heard of a home and auto bundle or that renters could bundle . Wait, youre a lawyer . Only licensed in stockholm. What is happening . Jamie anyway, game show, kumite, cinderella story. You know karate . No, alan, i practice muay thai, completely different skillset. Walk to end alzheimers alzheis everywhere. Tion on every sidewalk, track, and trail across this country. All of us are raising funds for one goal a World Without alzheimers and all other dementia. Because this disease isnt waiting, neither are you. Take the first step on your walk right now. Go to alz dot org slash walk. Elberta carlile was inconsolable. Instantly, that night, that night, lost everything. Elbertas eldest daughter left her own family for a while to stay with her mom, try to keep her sane. She would wake up screaming every single night. And there was nothing i could do besides just hold her. It was horrible. The very thing the carliles hoped would create wealth, security, happiness had brought instead nothing but grief. But, remember, this, the evidence suggested, was a hit job. Somebody must have ordered dougs execution. So now the detectives try to figure out who. Did he have any disputes with anybody . Yes. Inevitable probably, when high stakes investors go after a prize, an oil lease, and doug had been promising potential investors returns that so far just hadnt materialized. Any number of partners might have felt theyd been taken for a ride. But who . And elberta who was no longer a suspect offered a possibility. Who did he have a dispute with . His name is James Henrikson. James henrikson. He was the plan who had gotten doug interested in the oil play in the first place. The man with his wife sarah were known as the barbie and ken of the oil patch. This guy worked for them. His name is rick airy. They stuck out like a couple of turds in a punch bowl. She was a barista. What was he like . He was calm, cool, collected, older man, goodlooking. He was fun. Wed always go out. We would go out. It was easy. I never thought id marry him or go to business with him. But thats what she did. They moved to the oil patch in 2011, got married in minot, north dakota, and by 2013, he was the charismatic face of a major trucking operation called blackstone, and she was the blond on his arm and the Senior Company official. Sarah signed the checks. Blackstone was the business doug first invested in, before he got interested in the oil lease. It was a big operation. 100 trucks hauling water to and from oil fracking sites. Very profitable. James let it be known that he was backed by a billion dollar trust fund. I was like, their guys a winner. A lot of money around. Were they making money . Yes, it sure seemed like it. And james was buff, all man. Its 20 degrees outside and hed be wearing a tee shirt. He wants you to see his guns. Hes showing them off. Theyre perfectly white teeth and tans. They looked like ken and barbie. They didnt fit in at all. Not a nickname sarah took to, mind you. No, i feel like i have somewhat of a brain, i dont want to be called just a barbie. Youre living in a town of men. 921. All jacked up on testosterone. Yeah, it was miserable. Every day was a plan on how to get out. With him . Yeah, we wanted to leave the oil field, but he just saw so much opportunity and money. He was like one day well get there. Doug carlile liked james and sarahs entrepreneurial style a lot. So when the chance to buy an oil lease came up they went in on it together. James kicked in 600,000. Doug only 40,000. They needed 2 million, remember. Yet, doug was saying hed be taking over. There were disputes, then, over control and money and accusations flew. The facts dougs son said. He basically said im concerned with what james is going to try to do. That was serious. And he said that if anything happens to me, you know, its James Henrikson. But, like the other partners, James Henrikson was far away when doug was killed, 700 miles away in wofford city, north dakota. Detectives pinged his phone and confirmed it. And then something happened that seemed straight out of some detective novel. Detective burbridge put out a plea for information from anybody whod done business with doug carlile, and what do you know . In walked a guy who could have just as easily been a murder suspect himself. Robert, thanks for coming down voluntarily. His name was robert delao. Sometimes a police informant. Hed served time on drug and weapons charges. I knew he had a very significant criminal history. I was concerned, was he my hit man or what was his involvement in this he knew doug carlile and James Henrikson. Why was he here . To tell the cops just in case they were wondering, that he didnt have anything to do with the murder. Did you drive somebody up there . No, no, no, i had nothing t