and i said, did he survive? and he said, no. >> steve pitt was unforgettable. >> he's one-of-a-kind. >> he was the first to die that week. hunted down by a man with a gun and a grudge. >> i felt that when this shooter crossed steve off, that he was moving down a list. >> a long list. >> he came running towards my vehicle. there was blood dripping from her face. >> six murders. >> in four days. >> this is a homicide investigation in overdrive, wasn't it? >> it was. >> a incity under siege. is >> there was a lot of fear. there was a lot of unrest in the community. people were desperate for a suspect. >> who else could have been on that list? >> i had my own personal terrorist. >> people don't get gunned down in their offices. >> n could those six lives have been saved? >> steve always said these things never happen in a vacuum. there are always warning signs. so moving him the way that we did was stunning to me. hello and welcome to dateline. forensic psychiatrist, steve pitt, was well known for his work on high profile criminal cases. when he was shot outside his phoenix office, it was a big story. nobody knew it yet, but his death was just the beginning of a terrifying murder spree. the victims all had something in common. but what? one man knew, but could he connect the dots before more lives were lost? here is josh with, "unraveled." >> for an agonizing stretch of nearly four days, the fear was palpable and paralyzing. >> the twists and turns don't end there. >> a killer was on the loose in and around phoenix, arizona. systematically shooting innocent victims. >> a massive man hunt underway. >> police worked around the clock desperate for leads. >> thwe're asking the public to remain vigilant. >> a long weekend of terror that would lead to a hard question. did any of it have to happen? because this was a tragedy many people saw coming. including the first and most high profile victim. >> he was like nobody else i ever met. and that's true to this day. >> back in 2002, natalie collins was a young lawyer defending a medical malpractice case. when she met a forensic psychiatrist named dr. steven pitt. >> he was very intellectually honest, whether you wanted his opinion or not, you got it. he was fair. >> pitt was nationally known for his work on cases like the columbine massacre, and the murder of jon ramsey. when they met again a few years later, he asked her to lunch. >> i took him up on the offer. hi the longest lunch i've ever had. it was hours. it was fabulous. i loved every minute of it. >> hours turned into years. they got engaged. >> he was a brilliant forensic psychiatrist, but he was, in my bias opinion, an even better human being. >> he had two sons with his ex- wife and they were the center of his world. >> he would say, work hard, don't say can't, be nice, and have fun. >> steve was a master at delving into someone's mind, understanding what made them tick. >> no matter who retained him or what they wanted him to say, he would tell you what he really thought. i'm sure you noticed that about him. >> i did. >> my name is dr. steven pitt. >> i interviewed steve pitt in 2016, for a vireport on the 20t anniversary of the ramsey case. >> i gave you some good answers, come on. >> three of them, yeah. >> a sharp guy with a big personality, and a sense of humor to match. >> god, that was so good the way you did that. >> thank you. >> through that, we got to know one another. >> when i met him and he sort of said to me, let's be friends, i'll come to los angeles and we'll hang out. i thought, absolutely. >> he could get anybody's story, but more importantly, he was interested in everybody and their story. >> he was also interested in crime and criminals. >> he read a lot of history about cereal killers. i think he thought his skills were well hesuited to that area he didn't scare easy. >> steve was aware some criminals he dealt with might pose a threat. >> i can recall a couple of specific instances where he showed me a photograph and he said, if you see this person, anywhere near you, you are to call the police. >> still, he always tried to calm natalie's nerves. >> i remember a dinner where he said to me, babe, relax. in these situations, there are bigger fish to fry than me. they will always go after a judge or an attorney before they ever come to me, so you don't need to worry, because we'll always have a warning. i will always have a warning. and i will know what to do. so, the circumstance, losing him the way that we did, was -- stunning to me. >> one of the rare times he was ever wrong. >> yeah. >> thursday, may 31, 2018, i saw steve about a week before. natalie, of course, saw him that morning. they made plans to meet after work. >> at 5:18, t i texted him and said, are you on your way? are you coming? he said, ten minute max. and i'll see you there. >> half an hour went by, then an hour, still no steve. >> that was unlike him. so i drove to his office. as i arrived at the office, i could see that something was really wrong. >> she saw ththe police and the yellow tape. >> i could see his range rover in the parking lot and i could see there were things strewn on the ground that i was hoping was medical supplies. i thought maybe they are working on him or somebody. i just knew that there was something wrong with him. >> cops weren't telling her anything. natalie was getting desperate. >> i called somebody that steve worked with who was a police officer, and asked him, what is happening? and i could hear from his voice, sorry, and he said, something really bad has happened. steve has been shot. and i said nothing for a second and then i said, did he survive? he said, no. and i don't really remember much after that. >> a man had confronted steve as he left work to meet natalie. witnesses reported hearing shouts and then gunfire. based on witness descriptions, phoenix pd developed this sketch of the suspect. a white male, bald, wearing a dark hat with a short brim. >> does that look like anybody you knew? >> no. >> it didn't look like any of the people steve showed photos of over the years? >> absolutely not. >> natalie stayed at the scene until around 4:00 a.m. when her fiance's body was removed. something occurred to her. >> because the shooter was still not in custody, i did ask several officers whether it was safe for me to go home. one of them tosaid, we don't kn the answer to that, ma'am. >> they also didn't know just how much worse it was going to get. >> or, how quickly.. a city is gripped by fear as the death toll climbs higher with two new shootings. coming up. >> she came running towards my vehicle. there was blood dripping from her face. >> ten minutes after midnight this morning, we received a call of a shooting at the business complex behind me. >> and natalie has a hunch. >> i knew there would be a link between steve's murder and those murders, because people don't get gunned down in their offices in scottsdale, it doesn't happen. >> when "dateline" continues. os means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. ♪ now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. 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>> the assumption was, this was about marshall. >> did you feel more of a threat after the second or third murder scenes are announced? >> honestly, i was scared. i also knew, or believed that this was personal and i felt in my heart of hearts that when this shooter crossed steve off his list, that he was moving down a list. >> if the killer did have a list, police were racing to find out why were these people on it? what did they have in common? investigators collected shell casings at karen's office and discovered they were 40 caliber. same as at the other two crime scenes. four murders now in less than 31 hours. all possibly committed by the same person. there was one promising clue. dna on a shell casing recovered at the scene of steve pitt's murder. investigators ran it through their system, but there was no match. by 10:00 a.m. saturday morning, police opened an emergency center and tips were pouring in. >> there was a lot of fear. there was a lot of unrest in the community. people were desperate for a suspect. >> no one yet knew about this man, 200 miles away. watching the news of the murders unfold. he was a former phoenix police detective and he had a sudden sickening feeling. >> i was certain who it was. coming up. you were 18, he was 22. >> correct. >> your first boyfriend? >> yes. >> the start of something very evil. >> i had my own terrorist. my own personal terrorist. >> when "dateline ," continues. business. it's not a nine-to-five proposition. it's all day and into the night. it's all the things that keep this world turning. the go-tos that keep us going. the places we cheer. and check in. they all choose the advanced network solutions and round the clock partnership from comcast business. see why comcast business powers more small businesses than anyone else. get started for $49.99 a month plus ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. don't wait- call today. four murders in three days. police were on a desperate hunt to find the killer. some 200 miles away, rick was watching for developments. he had spent a lifetime in law enforcement. he started out at the phoenix police department. even worked under cover. later, he became a private investigator and when he heard about steve pitt's murder, his experience told him. >> it had to be related to his work. >> he knew pitt worked on criminal cases, so the universe of suspects was vast. then he heard about the murders of the two paralegals in scottsdale, and suddenly, that universe shrank. >> once they announced on the news that it was elizabeth feldman's office, i was certain who it was. >> you knew? >> i knew. >> knew exactly how steve pitt and the feldman law firm were connected and who was behind the murders. rick knew because years earlier, he had taken on the case of a scottsdale doctor, named connie jones. >> yes, i had my own terrorist. my own personal terrorist. >> connie was on summer break from college in 1984, when she started dating a young soldier named dwight jones. dwight was stationed at fort bragg, north carolina. >> you were 18, he was 22. >> correct. young. too young. >> your first boyfriend >> >> yes. he told me he wanted to be an attorney. so he seemed to have aspirations. >> they married in 1988, after her first year of medical school. dwight left the army after three years. and soon, connie realized that while she was working hard to become a doctor, dwight was doing nothing. >> i don't recall him ever working more than two or three days, because every job that he would get, there would be some issue. so, we lived in medical school on my financial aid. >> that's probably not how you grew up, is it? >> that is not. my family has the best work ethic you can think of. >> after medical school, connie began a residency in psychiatry. soon found it hit too close to home. her own husband she came to realize was mentally ill. >> he was depressed. he would stay in the bed for three or four days. and then he became very hostile towards me. >> what form did that take? >> um, verbal abuse, emotional abuse. again, if he were mad, he would not talk for a week to punish me. >> connie switched her focus to radiology and she encouraged dwight to seek mental health treatment. >> i wanted to help him. who doesn't want to help their spouse >> >> dwight refused. she says she endured eight years of escalating hostility and verbal abuse before telling dwight she wanted a divorce. >> and, he layed on the floor for three days crying. and said that it was his mental illness. that he loved me. that he didn't want to lose me, and he would do whatever he needed to do. >> so connie stayed and in 1997, she gave birth to a son. >> after the child was born, he actually seemed to be better. >> being a father was good for him? >> it was. it did seem to give him a purpose. >> dwight watched their child during the day, but connie says he still left most of the care giving to her. and soon enough, connie says dwight's emotional abuse worsened. he became obsessive and controlling. >> after i had my son, i thought it was my obligation to try to make this work. i mean, i really did not see myself in life as a divorced person. >> but how do you make things work when you have no idea who is coming home at night? >> the garage door was open and we didn't know what we were getting. >> dwight's good times became more and more rare. then, he began to abuse her physically. but at the same time, carefully. >> you know, if you punch someone in the eye, that kind of thing is obvious that you're being abused, but hitting you with their forearm, physically holding me down, pushing me into walls. those things don't leave bruises, but they are very violent. >> he did all of those to you? >> he did. >> sometimes it did leave a mark, like the time she says dwight broke her sternum. >> he hit me with the ball of his hand in my chest. >> you didn't call the police? >> i didn't. >> because? >> at that time, i did not have a plan of exit. i was sleeping with a knife under my pillow, because i thought he was so out of control. >> by early 2009, connie said dwight was directing his anger and threats at their child. >> particularly, murder-suicide of himself and the child so i would suffer the rest of my life knowing that my child is dead because i didn't do what he said. >> connie knew she needed to get out. but she also knew a woman who had been killed while trying to leave her abusive boyfriend. so connie made plans to escape in secret. >> i start preparing to get some of my important paperwork another location, some clothes and things that we might need. >> that's when she consulted family law attorney, elizabeth feldman. the name rick would recognize from the news years later. connie also placed audio recorders around her home. >> so, if things seemed to be heated, so i could document what he was doing. >> and that's exactly what happened on the night of may 6, 2009. >> i'll show you. >> he's over this 11-year-old child and he has his finger to his chest, in his face, yelling at him. and so i say, you know, leave him alone. he's calling me every name you can think of. >> on the tape, you can hear dwight threatening to kill connie. >> i'll take you out to the pool and drown you. >> if i called -- if i called 911, that i would be dead before they got there. >> leave me alone. >> call and see what happens. do you want to see? >> connie did call 911 and a s.w.a.t. team surrounded the house. but dwight held his son hostage and wouldn't leave. >> after an hour long standoff, dwight finally surrendered. >> so as he walked out, the child was physically in front of him. >> like a shield? >> like a shield. he was inconsoleable. as a mother to see your child in that distress, it's pretty devastating. >> dwight was arrested and connie filed for divorce. often, that means the end of something. instead, it was just the beginning of the worst chapter in connie's relationship with dwight jones. coming up. connie reaches out for help. >> i had people full-time on the school, where the son goes. if connie went to work, somebody with her while she was working. >> but would even that be enough to protect her from dwight? >> he told me that he would wait until my defenses were down and then he would get me. >> when "dateline" continues. when enamel is gone, you cannot get it back. but you can repair it with pronamel repair. it penetrates deep into the tooth to actively repair acid weakened enamel. i recommend pronamel repair. with new pronamel repair mouthwash you can enhance that repair beyond brushing. they work great together. nature's bounty hair growth. clinically shown to help grow thicker, fuller hair with just one capsule a day of advanced hair complex. conquer hair thinning... ...and fall in love with your hair all over again. only from nature's bounty. “look at all those snacks, you must be a king!” “i did just pay 60% less for my ticket with the gametime app.” “it's the best place to get last-minute deals on tickets.” “i guess i'm just a better fan than you.“ "(crowd cheering) i've got to get the gametime app.” “download the gametime app to get great deals on last-minute tickets.” my name is oluseyi “down and some of myme app favorite momentss throughout my life are watching sports with my dad. now, i work at comcast as part of the team that created our ai highlights technology, which uses ai to detect the major plays in a sports game. giving millions of fans, like my dad and me, new ways of catching up on their favorite sport. , i'm richard lui. pro palestinian demonstrators continue to protest at columbia university despite mass arrests and suspensions. organizers were calling on columbia to divest from israel. more than 100 students were arrested. the house passing a $95 billion package that includes aid to ukraine, israel, and taiwan. this comes as ukraine's president expressed an urgent need for weapons and supplies to fight off russian attacks. the measure heads to the senate. for now, back to dateline. welcome back to dateline. i'm craig melvin. four people had been gunned down just miles apart and private investigator was convinced dwight jones was the killer. rick's insight into dwight's mental state developed over time in the aftermath of that terrifying night connie jones managed to escape her husband's rage. here again, is josh with unraveled. >> dr. connie jones spent 22 years married to a mentally ill and abusive husband. she was about to learn her personal ordeal might have led to a crisis for a whole city. >> i'll take you out -- >> back in 2009, after that frightening standoff with police at their home in scotsdale, arizona, dwight jones was arrested on multiple charges, but ultimately pleaded guilty to a single count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. he was prohibited from owning a firearm during his probation, just 12 months. >> it is minimal. it's like being a disturbance in your neighborhood. it's not holding your child hostage for an hour. >> dwight was also committed to a mental institution for evaluation. connie remembers the report on dwight said he was not an imminent threat. >> but, the psychiatrist that evaluated him called me and told me that he was dangerous and that i should get a body guard. >> enter him? >> enter richard england. >> connie hired rick, the cop turned private investigator, to do surveillance on dwight. and to assess how much of a threat he posed. rick and his team tailed dwight, took photos and video of him. they also combed through dwight's cluttered debris- filled room in the family's home. and found some books with seriously disturbing titles. >> how to get even with people. how to injure people in street fighting. it starts to put a makeup of somebody trying to plan something. >> he made sure she and her son always had eyes on them. >> i had people full-time on the school where the son goes. if connie went to the grocery store, if she had a public event, if she went to work, there was somebody with her. >> england moved connie and her son among three remote safe houses. this is like a chess game. >> very much like a chess game. i have to anticipate ten steps ahead of him. >> it was during the battle of custody of their child that dwight and connie met with a forensic psychiatrist. his name, dr. steven pitt. steve video taped his interviews with them as part of the custody case. >> can you do me a favor and spell your name for me? >> connie jones. >> okay. >> i thought he was exceptional. his report, i thought, was very detailed and accurate. >> dr. pitts report matched what rick had come to believe about dwight jones. without psychiatric intervention and treatment, mr. jones mental state is going to continue to unravel. he will become increasingly paranoid, likely psychotic, and pose an even greater risk for perpetrating violence. when dwight's probation ended, connie obtained an order of protection that prohibited him from owning guns. >> this case is the scariest case i've ever been involved in. >> remember karen colby? the therapist awakened in the middle of the night by the cops? she worked with connie and dwight's son for two years starting in 2009. >> divorces are a dime a dozen. >> this was something else? >> yeah. violence, potential violence. violence that had already been committed. somebody who was clearly on a path to commit more violence. >> connie and dwight's divorce went to trial in family court. where karen colby and steve pitt presented their findings. in 2010, the judge granted connie full custody of her son. >> i'm thinking i'm reading through the decree, sounding pretty good to me so far. >> and so dwight is to no more contact ever. instead, it says what? >> it is mandated that he have supervised visits with him. he has the parental right to see him. >> what did you think when you read that? >> shocked. it didn't make sense to me. they took his right as a parent even over the safety of the child. >> what's more, under arizona law, dwight was entitled to spousal support. in this case, $6,000 a month. >> he threatened you, he hit you, he says he's going to murder you. he says he's going to murder your child. you have to pay him spousal support? and you're on the hook for his attorneys? >> yes. yes. and i have to pay for the supervised visitations because he's a threat. >> what did this cost you financially? >> well, what he got was over $650,000. >> there came a point where connie could no longer afford my services or anybody else's. i couldn't walk away. >> you think, if you're not there, she's going to get killed? >> you really don't need to be dr. pitt to come up with a determination of what will eventually happen. >> their worries only increased in 2013, when connie's final protective order against dwight expired. and he was able to legally purchase a gun. >> he told me that he would wait until my defenses were down and then he would get me. >> by then, connie had started carrying a gun of her own. rick trained her how to use it, if and when the day came that dwight confronted her. >> i prepared her for it, mentally, physically, and emotionally. >> the court ordered dwight get psychological help. connie built a successful career as a radiologist. she even wrote a book on breast cancer screening. by 2016, dwight's spousal support had ended. so had the visits with his son. connie no longer had to see her ex-husband in court. but she and rick remained hypervigilant, especially about her son. >> you don't get to just say, let's go to the movies. you have to scan the parking lot. >> in early june, 2018, when rick saw the news about the shootings of steve pitt and the two paralegals at elizabeth feldman's law firm, he came to an undenial conclusion. >> i was certain who it was. it's dwight jones. >> his first thought was, he had to find connie. >> i immediately start to text her to call me. start calling her phone. i'm getting no response. >> then, rick heard about the murder in karen colby's office. he became more concerned. after a tense hour, connie called back. she was okay. rick's next call was to phoenix police. >> explained to him who i thought was responsible. what his vehicle description was, where he was at, and how the three crime scenes were linked. >> it was just the tip the cops needed. now they had to find dwight jones before he struck again. coming up. >> this was a homicide investigation, kind of in overdrive. >> it was. >> closing in own a killer. >> we knew he was our suspect and murder. >> not before police find more victims. >> mine got absolutely dropped. >> when "dateline" continues. but this is my story. 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it belonged to the fountain hills couple. mary and bryon had been killed with their own weapon. there were now six dead and dwight jones was not in custody. but investigators had a good idea where to find him. coming up, finally, a killer surrounded. >> they carefully and quietly started to evacuate the hotel. >> he began firing at them. somewhere between 7 and 8 rounds were fired. >> when dateline continues. dupixent is an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that's not for sudden breathing problems. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. get help right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor about new or worsening joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. ask your specialist about dupixent. 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welcome back. arizona police believe suspected spree killer, dwight jones, had claimed two new victims. his occasional tennis partner and her boyfriend had been gunned down in their suburban home. investigators were confident they had tied dwight to a total of six murders over a four-day rampage. now, an intensive man hunt was underway. this case was hurdling toward its end with more twists to come. here's josh with the conclusion of unraveled. >> early morning, june 4, 2018, police were closing in on suspected multiple murder, dwight jones. >> they eventually followed him to an extended stay hotel where he was living for nine years. they carefully and quietly started to evacuate the surrounding rooms and the rest of the hotel. >> police described what happened next. >> he began firing at them. somewhere between 7 and 8 rounds were fired. all officers were safe and okay. and eventually, in this action, they found that mr. jones had killed himself. self-inflicted gun shot wound. >> your ex-husband is dead now. >> yes. >> do you feel safe, finally? >> yes. >> with a tremendous amount of courage, and with rick's help, connie jones and her son lived to see her personal terrorist's last day on this earth. >> but other people were killed, innocent people, good people, productive people, that is a hard thing to come to grips with. >> six people gone. three of whom apparently had nothing at all to do with dwight jones. just in the wrong place at the wrong time. like the paralegals. laura anderson and veleria sharp, both in their late 40s. both wives and mothers. neither had worked on the jones case. veleria's husband. >> i heard people say, they mean well, that god needed another angel. i think that's a bunch of malarky. he didn't need to take a mother and a wife to get one. >> the therapist, marshall lavine. >> if you were in your office, i doubt you would be sitting here talking to me today. >> i'm sure that's true. >> what's that like? >> that's hard to think about. i don't really know how to think about that, to be honest. >> the grief is still raw for natalie collins. >> are you going the change the way you live? >> i hope not. i don't think steve would want that. he was not about hiding in the shadows. i'm not going to let him have died for nothing and i will find a way to make him proud. >> no one can say for sure exactly what set off dwight jones. after the bloodshed was over, some video surfaced that jones had posted before the murders. >> hello, youtube, and welcome to my channel. >> in them, dwight raged against his wife and the professionals who worked on the custody case. >> you've ruled i have a psychiatric problem based on some people she hired. >> the videos underscored troubling questionsful dwight jones was obviously disturbed. why wasn't he stopped? did the legal system fail everyone? could six murders have been prevented? >> i do feel very strongly that the court system did not protect me. >> connie jones says her ex- husband was violent for years, but the court ignored one red flag after another. >> my life wasn't valued. my son's life wasn't valued enough to stop him, which harmed other people. >> we failed her as a society and i think as a physician with resources she had, i wonder how many other women and families that were failing as a society. >> does the court system both criminal and family court, do those systems understand domestic violence? do they react in the right way? >> no, not necessarily. >> ali is the former ceo of the arizona coalition to end sexual and domestic violence. >> they had no problem whatsoever taking a position, a strong position around duis or driving under the influence. for some reason, we have had a very hard time over the years making the same argument with regards to domestic violence. >> habitual drunk drivers are quickly and legally separated from their car keys. but dwight jones, a documented domestic abuser, did not lose his right to own a gun. after holding his son captive in that standoff with police in 2009, he was allowed to plead guilty to disorderly conduct, which did not prevent him from legally buying the handgun he used to kill. and there was the mental health treatment strongly recommended by dr. steven pitt, and ordered by the court. dwight didn't go. >> the court did not follow up with that. there was no consequence for that. >> just before his death, steve pitt was proposing a story to dateline, about educating people to see the warning signs of on coming violence. >> there are always red flags and warning signs. it's not about blame. it's about prevention. and if we don't teach people what those signs are and we don't modify our system so people know who to reach out for, then we're failing. >> my message is, you're responsible for your own safety. >> if you count on the system to protect you, you're making a mistake. >> i went in very naive. >> the sad truth is that some stories don't have happy endings. sometimes, particularly in real life, the bad guys win. maybe connie and rick are the best living proof that some beauty can blossom from the darkest of situations. >> a friend of mine told me that he really likes you. i said no, he doesn't. he's my friend. then i started paying attention. oh, i think he does. >> it turned out, my age, what was important is not only is she beautiful, but she's intelligent. >> somehow, out of fear, danger, and the need for protection, grew love. connie and rick married in december of 2013. >> you did your job. you protected her. she is still here. >> i'm happy about that. >> you feel like the universe owes you happiness here? because i do. yeah. >> well, we are. we have a very good family. i'm proud of it. i've been married twice. this is the only husband i've ever had. that's all for this edition of "dateline," i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. good morning and welcome to this sunday edition