Reporter but what if the husband didnt . You wont find any dna, fingerprint, bloods of his in the house. Reporter could someone else be the real killer . Im wondering what was this man capable of. So much tragedy, so much heartbreak. It was very emotional for me. We just kept waiting for them to figure out that they had it wrong. Reporter it was the second of july, 2008, early evening in a fine old town called prescott, arizona. Sun going down, air cooling down to a fine evening warm. Here at the towns historic rodeo grounds, refugees from the summer heat in phoenix, 2 hours and 25 degrees away settled into the stands to enjoy the annual exploits of the cowboys. At the very same time, a few miles away on the edge of town, a woman named Carol Kennedy jogged along a well worn path at the base of granite mountain. Sometime after 7, she turned in at her big back yard here on a street called bridle path. Trotted past the stone labyrinth shed laid out here years earlier to mark the turn of the millennium, and arrived at the back door of the house she intended to inhabit for the rest of her natural days. But of course, Carol Kennedy had no idea that this was going to be her last day. And, no, it would not be natural at all. That is the biggest loss of my life to this day. Its profound. Its piercing. Its constant. Reporter Carol Kennedy was in, as they say, a good place in her life. This is her friend Katherine Morris carol was the epitome of kindness and living a life from a perspective of having an open heart and being loving. Reporter before she became a close friend, Katherine Morris was carols student at prescott college. She was very wellrespected and admired, her classes were always full, very difficult to get into. What was she like . She was magnetic. And she was always sort of searching for the truth. And you just were gravitated to her. Charisma that kinda pulled her students in, especially maybe you. Uhhuh, uhhuh. She was soft and inviting. Im Carol Kennedy. I live in prescott, arizona. Reporter you get a sense of her personality in this 2006 interview, in which she was asked about her passion for teaching. Its such a gift to feel like you get to give seeds to this first row here and then they turn around and give it to rows behind them. Reporter and in fact she shared those passions with the man who was her husband for 25 years. Love of her life, really, Steve Democker. They were crazy for each other. Reporter sharon democker is steves sister. Carol was really easy to love. She was kind of a natural fit in the family. She was just immediately a sister to all of us. Reporter all of us being the democker family. High achievers, all of them. Sharon is a doctor. Its an accomplished bunch. One of my friends said, theres not a weak link in this group. Reporter carol and steve got married in his parents backyard overlooking lake ontario, near rochester, new york. An outdoor wedding for a couple who loved adventure. Steve was the one that kind of w started the adventuring side of things. So first there was hiking, and then skiing, and mountain climbing, and kayaking. Reporter they moved around a bit, as people do, and wound up eventually prescott. Which proved to be the Perfect Place to raise their two bright, attractive, daughters, katie and charlotte. Theyre amazing. I think that its really a testimony to the kinda parents that steve and carol were. The girls were their first priority. Reporter steve became the dean of prescott college. Carol taught psychology there. But life is a river. Never the same for long. Steve decided to change careers. Left the academic life became a financial advisor. Very successful too. And there were other changes. More difficult ones. Nobody knows all of what goes on inside a marriage. But i did talk with both of them about it. And they both struggled but their lives were moving in different directions. Reporter and, much as they still cared for each other, there were infidelities. Steve had an affair. They decided to separate. Carol loved steve fiercely. She fought hard for her marriage until the end. Reporter but, in 2008, after more than 25 years of marriage, 5 living apart, steve and carol divorced. It was a long, painful process and after it was final, carol went to a nearby lake where she called katherine. She was sobbing. And at first when she called me i was like, oh, oh no. And then i realized that the that the sobbing and the wailing on the phone was it was a mixture of it was cathartic. Yeah. Yeah. It absolutely. Reporter time for a fresh start. Carol had left teaching by that time, was focused on a new passion, painting. Her art was developing. She was really doing well with that and taking off with that. Reporter of course she remained close to her daughters, but she also stayed close to steve. And in fact, just a few days before that july morning, the whole family went to the airport together, to see katie off on a study abroad trip to south africa. Charlotte was staying with her dad in prescott. Nothing ahead now but the long, easy, days of summer. As she jogged the last few yards to her house, carol passed by the guest cottage shed rented out as a way to help her pay expenses. Its 50 feet away from the main house and it has all of its own kitchen and bath and shower and rooms. Reporter it was comforting, in a way, to have someone else with her on the property, out here at the edge of things. Mans name was jim knapp. Divorced father. Bit of an odd duck, some people said. But easy to get along with. At least, thats what carol told her friends. The man didnt cause any trouble. Jim knapp was just sort of this freespirited surfer dude from hawaii who hang ten. But she took him in as a border . It was my understanding that he was, had been diagnosed with cancer. And i think they sort of cosupported each other through a lot of the painful times that they were both experiencing. Reporter once inside her house, carol put together a salad for dinner, answered a few emails. Settled in for an evening alone. She picked up the phone and called her mother ruth who lived way off in nashville, tennessee. She was an amazing daughter who still called her mom every day. Reporter ruth was 83. The call, a nightly ritual. And then at 8 pm, the oddest thing. The line went dead. But not before ruth heard something rather terrifying. Ruth tried to call back. Nothing. And there she was, so far away, and now worried. So she decided to call the Sheriffs Department, whose headquarters is here in downtown prescott. Sheriffs office, maria. How can i help you . Ah, yes. My name is ruth kennedy and im calling from nashville, tennessee. I was on the phone with my daughter and she screamed and said, oh no and the phones gone dead. And is there anything you can do . Can you go check . Reporter oh no. Those two words played back, again and again, in ruths worried brain. And so began a mystery. And a story too unbelievable even for some of its most intimate participants. What happened to Carol Kennedy . The answer to thatquestion would take years to answer. Not just what happened to carol, but who was behind it . She didnt have any enemies . No, none. We were just stunned. Restoring body. Renewing volume. And reviving your vavavoom. Introducing womens rogaine® foam. More is beautiful. ™ power over 50 tools with a single battery. And then, let it snow. Lets do this. More saving. More doing. Thats the power of the home depot. Right now save 20 bucks on this ryobi drill kit. Alkaseltzer plus presents the cold truth. I have a cold, with terrible chest congestion. Better take something. Ill catch up later. Awww. Truth is, theraflu severe cold doesnt treat chest congestion. Really . New alkaseltzer plus day powder rushes relief to your worst cold symptoms plus chest congestion. Oh, what a relief it is. Here we go woooo woooo and now, alkaseltzer plus has a complete line of powders to treat your worst cold symptoms. How can you see yourself in new glasswithout your glasses . At lenscrafters, our unique camera and screen system lets you compare yourself in four different frames at time. Making sure all your vision choices are clear. Lenscrafters loves eyes yyou would need like a bunch of those to clean this mess. Then ill use a bunch of them. What are you doing . Dish issues . Get cascade complete. One pac cleans better than six pacs of the bargain brand combined. Cascade. Now thats clean. Reporter Carol Kennedy and her mother ruth were having their nightly phone call. Suddenly the phone line went dead. Ruth tried back, couldnt reach carol. Then she called the Sheriffs Department. Shes out there and she screamed and said oh, no and the phone was dropped and im at my wits end. Did she call you or occurred . She called me tonight. She calls me every night. Because im 83 and she worries about me. All of a sudden she just screamed and said oh no. And then i havent been able to get her to answer the phone back. Im frightful something bads happened. Okay, ruth. And who does your daughter live with . Shes recently divorced. Shes alone. Whats your daughters name . Carol kennedy. Reporter did you notice what she said . Recently divorced. Certainly the operator heard her. Do you believe theres any reason she would be concerned if her husband or something came back . Oh, i dont think so. No, i dont think its that kind of a thing, no. Okay. Reporter family and friends all knew even after their divorce steve and carol still cared deeply for each other, and their two daughters. That connection between the two of them interests me. They took time to nurture their relationship and to spend time together and to do things that they enjoyed doing and bringing up katie and charlotte. Reporter but this was hardly the time for reminiscing. Carol wouldnt answer her phone and ruth was frantic. All right. Well send somebody out to check on her and have them give you a call. Reporter you can imagine what that was like for ruth so far away waiting for a phone call. She knew carol had a border that offbeat guy jim knapp, but ruth didnt know how to reach him. Steve would know what to do. So she called him on his cell phone. And when he didnt pick up, she left him this message. Hey, this is ruth kennedy. I was on the phone with carol and she screamed and said oh no and i cant get her to answer me back. I wonder if you could see what you can find out and let me know something. Reporter by that time it was dark. Steve and carols daughter charlotte and her thenboyfriend were at that moment at steves house waiting for him to come home. Jacob was actually living there, but he tried to sort out a few issues with his parents. What was your relationship like with him . And what was charlottes relationship like . Charlotte was very close with steve. Hed offered me to stay with him before. You know, try to figure something out, just to make my situation with my parents better. I had a lot of respect for him. Definitely looked up to him. Reporter but that evening steve, an avid outdoorsman, was overdue from a Mountain Bike ride. And it was getting late. Really late actually. It was very odd. Wed usually have dinner pretty late there. You know, it was normal to have dinner at 9 00, 9 30, when he hadnt come home around that time is when we started to get a little worried. Like maybe hed crashed or gotten hurt or something. Reporter whatd you do . Charlotte called his cell phone. No answer. Reporter did it go straight to voicemail . Yeah. Reporter anyway, hungry for dinner they went to the store for groceries. While we were at the store it was probably around 10 15 is when we got a call from steve and he told us he got a flat tire and he was at the Workout Center and going to finish up his work out there. Reporter and what . His phone had been off or something . What happened to his phone . He said his phone had died. Reporter while he was out there having a flat tire . Right. Reporter steve was in the shower when they came back. They made a quick dinner, vegetable stir fry. It was late, but then again it was a mild summer night. Not a care in the world it seemed. No idea what was happening at the house on bridle path. Im kind of getting worried about you. Reporter panic begins. A daughter rushes to the scene. What would she find . She just immediately broke down. Started crying pretty hard. Coulu fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Everybody knows that. Well, did you know certain cartoon characters should never have an energy drink . Action blahbechtblah blublublubblah geico®. Introducing the birds of america collection. Fifty stunning, handpainted plates, commemorating the state birds of our proud nation. Blahbechtblah blublublubblah geico®. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. My dad brought me out here when. Anyway. I get a strange magic dad did you see that . got a strange magic hey dad wait up musica . Pretty close to being finished. Reporter thats when steve told them about a strange phone call he received from carols brother. Who told him that apparently carols home phone suddenly cut out when she was talking to her mother ruth, and nobody could reach her. How did charlotte react to that . She was worried. Reporter charlotte said she texted her mom earlier that evening. Everything seemed fine, then. But now . She called her mother. Voicemail. Hey mom. Its char. I heard from grandmother that something happened while you guys were on the phone and she was kind of worried about you. So, i wanted to text you to see if everything was okay. Now im kind of getting worried about you. So if you want to text me back or call me or something just let me know that youre okay and that everythings okay. Reporter the beginnings of panic bubbled up in charlottes brain. She and her boyfriend called around to local hospitals. But nobody named Carol Kennedy had been admitted to any of them. So this is night time, was there any thought of going over there . Yeah. We talked about it. Reporter steve was concerned about carol, of course. But, as her now exhusband, he had another concern too. Steve had expressed that he wasnt really comfortable with it because, you know, they had just finalized their divorce and, you know, he didnt feel comfortable invading her privacy if she was with, you know, another guy on a date or Something Like that, so. Mmhm. We had decided that charlotte and i would go out there and check on her. Just kind of see, you know, if anything was out of the ordinary. Reporter it was around midnight when they drove out to carols place on bridle path. Having promised to call steve the minute they got there. Do you remember what it was like driving over there . It was very quiet. I dont really think we spoke very much at all on the way there. Because . Just nervous, you know. Little anxious . Right. Do you remember pulling up to the house . Yes. Very vividly. Reporter at that moment charlotte was on the phone with her dad. As soon as we got to the top of the hill you could see, the police, you know, the sheriffs lights and all the cars and, you know, just the worst thoughts are kind of going through, you know, my mind at that point. You know, the almost kind of thing that hits you here before it hits you here. Right. Yeah. Kind of feel it in your stomach first, for sure. And we got closer to the house and we saw a caution tape and all of, you know, people running around and everything. We had pulled up and stopped on the side of the road and two sheriffs walked up on either side of the car and we rolled the windows down. Did this person know who you were . I think he had asked, you know, were you guys just passing through . And charlotte said, no this is my moms house. And so, im sorry to tell you but, you know, carol passed away. At that point she just immediately broke down, started crying pretty hard. Reporter charlotte dropped the phone. Fell to pieces. Were you frightened . Scared a little bit. Really more so for charlotte, just you know not really, i mean, even now i dont think i could i could figure it out how to console someone in that situation. Reporter maybe steve would know what to do. I picked up the cell phone and told steve what had happened. He needed to come down and be with charlotte. And steve . He was taken aback. You know, it was almost kind of disbelief, like he didnt really know what to say really. Kind of hear him choking back, some tears a little bit. And that was, you know, was hard. Reporter right away steve rushed over to carols house. A detective had a recorder rolling. You can hear charlotte sobbing. And steve talking. The last time i was out here was i dont know. Im sorry. I dont know. Its been a while. Reporter someone else talked to the detectives, too. A man who showed up just minutes after the deputies got there. Jim knapp, carols boarder. The man who had been living in the guest house. I cant remember the month i moved in. Reporter and jim knapp had a lot to say about carol, but he didnt stop there. Coming up. It was certainly a gruesome scene. Reporter blood drops. Shoe prints. The clues tell a story. And the man in the guest cottage has a story too. Aflac and a gentle wavelike motion. Ahhhahhhhhh. Liberate your spine. Ahhhahhhhhh. Aflac and reach, toes blossoming. Not that great at yoga. Yeah, but when i slipped a disk he paid my claim in just four days. Ahh four days . Yep. See why speed matters, at aflac. Com. Please no. For those headaches that just arent bad enough for a lot of medicine, theres new excedrin mild headache. 35 less medicine plus a booster to end everyday headaches fast. Please oh, what a headache actually. My headaches gone. Excedrin mild headache. Wow, that was fast only abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. It penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. Dont tough it out, knock it out, fast. Abreva. Dry skin heal it. Want to hibernate . With nivea extended moisture body lotion. It intensively moisturizes for 48 hours. Thats twice as long as the leading lotion claims. Soft and smooth all winter. With nivea. And what dinner is complete without the delicious taste of Ocean Spray Cranberries . Both happy thanksgiving okay, who likes yams . Everyone wants to be the best. But what does that really mean . To us, it means giving you a wide selection of products, both online and instore. Expert advice. Our geek squad agents to get you up and running. And thanks to our price match guarantee, youll always get an unbeatable price. Because best isnt just in a name, its everything we stand for. Reporter just before 9pm, july 2nd, just around the time Carol Kennedys worried family members were recording phone messages to each other, a Yavapai County sheriffs deputy was dispatched to ca