suddenly changed his looks. >> and in fact, when he showed up at work that morning, he was beardless. >> there was only one problem -- he had a rock-solid alibi. >> where did that leave you? >> worried about my case. >> that's when the phone rang. >> he had no voice, and i did. >> a tip, a tire track, and a case one detective will never forget. >> it was a shot in the dark, but i took it. >> i'm lester holt, and this is "dateline." here's keith morrison with "a perfect spot." >> reporter: a winter's night in a southern forest. the ink-black darkness parted briefly to their headlights, then closed around them like a shroud as they made their way in separate cars through the foggy overcast. and then, here it was. the ragged clearing, the muddy patch of sand and dirt. here, away from the whole world, what a place for their valentine's tryst. as if they could see, without the artificial light so much as a hand in front of their faces or the fate lurking out there in the dark. waiting. up on a hot-air balloon in the sky. but what a way to begin a love story. better, probably, the hot-air balloons the man so loved. and the motorcycles on which, together, in daylight, they discovered their own special place, their remote forest clearing in a place called belton bridge park. though park is much too grand a word for their little pull-out beside the chattahoochee river north of atlanta, georgia. >> i knew them both very well. >> reporter: they were richard and stacey schoeck. and it was another love, their love of scouting, that won the admiration of greg gaugler. >> reporter: how'd you meet them? >> both of our sons were cub scouts. >> reporter: with kids, boys especially, they were naturals. >> stacey was a ball of energy, full of ideas, would literally drag us to do things. >> reporter: the go-getter? >> the go-getter. and we also jokingly called her :mama spreadsheet," because everything that she did had to be laid out in a spreadsheet and -- >> reporter: what a planner. >> she was. >> reporter: scouting is how bill fanning got to know them, too. >> richard was a good motivator and i saw how much fun he was having. and so i kind of asked if i could tag along and got involved with scouts myself. >> reporter: stacey was a den leader for the cub scout pack. she pretty good with the kids, too? >> she was pretty good with the kids, too. yeah, she was. she and richard, they worked well together. >> reporter: as they did with her three sons, greg was surprised, he said, when they told him that, biologically, the kids were stacey's. >> i just naively thought that they were his children. >> reporter: because it looked like that in -- >> it looked like that. >> reporter: -- in the way he treated them and they treated him. >> oh, yeah, oh, yeah. >> reporter: so when richard officially adopted the younger two of the three boys, cousin connie was thrilled. >> my heart melted. like, i was just -- i was like, "that is, like, the best thing." >> and he wanted to adopt those kids because he loved those children and those children loved him. >> reporter: richard himself marched to the beat of his own drum. >> my brother was always a big kid. >> reporter: and, said his big sister, most certainly not a suit-and-tie sort of person, could not sit down behind a desk. >> he had to be out and about. he was a very good athlete. >> reporter: kind of like a pied piper to his niece. >> he would roller skate with us or throw ball with us or color with us. he was our cool uncle. >> reporter: no wonder. how many uncles take their 5-year-old niece and 7-year-old nephew for a ride in a hot-air balloon. >> i could barely see over the edge. it was just cool seeing just skies and clouds all around you. >> reporter: pam martin was one of his balloon buddies. >> people would fight over him and say, "can i have richard today?" he was just the best crew person. and we just liked being around him because he's just very eccentric and very funny. >> reporter: and stacey? >> i liked her. she was friendly. she was nice. >> reporter: a happily blended family, far as anybody could see. stacey was primary breadwinner. she administered a sizeable medical practice. richard was a maintenance manager but remained the main caregiver for the kids. and together, the two of them were, well, people noticed. >> they always gave each other kisses, hugs. so they seemed wonderful together. >> reporter: all of which may explain why, on valentine's night, 2010, richard and stacey decided to meet, maybe even make out a little, at their special place here in the woods. to say that what happened next was shocking was, of course, an understatement. >> hall county 911. what's the address of your emergency? >> oh, my god, please. i need help right now. >> reporter: the voice on the 911 call was stacey's. the victim of whatever happened here was her husband, richard. he had arrived at their rendezvous first. and when she got there later, he was lying on his back on the ground beside his truck. >> i'm at this little park on belton bridge road. my name is stacey schoeck. when i pulled in -- he's been shot. >> he's been what? >> he's been shot. he is dead. >> reporter: dan franklin of the hall county sheriff's department got the call, and so there he was, valentines night, all but groping as he drove a dark and winding road in search of that muddy clearing by the river. >> it's in the middle of nowhere and so that creates a special kind of dark that you just can't appreciate until you're in the middle of it. >> reporter: detective franklin is an experienced man. and this? >> this was one of a very few cases where the more i dug, the less sense that it made. >> reporter: no, nothing made sense about this. >> a murder so sudden and so brutal. of it a robbery gone bad -- was it a robbery gone bad? the investigation was just beginning. when we come back -- tire tracks in the mud that belong to neither richard nor stacey. >> you could see richard's impressions pass over those, and then you could see those pass back over richard's. that let us know the vehicle was here before richard and likely got here after he was dead. >> it had to be the killer. i bring the gift of the name your price tool to help you find a price that fits your budget. uh-oh. the name your price tool. she's not to be trusted. kill her. flo: it will save you money! the name your price tool isn't witchcraft! and i didn't turn your daughter into a rooster. she just looks like that. burn the witch! the name your price tool a dangerously progressive idea. lowe's presents: how to use the greek gods to update your deck. wow, i can't believe you did this deck yourself. well me, lowe's and zeus and apollo. now get 10% off in-stock composite decking at lowe's. ♪ ♪ introducing new flonase allergy relief nasal spray. this changes everything. new flonase outperforms a leading allergy pill so you will inhale life. when we breathe in allergens our bodies react by over-producing six key inflammatory substances that cause our symptoms. most allergy pills only control one substance, flonase controls six. and six is greater than one. so roll down your windows, hug your pet dust off some memories, make new ones. new flonase. six is greather than one. this changes everything. your kids get used to sweaty odors in their room. they think it smells fine, but you smell this... eliminate all the odors you've gone noseblind to with febreze fabric refresher. mmmm... so you and your guests can breathe happy. >> reporter: if there is such a thing as a perfect spot for murder, then this just might be it. wow, this is remote. my god, it's -- >> it's pretty secluded. >> reporter: if you were -- if you didn't know what to look for, you'd miss that sign. >> you would miss it, right. there's just a void on the side a the road. it's just a dark void. >> reporter: it was going on 11:00 p.m., february 14th, 2010, when detective franklin found the place. >> and so, this is the entrance to the park where richard was killed. >> reporter: that night, the cops lit up the crime scene, surrounded by a clearing of bare soil, sand and muddy dirt. we got this place lit up like it's christmastime, but if these lights weren't on -- >> you can't see your hand in front of your face. >> reporter: and it was like that that night? >> yes, sir, it was. >> reporter: we will spare you the gruesome images of richard schoeck, lying dead beside his truck. suffice to say, he had been shot five times. three times through his body, twice in the face. he lay on his back near the open door of his truck. sounds like probably a pretty ugly crime scene, right? i mean, in terms of what happened to him. >> it was, yeah, it was particularly gruesome. >> reporter: what did this say to you right away? >> that there -- that's overkill, especially with the placement of the shots. >> reporter: also, it was pretty clear from the get-go that this was not a robbery. >> the fact that richard had his jewelry. he had his wedding ring on. he had a fairly expensive watch that he still had on. there was cash on the center console of the truck that was undisturbed. the truck itself was still here. i mean, it was ripe for the taking. it was running and on and the door was open. >> reporter: something else the detective could infer from the track of the bullets that went through richard's body -- he must have gotten out of his truck and approached whoever shot him. >> when stacey found richard, his truck was running. the driver's door was open, the headlights were on. so it appeared that he had just simply pulled up and got out of his truck to approach the person that shot him, which was a compelling thing for us. that was something that really got our attention. >> reporter: who was it? who did richard approach? whoever it was was long gone by the time stacey arrived, so not much to go on. except when a police technician trained his lights on the clearing from the side just so, a whole side, just so, a whole new picture suddenly emerged. a story in tire tracks, including a set of tracks that belonged to neither richard's truck nor stacey's suv. >> you could see richard's impressions pass over those, and then you could see those pass back over richard's. and so, that let us know that that vehicle was here before richard got here, and then likely left after he was dead. >> reporter: had to be the killer. but how could common tire tracks help them find whoever did this? having seen what he could, detective franklin headed back to the sheriff's station to meet stacey and record her statement. it was after midnight by then. >> this feels unreal. >> reporter: stacey explained it was her weekend to care for her grandparents, and richard planned to come by on sunday, valentine's day, to cook dinner. he arrived about 5:30 p.m. >> and i had my valentine stuff for him sitting on the desk when he walked in the back door. he was like, "oh, well, mine are out in the truck but i thought we would do that at the park." >> reporter: because they'd already planned a brief romantic rendezvous at belton bridge park on the way home to see their kids. >> he was like, "come meet me at the park. you know, it's all secluded," and, you know, "it'll be --" i mean, "we'll exchange our valentines." and when he gave me a kiss, he was like, "and maybe even make out a little." >> reporter: day or dark night, she said, they both knew the way intimately. >> we've ridden by that park gazillions of -- i don't know, lots, lots of times. even when we were dating, we would go and find little obscure places and make out like teenagers. >> reporter: so after dinner, richard left for the park first, she said, and she followed a bit later when a night nurse arrived to look after the grandparents. >> i think i probably pulled out of the driveway at about 9:20 or so. i called richard and it went to voicemail and i didn't know why. and i didn't leave a message. and i left. >> reporter: and when she got there? >> i knew something was wrong. i could see -- i saw his truck immediately because the lights were on and so i pulled down and i headed right towards his truck. but as soon as i could see him, i could see him laying on the ground. >> reporter: ah, but life is a complicated business, as everybody knows. even lovers aren't always straight with each other. these, however, were investigators stacey was talking to. she knew they'd ferret out her secret sooner or later, so right away, she came clean. >> i was having -- i've been having an affair for several, you know, six, seven months. >> reporter: an affair. his name was juan reyes. he worked in stacey's office in a job she had gotten for him. >> you know, i'm in deep with juan. i know that. i'm telling you. >> reporter: oh, yes, she certainly was. stacey and richard owned the house reyes lived in with his family. she met juan for sex at an apartment stacey rented for the purpose. she paid for the truck he drove, paid his cell phone bills. and, she admitted, she had just taken him to vegas and disguised it as a "work trip." >> did juan know that meet richard at the park up here? >> he did. >> how did he know that? >> i mean, i had told him. i had probably tuesday night. it was either tuesday or thursday. >> reporter: was stacey saying juan may have been the killer? >> no, no, i can't -- i mean, i guess i've seen enough tv to know that strange thing -- you know, things happen. but i can't imagine him doing that. >> reporter: but the detectives certainly could. >> and so, we start getting some direction we have this unknown set of impressions. so we have a third party at the scene and so now we have to ask ourselves, "is it juan?" because he was looking really good at that point. >> reporter: time to go and have a little chat with mr. juan reyes. even if it was 4:00 in the morning. coming up -- >> we knocked for a while. we knocked on windows, walked around the house. never could get northbound the door. >> where would someone be at 4:00 a.m. if not in bed? what's this? a box. it takes worn out things and makes 'em better. wanna see? yeah! 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>> no, no, no, no. >> reporter: bang, bang, bang? >> law enforcement banging on the door and banging on the side of the house and that kind of thing. >> reporter: had he fled? run away? later that morning, the detectives went to his workplace to see if he'd show there. he did all right. but -- >> his appearance had changed from the information that we had from different sources that showed that he had a beard. >> reporter: woodrow tripp was chief of detectives at the time and worked the case with franklin. and in fact, when he showed up at work that morning, he was beardless. or at least, he'd removed his formerly full beard and shrunk it to an appearance altering goatee. so now juan found himself at the sheriff's station. he agreed to talk without a lawyer. he sat in the interrogation room for more than four hours with several detectives having a go at him, including franklin and tripp. >> now, it's my understanding that you and stacey are romantically involved. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> reporter: he spilled all of that -- the affair, the love nest, the extra goodies stacey showered on him. then they caught him on something. stacey had already told the detectives that she informed juan on tuesday or possibly thursday about the plans to meet richard that sunday night of valentine's day. >> when did she tell you that? >> she told me friday, friday after work. >> and would you find it odd if i told you that she's made a statement that she told you earlier than friday? >> um, no, i mean, i remember the conversation on friday. if she mentioned it before that, i wouldn't -- i wasn't thinking about it or didn't pay attention to it. but there's -- i'm forgetful sometimes. >> reporter: was he forgetful or was he hiding something? >> okay, well, let me ask you this. did you have anything to do with what's happened to richard? >> no, not at all. >> do you know who did? >> no, uh-uh. >> reporter: and so, they asked him where was he before and after dinner on valentine's day. >> me and my son went up to blockbuster. we ate dinner about -- i want to say about 7:30 p.m. and by 10:30, i was in bed. i don't sleep much, so three, four hours later i'm up, tossing and turning. >> reporter: wait a minute. if he was up tossing and turning, how did he not hear the cops banging on his door? >> i don't know what to tell you, man. i was in my bed. >> we were there. we rang the door bell, like, eight or ten times for 15 minutes. >> all right, well, i didn't hear you. we do sleep with fans on, as i said prior about fans. i did take tylenol p.m., as i stated to you. >> but then you also said that you're a light sleeper. you tossed and turned last night and maybe got three, four hours, and that's it. >> right. i was up about 4:00, tossing and turning. i looked at the clock again at 5:00. >> we were there. >> i didn't hear you. i don't know what to tell you. >> reporter: juan reyes was like a brick wall about the murder. didn't do it, didn't know who did. really? the polygraph, said former chief of detectives tripp, told a different story. >> the polygraph results indicated that he was not telling the truth, or he was not being truthful to those relevant questions posed to him about the homicide. >> reporter: questions such as, did you shoot richard schoeck? do you know for sure of anyone who shot richard schoeck? were you present when richard schoeck was shot? >> you know he knows where richard's going to be. he's in an affair with stacey. he's not at home at 3:00, 4:00 in the morning the night of the murder. he shows up the next morning, altered his appearance. so when you put all of that together -- yeah, there's a lot of ringing bells there. >> reporter: bells -- will juan's wife back him up she found out he was cheating? if she wanted to throw him under the bus? >> it was a great opportunity. they leave on sunday afternoon to grandma's house they're bound. the car is filled with music that classic disco sound. and on their little faces, only smiles could be found. goldfish crackers. the snack that smiles back. quiet! mom has a headache! had a headache! but now, i...don't. excedrin® is fast. in fact for some, relief starts in just 15 minutes. excedrin®. wow, that was fast. 3 f2 as shocking, as disorienting as the sudden death of a loved one. especially one so affectionate, so endearing, so apparently happy. and when the dreadful news came with the word "murder" attached -- >> i couldn't think of a soul who would wanted to hurt the man. >> reporter: richard and his buddy spent the evening together the night before richard was killed. so bill heard him get the phone call from stacey about their plans for valentine's day. >> he said, we're making plans to get together up near her grandma's. >> reporter: she was staying for the weekend or something -- >> that's correct. she was looking after her grandmother. >> reporter: so was he happy about that? >> he thought, that's great. >> reporter: a week later, he was at richard's memorial. stacey asked bill to give the eulogy. >> it was one of the most difficult things i've ever done was to get up and talk about him. i remember looking down at the honorary pall pallbearers, they were all scouts. there was not a dry eye. >> reporter: at the end of the service, people wrote messages on balloons and released hem released them into the air. a fond memory said brian. >> they had personal stories. richard helped me tie my first knots in my tent. he helped me build my first fire. you could tell he touched their lives the way he had me and my sister's. >> reporter: meanwhile, the sheriff's department was working on their only lead. >> we were focusing hard on juan in the very beginning. >> reporter: juan reyes, the boyfriend. >> though we thought that he was the shooter, at the same time he deserved for us to verify his story. >> reporter: remember, here's where juan said he was late in the day february 14th. >> me and my son went up to blockbuster. we ate dinner about, i want to say about 7:30. and by 10:30 i was in bed. >> reporter: there were ways to check, of course. they talked to juan reyes's wife, ex-wife actually, she was living with him in an effort to reconcile. >> the first thing that i told her was that juan had been having an affair with stacey for quite some time. she wasn't happy about that. >> reporter: no, she wasn't. but listen to this. the woman scorned, still confirmed his alibi. >> he had gone to blockbluster while i was cooking so between 6:00 and 7:00. he had taken, 6:00 and 7:30, then he came home. he ate dinner in the room. i laid down and we went to bed. >> what time was that? >> i know we were watching the 10:30 news, i think it was the 10:00, the last time i looked at the time it was like 10:37. >> reporter: if she wanted to throw him under the bus, that was the time to do it? >> she had a great opportunity. she didn't take it. >> reporter: so maybe juan was not your guy after all. >> correct. >> reporter: even though he failed to answer the door, even though the polygraph result was not in his favor, juan reyes was innocent. he didn't do it. well, where did that leave you? >> worried about my case. >> reporter: a case that had become personal for detective franklin. he felt like he knew richard, like he was mourning him somehow. >> i would sit at the scene, stand at the scene, reflect, and just kind of sit there and try to go over things in my head. and try to figure out what direction to take. >> reporter: what could he do? about all franklin had to go on was this picture of tire tracks left in the soft soil of the clearing. could he use this to find his killer? not so easy. he didn't even know the make of the tire. >> we looked on the internet. but we're coming up empty. we went to car dealerships. we went to retail tire establishments. we would pull up next to cars at traffic lights and look what kind of tires they had on them. >> reporter: and you were seeing them? >> no. and anybody that we talked to, we looked at their tires, just to be sure. >> reporter: then one day, in yet another tire store, a colleague called him to a stock area out back. >> he pointed at this tire. and i looked at it. and immediately i said, "well, that's it." and i said, "okay." so we pulled it. and it was a goodyear integrity. >> reporter: well, that whittled it down. couldn't be more than, what, millions of cars with goodyear integrity tires? but just about the time franklin was contemplating that little problem -- >> got a phone call from an i.t. technician at the dekalb medical center. and this was -- >> reporter: just like out of the blue? >> yes. >> reporter: that's where the office was that stacey managed. the guy's job there was, in part, clearing the junk from employee e-mail accounts. >> and he noticed that stacey's inbox for friday, saturday, and sunday had been completely cleaned out. >> reporter: curious. that was the very weekend of the murder. >> so he thought enough to give us a call. >> reporter: was stacey, mamma spreadsheet, the cubs scout den leader, hiding something? or did she just accidentally hit delete too many times? of course all those deleted files had been backed up. so they got a warrant and collected all of stacey's e-mails, not just from that weekend. 4,000 e-mails in all. >> it was quite a task. >> reporter: and a lot of it was spam. except two e-mails seemed, well, they stood out. requests from stacey to her bank to transfer money out of something called a "real estate" account. >> so a few weeks before the murder was the first transfer, $8,902. the second transfer was the friday before the murder on february 12th, 2010. and that one's for $1,100. >> reporter: both times the money went into the account of somebody named lynitra ross, who turned out to be stacey's friend and work colleague and tenant. she was renting a house from stacey. so they went to have a talk with lynitra. how did she react? >> very calm, very cool. >> reporter: didn't seem to be hiding anything? >> not based on what i was looking at. she just seemed very collected. and so i asked her about the money transfer. >> reporter: he made an audio recording of the interview. >> so how much money did you get, overall? >> um, it's been about, it was $89 at first. and then -- >> 89? thousand? hundred. >> $8,900. >> reporter: why did stacey give her $8,900? >> she transferred some money to me for the repairs and stuff. >> she said that they had redone the roof. the interior of the house carpet flooring and that kind of thing. >> reporter: and the $1,100? still more repairs. >> and then we got another leak, a main water valve leak. >> reporter: but the story made sense? >> it made sense. she was always cooperative. >> reporter: a simple business transaction. detective franklin was right back to where he started. >> yeah, it gets to a point where you're still, you know, looking for ways to move forward. >> reporter: it was march by then. close to a month since the murder. they seemed to be going nowhere. what to do now? how about grasp at straws. >> it's called a tower dump. >> reporter: a tower dump? >> it was a shot in the dark, but i took it. coming up, a killer with a gun and a cell phone about to make a big mistake. >> my way of thinking was if he's sitting there waiting in this secluded dark place at nice, is he going to twiddle his thumbs or maybe he'll make a phone call. we just adopted two new puppies from petsmart. petsmart charities save over a thousand pets a day. we love that. look who's here, i'm the fun mother. hey, mom, uh, how'd you get in the house? 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>> reporter: after all, stacey was like a big sister, said connie. but there was just something wrong, like the strange business about her grandparents' 2009 impala. >> stacey was supposed to sell it for them because they were having problems and they needed money for medical bills. >> reporter: but after stacey took the car -- >> a couple weeks later, it'd be back at her house and then a couple weeks later it wasn't. then, it got to the point where she said that she sold it for $16,000. >> reporter: and yet, stacey never produced the money. >> the family was -- was persistent about this car. and so finally, we're like, "you know, it -- it's likely that it was used. we don't -- let's find this thing." >> reporter: so, they ran the vin number and found the car. stacey had sold it by then. >> lo and behold, it's got goodyear integrities on it. so at that point, i was confident that i'd found the car that richard was killed from. >> reporter: which was great, except who was in it? no idea. detective franklin was still stuck, so he took a long shot. >> reporter: he asked for something called a tower dump, information dump that is, from this cell tower on a farm near the crime scene. >> i subpoenaed all calls that generated from the tower that services belton bridge park for the night of the murder from about 7:00 p.m. 'til about 9:30. >> reporter: until 9:30, because that's when stacey arrived and found richard. why start looking at 7:00 p.m.? >> it was apparent to me that the gunman lay in wait for richard. and so my way of thinking was if he's sitting there waiting in this secluded, dark place at night, is he going to sit there and twiddle his thumbs? or maybe he'll make a phone call, had no idea. >> reporter: if the killer called anyone, it should show up on the tower's record of outgoing cell calls. four major carriers on that tower, thousands of calls. but what numbers should he look for? why not play a hunch he'd had all along? >> stacey's involved somehow. you have this third vehicle at the scene. you have overkill with the -- with the way richard died. so, based on all those things, a murder-for-hire starts crossing your mind. >> reporter: franklin's idea was to compare the numbers from the tower dump to the phone numbers on stacey's personal contact list. >> the best source of information i felt i had was stacey's contact list. it was 258 contacts, i think. >> so, if you could find any phone call coming from the crime scene that happened to be on her contact list, that would give you a big leg up. >> yes, sir. that would give me some direction. >> reporter: a lot of numbers to compare. but then he got lucky, really lucky, maybe a 150 numbers into his search, there it was. a match. >> it said, "reggie." >> reporter: the call was placed at 8:40 p.m. >> and it was a 28-second call. so, richard left the grandparents house at about 8:15. it's about a 15-minute drive from the grandparents' house to the park. >> would have got there around 8:30. >> he would have got there at 8:30. and we felt he was killed as soon as he stepped out of his truck. so, you're looking at him dying sometime right around 8:30 to 8:45. so, here's a call from reggie in stacey's contact list at 8:40 p.m. on the night of the murder. >> reporter: but who was reggie? >> under reggie's company name it said, "mr. results." >> reporter: so, franklin's next step naturally -- >> i simply googled, "mr. results." and the first link was mr. results personal training. >> reporter: his name was reginald coleman, a personal trainer and former semi-professional boxer, and he held work out sessions at stacey's office. then, detective franklin looked at the number reggie called. >> i should have already recognized it because i already had it in my notes because it was lynitra ross. >> reporter: lynitra ross, the woman who claimed she received $10,000 from stacey for house repairs within three weeks of the murder. now the trail was warm, very warm. he pulled phone records for all three -- reggie, lynitra and stacey. combed through hundreds of calls and texts until -- >> a very interesting sequence of calls actually emerged from that. >> reporter: a sequence on february 14th. it went like this -- at 6:42 p.m., reggie called lynitra. at 6:45, lynitra called stacey. at 6:48, lynitra called reggie back. >> in my mind, reggie called lynitra and said, "are we still doing this?" and lynitra called stacey and stacey confirming, "yes, he's here. i'll have him at the park." and then lynitra, calling reggie back saying, "yes, go up there." >> reporter: and after that, no more calls until 8:40 p.m., when reggie's call to lynitra was captured by the tower near the crime scene. >> the call at 8:40 p.m. to lynitra ross was reggie calling her saying, "it's done." >> reporter: and then, get this, at 9:00 p.m. lynitra sent stacey a text. "happy valentine's day," it said. >> is that a code? >> it was. >> reporter: code for it's done. he's dead. almost there. all he needed to find was a money trail to prove murder-for-hire. so, bank records this time. >> it was the same tedious work as the cell phone records. >> reporter: and guess what? that $10,000 that stacey transferred to lynitra, supposedly a real estate account for home repairs? only $1,800 went into that. the rest went to lynitra for cash. and lynitra wrote reggie a check for $700. >> all within three weeks of the murder. that's the whole thing. it had come together at that point. reggie's my triggerman. my middle person is lynitra ross. >> reporter: and the mastermind? stacey. three months after the valentine's day murder of richard schoeck -- >> you're charged with malice murder. >> reporter: lynitra ross -- >> i read you that. make you aware the charges and it's malice murder. >> reporter: reggie coleman and stacey schoeck were arrested and charged with murder. but then? >> i told stacey, "we can fight this." >> reporter: a surprise was coming. check that. surprises, more than one. stacey had a story to tell. coming up, is there ever an excuse for murder? >> having lived through that, i was never going to let it happen to my kids. hmm... fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that parker. well... did you know auctioneers make bad grocery store clerks? that'll be $23.50. now .75, 23.75, hold 'em. hey now do i hear 23.75? 24! hey 24 dollar, 24 and a quarter, quarter now half, 24 and a half and .75! 25! now a quarter, hey 26 and a quarter, do you wanna pay now, you wanna do it, 25 and a quarter- -sold to the man in the khaki jacket! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. you get used to food odors in your car. you think it smells fine but your passengers smell this.. eliminate odors you've gone noseblind to for up to 30 days with the febreze car vent clip. smells nice... so you and your passengers can breathe happy. i accept that i'm not 21. i accept i'm not the sprinter i was back in college. i even accept that i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. but i won't accept giving it less than my best. so if i can go for something better than warfarin ...i will. eliquis. eliquis... reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin plus it had less major bleeding than warfarin... eliquis had both. that really mattered to me. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. i accept that i'm not as fast, but i'm still going for my personal best... and for eliquis. reduced risk of stroke... plus less major bleeding. ask your doctor... if eliquis is right for you. >> reporter: three months after stacey schoeck found her husband's bullet-perforated body at belton bridge park, she and her alleged confederates were under arrest for murder. it was just crazy. didn't make sense. a mother of three, cub scout leader. surely she'd come up with a defense when she met with her attorney, max hirsh. but no, that's not what happened. far from it. >> she laid it all out. she didn't hesitate. she didn't minimize. she told me exactly what the plan was. >> reporter: the plan for murder. her lawyer, no surprise, had his own plan. >> i told stacey, "i already know how we would defend this case." she looked me straight in the eye, without hesitation, and said, "no, the gig is up. i did this. what i did was wrong. no more lies." >> reporter: stacey wanted to confess. it took a while to arrange it, but seven months after the murder, with the recorder running, confess she did. >> i'm not going to keep lying. i'm done, i'm done, you know. >> reporter: it all started over lunch with lynitra, said stacey, when she told her friend she wished her husband was dead. and lynitra offered the services of her sometimes boyfriend, reggie. >> i was like, "reggie, really." and she said, "yeah, that's what he did. that's what he does. that's how he supplements his income, he does jobs." >> reporter: so, said stacey, lynitra arranged for the three of them to meet, and reggie agreed to kill richard. >> so, and then i was like, "well, how much cash?" he was like, "well, you know, i was thinking around $10,000." and i was like, "okay." >> reporter: that was the $10,000 stacey transferred to lynitra. she gave the money to reggie. stacey also agreed to give him her grandparents' 2009 impala -- yes, that impala -- and the house lynitra was renting from her. a week later, all three went to scout the crime scene. >> he was like, "yeah, this is a perfect place." and he even made a comment that, you know, "i might have to use this place more often." >> reporter: but the night of the murder, said stacey, reggie botched the plan. >> it was supposed to be a robbery. that's what he had said. it was supposed to be one shot to the head. i said, "i don't want him to suffer, i don't want him to see anything." >> reporter: but why would she possibly want to have richard killed? to that question stacey offered this story. >> things started clicking in my brain of what was happening with my kids and my family, and i was convinced that my kids were being harmed. >> reporter: stacey said she believed richard was molesting her sons. they were acting out, and there was something one of them told her. >> "you don't know what happens to -- he does to me when you're not here." that kind of, you know, that stuck in my brain for sure. >> reporter: to her, there was just one solution. >> i didn't want the police, i didn't want a divorce, i just wanted him dead. >> reporter: and so here it was, her reason for murder. stacey said she had been molested as a child, repeatedly, and she knew what it was like. >> having lived through that, i was never going to let it happen to my kids. >> did you ask the boys? >> not directly enough. not then. i have since. >> reporter: it was after her arrest, her sons asked her why? what would make you want to hurt him? and she explained. >> people touched me in a bad way when i was a kid, and i reacted in certain ways, and sometimes your behaviors made me worry that you were getting touched in a bad way. >> reporter: and the son who made that earlier statement to his mother responded, devastated. >> he said, "no." he said, "i'm sorry i exaggerated, and i'm sorry that i said those things. i blew things out of proportion, mom," you know. >> reporter: stacey was wrong. there was no abuse. >> now, that's a hard thing to deal with, too, because now he has guilt. >> reporter: but was the motive she admitted real or was a more venal truth still withheld? there would be an answer, just not quite yet. we asked for an interview with stacey, but prison rules wouldn't allow it. so her attorney spoke on her behalf. >> she understands completely what she did. she understands it is her fault richard schoeck is dead. she doesn't have excuses. >> reporter: stacey schoeck pleaded guilty to murder. reggie coleman did the same. lynitra ross stood trial and was found guilty. all were sentenced to life in prison without parole. the case solved. three convictions for the detective who pored through reams of phone numbers and sniffed out a murder for hire case. >> you know, when your gut tells you something, you should go with it. and if it makes sense, then that's probably what it is. >> reporter: pretty obvious if i ask you where this fits in your catalogue of cases. >> there'll be -- never be another one like it, i'm pretty sure. i hope not. >> reporter: and now finally, the last admission. a few days after stacey was sent away, richard's sister, carol, went to see her, glared at stacey through the glass partition. she didn't buy stacey's story about her reason for killing richard. >> i said, "okay, stacey, this is it. i want to know." and i said, "no bull, no lies, i wan to know why you had richard killed." >> reporter: there was a long pause. and then out it came. >> she said, "because of my actions back then, and because of the way i was living my life, i knew that i couldn't divorce richard. because if i divorced richard, he would have enough of a chance to get custody of my kids." which he had adopted legally. "and i couldn't let that happen." and i just looked at her, and i said, "thank you." and i hung up the phone. >> reporter: but if the answer satisfied some need to know, the pain was and is no different. richard schoeck is dead. his quirkiness, adventurous spirit, devotion to those boy scouts, all gone. >> we had a thing. it was called a "richard fire." if it wasn't stoked up and burning bright and the flames almost licking the treetops, it wasn't a good fire. so if you want a richard fire, that's the fire you got to have. and when we're at scouting events and we see the big fire we built and the smoke coming up, we all talk about richard. that's all for this edition of "dateline." we'll see you again friday at 9:00, 8:00 central. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, good night. right now at 110:0, vooer weather pounds parts of the country and we're next in line. tornadoes leaving their mark near chicago tonight. we have new video from fairdale illinois look at this damage. central i would say is reporting a lot of destruction but injuries seem to be minor. sheena parveen is here with what we can expect. >> i think one of the main threats tomorrow will be high