and a brother, mark, for whom the story, the mystery became a kind of obsession. >> it's had quite an affect on me for the past seven years. let's begin in the spring of 2006. matt was 31 years old. maybe more than ever, he was loving the intense male roughness of amateur hockey. he was number 10 an he was good at it. he even managed to keep all these teeth. >> he started to take it up when he was in high school. that was really one of his loves. >> mark podalak was a little older, a little les athletically accomplished than his brother. but he loved him. >> my dad was a cop, so he sort of put the fear of god into me and my brother growing up. matt told his wife that he was going to -- brooklyn, ohio, it's one of the towns around the edge of cleveland. >> matt has always wanted to be a police officer since he was little. >> narrator: his dad was a 39-year-old veteran of the brooklyn pd. he went to work for his uncle, whose phoenix industrial powder coated engine parts for ford and other companies. >> what did he think of that job of his over there at the fact friday? >> he was going to take over. my uncle was grooming him to become the boss. >> narrator: but what matt wanted most of all was a family. so when he met holly, holly mcphee chur. >> he really loved holly. >> there are some people who plan out their lives very carefully. those people may have taken issue with matt and holly. when daughter samantha was born, give or take, nine months after they met. the marriage part could come later, they decided. >> he loved that little girl. >> narrator: and loved holly. holly loved him. holly told her sister chris the story of how they eventually gotten gauged. it was during a romantic weekend in niagra falls, just before samantha was born. holly was preparing a bubble bath. >> she couldn't hear because the faucetcucet was running and her matt down on his knees and she realized, oh, my gosh, you're proposing. >> that's kind of a romantic story. >> i thought it was pretty romantic. >> narrator: after samantha came along, matt and holly went to a friend's wedding. >> did you almost make it a foresome wedding? >> holly and matt said we should do a double wedding. >> but holly knew that her family would not be happy with that, so i think that's what made them not get married. >> narrator: didn't get married. but something happened in vegas. nine months after that, josh was born. >> from what holly told me, josh was planned in vegas. >> narrator: ready or not, matt was now the father of samantha a and a baby boy he nicknamed little man and holly's daughter from a previous relationship. big changes in a very short time. and by the end of the hockey season, a lot of things started going wrong. josh was still very new then and colicky, that was stress. and with that young family to support, matt had lost money gambling on the internet. he complained of being depressed, so depressed his doctor prescribed anti-depress sant ants. after weeks of this holly insisted he go zee a doctor. >> he had been complaining of pain and she finally said, you need to go, obviously something's not right. so she basically, you know, had to drag him there. >> narrator: kidney stones was the diagnosis. the doctor gave matt pills to help dissolve them. four days later, he took a turn for the worse. way worse. holly called her father, matt's father, and 911. >> i got a call from holly saying something's wrong with matt. so i talked to matt and he says, dad, i don't feel good and i fell off the couch, i'm really dizzy. i said well get him and ambulance. >> at the hospital things went bad fast. >> it was nerve-racking was all we kept hearing about is, okay, they're trying to dial in on his kidney issue. well that medication was making his heart go. so they tried to address the heart. and it kept seesawing back and forth. >> and nobody really knew what it was causing it? >> no. >> narrator: matt faded in and out of consciousness. doctors told family members, go home, get some rest. then a few hours later, they called everybody back to the hospital. right away they said. one look at the icu and big brother mark felt his world fall apart. >> it seemed like he was in a coma. i knew if he made it through, he wouldn't be the same. >> and everybody felt a particular kind of helplessness, knowing something was killing him, but not knowing, how could they? what it was. >> how could doctors know what was killing matt? was it a medical mystery or a different kind of mystery? >> how can you go into the hospital for kidney stones a and die eight hours later? e guten morgen guess who? mr. mojito? ok it's got to be really fast, i've got one second hey no way wei hey, ca va? nudeq nuqdaq duch doch bolz stop calling me oh my god, no! how are they looking? we did it baby woohh oi ma yerp yerp moshi moshi, meow what?! ♪ . the end came on monday morning, jew july 13, 2006. >> i got a call that said you better get here because he's gone into full arrest and we have revived him already once. so when i got there, it was just downhill. >> narrator: pat's fiance, holly mc feature begged the doctors, keep trying. >> i kept saying, don't stop, don't stop. matt don't ollie leave me. >> narrator: and it was no use. >> after the doctor or nurse stepped away, holly just lunged on matt and wouldn't let go. they actually had to pull her off of his body. >> narrator: he was just 31 years old a and now his children were fatherless. and now holly was at a funeral and she did not take it well. >> holly was outside in the car bawling her eyes out before she went in. i don't know i would have been a able to do that myself, going in there and seeing him in the casket. >> narrator: matt and holly's son cried a lot. so holly repeatedly had to leave the reception line to care for her colicky baby. >> she had to take care of her kids and show that she could be strong. >> this poor baby, he would have never have known his father. how could this happen? all of a sudden a very health y 31-year-old young man just winds up dead? kind of strange. >> narrator: kind of strange? it certainly was. matt's brother mark couldn't stop thinking about how strange it was. >> how can you go in the hospital for kidney stones and die 12 hours later. >> narrator: it's as if he had been exposed to some toxic chemicals in his environment. he had worked for four years at his uncle's phoenix industrial, having worked in an assembly line involved in painting. any toxic chemicals there? >> the coroner told her a lot of the chemical compounds were similar to what the chemical compound was that they found in him. >> narrator: right after that, holly called matt's uncle, the owner of the company. >> holly said that he needed to call the coroner so he could explain what matthew was exposed to. >> narrator: after the coroner got a proper list of the chemicals they used, he pretty much ruled out any industrial cause. >> all those chemicals were safe to work with, they were osha approved and they had masks to wear. >> narrator: so if not that, what? perhaps it was unhappily all too common, when death occurs in someone too young. that a young man with the pain of his kidney stones, decided to end it all. it was the coroner's investigator that brought it up with matt's mother. >> he questioned me, would matt have committed suicide? >> narrator: no, never, said he mother. but it would not have been an unreasonable question, given his depression and all. but mark believed he had that under control. >> he went to the doctor to get some help with that. and the doctor gave him some antidepressants. >> did it help? >> i aassumed it was. >> narrator: matt was spending time with holly and the kids a and her parents. so maybe mark didn't know. >> did he go to his own parents' house very often? >> i don't recall him talking about it that much. >> his connection didn't seem to be that close, then? >> it didn't seem to be. >> narrator: and mark didn't know, not then anyway, that matt actually asked to have the hunting guns removed from his house? >> was he really thinking about killing himself? >> from what i heart, yes, that he was having thoughts. he told holly, i think he actually told my dad. >> narrator: just as he insisted he go to the doctor for his kidney stones, it was holly that sent him to the doctor for his depression. >> she sent him to the doctor and got him on medication for that as well. >> narrator: what happened to matt podalak. then finally three months after matt's death, mark got a call from his mother. come to a family meeting, she told him. she refused to tell him what would be said there. >> because i knew he would be very, very upset. >> narrator: the news was too bizarre, too shocking to share over the phone. coming up, the coroner's report makes it clear matt's death wasn't just strange, it was also highly suspicious. >> it was my mission to find an answer for this. >> when "dateline" continues. li, and in more places than any other 4g network. trade in your old device and trade up to america's most reliable network. i've got the good one! i got verizon! that's powerful. verizon. mighty wings from mcdonald's. bold, delicious bone-in chicken wings with a spicy kick. but they're only here for the season then it's lights out. oh, sorry, guys. mighty wings. there's something for everyone to love at mcdonald's. for 4 days only starting friday get 10 dollars off 25 with your jcp cash coupon. plus, doorbusters friday 3pm to saturday 1pm. like 50% off all a.n.a and 60% off all suit separates. jcpenney. vietnam in 1972. 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[ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve military members, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. there were just the two of them. big brother mark and the kid he looked out for, his little brother, matt. and now matt was dead. and nothing made sense. to mark podalak. >> there's no way that a guy's going to go into the hospital with kidney stones and you're going to die because of kidney stones. >> narrator: three months after his death, matt podalak's family gathered for a meeting. matt's mother arranged it. before that, they were discussing a possible wrongful death suit against the hospital where matt died. >> my mom called me over and said we're going to talk to a lawyer tonight, we're going to find out what's going to happen. >> narrator: but mark's mother wasn't exactly straight with her son, that was not what was going to happen. >> so when i got to her house, the whole family was there, and i was like, where's the lawyer? and she said, he's not here. >> narrator: no lawyer, something far more disturbing. the autopsy report. matt's mother did not want her surviving song hearing about this over the phone. afraid of how he'd react. >> the whole family was there, and they said we got the coroner's report back and it was anti-freeze poisoning. >> anti-freeze poisoning? >> yes. >> narrator: the correct phrase was chronic intoxication by ethyle ethylene glycol. that being the toxic ingredient in anti-freeze. >> chronic? it happened over a period of time, so once that kind of set in, i was shocked, i was speechless. >> narrator: that's when something profound happened to mark podalak. a decision snapped into place. >> from that moment on when we found out, it was my mission to find an answer for this. >> narrator: a mission complicated by the fact that there was one very big question the coroner couldn't answer. was matt's death the result of some terrible mistake or suicide? or was it murder? nobody knew. so the coroner labeled the manner of death undetermined. across town, matt's fiance holly was getting the news too. holly's sister, krissy. >> what did she say? >> what can you say? there's anti-freeze in his system. we were all thinking it was kidney failure. we were not expecting thac inin. >> narrator: was it really possible that matt ingested small amounts of anti-freeze for weeks, is that possible? mark had already made up his mind that mark did not commit suicide a and certainly not gradual suicide. but what did he have to go on? so far, only a growing suspicion and rage, which he made perfectly clear to the police. >> i finally got ahoed of the detective on the case and he did some initial stuff but it wasn't the followthrough that i had hoped, maybe that was just because i was just grieving and i was so upset. >> but when something like that happens, you want the whole world to stand up and pay attention and do something? >> when that happens, i want every member of the police department to be on it. >> and it seemed like nobody was on it? >> it didn't seem that way, no. just time started to go on. i became extremely frustrated. >> narrator: matt's father, a former cop himself saw the problem. the case was stuck. the coroner said he couldn't label it a homicide without more evidence from the police. well, at the very same time -- >> cleveland homicide was saying they can't investigate it a homicide until the coroner rules it a homicide. >> narrator: so it remained, month after month, year into year. still the manner of death was listed as undetermined. just like mark, matt's father len made something of a pest of himself. >> i would call the detective that was assigned to the case and say what have you got? and his standard answer to me was, i don't have anything, what have you got? i said, well this is your job, not my job. you know. >> not unlike what matt's fiance holly was thinking. >> she was upset that there was nothing. >> but holly had three children to raise, alone. police versus coroner politics was not exactly upper most in her mind. to make ends meet, she sometimes took on two, maybe three jobs at the same time. and threw herself into coaching her children's little league baseball teams. meanwhile, mark kept hounding investigators, but getting nowhere. >> it made me feel like my brother's case was on a desk of somebody who could care less and was counting down the days to his retirement. >> narrator: but though mark was getting nowhere, holly was hearing things, not from the police. remember the plant where matt supervised other workers? what was really going on around the powder coding machine? coming up, holly and her sister had their own theory about how matt died. >> there were some people at his job that may have not liked him. he was supposed to get a promotion and i think there were some people that -- >> didn't think he deserved it? >> didn't think he deserved it. >> narrator: were they right? ro. let me at that grease. 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>> you did. you wanted to be around her. >> narrator: being with paula was how matt -- he was already sick by that time. so nobody knew yet how sick. he was sitting under this tree, all alone, said remember beck a can, watching the game. >> you could tell that he was in pain. he shifted in the chair quite often. >> narrator: and four days later, matt was dead. after the funeral, rebecca tried to comfort holly and help with the kids. >> if she needed help with the children, if the children needed something, yes, it was just to kind of help her. >> narrator: when the coroner's report came out and shocked everybody, holly told rebecca, of course, right away. >> what did you think when you heard that he died of anti-freeze poisoning? >> it's kind of the mystery of how this 31-year-old actually passed suddenly. he was poisoned. >> narrator: but who would want to poison matt podalak, no enemies, no known enemies initial. holly told rebecca that the police didn't seem to be doing anything. but she had some leads of her own. >> she suspected somebody at work? >> she had suspected somebody at work. >> narrator: and eventually, she told rebecca, the police did too. >> they thought someone had poisoned him at work. the word poisoning just kept coming up. >> krissy heard the rumors too. >> there were some people at his job that might not have liked him. it was his uncle's company. i think people were a little bit jealous. he was supposed to get a promotion and i think there were some people that -- >> didn't think he get served it? >> didn't think he deserved it. >> narrator: all of matt's family members became convinced that somebody put anti-freeze into matt's drink, a little bit at a time. but one person who wasn't buying that theory was matt's brother, mark. >> he didn't have any enemies. >> narrator: matt had worked his way up the production line to supervise mark said and he was well liked by the people at phoenix industrial. >> he wasn't this kind of guy that was going around picking fights with people. he was loved by his co-workers. >> narrator: again solving the case of his brother's murder became mark's obsession. he collected stories from fact friday co-workers, from the streets, from friends. he fumed when the official investigation seemed to go nowhere. then after three frustrating years, one small change that made a huge difference. a new supervise in the cleveland homicide division took over matt's case. his name, detective sergeant mike quinn. >> so by the time you took it over -- >> i took it over pushing three years. and i reviewed the file. >> narrator: with fresh eyes, quinn went over the case, reinterviewed people who knew both matt and holly. and suddenly -- >> i felt a completely dirmt sense of what was happening. >> narrator: now says mark, when he called with questions or suggestions, he felt like somebody was listening, especially when he told him what he was hearing on the street. >> i told him, maybe this is something that could help you. maybe you could look into this? >> you heard things? >> it's a really close knit town, there was chatter out there. >> narrator: strange how that chatter seemed to particular on one particular person. coming up, a possible motive for murder. >> she wrote his name on the checks and cleaned out hid bank account. >> what did they say to you? >> obviously a huge red frag. well, there's hannah, maddie, jen, sara m., sara b., sa -- whoa, whoa. hold on. 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and we were kind of like, i don't know, may be. but at the time, we didn't know why he passed. >> narrator: and then there was a funeral. holly's family said she was very upset, cried in the car before she went in. but when quinn read the old case file, she found a curious statement from holly's friend rebecca vega. >> she was back and forth talking to different individuals, almost like a flirtatious, that intoxicating friendliness that she had, as if her fiance wasn't laying there in front of everyone. >> was she talking to men or women or -- >> mostly men. >> flirtatiously? >> narrator: that's how she was, her family says, friendly, magnetic, even, but didn't stay that way for long. later, mark told them, holly became controlling and demanding. >> did he everybody explain about his relationship? >> of course he did. she's nagging at me, she's yelling at me. she's calling me all the time. she's doing all this stuff. there were some incidents that happened. times that they had to have the police show up. >> narrator: matt's protective big brother called it down right nasty. >> he was afraid he wouldn't see his kids if they were apart. >> narrator: now he was dead and his family was raw with suspicion. when they went to collect some of matt's personal effects, like his computer, they told sergeant quinn, holly told them that she no longer had it, the hard drive was being fixed. which sounded suspicious to the detective. >> was she destroying evidence? >> that's what people do when they have a computer that may be connected with a crime, they're going to get rid of it. >> narrator: according to them, matt sa holly said to them that matt wanted to be cremated. an idea, matt's family quickly shot down. but still, why would she have said that? when asked for his clothes and other effects, she said that she had already gotten rid of them. it was as if she wanted to erase malt from her life. >> was there anything left of him at all in her house? >> not much. >> narrator: then there was the big deal about the money. the big was -- >> she went to the atm machine and used his card. two days after his death, she cleaned out the bank account and left one penny yes it. >> what did that say to you? >> obviously a huge red flag. >> it was a measure of suspicion, a broken trust, that malt's brother in charge of the estate reported it to the police. holly was arrested and charged with theft and three counts of forgesry. she agreed to make restitution and put on probation for a year. in return, prosecutors dropped the charges. >> she was given a first-time offender's program, so she didn't do any jail time. >> narrator: matt's 401(k) amounted to just over $15,000. but here's what made matt's brother mark suspicious. >> my brother was talking about removing her from a life insurance policy, removing her as a beneficiary of the policies and the 401(k) and that's how serious it was gettin getting. >> narrator: and so when holly asked for that amount of insurance, it confirmed to mark what he had been thinking from the beginning. >> in my mind, there was nobody else, there was no other way that it could have happened. none. >> so the first reaction is shock, what's the second reaction? >> anger. and then sadness. how dare anybody do that to my little brother, how dare they? >> really, $10,000 in life insurance, a motive for murdering the father of your children? >> what did you think when you heard that, that was a very serious allegation, wasn't it? >> i thought it was ridiculous that somebody would actually think that. >> narrator: oh, yes, holly and her family heard all the whispers, they heard all the podalak's suspicions. did she steal the money are the bank account for example? >> did she know she was stealing? >> no, absolutely not. she was thinking that she had take cave of her children and his. what else was she supposed to do? >> narrator: as for getting rid of his stuff, erasing him from her life? >> that's not true. in fact she still has a lot of matt's shirts that she actually wears. >> narrator: quietly, four years after matt's death, sergeant quinn collected the stories he heard. but there was one story he hadn't heard, nobody had. holly's story. coming up, holly is invited downtown for a little chat with dblgs. >> did you give malt any type of poison? >> no. 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>> yeah. i thought, well, it's in the kitchen, the boat's outside and why would anti-freeze be in the kitchen? >> narrator: and then there was the time that holly was complaining about matt and holly say -- >> i can get rid of hill. an i thought--she actually backed up that statement with, well, you can work and we can just move in to your house. >> narrator: weird, as he looked back on that. once she heard about the coroner's report and the podalak family suspicions, she cut off all contact with holly, ended the friendship without saying why. >> i thought to myself, i had exposed my family to a murder. >> it seemed to me like she believed that holly poisoned matthew. >> were you a little freaked out by that? >> she stated she was afraid of holly. >> narrator: so quinn kept an eagle eye on holly mcfeature. then he heard about a karaoke bar. >> they were singing a song by the dixie chicks called "earl had to die." it's a song about an abused woman in a relationship with a man who to get back at the man poisoned his food. and they were up there singing the song and laughing about it, this was after matthew's death. i thought it was really cold blooded when i heard about it. >> narrator: that was 2010, four years after matt's death. the same year sergeant quinn received a big gift. maybe it was because prosecutors were appointed, maybe the car lee karaoke. whatever it was, that's when the coroner changed his cause of death from suicide to homicide. for the very first time, holly was invited to the police station to give a formal statement. >> we're about to get into the deaths of mat you poda lrk lak, coroner has ruled it a homicide not a suicide. are you willing to talk to officers without consulting a lawyer or having a lawyer present with you? >> yeah, i'm fine. i don't have anything to hide. i didn't do anything, so -- >> narrator: so what would she say about her relationship with matt? >> did you and matt every have any fights, physically? >> yeah, there was a couple. >> did you call police? >> i know one time i called the cops. >> narrator: holly said it happened when she had a male friend over at their house. >> it was because he assumed something was going on when that wasn't the case. i had a friend over, we were talking and it came out that he didn't like it. he got jealous. >> she told him, if they really wanted to solve the mystery, they should look for answers at matt's factory. >> so did matthew ever have any kind of enemies? >> at work. from what he would come home and tell me, there was a lot of people there that he didn't get along with it. he would tell me different stories about how so and so would get in a fight. >> and remember the $10,000 in life insurance bandied about as a possible motive for murder. holly said she didn't know there was life insurance, until after matt was dead. >> as far as i knew, the only thing he had at work was his 401(k) plan. i didn't find out that he had life insurance until after the funeral home. >> his obituary -- >> it ended up being me. we found that out after the funeral. >> but how about that night in the karaoke bar. >> "early's got to die" do you know that song? >> yes. and it's a story about a woman in an abusive relationship and they poison the man and he dies. >> that's a song. it's karaoke song. >> over and over the detectived challenged holly with the accusing questions. >> did you give matt any type of poison? >> no. >> did you give matthew any type of anti-freeze? >> no. >> and in fact didn't you poison matthew? >> no, it's not a fact. because i didn't do it. i didn't do that. >> have you ever told anyone that you put something in matthew's drink? >> no, i never put anything in his drink. i would never say i did. >> narrator: holly protested, none of this made sense, she said. >> he was the father of my children. the person i was going to spend the rest of my life with. i'm not going to hurt him in any way. our dreams, our goals, my whole life has completely been changed upside down and i know nothing. and his family despises me and does nothing but speak evil. >> narrator: and with that, detectives thanked her for coming in and sent her on her way, with a warning that most likely she would be indicted. >> there will be a warrant for your arrest. >> narrator: that was late september 2010, but holly wasn't indicted, not that year, not the next career either. something strange happened in 2011. holly answered her phone and found herself talking to a guy she dated briefly, after matt died. >> do you remember what you told me about the drinks? >> do you hear the trap snapping shut? >> coming up, police and prosecutors think they have hit paydirt with the new witness. but is he enough to take this case to court? >> the details of the case are very salacious, there's sex, there's the allegation of poisoning, it's all very interesting, but it doesn't make it a dead bang ringer for trial. >> when "dateline" continues. and it's 3 times cleaner. so ditch your dishcloth and switch to bounty duratowel. the durable, cloth-like picker-upper. 100% whole grain brown rice and wheat and bake it with real sweet potato or savory red bean? a new line of triscuit crackers with a delicious taste and a crispier crunch. brown rice triscuit. a new take on an old favorite. for 4 days only starting friday get 10 dollars off 25 with your jcp cash coupon found at jcp.com plus, doorbusters start this friday at 3pm to saturday 1pm. like 50% off all a.n.a, 60% off all suit separates, 50% off all sheet sets, 40% off joe fresh kids, 50% off all worthington apparel, and 40-50% off st. john's bay apparel for him. jcpenney. returning to our story, a healthy 31-year-old family man gets sick, and weeks later, he's dead of anti-freeze poisoning. strange and suspicious. but years go by without an arrest. without his death evening being called murder. now they're closing in on a system, his fiance and a witness who tells a chilling story. here again is keith morrison. >> narrator: in the summer of 2011, five years gone, matt podalak's death was still an unsolved mystery. all that time, mark podalak had neglected his own life to prove that holly was the killer. >> i know that relationships with friends suffered, ultimately led to me getting a divorce. it was destructive on all levels because you focus on a certain mission. >> and you're so damn angry. >> and i'm angry. >> narrator: even angrier now, if that's possible. but things have changed, the case was reclassified as a homicide. but holly was living her life, free, no charges filed. >> i became frustrated, i ability ain't going to lie. >> so he asked us to look into the case on facebook. >> i can't tell you how many times she's cried, knowing that people are saying that she's a murder and that this loving mom and softball coach can kill a man that she loves. >> narrator: but day by day, sergeant mike quinn was closing in on holly. one big thing, one solid piece of evidence was all he needed and maybe, he and the prosecutors decided, maybe a jail bird could provide. holly briefly dated a man named kennedy. and according to kennedy, during a wine and sex driven evening, holly made some kind of confession. this, thought the prosecutors was gold. >> what did he claim he heard? >> he claimed to have heard holly mcfeature confess by saying she put something in his drinks. >> narrator: prosecutor brian mcdonna. >> but that she wanted to stop but that his kidneys had failed. and that was compelling evidence. >> narrator: but always something, mr. kennedy wasn't the church pastor, in fact he was in county jail, under arrest for beating up some cops. so a snitch. >> as a prosecutor, we don't like informants. but what was so compelling about his testimony was that he was the only person to have that knowledge. >> how would he have that knowledge? where would he hear that? >> he heard that from her lips to his ears. >> narrator: but how could they possibly prove it? one possible way, sneaky, but it might work. they set up a phone call, kennedy in prison, called holly. and they turned on a tape recorder. >> hello? >> holly. >> yes. >> do you know who this is? >> yeah, hi, jameson. >> sometimes things need work, sometimes they don't. just how it is with investigations of this sort. suffice it to say, the call wasn't everything they hoped it would be. so here they were at a kind of crossroads, do they go forward? or do they drop it. they have a jailhouse snitch, with multiple felony commissions. a woman who offers to get rid of her husband, might have been real or imagined. at most, might have amounted to a paltry 15 grand. and a dixie chick's karaoke, the performance of which could have been monstrously cruel or perfectly innocent. still, who else could have done it? >> the details of the case are very salacious. >> prosecutor allison ford. >> there's sex, there's the allegation of poisoning, it's very interesting and it's certainly enough to keep anyone's attention, but that doesn't make it necessarily a strong case or a dead bang winner for trial. >> narrator: and so the prosecutors consulted mark and his family. they were all committed now. all emotionally attached. but the family should decide. >> they said, this is where we are. he laid it all out and he said, we can take our shot and see where this goes and -- >> and you might lose? >> we might lose. and we all agreed that we wanted to go with it. we have suffered long enough. >> case number 564265, holly mcfeature. >> narrator: so in 2012, six years after matt podalak's death, holly mcfeature was indicted for aggravated murder and contaminating a substance for human consumption. this was serious, maximum sentence, life without parole. her attorney brett jordan applied for bail. >> she was scared, she missed her kids. i would say probably in some state of shock at that point. >> narrator: the judge took a look at the circumstantial case against her and granted the bail request. half a million bond with an ankle bracelet. but though the case was not the strongest, there was publicity, anti-freeze poisoning? holly was suddenly famous. and not in a good way. the old brooklyn little league told the once beloved coach she wasn't welcome anymore. and holly mcfeature prepared to defend her life in court. coming up, iced tea, spiked with an tr anti-freeze, the prosecution's theory of how holly poisoned matt. >> he would have no way to know that it's coming, it's so secretively done. enchiladas.ke easy chice so good! can i keep this? you already have it at campbellskitchen.com. nice. [ blows ] [ gong ] m'm! m'm! good! >> narrator: seven years of pestering the investigators, seven years after the suddagoni death of his brother matt. holly mcfeature walked into the courtroom. >> i finally felt we were going to take this happen. >> narrator: the case against holly was possibly a reach. no guarantees here. and mark knew it. >> i was extremely nervous. oh, my gosh. being in that courtroom. i have no idea how it's going to turn out. >> narrator: truth was, the prosecution didn't have much to work with. without any hard evidence to pin on holly, their case boiled down to a process of elimination. someone did this to matt. who else could it have been other than his fiance? >> in this case, telling a story would be crucial because there wasn't a whole lot else to do, right? >> absolutely. >> narrator: prosecutor brian mcdonough began his story with a scene inside the hospital room the night matt died. >> his body was shutting down. his organs were systematically shut down. >> narrator: and then matt's father, len podalak spoke in who about his son's final moments. >> he would say, where's little man, and where's samantha. >> narrator: a picture was passed around the courtroom, matt dead, lying on the autopsy table. mark began to cry. across the courtroom, so did holly. and then the coroner told the jury what he found during his autopsy. discoveries that became the core of the case against holly. >> the cause of death was chronic intoxication by ethylene glycol. >> he explained he found crystals in matt's heart and brain, having inched their deadly way through his body, kidneys to heart, to brain. >> how much time would it take for the crystals to deposit themselves in the blood vessels of the heart? >> it takes weeks at least. >> the fact that crystals were forming in his heart and actually had traveled through his brain indicated long-term exposure and not a one-time deal. >> matt's friends and family testified about watching matt disintegrate weeks and months before his death. >> he would start sweating profusely and he complained of back pain. >> he was sitting beside my and practically was hunched over to where his chest was on his knees. >> narrator: who could have made that happen and how? investigators had found anti-freeze in holly and matt's garage. admittedly a year after holly had moved out. detective quinn took them out of the evidence bags for the jury to see, left them on the witness stand, a prop. a little courtroom theater. >> a bottle of saturn anti-freeze and coolant. >> narrator: take a look at those bottles, the prosecution seemed to be saying. and common sense would tell you it wasn't suicide, nobody would down anti-freeze on purpose, said the prosecutor, let alone bit by bit as dated in the coroner's report. >> there was no suicide note. he didn't go ahead and give away his possessions. suicide did not make sense. >> narrator: no, there was one person, the prosecutor argued and only one, who had the manes and the motive to poison matt, his fiance, holly mcfeature. then witnesses testified about matt and holly's fierce arguments they couldn't help but overhear. >> when we were fishing, that phone would be ringing every five minutes. >> i told him he needed to protect himself and i told him that he should remove his shock gun from his house. >> narrator: and far from being shattered by matt's death as her family claimed, prosecution witnesses described how holly sealed almost giddy after matt died. >> what did you observe of the defendant? >> a party atmosphere, like nothing had happened. >> narrator: and then the prosecution called holly's old friend, rebecca vega. if anybody had a ringside seat to holly's life after matt, it was rebecca. >> how was it to actually be in that courtroom, see her there and answer those questions? >> narrator: rebecca told the jury holly didn't wait long to remove every trace of matt from the house. >> it seemed that everything belonging to matt had been taken out of the home. >> narrator: but it was what holly hadn't cleaned up. those bottles of chemicals on the kitchen floor. >> one of the items was brought up as anti-freeze for matt's boat to winterize his boat. >> i'm sorry, to what? >> to winterize his boat. >> but who winterizes their boat in summer? >> narrator: matt died in july, so rebecca's story was evidence that holly had access to anti-freeze around the time of matt's death. >> she was able to put anti-freeze in the kitchen of holly mcfeature after the death of matthew podalak. >> narrator: now they needed to convince the jury that holly actually fed the an try freeze to matt. that would take a little doing. first several of matt's co-workers testified that holly sometimes dropped off lunch to the factory. >> holly would bring it in every once in a while for him. >> how many occasions do you recall that happening? >> half a dozen. >> and holly always made sure to include matt's favorite drink. half a gallon of more of raspberry iced tea. anti-freeze is tasteless. >> you can't smell it, and you can't see it in the tea, you would have no way of knowing it was coming. >> narrator: but why would she do such a thing? what was her motive? as the prosecution saw it at least, all those arguments that matt and holly were having represented the death throes of their relationship. he didn't want to lose custody of those kids. >> so it was your claim that he was sticking like glue and to get rid of him she had to poison him? >> that's what she saw as the way out. >> narrator: sweeteninged by the fact that holly was the beneficiary of matt's life insurance policy and 401(k). he was worth $15,000 to him if he died. >> that's chump change, basically, right? >> $15,000 may be worth more than $15,000 to another. >> to persuade the jury, that a hard working young mother, who always volunteered to help others, who coached a t-ball team, could at the same time be capable of cold blooded murder. the prosecution's star witness to come, the man who knew all about her violence and secrets and kissing and telling. >> coming up, holly melts down in court. what happened? when "date line" continues. #. >> narrator: way up on the 22 and floor of the criminal courts building in downtown cleveland, holly mcfeature sat down a hailstorm of allegations on her character and motivation. for the most part, she listened politely, turned occasionally to smile at her sister or share a word of encouragement. then the announcement was made. >> at this time, we have jameson kennedy. >> narrator: at those words jameson kennedy, holly went into a kind of shock. even before kennedy walked into the courtroom, tears and something in her seemed to crumble. the tears became racking sobs as if she in full blown terror or panic simply could not go on. all this happened as the attorneys were at the bench conferring with judge ryan corrigan. holly broke down and it all happened in front of the jury. mark podalak was not moved. in fact he was disgusted. >> where was that emotion during the funeral? where was that emotion when your lover was dying in the hospital? yet a guy that you hadn't seen in years steps into the courtroom and you have an emotional breakdown? that's courtroom drama in my opinion. >> narrator: was he afraid of the man? or was she afraid of what he had to say? the whole business was highly unusual. holly was allowed to leave the courtroom while kennedy testified. >> how do you know holly mcfeature? >> i originally met her at a bar she worked at, the dirty dog. >> narrator: kennedy was the man that holly dated a year or so after matt's death. was it wise to call him as a prosecution witness? the man had eight felony convictions under his belt. here he is, central witness against holly. >> he's a alcoholic, he's a drug addict and he wants something from your guys. so he'll say whatever you want? >> he didn't want anything in exchange for coming into court and saying what he had to say. he knew he was going to be in prison for quite a while and nothing he said in court was going to change that. >> narrator: it was september 26, 2008, two years after matt died. kennedy was on probation, he told the jury, when holly stopped by the law office where a kindly defense attorney had given him a job and a place to sleep. they shared a bottle of wine, ate some take out. >> we both were a little bit tipsy. after drinking, we ended up having sex and after the sex things got emotional. she started crying. >> what did she say? >> she made some remarks that she wanted it all to go away. she wanted to move out of cleveland. she was regretful for what had taken place. >> narrator: regret? about what? kennedy told the jury that he pushed holly to tell him more. >> but she just told me at that time that she was sorry for what she had done. >> what had she done? >> on her words, was that she had put something in his drink. >> what had she put inside of his drink? >> she didn't tell me. >> did she say what happened to him after putting something inside the drink? >> that he had gotten sick and passed away. >> narrator: it was quite simply, stunning. but, big but, was it true? could the jury really take the word of this eight-time convicted felon? yes, said the prosecution, because of this. >> did you tell anyone about what holly mcfeature told you about putting something in his drink? >> yes. >> who did you tell? >> my attorney. >> narrator: well, not exactly that said the attorney in question, who testified that kennedy asked him in a cryptic sort of way what he should do if he knew about a murder. he didn't name holly or any particular murder. >> as an officer of the court, did you provide him with any guidance? >> i told him if he had information of that nature, that he had to inform whomever about this supposed situation. >> but kennedy didn't tell authorities anything. then. not until he was sitting in a jail cell under arrest for assaulting those cops. did he hope police would go easy on him if he told them something they wanted to hear? sergeant quinn told the jury he believed kennedy's story because he knew details only somebody close to the crime would know. >> there was no mention in the media anywhere. where did it come from? >> the fact that this was the one witness who we could bring forward to the jury saying i heard holly mcfeature confess to putting something in matthew podalak's drink, it was so important it couldn't not go to the jury. >> narrator: and with that, the prosecution concluded its case of circumstantial evidence. but there was a giant void in the room. a big empty hole where the hard evidence usually goes. what would the defense make of that? coming up, the defense strikes back. >> you have in idea how that man died, do you? >> i didn't have to see physical proof. >> i asked the question, you have no idea whatsoever how that man died, do you? >> not to my knowledge. than clorox clean-up. let me at that grease. 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>> no, you can read it on her face. >> read it on her face. >> you don't have to be crying your eyes out at a funeral to not be grieving. >> narrator: no, the defense argued, all the testimony mall lining holly's behavior was really a product of six-plus years of rumor and innuendo, which according to matt's family, hard onned into sounding like truth, even if it wasn't. >> narrator: >> if you listen to the witnesses, even holly's friend, they all turned away once they talked to the detective. >> narrator: that was certainly the case, said the defense, when holly's friend rebecca vague zba. >> after she heard from the police, said the defense, did she begin saying what she said at the trial. >> but you have no idea how that man died, do you? >> i didn't have to see physical proof. >> i asked the question, you have no idea how that man died, do you? >> not to my knowledge, no. >> narrator: did the memory of all those happy days rebecca spent with holly suddenly sprout with suspicion once the detectives whispered in rebecca's ear? >> holly has children, and she's very careful. and i know she would not leave chemicals like that just lying around the house. >> narrator: no, the assault on holly by her former friend, the defense said, was just a smoke screen, for the hard evidence the prosecution did not add. like anything connecting holly to the murder weapon, by which, of course you mean the anti-freeze. remember those two bottles of anti-freeze investigators found in holly and matt's house, after she moved out? >> a blue bottle of peak antifreeze and coolant. >> the prosecution showed them off like the crown jewels, all the while knowing they had no connection with no prints on the bottles, no indication the anti-freeze was even the same kind. no indication the bottles were in holly's house. >> those two bottles were not linked to matthew podalak at all? >> what was the point in that? >> exactly. there wasn't any. >> were they implying a connection? you're grasping. >> narrator: another defense weakness, was the prosecution's theory that holly disguised the anti-freeze in matt's beloved raspberry iced tea. >> do you know how that iced tea got into that thermous? >> there was nothing ever connecting that it was even iced tea. >> narrator: and the motive, the prosecution suggested, the modest life insurance money? laughable, said the defense. wouldn't even buy a decent car. besides, holly said she had no idea it even existed. >> the question is, do you have any personal knowledge about how they actually knew there was a life insurance rider on his health insurance? >> i can't say that they did. >> narrator: but holly's defense attorneys did have a big problem, no getting around it, that pillow talk with jamison kennedy. if they could knock him down, they were done. coming up, was the prosecution's bombshell witness a dud? >> are you trying to accuse me of doing something to him? >> i'm not trying to accuse you of anything. >> well, you're putting words in my mouth right now. because i never said any such words to you. >> when "dateline" kongtds. fort benning, georgia in 1999. 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>> yes, sir. >> when in fact it was you that was drunk that night, not holly? >> i think we were both, you know, feeling a buzz. >> narrator: now this is the sort of moment a defense attorney probably lives for. listen. >> were you aware that holly's allergic to grapes and she can't drink wine? >> no. >> narrator: was this a man who could be believed when he said he had a real relationship with holly? >> he said he got her name tattooed on him and would not leave her alone. >> how did she feel about this? >> she was afraid. >> and kennedy admitted that he got very angry with holly when he found out she was with another guy. >> so angry that you grabbed her by the neck, you threw her against the wall, you punched her numerous times, that type of injury, right? >> no, sir. >> that didn't happen? >> i do believe i pushed her only when she approached me to try to hit me, i think with a phone or to smack me. i just kind of stiff armed her away. i think she fell down. that was the extent of it. >> really? >> narrator: holly called the cops that night and said kennedy punched her five times. he had already fled, but she said she was going to get a restraining order against him. but before she could, he was already at her door. it was only then after she turned him in and he was in jail facing years in prison, burning one anger toward holly that he called his attorney to try to make a deal. >> you say, charlie, get me the police, i got to help myself get out of this jam, i'm going to tell on holly, right? >> also he was concerned she would try to put this on me. >> oh, so now we got a conspiracy theory going hire that holly's now going to blame you for the death of matt, is that what you're telling me? >> it's just the attorney's recommendation. >> narrator: this attorney who had bent over backwards to give him a job and a place to stay after his earlier conviction. and what happened? kennedy stole from him, and -- >> jamison threatened your life? >> he threatened me, yes. >> he threatened your family, also? >> yes. >> he had mental problems and was not stable, right? >> correct. >> according to the defense, not even the police believed kennedy. for two years, they did nothing about his allegations. and after those two years, when according to the defense, they couldn't find any other evidence, they put his story to the test, by or kchestrating th phone call to homimo holly by k to try to get her to confess. this was something they had to hear. >> holly. >> yes? >> do you know who this is? >> yeah, hi, jamison. >> narrator: holly was taken by surprise, hadn't heard from him in years. police of course were listening. >> do you remember what you told me about the drinks? >> the drinks? >> the drinks of matthew. >> what do you mean what i told you about that? are you trying to accuse me of doing something to him? is that what you're doing? >> i'm not trying to accuse you of anything. >> you're putting words in my mouth right now. because i never said any such words to you about everybody putting anything in his drink, i would never have done that. i'm not that type of person. he was the father of my children, we were supposed to get married. my wor . >> narrator: holly didn't confess, not then, not ever. and kennedy was a sick puppy who saw an attorney to combine a lick revenge with a little self-help. >> you're trying to tell holly confessed to you about this case, because it would benefit you, correct? >> i know it's morally right, sir. >> if you knew it was morally right, sir, you would have gone to the police on september 26, isn't that correct, sir? >> i should have. >> big morals, right? thank you very much, i have in further questions. >> narrator: the prosecution said kennedy did not get a deal in exchange for his story. don't you believe it, said the defense, just wait and see. >> in march of this year, he'll have five years in and he'll ask a judge of this court to let him out. >> narrator: one more question to answer. if it wasn't holly, who was it? for that, the defense offered dr. robert fox, forensic pathologist. malt wasn't poisoned slowly over time, said dr. fox. the coroner simply made a mistake. all that pain matt suffered in the weeks before his death, that was from simple kidney stones, said dr. fox, nothing at all to do with anti-freeze. >> is back pain a simple tom of ethylene glycol poisoning? >> it shouldn't be, no. >> narrator: this wasn't a case of chronic ethylene glycol poisoning, this was one large dose. the most likely person to somewhere poisoned him with a drink of that size was matt himself. >> as to the manner of death, what would your ruling be? >> probably be a suicide. >> narrator: suicide by anti-freeze. a method more common than most people realize, said the defense. >> who kills himself with ethylene glycol. what a horrible death? >> not true, happens all the time. >> there have been some fay cows cases, a retired football player, a writer for "saturday night live." why matt? >> he had gambling debts, he was depressed, he wasn't happy at work. throw in experience of pain from kidney stones, throw in maybe they weren't having the best relationship at that time, that all adds up to suicide. >> narrator: and at that, the defense asked the judge to throw out the charges against holly. >> your honor, there has to be evidence, there has to be proof, there has to be something that the state did to show that holly was the one who did this. and it just doesn't exist. >> narrator: for a moment, it seemed the judge might grant the motion, but no, he ruled, holly mcfeeture's fate would be decided by the jury. as it turned out, very slowly. coming up -- >> ethylene glycol, odorless, colorless, sweet taste. >> but did holly use it to kill matt? >> you don't know, is the jury being out long a bad thing or a good thing? and coming up next friday on "dateli "dateline." >> the first thing that came out of my mouth was there's no way he did this. >> and they say to you, who does not like you enough to try to kill you? >> i can think of not one. >> but plolice could. and if the target was a surprise, so was the suspect. >> oh, it's you. >> but he claims he was framed and a man named indian joe could prove it. >> if i was a guy out there watching "dateline" i'm going to believe this. it's like watching a tv show. >> we found indian joe. what else would we find? 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[ female announcer ] sc johnson, a family company. >> narrator: it was 17 years almost to the day since matt podolak took his last breaths. >> he fell in love with the wrong woman. she was toxic to him. >> narrator: this was the closing message a stark visual. look how easy, said the prosecutor for holly to mix anti-freeze into matt's beloved iced today. look how hard for matt to detect the poison. >> ethylene glycol, odorless, colorless, sweet taste. >> there were two tragedies in this story, they said, matt's death and holly's suffering. nothing could be done by the first, said the defense. but the jury could rectify the second. >> you got to end the nightmare and you got to put to rest this family's tragedy. >> narrator: this could be a close calm. the jury went out. no verdict at the end of that first day. or the next. matt's brother mark didn't know what to think. >> you don't know if the jury being out long a bad thing or a good thing? >> narrator: holly's sister chrissy was nervous, but tried to be confident. >> they had a man from -- >> narrator: at the end of day three, a verdict. holly was surrounded by her family. as the jury filed in, holly began mouthing the lord's prayer. >> i understand you have reached a verdict in this case, is that correct? >> narrator: and then the judge began to read. >> we, the jury in this case, being duly sworn do find the defendant holly mcfeeture, guilty of aggravated murder, a violation of -- >> i heard those words, guilty and it was emotional. >> narrator: mark turned to hug his mother, her face awash in tears. across the courtroom -- >> nobody could react because it was total shock. nobody was expecting that. >> narrator: the guards came then, wrapped handcuffs around holly's wrists, she shook her head no, she seemed to be reeling, the words less than a whisper. >> she looked at me and she was gone. >> what did that do to you? >> it tore me apart. i really couldn't understand how this happened. it wasn't supposed to happen like this. >> narrator: the defense team felt gutted. the prosecution's case had been so flimsy, they thought. what had gone wrong? >> still don't know what happened. >> narrator: this was not an easy one for prosecutors. the sort of case you walked away from, if you didn't let yourself get caught up. >> what was it like to get your guilty verdict? >> it confirms the work that we do. >> what made it good? >> to be able to deliver something to the family that they believed from the beginning made it very satisfying. >> narrator: a month later at the sentencing, holly's sister wanted the judge to know what the children thought, that their mother was not a murderer. and that they were begging him, send her home to them. >> my mom is the greatest mom in the world. and because she is sweet and kind. i really want to see her again. i really mishs her. i wish i could have my mom back. >> narrator: and matt's father, a former cop had become an ordained minister. and he had come to a decision. >> i have come to a point where i have for given holly. and i ask you to temper justice with mercy. >> i just have one simple question. why? why put someone in unimaginable pain when you could have just walked away from the relationship. why continue to poison someone when you could have stopped? and why take him away from hiss children that he so dearly loved. >> the nature of the crime and the case can not be overlooked in this matter and the court's going to impose a sentence of life with parole eligibility after 34 years. >> narrator: holly mcfeeture won't be eligible for parole for 30 years. but is it over? no. the process of appeal has begun and so has the struggle over the futures of the children. they're living with holly's family now, matt's parents haven't seen them in years. >> we want them in our life. we want them to know who their dad was. >>en t >> narrator: the night before holly was shipped out to begin her life sentence, chrissy took them to see holly. they spoke over a jailhouse phone. >> that was very hard to watch. i had to turn away, numerous times because, like i said, it was just heart breaking knowing that they couldn't just touch and she couldn't touch her babies that she loved so much. >> narrator: and mark podolak, goes where he always goes on the anniversary of matt's death, to talk to his brother a at the cemetery, this year with a lot more to say. >> i hope they're proud of you, big brother, a little bit, because hopefully i helped you rest in peace a little bit more than you have been. >> narrator: and this year there will still be a podolak playing amateur hockey in cleveland. matt loved the game. mark took it up in his memory. and since matt can't be here to play, said mark, he'll play for him. that's all for this edition of "dateline." we'll be back again next friday at 9:00, 8:00 central. i'm lester holt, for all of us mom? did nana ever give you cheerios when you were a little kid? yeah, she did. were cheerios the same back then? cheerios has pretty much been the same forever. so...when we have cheerios, it's kind of like we are having breakfast with nana... yeah... ♪ yeah. you're so smart. now at 11:00, a local family's tragic history with synthetic marijuana. one son dead, another on a heart monitor. the message they're sending to other parents in our area. >> buyers making their way to a virginia gun show. why some are crossing state lines for ammo and automatic weapons. >> and scrambling to put out a

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