Maybe a strange box held the answer. What was inside was hard to believe, leaving tekts withdetectives with two mysteries to solve. 12 years earlier there was a fiery crash on a Mountain Road killing another young woman. In my mind this was not an accident, our friend was murdered. We realize there was a connection. Marriage, money, murder. Some say more than one. When people say i know how you feel, you have no idea how i feel. I dont want you to know how i feel because no one should ever feel this way. I am lester holt. This is dateline. Here is Keith Morrison with deadly twist. The night forest was profoundly dark. The lowest thick canopy of trees, even the meager moonlight was shut out. As the driver rushed too fast down the twisting, stomach churning track, inches from yawning inky black depths. Desperate to save the passengers life. What were they doing up here . So far from civilization. From safety. What answers did the fire consume . As one of them was launched on a path as dark and twisted as the Mountain Road itself. One evil begetting another, and another, until. This whole story is a mixture of murder, blood, failings, grace, heaven and god, and some real craziness to it. But to begin, 2500 mielgs west of that remote mountain trail in georgia is one of the more civilized places on earth, napa, california, world famous wineries, michelin starred restaurants. Here lived a beautiful woman who loved four admiring men. Her father, the prominent artist. Her husband, the exFighter Pilot and pharmaceutical executive. Her lover, the handiman, former marine, firearms expert. And her first boyfriend, the wouldbe impressionist painter. His name is tim cherrington. And she . The woman at the center of all that happened, was rachel. Rachel hatfield. Reporter so rachel. Tell me about her. Oh, [beep]. Im sorry. Were starting, huh . Reporter well. Just whatever. Hmm start again. Reporter whatd that do to you when i said that . My heart just went, boom. The subject of rachel, as you can plainly see, is painful for tim cherrington. A pain that might lessen if hed only learn to forget. But all he can do is remember. Like the night they first met. It was a july night, a party. And she was dancing. And i said, wow, im gonna meet that girl. Reporter how old were you . I was 18 and i think she was 17. Reporter oh. Wow. Lovedrunk teens. They set up house together. Thats tim during those giddy years, rarely serious. Looking like a character from the movie dazed and confused. And theres rachel, unconsciously glamorous. Like some movie star in her own romantic comedy, with a plot that was all too familiar. Aspiring artists waiting for their break. Reporter could she see making a life as a painter . Yeah, she could. Rachel could picture it because she had seen it happen. Her own father, don hatfield, made a big name for himself painting the romantic, bucolic beach scenes that for years have graced living rooms around the country. You may have seen his how to paint courses on youtube. This is called, for me. Its called, aiming your shot. Rare is the artist who, like don, could comfortably raise four kids in the napa valley. But, though many are called, few are chosen. Tims artistic hopes were disappointed. It wasnt happening. It wasnt happening. So he and rachel lowered their sights and hustled up any work like murals that might help cover the rent. We were, you know, doing murals, and thats all the income we had. Reporter murals doesnt pay all that well. No, it doesnt pay much at all. She was undergirding and supporting, loving, and directing tim. Don hatfield thought his daughter would outgrow tim. After all, rachel, unlike tim, buckled down and went to college. You know, graduates at top of her class at sonoma state, recruited by deloitte and touche and they started her out at 80k. We want you no, i wanna do a little business of my own, you know . And she and tim would run around and do stuff. Reporter paint murals and so forth . Yeah. Reporter were they any good . Not really. But she loved him nonetheless. Fourteen years this went on. Rachel wanted to get married and have kids. And i havent asked her to marry me yet. And reporter did you wanna have kids . I did. I did. I did, but i just wasnt there yet, you know what im saying . Well. Its an old story, isnt it . Tim was blindsided by what happened next. Rachel met another man, someone who was everything tim was not. Todd winkler. Focused, disciplined. A former f16 Fighter Pilot, who was on track to be a corporate leader. Tim scrambled. And i went and bought a ring real quick to propose to her. And i did. It was too late by then, of course. Rachel turned him down, and announced her engagement to todd. It was really hard, you know, because the love of my life was leaving me for some guy that had a good job and a house and a boat and a nice car. Tim, to me, was rachels soul mate. He was nothing but loving and kind to her. We were both twentyonce. Hard to watch, said rachels closest friend, shannon thurman. She called me when she broke up with him and said, you know were done. I wanna have a family, hes not ready to have a family. And so, you know, were done. And then literally like two months later, she called me and said, you know, you need to be here in two days, im getting married. And i was like, oh, great. You guys made made up. And shes like, no, we didnt make up. We you know, its its this other guy, his name is todd, and you need to be here in two days. Tim didnt go to the wedding, couldnt handle it, went to a bar to escape it. He had no idea the Wedding Party would swoop into his bar for a round of toasts. It was hard, man, watching your girl on this big guy with her hot pink dress on and he was carrying her. Hes the guy thats got it going on and shes a pretty girl. And they look like a great couple. I just i mean, i cant imagine what what that would be like. I just cant. Yeah. Its hard. Reporter to be the guy who gets dumped is bad. Its bad. I quit painting, you know, as soon as i found out she married todd. And i just had no energy. I had no oomph. I had no inspiration. I had given up. So, what does this brokenhearted love story have to do with a fiery mountain crash . More than you could possibly imagine. My mind this was not an accident. Our friend was was murdered. I i truly believe that. When we return. A married womans complicated love life. One of rachels lovers is gone, but not forgotten. I thought maybe you know later on down the road, we can, you know, get together again and share life again. And theres a new lover on the horizon. I couldnt get her off my mind. 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Just add pantenes new conditioner. The pantene prov formula works all the way to the core and makes hair 2x stronger than shampooing alone see the difference of new pantene conditioner. History, for all we may try to slip its inconvenient grip is a sticky business and is rarely as done with us as we would choose to be with it. We make debts we must pay. Rachel hatfield turned her life as if on a dime, left her past behind and embraced an existence that was everything it wasnt with old boyfriend tim. When she married todd winkler, the exFighter Pilot turned corporate executive, she also married into a very different lifestyle. There were private airplanes, boats, and motorcycles. A big house in a development east of sacramento called an airpark. Cessnas in garages, piper cubs on the curb. Tim charrington versus todd winkler . No contest, said her dad, don hatfield. The guys an air force academy graduate. Hes successful in business. Hes a family man. Hes you know, from the midwest. Hes gotta be great. Reporter good, solid uppermiddle class guy . Up yeah, no. Reporter and hes got a plane and hes got planes and boats and you know, all over the place. What tim, the starving artist could offer, beyond love and loyalty, was a whole lot of nothing. Todd, on the other hand. We went to orlando with them to disney world. Reporter and he was picking up the bill for this stuff . Yeah. Most of the time, yeah. Don had no way of knowing that tim was, for a time, still in rachels life. Sort of. Reporter you didnt lose touch completely. No, we really kept in touch, and why would they do that . Maybe because her marriage, rachel led tim to believe, wasnt all apple pie and ice cream. Because she wanted to share with me what was going on. Reporter what did she tell you . She shared with me that todd took her credit cards and maxed them all out and bought a plane and just put her in debt for, like, 45,000. Reporter whoa. I was, like, whoa. Im all, arent you freaking out . And she said, yeah, but we hell take care of it. Which sounded less like complaining than maybe boasting. Tim, after all, could barely qualify for credit at all. Eventually, being on the outside looking in was just too hard. I couldnt take it no more. Its, you know it was getting harder and harder. So he asked her to stop calling him. He had to move on, start painting again, forget her, though as he admitted to us, he wasnt very successful. I thought, you know, maybe later on down the road, we can, you know, get together again and share life again. Wishful thinking, of course. Tim simply failed to understand that rachels life with husband todd was getting more exciting by the day. When todds company sent him to live briefly in australia, he invited rachels dad to visit and paid his way. Every night, after work, boom, were going to cirque du soleil, to comedy clubs, to dinners. I mean, it was a big it was a sixweek party down there. But it was back home in the airpark, where the winklers social life blossomed. Gosh, we have all kinds of things, from oktoberfest in october where the neighbors get together. Christmas parties, easter, valentines day parties. Ice cream social and paper airplanes. Ice cream socials. These were the neighbors. Rich and linda johnson. Lina and Marion Cockrell. Todd had one airplane in the hangar and one in the driveway. They loved having an exFighter Pilot for a neighbor. Todd was always i mean, he was just a genuinely interesting guy. He would yeah. Make eye contact with you. He always wanted to know about my job. What sorta cases are you working on . What kind of law do you practice . I had actually kind of looked at todd as kind of a guys guy. Reporter you enjoyed their company. We did. Enjoyed todd a little more than rachel, maybe. I knew her less well than i knew todd, i feel. I feel like we were both in the same place in our lives, but sort of moving in different circles and reporter and she wasnt one of those people who kind you immediately were attracted to or talked to her in or or or what . No. I dont i really liked her but she always seemed a little bit distant. Very polite, very friendly but a little bit distant. You want to go over there . Yeah. Lets go over there. By 2009, rachel and todd had two little daughters eva and ariel. He always seemed very involved and very engaged with the kids and to me, always seemed to be trying to help rachel and give her a break. Rachel and todd to us were like the Perfect Little family. Reporter mhmm. They were both very proactive parents. Reporter yes. Loving parents, caring parents as well to each other, a couple. They seemed like the perfect couple. And in our experience, we saw todd more on a social level with the kids than we saw rachel. Not every day, mind you. Todd landed a lucrative job with an International Pharmaceutical company. Grew expense account soft on his deskbound track toward what he called a c suite as in ceo. The only catch was, his office was a long drive away in the San Francisco bay area and, not wanting to uproot his family, todd got an apartment in town, returning home to the airpark for the weekends. Which meant of course, that rachel was now anchored to home, and two toddlers, monday through friday. She was soon quite restless. So she put her kids into day care and got a full time job managing the airpark. Reporter how was she as a mother, by the way . Oh, she was okay, i guess. Was that harsh . Don, you should know, has firmly rooted religious beliefs. I tried to lead all of my children to the love of jesus christ. It was an article of dons brand of faith. A mother should be at home with her kids. I was really pretty frustrated that she had them over in daycare and that she was working fulltime. Reporter mhmm. I didnt like it. But of course, it wasnt the only thing he didnt like about rachels job. There was also him. The first thought i had was, you know, wow, what a beautiful woman. And i still remember what she was wearing. I remember the way her hair was. His name is james white. Formermarine. Gun enthusiast. Airpark handyman. She was just the most perfectly nice, most beautiful woman ive ever met. I couldnt get her off my mind. Intoxicated by a married woman. Well, no good can come of that. Coming up. The attraction was mutual and the fact they were both married was just one problem. Another was soon to arrive. How did she feel about carrying todds baby . When dateline continues. E cash card. The only card that lets you earn cash back twice on every purchase with 1 when you buy and 1 as you pay. With two ways to earn, it makes a lot of other cards seem onesided. Deidre the dark classic girl plays in the background a great entrance never goes out of style. Dresses start at 25. The eva mendes collection. Exclusively at new york and company. Service in the military as so Many Americans have come to know, can form a person. As it did james white. I was a marine for life. It never leaves you. Reporter once a marine, always a marine, they say. And james white loved everything about the corps. I miss the marine corps very much. Reporter though not so much his next job as a mississippi deputy sheriff. What was it you didnt like about it . I dont like seeing human suffering on a day to day basis. Reporter so, after a failed marriage and with his young daughter in toe, he moved back to the place he started out, northern california. That little girl, Katelynn White is all grown up now. Were more best friends than father and daughter. We fight like siblings, and were just we were more focused on having fun and not really caring about what other people think. Reporter james and katelynn set up house together here in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, coincidentally, just a few miles from rachel and todd winklers airpark. James started a handyman business and again, pure coincidence, got some jobs at the airpark. We all know what the ar15 is we seem them we love them. Reporter he also started a website called ammosmith. Com. Its not so much about guns as it is about the craft of creating custom ammunition. We have an automatic pistol that shoots a rimmed revolver cartridge. Reporter and that was his life in the spring of 2010, a nicely varied little business. A second marriage, that was not going terribly well, oh, and he had a secret mad crush on the beautiful young woman who managed the airpark. Rachell winkler. And then one day she called me into her office. This is in june, beginning of june of 2010. She said, have a seat. And i said, okay. I thought i was in trouble. And she leaned over from her chair and she grabbed my hand and says, james, i got something i really need to tell you. I thought i was, like, youre fired. [ laughter ] no, she said, ive fallen hopelessly in love with you, and i dont know what to do about it. Reporter what was it like to hear that . It was a huge relief. Reporter relief . Yeah. Reporter because you were in love with her. I was already in love with her at the time, but i couldnt tell her. I didnt feel that i should tell her. You know, i wouldnt know how she would react. Id rather have her as my friend than have her as nothing at all. Reporter so having left artist tim to marry exFighter Pilot todd, rachel now launched into an affair with exmarine james. This, by the way, wasnt one of those sneak off into a closet and steal a kiss kind of affairs. With todd living and working in the San Francisco bay area during the week james and rachel were together almost constantly. We tried to spend as much as time as possible we could together. Reporter whatd it feel like when you did . It felt like we were family, felt like we were one one heartbeat. You know, our hearts were intertwined together like i cant describe. Indescribable love, never loved someone so intensely in my life. Reporter their children were soon in on the secret. Katelynn was beguiled by rachel. You could be talking to her, like were talking, and she would make you feel like the most important human being on this earth. Reporter how did that make you feel . Special. Loved. I could open up to her. Reporter if todd suspected anything, he didnt let on. But rachels dad, don, began to get a q