He did a lot of things that werent appropriate. It doesnt make him a murderer. You have a wolf in sheeps clothing. The sinister minister. Reporter the man of the cloth, inspiring from the pulpit. You went away feeling that youve learned something. Reporter marrying the faithful. He officiated over my son and my daughterinlaws wedding. Reporter counseling the troubled. He is so good at understanding how to comfort other people. Reporter but what if the minister is suspected to be not a man of god at all . I believe it was all a fraud. Reporter the minister role . The minister role. I think he was just hiding behind that hat. Reporter but, rather, a stranger in clerical robes carrying out the devils business. I believe he preys on vulnerable people. Reporter laying on hands where he shouldnt. Ministering to more than the soul. He would basically counsel his way right into their bedrooms. Reporter just who was the reverend Arthur Burton schirmer . God wants to hear you for his many admirers, he was the eloquent pastor making a joyful noise unto the lord with his christian quartet. A. B. To his friends, a smalltown methodist preacher in eastern pennsylvania. He was our friend, our confidante, just an allaround good guy. Reporter darryl cox sang alongside a. B. For 20 years. Hed seen the freshfaced young pastor grow into an accomplished and devoted preacher. All of the things that he helped my family with over the years, he was always there. Reporter hed watched his friend the pastor raise his musicloving family. A. B. And his wife jewel even performed together. They sang together many, many times. They were quite the duo as far as duets were concerned in the church. Just seemed like the allamerican couple. Reporter the couples daughters julie and amy. My mom and dad were people who loved each other, took care of each other. Were just a very close family. Reporter but a deep sadness fell over the schirmers in 1999 when a. B. s wife of 30 years suddenly died. His daughter recalls their father being overcome with grief. He was very lonely. It was a hard year after. Reporter he was a sad guy, huh . Uhhuh. Very lonely. Reporter but life goes on and their father did, in time, meet someone who would become their stepmother a recently divorced woman named betty who shared his love for running and the outdoors. They just seemed like they were best friends. I mean uhhuh. Best friends. It really seemed they had this this closeness. I loved betty. Reporter and betty was loved by everyone. Her sister tina remembers how she made even strangers feel instantly comfortable. No matter who you were, it was always, hello. And you got a hug. Everybody got a hug. Reporter and out of everything in her life, betty was enormously proud of her grown son, nate novack. So if First Impressions count, what were your First Impression of a. B. Schirmer . I knew he was a pastor. So i had respect for him right away. I thought he was a decent guy for my mom. Reporter and, in fact, it was the reverend, his stepfather, who officiated at nates wedding at a beach a couple of years later. A. B. Had embraced his new wifes big family and they him. They were thrilled to see their sister find such happiness after coming out of a long marriage that had soured. Bettys mother, jean, was just delighted that her daughter had found such a fine, upstanding man. He was so nice. You know, we just didnt think there was anybody better than him. Reporter with this fresh chapter in his life opening up, a. B. Took a new church posting as the pastor of Reeders United Methodist Church in the rural poconos of northeastern pennsylvania, about two hours away from his old church in lebanon. Nate said his mother was homesick at first. She was upset, i think, initially just being so far away from not only myself but also the rest of her family, as well. Reporter but, he says, betty found comfort in a. B. s congregation. The parishioners were happy to welcome her, the always fun and friendly pastors wife. Very lively, very full of energy. Always doing something. Reporter samantha musante had attended sunday school at the church from the time she was kneehigh. And she remembers how close the pastor and his wife seemed to be. The Church Members always said, oh, betty and a. B. Never do anything apart. Theyre always together. Reporter and thats how life passed for seven years a. B. , betty and their new expanded family of yours and mine. But death was stalking the pastor yet again. We came down the road and spotted a vehicle. Reporter it was a warm july night sometime close to 2 00 a. M. Stanley dickerson and his girlfriend were driving down a deserted country road when they noticed a pt cruiser down off the shoulder, jammed against the guardrail. There was some smoke coming out from under the hood. We slowed up next to the vehicle, but being so dark and with the windows being up on the car, we couldnt really tell what was going on inside. Reporter dickerson got out of his car and knocked on the drivers side to see if he could help. The man rolled down the window. It was a. B. Schirmer. He said, im fine, but i dont think my wife is. I think my wife is hurt. Reporter dickerson asked the pastor to turn on the cars interior light. When he turned it on, there was just blood everywhere in the car. Reporter betty was lying in the passenger seat, shivering and covered in blood. The pastor appeared to be in shock, staring blankly straight ahead. I said, what were you doing out here . And he said his wife had some sort of a problem with her mouth, maybe a toothache, and he had to bring her to the hospital and thats what he was doing out on that road, you know, that early in the morning. Reporter dickerson called 911. They needed an ambulance fast. The car didnt flip over or anything. They just hit a guardrail. But she seems to be hurt pretty bad here. Reporter emts arrived within minutes and betty was taken to the regional trauma center. Her son nate, away from home on a business trip, rushed to her bedside, totally unprepared for what he would find. Reporter it was shocking, huh . She was in very bad shape. Yes. I wasnt expecting wasnt expecting her to look as bad as she did. Reporter could you even recognize her, nate . No, i couldnt. Reporter that bad . That bad. Yes. Reporter Betty Schirmer was on life support, and her family was being summoned. Why had betty been so badly hurt in that car crash but not the pastor . There was Something Else that struck people as strange. At bettys bedside everyone was in tears. But according to her son, everyone except her husband. No crying. No praying or anything like that. Are you sure tyeah, why wouldnt it . Ive just never seen anyone pay with their phone here. I think those only work at like, fancy grocery stores. We fancy. Introducing samsung pay, the new mobile payment that works almost anywhere your cards can be swiped or tapped. Get 100 off any samsung. Com purchase when you activate samsung pay and register a compatible card. Exclusions apply. Snowmen with buttons, snowflakes with icing candy corn feathers, sure look enticing Rice Krispies treats, the fun doesnt stop how many ways can you snap, crackle, pop . Make the holidays a treat with kelloggs Rice Krispies. Padvil pm gives you the healingu at nsleep you need, it. Helping you fall asleep and stay asleep so your body can heal as you rest. Advil pm. For a healing nights sleep. [special effects] lisa what took you so long . Duracell quantum lasts longer in 99 of devices, [laser blasts] so you can power imagination all day long. [duracell slamtones] why do i cook for the to share with family to carry on traditions to come together, even when were apart in stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and more, swanson® makes holiday dishes delicious howclick from the couch . Ay . Or grab from the shelves . However you build cheer, the best prices of the year are still here. Save 100 on this ryobi combo kit, just 199. The home depot. More saving. More doing. A story about finishing. The race. No matter what the obstacles. About rebuilding the bond between a mother and a daughter. Or about helping build homes for others. Because you remember what it felt like. Not to have one. When you keep an open heart, Amazing Things happen. Thats what the open hearts collection at kay jewelers is all about. Right now, save up to 20 on select open hearts jewelry at kay. Keep your heart open. And love will always find its way in. Every kiss begins with kay. Reporter shed always been there for them. Now bettys mom and most of her eight brothers and sisters had gathered at her bedside. She looked all tubes, bandages and swollen bruising. We were all in shock. It was just horrible. Reporter bettys youngest sister, tina, was at her bedside in intensive care. Just two weeks before, theyd celebrated the birthday they share. They said their goodbyes after a nice lunch. Do you remember what the last words were . That we have to make sure that we keep doing this every year on our birthday. And that she loves us. Reporter bettys only son, nate, got to the hospital as fast as he could, bringing with him a holiday photo of his mom in happier times. Mother, son, and the grandson she doted on. She looked so happy with all of us together there on the couch. And i had placed that in her hand to hold. Reporter as you touched her hand, her fingers, were you getting anything back . No. And as i put the picture in her hand, i whispered in her ear that i loved her and hoped she can hear me. Reporter a solemn vigil began, a life ebbing away amid intensive care machinery. How are you comforting one another there . Hugging and, you know, crying together and holding onto each other, saying some prayers. Reporter at the hospital bettys husband of seven years, pastor a. B. Schirmer, seemed to the family at times oddly distant, at others overly genial. But perhaps, they thought, he was still in shock. After all, hed walked away virtually unscathed from the car crash that had left his wife on life support. No crying, no praying or anything like that. Reporter but a. B. s daughter from his first marriage remembers her father was beside himself with grief. He was upset. He was crying. I saw him at her bedside sobbing, sobbing with one of bettys sisters. Sobbing, holding on to her, not my betts. Reporter according to official reports, the pastor said he had been doing about 50 in his pt cruiser when the accident happened. A deer, he said, had darted out into the road. And he swerved into the guardrail. Betty slammed into the windshield. An arriving officer noted the airbags had deployed. But a. B. Told his sisterinlaw tina betty wasnt wearing her seatbelt. I questioned a. B. What do you mean she didnt have her seatbelt on . She always wears her seatbelt. She would never be without a seatbelt. Reporter but betty, moments before the crash, had made the fateful decision to unbuckle her belt, the pastor told arriving officers. Less than 24 hours after shed been rushed to the hospital, she died. Nates mother was gone. The woman whod built sandcastles with him, whod taught him how to ride his bike. Nate had loved her so much. I was overwhelmed with grief, crying. And i was putting my head on her chest, just hoping to hear something. But there was nothing there. Reporter given the pastors account of a relatively highspeed crash and the arriving officers writeup of the wreck, the coroner ruled bettys death an accident caused by severe head injuries. There would be no autopsy. And a. B. Told nate that his mother had wanted to be cremated. She was actually cremated the next day. Very quick. Reporter a decision that surprised her family, but the decision was properly the spouses. At the funeral directors, a. B. Selected a container for her ashes that caught his eye. He had picked out an urn with a deer on it. Reporter a deer . A deer. Reporter the deer that sent them into the guardrail and your mother supposedly caused the car accident, yes. Reporter odd choice maybe, but nate reminded himself his mother had loved nature. She and a. B. Had jogged together at local parks. A. B. Said she always enjoyed seeing the deer. His Administrative Assistant of the past two years, cindy musante, helped him take care of the funeral arrangements. Her daughter, samantha, who was 16 at the time, remembers it well. That morning of the service, i actually went over early and was helping her with the lastminute details. Reporter the church was packed as people rose to eulogize the beloved betty, but nothing was heard that day from the pastor a. B. Schirmer. He sat in the pews and listened. Hed presided over so many funerals but told friends that this was one he couldnt bear to speak at. In the receiving line the preacher stood next to his stepson nate as the funeral goers each paused briefly to offer their condolences. One of them was cindy. He said, nate, id like to introduce you to my church secretary. This is cindy. And he said to me, we have a little inside joke between us at the church here. And he said, i go by a. B. , and she is known as c. D. And then he said, a, b, c, d. And they kind of chuckled together about it. Reporter did you think that was kind of a cozy, jokey thing . I just thought that was kind of odd at the time. Reporter while nate wondered about the relationship between the pastor and his assistant, cindys daughter had some questions of her own. She had noticed her parents drifting apart in the months before the accident. Did your mom seem different, samantha . Yes, definitely. She seemed much more distant from my dad. Reporter her father, joe, who struggled with alcohol, had steadied himself on the foundation of the church. A skilled cabinetmaker, hed even made a desk for the pastors office. Was it fancy . Very, very beautiful. It was cherry. Had Three Crosses on the front. Reporter but now he was back hitting the bottle. So his demons were after him again . Yeah. Reporter was the growing distance between cindy and her husband, joe, the reason why she and her boss, the reverend a. B. Schirmer, seemed to spend so much more time together . She needed somebody to talk to, you know. What better than your pastor . Reporter but samantha would soon wonder whether the pastors ministering was not so much godly as up close and personal. Samantha plays teenage detective and is surprised by what she finds. I was looking through my moms phone, and i found text messages. Reporter things like . I love you. I cant wait to see you. You looked really nice today. And im sorry, that isnt normal. Hi i need the new iphe to play my reindeer games. Arent you cute right now if you get any iphone, you can an ipad mini for an amazing price. Ipad mini. Nice. So what are reindeer games . Angry reindeer, doodle reindeer, flappy reindeer. Oh, so, like regular games with the word reindeer added to them . Hah. I guess so buy any iphone on at t next℠ and get an ipad mini 2 for 99. 99 at at t. Its the home of hunts. Around here we do things differently, we peel our tomatoes with flash steam. Some other companies peel with chemicals like lye. But we use the power of simple hot water. Hunts. Its good to be different. In the weeks after the death of the pastors wife in a car accident, samantha musante wondered why her mother was spending so much time with her boss, the reverend a. B. Schirmer. What in the world was going on . I was being a nosy teenager, and i was looking through my moms phone and i found text messages. Reporter things like . I love you. I cant wait to see you. You looked really nice today. And im sorry, that isnt normal. Reporter even at 16, samantha knew it wasnt right for her mother to be trading flirtatious texts with the recently widowed pastor. Samantha became little miss fixit. She decided to set things aright in her family by confronting her pastor in a kind of roundabout way. Using a fake email address, she wrote one of those i know who you are and know what youre doing kind of messages. Basically i just said that someone knew about what was going on and he should stop or i was going to take it to the church. At that point i didnt want to expose anybody. I didnt want to cause an uproar. I just i wanted my family back. Reporter it didnt take the pastor long to figure out that his assistants cindys daughter was behind the threat. Samantha was summoned to a meeting in the pastors office her, the reverend, and her mother. How tough was that session . Very, very difficult because as the child i had to just keep my mouth shut and say yes, maam. No, maam. Reporter two Great Authority figures in your life telling you youre out of line . Yeah. Reporter were they saying that you misinterpreted what that was all about . Yes. Yes. We are just friends. How dare you . Reporter samantha didnt believe a word of what she was being told, but she didnt know where to turn with her suspicions of the affair between her mother and her pastor. And your dads in the dark and you know and he doesnt. Yeah. At that point i didnt have any other choice. I wasnt going to tell my dad. I couldnt at that point. Didnt have the nerve to break his heart. Reporter but she could only protect her dad for so long. When cindy and a. B. Went on a day trip together, joe musante got wind of it. He called me and he said, whats going on . Whats going on with a. B. And your mother . Its very, you know what do i say . And at that time, you know, he is like, he said, is she in love with him . I said, i think so. Reporter joe waited in the parsonage driveway for them to return and confronted both his wife and a. B. Samanthas mother came clean, telling her husband while she felt an emotional attachment to the pastor, the relationship had not yet turned physical. She said, all right. Yeah, ill end the affair. And, you know, ill try and work on things. My dad was trying his hardest, you know, to work on things and get the marriage back on track. Reporter but joe no longer trusted his wife of 18 years. His sister, rose, found out later that he was monitoring cindys every move. He was tracking cindys telephone messages. How long she was talking and what numbers she was talking to. Reporter and joe didnt like what he saw. Even though she told him and you that she was going to put an end to this. Mmhmm. Reporter there she was calling him. Yeah. Reporter joe drove his daughter out to the horse barn for a talk. He was having panic attacks, you know. He said, i just dont know what to do. And i was young. I didnt know what to tell him. At that point he knew that i think he knew that things just werent going to work out. Reporter for a man who had struggled with depression all his life, the world was becoming an even darker place. I think at that point for my dad, family was very important. And my belief is that he thought my mom was going to leave him. His kids were going to get taken away. And i think without his family he wouldnt have had any reason to live. Reporter the next afternoon samantha says her mother called her in a panic. The pastor reportedly told cindy joe had called him, threatening to kill not only himself but maybe samantha and her brother, too. She