From one. This man sent my dad a bomb. We were there for a surprise phone call from another. [ phone ringing ] can i get it . Reporter its Josh Mankiewicz from dateline. Is there anything you wanna say . No shortage of suspects. Just a shortage of detectives. Reporter all kinds of things go wrong in Murder Investigations, but the Police Department running out of money is usually not one of the things you think of. No. I pressed on. I did what i had to do. Would she ever find justice . Its your father. Your father was murdered, youre not gonna give up. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with Something Sweet. Reporter the course of true love takes some strange twists and turns, particularly when it flows out of an Online Dating site. Occasionally, a cyberfling blossoms into a marriage. This is the story of one of those marriages what went right, and what did not. Back in 2002, ray kotomski was a 60yearold, happily retired, former corrections officer, living comfortably by himself in a house in the pennsylvania woods after his 36year marriage had ended in divorce. Ray had three grown children. Monica is his middle child. Tell me about your dad . A mans man. He was he loved outdoor kind of stuff. He loved hunting, fishing, stuff like that. A hard worker. He had a heart of gold. Reporter after his divorce from monicas mother, ray was lonely. The next step was as close as his keyboard. So he tried Online Dating. Yeah. Reporter yeah, did you make that face when he said he was doing it . Yes, absolutely. I did, yes. Yes, i did. You said, you never know who youre gonna wind up with. Thats right, yeah. Reporter and one day he tells you he met someone. Well, he just said that he liked her, he was gonna go on a few dates with her. Reporter the woman ray met was Teresa Bowers lovin. She lived one state over in ohio. A 43yearold nurses assistant, teresa had three kids herself a grown daughter and son, and a younger son at home. Ive kind of known her my whole life. Reporter beth burcham is a friend of teresas who grew up with teresas daughter sara. The three women all went to meet ray on that first date. She was, like, well, im gonna go meet him. Do you guys wanna go with me . Reporter so what can did she think about him . I liked him. He was smartmouthed and just fun. Reporter so what did she think about him . Shes, like, oh, i really like this guy. Im gonna see him again. Reporter and see him again she did. Soon, teresa was driving two hours to be with ray on weekends. Teresas son josh was a high schooler when his mom and ray got together. He made my mom happy. She definitely hadnt smiled like that in years. Reporter whatd she like about him . My mom was a Big Country Music fan. I think that was her kenny rogers in the making there. Reporter she thought ray looked like kenny rogers . That was kind of like what we joked with her about, but i mean, she definitely thought he was handsome. Reporter things were clearly clicking for joshs mom and ray. In may 2004, they got married. Friends and family say ray couldnt do enough for teresa, starting with an elaborate wedding. Your dad kind of doted on teresa. Yes. Reporter spent a lot of money on her. Did whatever she wanted. Took her out. Pampered her. Absolutely. Reporter sounds like he was sort of an oldfashioned gentleman type. Yes, he was. Reporter it seemed a match made in cyberheaven. The newlyweds bought a house close to teresas family in Ashtabula County, ohio. But happily ever after did not last. In october 2006 came a terrible blow. Teresas daughter sara was killed in a car crash, leaving her infant daughter and toddler son without a mom. Roy lovin, jr is teresas older son and sarahs brother. She was 21 years old, on her way to work one morning and i guess hydroplaned, swerved, and hit a tree. Reporter parents are not supposed to bury their children. No, and then the fact that she had two little babies two little kids and the fathers were not really in the picture, somebody had to step up and take them kids. Reporter and that was your mom. She was the first one with her hands out ready and willing to take them. Reporter teresa and ray transitioned from the joy of handthemback whentheyrecrying grandparents to the daily grind of surrogate parents to twoyear old gavin and baby helana. Then, not long after teresas daughters death, another bodyblow. Teresas granddaughter helana was diagnosed with cancer. Ray kotomski did the right thing. He and teresa were soon spending alternating weeks in a cleveland hospital where baby helena was being treated. Ray even shaved his own head when the little girl lost her hair from the chemo. It sounds like he really sort of bonded with helena. Absolutely, yeah. He had mentioned to a Family Member that he felt that god put him here exactly at that time for a reason, and it was to take care of her. Reporter helenas cancer went into remission, but ray and teresas relationship suffered collateral damage. According to teresas family, the strain of becoming a father again had made ray toxic. He was, they said, angry and drinking more beer than usual. Mom was scared, so mom couldnt tell him to cut back on his drinking. He was stressed out, or something was going on there. Reporter sounds like a pretty unhappy guy. Totally. Reporter rays family says he was fine, and that his drinking was never a problem. But by early august 2009, teresa apparently had enough of ray. She and the grandchildren moved to an apartment in a nearby town. On tuesday, august 11, a few days after she moved out, teresa and and ray reconciled enough to take the grandkids to lunch, and to feed the fish at a state park. The following day, teresa left the children with her friend beth and went back to the house to do laundry. What teresa said she found when she got there midmorning was a clearly sick, nearly naked, somewhat incoherent ray. He refused to let her call a doctor. Teresa told beth about it. She said he was acting so weird, when she came back to get the kids, and he wasnt feeling good. Reporter the next morning, when she couldnt reach ray on the phone, teresa asked her mother, who lived near ray, to check on him. When teresas mom got to the house, she found ray unconscious. She called teresa, who alerted 911. Is everything okay . No. I need an ambulance. Okay. Man down. Umm, barely not, um, its my husband all right. Ill send the ambulance. All right, thank you. Reporter teresa phoned beth and raced to be with ray. And what did she say had happened . That her mom had found him on the floor, naked, unresponsive. Reporter the ambulance arrived at the house around the same time as teresa. Emts scrambled to stabilize ray. Teresa rode in the with her husband to the nearest hospital. There, an Emergency Room Team struggled to revive him. But whatever ailed ray, it was too serious a case for the local hospital. He was taken by to a leveltwo Trauma Center in erie, pennsylvania, and he was barely clinging to life. A medical crisis, but also a mystery, what had happened to ray . I didnt know what the think. But when investigators look a little more closely, they find it a little more suspicious. He had to crystals . He did. [ male announcer ] pain not sitting too well . Burning to feel better . Itching for relief . Preparation h offers the most maximum Strength Solutions for all hemorrhoid symptoms. From the brand doctors recommend most. Preparation h. Dont stand for hemorrhoids. Give the gift of the better network. Save up to 50 on our hottest android smartphones like the Motorola Droid turbo 2. Get the best deals and the better network. Toysrus has themost awesome toys. Like us yeah, i bet we get snatched guess ill pick up where he left off. I bet we get as he was saying, i bet yeah, wassup . Get 10 off your 50 purchase of barbie dolls play sets and accessories online and in our whole store of. Awesome time in the service. Community college. It matters. Its why we, at university of phoenix, count your relevant work and College Experience as credits toward your degree. Learn more at phoenix. Edu. So i wanted you to have the ring to match. At jared, we only sell one piece of jewelry. The Engagement Ring you had designed just for her. And its waiting for you. At jared. This weekend at jared, create your own, oneofakind ring. And receive get set in diamonds rewards. Up to a thousand dollars toward a beautiful setting when you buy your diamond at jared. The one ring thats unlike any other is waiting for you. This weekend only. At jared. Reporter a worried family converged on Hamot Medical Center in erie, pennsylvania on antifreeze. But it looked as if they figured it out too late. Even in small amounts, just a few ounces, antifreeze is almost always fatal. Rays daughter monica was with her dad. He was just laying in bed. How did he look . Horrible. What were you thinking . I didnt know what to think. Because nothing was making any sense. Reporter ray kotomski had missed the narrow window in which antifreeze poisoning can be reversed. End of life discussions with doctors began. As his wife, it was teresas call. Three days after he was admitted to the hospital teresa told the doctors to let him go. Her son josh watched teresa make that agonizing decision. S devhe wastated. Absolutely devastated. I could see it in her face. Hard to do . Uhhuh. Reporter rays death was referred to dr. Eric vey, the medical examiner in the Erie County Coroners Office. By the time mr. Kotomski got to you antifreeze poisoning was already suspected. So you were looking pretty specifically for that . My job at autopsy was just to confirm the presence of the oxalate crystals in the kidney which clearly indicated that he had Ethylene Glycol on board. And he had those crystals. There was no question. No question. Slam dunk. Reporter the medical examiner determined the cause of death was Ethylene Glycol poisoning, but the manner of death was listed as undetermined. Teresa said ray told her he drank Something Sweet around the time he got sick. And, antifreeze had a very sweet taste. She also told the er doctor in the Ohio Hospital that ray had been threatening to kill himself. It was looking like suicide. Rays children didnt buy it. What were you thinking . The only thing i was thinking was i didnt believe the whole, he drank Something Sweet, it was antifreeze. My dad would never do that. All of us knew that. Reporter and so when ray kotomski died, the wheels of justice began to slowly spin. Taylor cleveland is a detective with the Ashtabula County sheriffs office. We received a call from the Erie County Coroners Office they wanted to give us the earliest heads up that they could that there was probably something in this case ray kotomski death, that was not natural, something that was quite possibly a homicide. Reporter if this was homicide, investigators had plenty of work to do. Raymond had been a corrections officer. Yes. And had unquestionably during his career dealt with some pretty bad guys who were locked up. Yes. Reporter cops started looking into rays past to see if someone was settling an old score. Three days after his death, techs processed teresa and rays house as a crime scene, but it had been cleaned by the time they got there. Rays bedding was in an outside trash can; there were numerous crushed beer and dr. Pepper cans, and, in the garage, right where youd expect to find them, were two containers of antifreeze. One sealed. One open. And that told investigators nothing. Because there were no fingerprints or dna on either container. How long after raymond died did you speak with teresa . A couple of days after. Typically when investigators start looking back at somebodys marriage they see either a great marriage or a bad marriage or something in between. This was what . According to teresa this was not a good marriage. She admitted that . Yes. So, she had to be a suspect pretty much right from the getgo . Unfortunately, wives kill their husbands. And we see that quite often. So you have to at least look at her. Reporter teresa laid out for investigators her actions in the days leading up to rays death. She again said shed tried to get ray to seek medical assistance when he first got sick but he refused. She said ray had been miserable and unhappy, and she speculated that he committed suicide. This was detective work 101. Teresa, the suspect spouse, had means, motive, and opportunity, but when detectives dug deeper into the strange life and times of teresa and ray kotomski, their case took a headsnapping turn in the direction of a totally new suspect. Coming up. A blast from the past. This man had gotten a bomb. Turns out, there was someone who had tried to kill ray once before. When dateline can continues. vo new tidy cats lightweight with glade. All the strength and freshness, now easy to lift half the weight, smells great. Find the litter that works best for you. Every home, every cat. Theres a tidy cats for that. During red lobsters ultimate seafood celebration. With jazzed up new dishes like the decadent grand seafood feast and the ultimate woodgrilled feast why wait to celebrate . So hurry in, it ends soon. Now earn 10 cash back at amazon with chase freedom. Through december. Chase freedom. The card is for the essentials. The cash back is for the fun. Learn more at chase. Com freedom. Chase. So you can. Happy holidays switch to Cricket Wireless and for a limited time, choose from four smartphones, now free after mailin rebate cricket visa promotion card. And get more 4g lte coverage nationwide than tmobile or sprint. Woohoo only from the merrier carrier. Cricket wireless. Something to smile about. Reporter ray kotomski was dead. And his wife teresa believed it was suicide. But Law Enforcement thought this smelled like a murder. That someone had poisoned ray with antifreeze. Detectives looked for his killer among the thousands of the worst of the worst criminals ray had spent a career guarding in pennsylvanias maximum security prisons. Raymond was not the corrections officer that all the inmates hated and, you know, vowed to get even with once they got outside . Quite the opposite, that raymond and the people that raymond associated with during his time at the prison were generally respected and did not run into a lot of problems with inmates. Reporter so to cops, it didnt look like anyone from back in the day had it in for ray. But there was someone from his, and teresas recent past who had once wanted ray out of the way, if not dead. Detectives learned that in the winter of 2003, when ray and teresa were first getting to know one another, she was also seeing another man shed met online, a fellow by the name of Robert Reichard, and she left ray for a few weeks to be with robert. When teresa went back to ray, robert did not take that well. Not at all. Robert was infatuated with her, and wanted teresa to leave ray. To leave ray for him. Reporter reichard stalked the couple. He vandalized teresas car. And then it really escalated. Robert decided to try and remove raymond from the equation, sent raymond a letter bomb. Reporter a real bomb . A real bomb, a functional, working bomb. Reporter raymond went to his mailbox, found a package that looked odd and brought it to the state police barracks. The bomb squad detonated it. If raymond had opened that package would he have been killed . He would have been severely injured if not killed. Reporter robert said at the time that he had wanted to be with teresa and that he thought that raymond was in the way. Now, when i look at teresa i guess i dont see the femme fatale that guys wanna kill for. Neither do i. Reporter but its there. In some fashion, yes. Reporter rays daughter monica remembers a phone call from her father about the bomb. His voice was shaky, it was something ive never heard before. Reporter whatd you say . Whatd you think . I didnt know what to think. I i think at first i couldnt believe it. Reporter Robert Reichard pleaded guilty to manufacturing a firearm and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was paroled just months before ray kotomski became mysteriously ill. Reporter did you wonder whether he had anything to do with it . Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, teresa was the last one with him. But this man sent my dad a bomb. Reporter monica wasnt the only one wondering about that. When you discover that somebody else tried to kill your victim, and is now out of prison, that changes everything. It does. We had one of two options in this case. Either it was a wife killing her husband, or some elaborate plot to finish what mr. Reichard had started and was unsuccessful with. Reporter detectives tracked down their new suspect. He was living what appeared to be a normal life in western pennsylvania. You or other investigators probably spoke with his employer, coworkers, family . Investigators from our office spoke with a lot of People Associated with Robert Reichard. Reporter could you track mr. Reichards movements . He was not on gps monitoring at the time, no. Reporter so, if he was going to see teresa or if he was gonna stalk raymond nobody wouldve known about it . Be a fair assessment. Reporter he certainly wouldve had access to antifreeze. Everybody has access everybody has access to antifreeze. Reporter while detectives were trying to find out if teresas ex boyfriend turned letter bomber had anything to do with rays death, they dug deeper into teresas past. But the investigation went slowly. Weeks became months. Rays family counted the days. It just felt like we were getting swept under the rug. Reporter some people would of given up in that instance. How could you . Its your father. Your father was murdered, youre not gonna give up. Reporter so whatd you do . I pressed on. I did what i had to do. I made sure that there was justice. Reporter that was easier said than done. Hard times were coming to Ashtabula County. Coming up the case goes cold because instead of looking