Im sitting there panicking. Like, hes coming at me. In a flash, it was over. That charismatic kid, dead on the floor. It was terrible. I think i screamed for hours. What had happened in that garage that night . It was just like, the last person that would come to my mind. A neighbor protecting his home, or preparing a trap . Makes the statement, its showtime. Its showtime . Exactly. A teenager, a father, a murder. No one would be the same. We were all taken aback. Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with deadly exchange. Reporter its a dilemma that confronts every teenager. How to simultaneously fit in with your friends and rebel against everyone else. That twostep is made a little easier by the knowledge maybe the certainty that youre going to live forever. Kids do dumb stuff all the time. Reporter and so sneaking out of the house in the dead of night, to meet other teenagers to drink, party or just hang out well, thats nothing new. Usually teens sneak back home safely. This wasnt one of those times. I thought it was some kind of like, joke. I just couldnt believe it, really. I was just freaking out. Like, it cant be. It cant be. Reporter it was last april of 2014 when two brought Foreign Exchange students living in month slipped out of their home. Hes lying face down. Hes barely breathing. Reporter just minutes later, their amazing american adventure came to a sudden and tragic end. Where is he bleeding from . Um, everywhere. It was horrific. No one ever knew that someone would die over it, you know . It was just the worst thing that could have ever happened to us. Reporter it all began so differently for diren dede. A dream come true. He was an Exchange Student from hamburg, germany, excited to soak up anything and everything american. At 17 they were in a special corner of the west missoula, montana. He was really charismatic. Reporter dana, anna, and chance were three of direns closest friends at big sky high school. He was way different than all of the other Foreign Exchange students that usually come. He was really outspoken and outgoing, and he just jumped right into the culture. He wanted to do everything there was to do. And he was a terrific athlete . Uhhuh. Reporter it was no coincidence that jay boystrom, the teacher who recruited diren to big sky, also happened to be the schools soccer coach. No holds barred. Just go get it done. And when diren played, thats how he played. I think the guys were immediately like, this guy is cool. Kind of a bad ass, you know. He was, like, pretty stocky kid. Liked to lay people out. Yeah. He was tough. Yeah. [ laughter ] for sure. He threw down. Reporter and according to his friends, direns soccer skills and his good looks definitely helped him with the opposite sex. He was always talking to girls. Americans and even girls back home in germany. A man of the world. Exactly. Yep. [ laughter ] the other soccer girls always said that he would never miss a chance to take his shirt off when he was running around the field. They knew he was going to put on a show for them. Reporter diren lived with host parents randy and kate in the hilly neighborhood of prospect, a hilly subdivision of missoula. He was just such a terrific kid. You could see that right off the bat. And he called you mom and dad . He did. He really became our son. Theres no doubt about it. Reporter but diren was more than just a fun kid. He was engaged in the world. This was not your typical american teenager who just kind of wants to talk about, you know, sports stars and, you know, maybe the latest fashion and, you know no, not at all. No. Its like, so what do you think about the situation in the ukraine . Reporter by the end of the school year in 2014, diren had a solid circle of friends. He was tightest with another Exchange Student. This one from ecuador robby pazmino. We had so many things in common. The same personality with the same wishes and dreams. They were a package deal. You see one, youre gonna see the other . Oh, yeah. Reporter saturday, april 26, was no different. The boys spent the evening playing video games and listening to music in randy and kates basement. I went down 10 30 or so that night, and told them maybe crank the music volume down a little bit. Reporter but around midnight, diren was bored, restless and suggested he and robby take a walk. And i was kind of, im just really tired, diren. He was like, come on. And i was like, okay. Reporter so while kate and randy slept upstairs, robby and diren slipped out the back door for a walk around the neighborhood. They headed up the nearby hill and turned onto deer canyon road. Then, robby says, diren suddenly walked off in a different direction and robby lost sight of him. I was like, hes not coming. Ill continue walking. Reporter robby says he called out to diren. But there was no answer, so he kept walking, figuring diren would catch up. That is when, like, i heard someone yelling. Youre there. I see you there. Something like that. After that just the shots, like, three or four shots. And i just started running. Reporter gunshots in a quiet residential neighborhood. A nowterrified robby raced back home. He was faster than i am. I said, hes probably coming. I was almost sure that he was coming. Reporter but diren wouldnt return. And what happened to the german Exchange Student would simultaneously make headlines around the world and get americans asking, how far can you go to protect your home and family . When we come back 911. What are you reporting . A robbery. An urgent call to 911. Somebody entered into our garage. Shots were fired. And an urgent question. Where was diren . It was terrible. I think i screamed for hours. I was like, theres no way possible. Nothing like this has remotely happened. 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Reporter sunday morning was less than an hour old when the sound of gunshots ricocheted through the prospect neighborhood of missoula, montana. 911. What are you reporting . Um a robbery. Okay. Whats going on . Someone entered into our garage. Shots were fired. Reporter a robbery was rare in prospect but a shooting was unheard of. Dash cams captured the chaos as First Responders raced to the scene. Stay to the right. Whats the number . Stop, stop, stop. It was all happening just a few hundred feet from where Foreign Exchange student diren dede lived with his host family. I kind of woke up with a start. Heard four loud pops, bang, bang, bang, close together. A pause, and then another bang. Reporter randy heard the sirens and got out of bed. So i went downstairs, just to make sure i could lay my hands on robby and diren. And he came downstairs with me and hes like, wheres diren . And he said he didnt know. He didnt know . And i thought that was kinda weird. And i looked in the rec room, and didnt see diren. And i so i came back to him and i says, whats going on . Wheres diren . Reporter robby fessed up. He and diren had sneaked out. He told randy how diren had walked off on his own, and then robby said hed heard gunshots. Alarmed, randy woke up his wife and the three of them went to deer canyon road. How far away from your house is this . 80 yards, Something Like that, just directly above. Its just the next street above ours. So this is a neighbors house. Its a neighbors house. Reporter but when they got there, Police Stopped them. We were just hoping diren would just walk out somewhere, you know, show up and come out the door. I walked up to the police officer. Gave him a name and description. And thats when she kind of went, well, just wait here for a second. And then came back and said, i think you guys need to go to the hospital. And that it wasnt good. And as soon as she said that, i thought, gosh, we just passed an ambulance running up there. And he must have been in the ambulance. What happened on that quiet street . Did diren and robby stumble into a burglary in progress or some violent Home Invasion . The police asked robby to answer some questions. While kate and randy rushed to the hospital. It wasnt long after we got there that the e. R. Doc came out and explained that his wounds were fatal, and that he was no longer alive. Terrible feeling. It was horrible. I went outside the hospital many times and just screamed. I it was we lost our sorry. When they brought us in to identify his body, it was horrific. Looking at his beautiful body, no longer complete, it was terrible. I think i screamed for hours. Reporter diren dede would never make it to his 18th birthday. I thought it was a joke. I was like, theres no way possible. Nothing like this has remotely happened to me or kind of anything like that in missoula growing up. It was obviously a shock. It was just, like, the last person that would come to my mind, i guess. Reporter direns soccer coach assumed that whatever happened to his star player, it wasnt direns fault. Im trying to imagine, did he go to a party and get shot by another kid . Was he downtown missoula and got in a scuffle . I didnt understand. What do you mean, shot . I was like, i didnt understand what happened. Reporter so what did happen . Police on the scene quickly concluded only one person was shot, the intruder mentioned in the 911 call. Who got shot . The robber. Hes badly injured. Okay. So he entered your garage. Who shot him . My husband. Reporter and cops quickly learned something that those who thought they knew diren well could scarcely imagine. He wasnt an innocent victim. He was apparently the opposite, he was the burglar. Like someone is trying to break in your car right now. Police were about to hear a story from the man holding the gun that night, a story of terror and a family under siege. And weve been sketched out. Weont feel safe. Im on edge about everything. Coming up they had had their vehicles broke into. She was scared. Two frightened homeowners victimized two times before. What had happened inside that garage . Im sitting there panicking, you know, like hes coming at me. When dateline continues. Reporter a high school Exchange Student from germany had been shot and killed during an apparent burglary inside a neighbors garage in the quiet town of missoula, montana. Now diren dede was dead, and police were investigating. Does that happen a lot here, people shoot burglars who are in their homes . No. It doesnt. Reporter Missoula PoliceDepartment Detective guy baker had the case. Soon he was interviewing the man whod pulled the trigger. Hi, markus. Hello, sir. Im guy baker, im a detective. Reporter the homeowner was Markus Kaarma. Kaarma and his common law wife, janelle pflaeger had just moved to missoula. They were looking for a quiet, safe and kid friendly place to raise their child. Police spoke with janelle at the scene and recorded their talk with kaarma at the station. So what we want to talk about is what happened tonight at your house. Reporter the couple told investigators the story actually began with a burglary three weeks earlier. And then just ten days after that, the burglars returned. Somebody had trespassed into their vehicles and in their garage, which was unlocked. Reporter cash, credit cards and a cell phone were taken. The couple filed a police report, but the burglaries remained unsolved. Markus kaarma said he feared they were being targeted. Weve pretty much been living in fear and it sucks. And to know that were being watched and targeted and knowing how hard it is for you guys to actually catch a burglar with no evidence. Reporter kaarma said they no longer felt safe in their own home and were terrified theyd be robbed again. And weve been sketched out, we dont feel safe, im on edge about everything. Reporter the couple even emailed their neighbors to warn them about the string of burglaries and suggest everyone lock their cars and garages. Having somebody burglarize you is a terrible feeling. And it does leave people feeling violated and angry. Yes, i would agree. So thats not uncommon for people to be upset and extremely vigilant after a burglary . I would agree. Its not. Reporter the more time that passed with the burglars at large, the more fearful markus and janelle said they became. In part because he was a seasonal firefighter and would have to travel for work soon, leaving mother and child alone for months. She was scared that markus was gonna be going off on a seasonal employment here soon. Reporter so kaarma told police his wife decided to put together a homemade Security System that would warn them if another intruder showed up. Shes got motion sensor one, motion sensor two. She had placed a baby monitor on the east wall of the garage. A video baby monitor . Once the alert sounded due to the motion detector, then they could see what the baby monitor could see. Rorter all of that was connected through a Smartphone App so when the motion sensors were triggered, an alert would allow them to view live video of their garage. That saturday night, kaarma said they were trying to relax after putting their son to bed. I had recorded the movie lincoln, we were watching that. About a third of the way through that, not sure what the time was, it was dark outside, but, you know, we went outside and had a smoke in the garage like we always do. We usually leave the garage door open to air it out. Reporter but five minutes later, an alert from the motion sensors. Someone was in their driveway. An intruder. Perhaps the same one whod targeted them before. These photos are from the home Security System. Thats diren entering the garage. Markus kaarma says he grabbed a loaded shotgun he had for protection. Im sitting there with the shotgun in my hand and staring at the lock on the front door. And i cant tell if its locked or unlocked. And im starting to shake at that point, you know, the adrenalines coming, like, oh my god, these guys actually came back to the house. Reporter he said his wife stayed back, while he went out the front door and turned toward the garage. Few quick steps around my front. And you saw where my truck was parked, pretty much with my butt touching my grill guard. Thats where i stood. And then she flipped on the light. Reporter kaarma told the detectives he was blinded by the sudden light and realized the only one way for the intruder to get away was to go past him. Then i heard something move, like, a piece of metal hit the cement. Either that or a piece of metal hit a piece of metal. It sounded like either a metal wrench being picked up or maybe the axes. Reporter so Markus Kaarma says he did the only thing he could to protect himself. Immediately i fired high up into the right corner of the garage. Here i am looking at my garage, i think in total four rounds were shot. All directly, one, two, three, four. If i live in montana, what right do i have to shoot someone who has entered my house . You have the right to use any force necessary in defense of yourself, but no greater force. Okay. But, i mean, this was a burglar who had broken in. You dont know who he is. You know its somebody that you dont know. And they have crossed that invisible line from outdoors to indoors. And they are, by that definition alone, i would say, a threat to me. Well, youve got to be able to articulate the threat. Reporter and kaarma told investigators there was a real threat. The garage was full of tools the intruder could grab and use against him. I imagined an ax flying through the air and hitting me in the skull. Reporter and kaarma said he was positive he heard that scraping sound just moments before he fired the shotgun. Im describing the sound when i say it hit okay. But what im picturing in my head is im going to die. Reporter to hear Markus Kaarma tell it, hed faced down a threat. It was kill or be killed. And that was justifiable homicide. And the young soccer star who was by now in the morgue, must have had a darker side that many didnt see. Detectives decided to dig deeper into the lives of both diren dede and the man who shot him. What they learned would only deepen this mystery. Coming up true or false. Diren was committing a crime. He was. But was diren the only one breaking the law . He said, showtime. He said the gentleman makes the statement, its showtime. Its showtime . 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