Wanted her money, and if he got a divorce, hed lose everything. Reporter did he do it . hang on. This case had a twist that no one saw coming. This woman essentially says, i saw the murderer, and it wasnt tom foley. Theres the killer right there. I did not kill my wife. Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with mystery at heath bar farm. 911 i need i need an ambulance. Now. Reporter february 2009, coldwater, michigan. Whats the problem . My wife your wife . Yes reporter in one day, one moment is she breathing . No shes gone shes gone reporter the innocent, simple life tom foley and his family once lived was gone forever. Oh, my god. Oh, my gosh. 27 seconds, gets it off to foley. Reporter it was a moment tom foley never would have imagined 23 years earlier. Back then, number 30 going to be 15 seconds left exactly. Reporter scored the winning basket giving Coldwater High School the regional title and earning young tom a place in coldwaters Basketball Hall of fame. I have goose bumps right now just talking about it. It was like victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat, and he came through with it. Reporter to what extent were you sort of known around here for being the kid that hit the gamewinning shot . That went on for a long time. You know, maybe someone might come up, hey, tom, you remember when you hit that shot . I said, of course, i remember. Reporter in 1991 the Hometown Hero started dating another local standout named darlene weber. Dar, as she was known, had a personality as big as her smile. The first time i saw her, she she was playing softball, of course, and she had on these lime green rec specs, so she looked a little funny. But when she took them off, i thought she was beautiful. Reporter it was a classic case of opposites attracting. I think we both went into the relationship knowing that we really loved spending time with one another. Reporter tom was the laid back, easygoing type. Dar, an Elementary School teacher, was more type a, and she didnt hide what she was thinking. She had opinions, and she let those be known. Thats one of the reasons i loved her. I still love her today. Reporter still, when dars sisters, ladonna, lynn, and marla, learned that dar and tom intended to marry, they were left scratching their heads. My famous saying was, theres got to be something wrong with tom for him to stay with dar. Reporter cause you couldnt do it . No. Reporter you couldnt be around somebody who was, what, that much the center of attention . And telling you what to do. Reporter and that controlling . Dar was not a domesticated person either. Reporter the foleys were married in 1994, and right from the start, dar took the lead. Fair to say that she wore the pants in that house . Id a probably 75 , 80 of the time she d. She was the breadwinner . Yes. You stayed home and took care of your son . I did. Reporter heath was tom and dars only child and the center of their lives. And we just loved being together. We were always together. Reporter and so the three foleys lived on the outskirts of coldwater in an Old Farmhouse they called the heath bar farm. A pictureperfect family until that winter day back in 2009. What was the last thing you said to her . I said, i love you, and ill see you later. Reporter on that day, the foleys were preparing to celebrate heaths 10th birthday at a friends house just down the road. Dar still needed to shower, so tom, heath, and a friend of heaths left without her. The plan was for dar to follow in her own car and meet them at the party later that afternoon. But dar never arrived. That gave you some sort of sixth sense that something was wrong . Yes. She was always on time or early to events. Reporter so tom left the party and headed back home in search of his wife. Our kitchen back door was opened, and i noticed that the glass was broken, and there was glass all over our kitchen floor. So i looked through the rest of the house for her, and ended up finding her in our bathroom. Reporter she had been shot in the head with a shotgun at pointblank range. Tom immediately called for help. Whats the problem . My wife is in the shower. Shes just laying there in the blood. Reporter First Responders rushed to the foley farm. When Michigan StatePolice Detective james karbon arrived on the scene, he knew he was in for a long night. We dont have a lot of homicides that happen in and around branch county, and because of her position as a schoolteacher, just for the number of people that knew her, that put it in a much more serious type investigation. Reporter detective karbon and his team of state troopers scoured the crime scene taking pictures and seizing evidence of what appeared to be a home burglary gone wrong. The first clue . The broken glass coming from the kitchen door window. It appeared that a beer bottle was used to break that particular window. Reporter according to tom, jewelry and credit cards were missing. The family desk had also been disturbed and financial documents inside were gone. En t cabinet. It looked like somebody had gone in and basically scooped a shelf off of the medicine cabinet and its contents. Reporter like maybe they were looking for prescription drugs . Potentially. Reporter but to detective karbon, the items missing werent nearly as telling as what was left behind. Expensive electronics were untouched as was dars purse found sitting on a hallway chair. It just didnt make a lot of sense. Reporter neither did the use of a shotgun. Its large, potentially bulky. If youre going to break into something, you have to carry whatever you steal out with this shotgun that you brought also. Reporter it wasnt until the next day that police found their first significant piece of evidence, evidence that led the investigation in a whole new direction. Down in the foleys dusty basement was a suspiciously dustfree yellow plastic bag. What was in the bag . Three shotgun shells. When we come back police have some questions for the grieving husband. We found a dunhams bag. Okay. That had some shotgun shells in it. Okay. You ever seen that before . No. And so does his wifes family. There were a number of people who were offended by his demeanor. [touch tone] introducing freeze it, from discover. It allows you to prevent new purchases on your account in seconds if your card is misplaced. Not here. And once you find your card, you can switch it right on again. Hey. Youre back [touch tone] freeze it, only from discover. Get it at discover. Com. Restorstrengthairs and flexibility. New improved nexxus with concentrated elastin protein and precious ingredients. 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And she had a lot more to give. And we cant bring her back. Your wifes been killed, and youve got a 10yearold son. What did you tell him . I told him that someone had hurt mommy, and he goes, is she in heaven . And i said, yes. Reporter it seemed that no one in coldwater could comprehend what had happened including steve and joanie pierce, Close Friends of both tom and dar, who learned of the murder from tom himself. I said, the three of you were always together. And he was crying, and he said, i know, i know. I shouldve been there for her. And then i said, if you wouldve been, the three of you would be dead now instead of just dar. Reporter but just 24 hours into the investigation, detective jim karbon had almost abandoned the theory that this was a random act of violence. It appeared to me that this was a staged breaking and entering to try to hide a homicide that took place. Reporter but according to detective karbon, whoever staged the burglary didnt factor in the weather that day. It got really warm. We had a huge snowmelt off. Reporter the ground around the farmhouse was unusually wet and muddy. So youd expect that there would be muddy footprints from inside the residence from somebody who had come through that door . Absolutely. And was there anything or any footprints . There was nothing. Reporter but it was the yellow bag found in the basement, the bag containing shotgun shells, that interested karbon the most. Downstairs in the basement. Okay. We found a dunhams bag. Okay. That had some shotgun shells in it. Okay. Have you ever seen that before . No. Reporter now, the foleys didnt own a shotgun, as far as we know . Thats correct. Reporter karbon sent the bag to the lab for analysis, and what technicians found on the bag surprised even this veteran detective. Toms fingerprint was on the bag . Yes. Reporter suddenly detective karbon felt he needed to learn and take a closer look at tom foley and his seemingly pictureperfect marriage. I think they did a lot of things together, however, i dont consider them the pictureperfect couple. Reporter neither did dars sister lynn, in whom dar once confided. She said, tom doesnt love me anymore. Hes leaving me. Hes going through his change of life. You know his midlife crisis . Yes. Reporter dars sisters were becoming increasingly suspicious, especially, they said, after watching toms behavior at dars funeral. It was almost like he was relieved. There were a number of people that came up to me after the service that were really offended by his demeanor, his joyfulness. These are things that ive heard, and its ridiculous. I mean, taking care of heath was on my mind, wondering who killed my wife was on my mind. They dont know the things that ive been through. Reporter maybe so, but detective karbon was keeping a very watchful eye on tom foley. He decided to interview the other foley who was at the farm the day dar was killed, tom and dars son, heath. Heath, like i told you, im detective sergeant karbon. Reporter he said that heath and his friend skylar wattie were inside the house playing video games, waiting to be driven to heaths Birthday Celebration. Did you see anything different or out of the ordinary, or anybody walking around, anybody come up to the door, anything you can think of . Not really. Okay. Reporter the detective also interviewed skylar wattie, who said right before leaving for the party, tom sent the two boys outside to go start up the truck. He said that hell be out there in a little bit. Okay. So, i dont know what he was doing in there, taking a shower or what. Reporter like heath, skylar couldnt recall anything unusual about that day either, and then suddenly yeah, when we were outside running across the barns, there was like a big crash like way in the back of the house. Like what did it sound like . Like breaking glass and a bunch of things falling like maybe a vase just it was a loud sound . Yeah. Reporter detective karbon showed skylar a drawing of the foley farm and asked skylar to place an x where he believed the sound originated. Like somewhere around in here. Okay. Reporter skylar placed the x just outside the first floor bathroom, the same room where dar foley had been shot. It appeared to us that skylar wattie may have heard the shotgun blast that killed dar foley. Reporter detective karbon was also thinking this, the one other person in that house at that time was tom foley. Coming up he wanted the house, he wanted her money. And if he divorced her, he lost everything. Was that a motive . And was tom foley the killer . 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Reporter but if tom foley was in that house and pulled the trigger, the question remained, why . The answer, said karbon, is quite simple. Murder for money . Potentially yes. Reporter money in the form of an insurance policy. I think that he wanted out of the marriage and did whatever he needed to do to make sure that happened. And if he got 310,000 in insurance money and got out of the marriage, so much the better . Yes. Reporter the evidence against tom foley was circumstantial but compelling. You think he faked that burglary . Yes. And killed his wife . Yes. Reporter they never found the murder weapon. What do you think happened to the gun . I wish i knew. Reporter but even without it, in march of 2009, one month after dar foley was gunned down in her shower, state Police Arrested tom foley and charged him with his wifes murder. And i just, what, how, why . And i was like, this cannot be happening. Why do you think i did this . I did not kill my wife. Reporter to tom and dars Close Friends, the pierces, news of toms arrest was almost as stunning as the news of dars death. Could you conceive of tom either hating his wife so much that he wanted to kill her . Absolutely not. Never. Or killing her for the insurance money . Absolutely not. That would be stupid. She made good money. Why kill the golden goose . You think they had a good marriage . Yeah, i do. Everything seemed to be going real good for them. Reporter it seemed sadistic, shooting your wife at pointblank range, killing the mother of your son on the very day he was celebrating his tenth birthday. He never would have done that to his son. Reporter police continued gathering evidence. Ten days after toms arrest, Police Brought heath foley in for a second interview, and this time heath did recall hearing a noise that day. When skylar talks about hearing this unusual sound, do you remember any of that. It was like maybe a gunshot maybe or maybe some like glass broke, i dont know. It was one of those two things maybe. Reporter according to tom, the sound heath heard was nothing more than glass breaking. They were old barn windows that i was trying to clean up. And i went to grab them and one of them slipped out of my grip, and it smashed on our back porch steps. And it made a loud noise . Yeah, it did. Yup. Reporter but detective karbon wasnt buying toms explanation. The boys were playing over by this barn . Yes. And how far is that to the house . Its approximately 75 yards. Mr. Foley claims he was dropping a window. Would that sound have penetrated that far . In my opinion that couldnt have happened. Reporter police also say they carefully searched that area around the back porch. There was no glass that we could see when we looked at the scene onhat particular night, as well as the next day. Reporter for dars sisters, the writing was by now on the wall. They were certain of their brotherinlaws guilt. We went over every case we could come up with to not make it tom. I think tom resented dar in that he couldnt be a man. I think it kind of ate at him and he couldnt take it anymore. People get divorced for that reason. He didnt divorce her because hes a selfish coward. He wanted heath, he wanted the house, he wanted her money, and if he divorced her, he lost everything. Reporter in november 2009, tom foleys trial began. The prosecution argued that only tom had a motive to kill dar. But the defense claimed police had rushed to judgment. Defense attorney Tom Schaeffer and defense investigator ken koberstein. In their mind its always the boyfriend or the husband. Or the person who finds the body. Which in this case . Was the husband and tom. They wanted me bad. Because they whats easier for them to go after someone that they can actually physic physically see or someone they cannot actually physical si see. Whats wrong with the idea that money was the motive . Absolutely not. I mean, we had a mortgage