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Where was she? this victim of a murderous scheme in which an x-box live gamer had detectives seeing double. it s country out here. cornfields everywhere, two-lane roads. and it s where a cheerful kid named venus was growing up with her family. the youngest child of larry and therese. venus a goddess to her mom even before she was born. i dreamed about this beautiful little girl with big dark eyes. and when she came out and i looked at her, i said, venus. i can t even tell you how much i loved her. i can t even describe the love. reporter: but was venus a little more trusting than she should have been? it was her naivete that always troubled her parents. she came home one day and told us that she d met this guy and that he had secretly confided in her that he was mafioso. then later, we found out he worked at mcdonald s. and he was just embarrassed to tell her that. but she believed him. ....
when he called me, he says, are you sitting down? and in all the garbage, there s this receipt, huh? yes. a hat, some gloves, a shovel, and an 8x10 tarp. and that was the item that we were looking for because the wrapper found at the mccomb residence was for an 8x10 tarp. and where was the receipt from? it was from a walmart. reporter: specifically, the walmart in van wert, ohio, about two hours southeast from where venus disappeared. but not one of the walmarts michigan investigators had checked out. i doubt we would ve found that purchase had we not had the receipt. the date on the receipt itself was smudged. we didn t know when these items were purchased. so, the investigators began contacting the van wert walmart store to try to determine the date. and we learned right away that those items were purchased the evening before venus stewart went missing. now van wert, ohio is not near michigan. it s not near newport news. ....
Marriage. reporter: to say that venus parents were a little surprised by the turn of events is an understatement. she showed up. she was married and we were dumbfounded. reporter: all very sudden but dustin jasper, venus older brother, got along okay with his new brother-in-law. they both liked outdoorsy stuff. we went hunting together, fishing together. we ve always had a pretty good relationship. reporter: it was a year after their quickie wedding that doug left the marines to keep his bride happy. i was looking at deployments and other different things. and she had this fear that i was going something was going to happen to me. so she wanted me to get out of the military in 2003. reporter: so in 2003, venus and doug began civilian life together. they moved into this house in schoolcraft, michigan, not far from where they both grew up. venus worked in a bank and doug at applebees and pizza hut. a year later, a daughter came along, then, in 2006, a second baby. ....
Live with mr. stewart? anywhere from six to ten hours. a day? yeah, on a daily basis. this was his life. some people might sit and read, he played xbox. reporter: even though he d never met him, ricky told the jury he felt a strong tie to the former marine. would you say he was your best friend? yes. he called us brothers from another mother. what did you brothers from another mother. this was his idol. probably one of the very few people he had social contact with. reporter: doug and ricky met in person on april fools day in 2010, nearly a month before venus disappeared. doug was living alone and invited ricky down for spring break. surveillance camera footage showed ricky in virginia. you know, we can party, you can drink and i can help you with your papers. reporter: ricky testified that for the first three days, they went to the busch gardens amusement park, played xbox live, and drank. they hung out like frat brothers. on day four, the prosecution ....
Asserts that doug got down to business. he s like, hey ricky, i want to tell tell you something, it s really important. let me finish before you interrupt me. reporter: ricky testified that doug began to vent on his estranged wife venus. ricky said doug was portraying venus as an abusive, even dangerous mother to his two girls. that wasn t true, but ricky didn t know that. doug then told ricky he needed to do something desperate. he s telling me that he s going to go kill his wife. when he was telling you this, what were you thinking? i was just shocked. i couldn t, like, believe what i was hearing. okay. and he said, this is where you come in, ricky. i want you to be my alibi, just pretend to be me and live in my apartment. reporter: ricky s immediate reaction was an emphatic no. i was like no dude. i don t want to [ bleep ] here anything about this. and he didn t talk about it for the rest of the day. reporter: but doug kept at it over the next two days. ....