Didn t go as planned when sam saw michael was armed, he fled. don t run. you know? i m trying to like freaking force him to talk to me. michael ran after sam up these stairs. he said at some point while the two were in the stairwell, sam turned. michael claims that he was in fear and closed his eyes and just fired his gun. then he, you know, comes toward me and i just you know, i just i closed my eyes and i just pulled the freaking trigger and i m so sorry. with all the things he s telling you he s in a relationship with danielle, do you start to think we need to talk to danielle dreher. yes, so the next step was let s hear danielle s story. so detective szalbirak left michael and headed to the hospital where danielle had been waiting for updates on sam s condition. all she had been told was that sam had been shot. no one told her by whom. when i got over there, she was crying. she was very upset. detectives recorded the interview. we re trying to piece what all h
Trauma center as word of the shooting spread. and it s danielle. she s screaming into the phone. you have to come. he s been shot. he s been shot. and i said who s been shot? and she screams out sam. cindy jumped in her car to be at her brother s side. a thousand questions swirled through her mind. why sam? who shot him? and why was he at that apartment complex? a firefighter gunned down. but this seemed like more than just a random shooting. . coming up there s some infidelity going on and there s a reason a cause for concern. . when dateline continues. continues welcome to allstate.
it wasn t the reaction the detective was expecting. he found her tone to be strangely flat and unemotional. that was troubling to me. that was disturbing to me. i cannot believe he did this. danielle went on to say she had no idea michael planned to talk to sam that day. so michael never said anything about going over there? no, he didn t. but detectives were skeptical. they wondered if danielle knew more about michael s intentions than she was letting on. at this point, i don t know whether to believe her or not. you re not done with danielle dreher? oh, no, we re not done with her. . for the time being, szalbirak left her at the hospital to be with sam s family. it was up to danielle to reveal the identity of the shooter and explain the sordid details of how she was connected to him. she said, i need you to sit down. i have something to tell you. and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. first, cindy learned sam and danielle were getting a divorce. then
reporter: we asked danielle dreher to sit down with us for an interview. both she and her attorney declined. but during danielle s interview with the detectives, she emphatically denied having anything to do with sam s murder. i would never kill my husband. i would never kill another human being. reporter: and the man who pulled the trigger supported danielle s claim of innocence, in no uncertain terms. i ve acted on my own. i did. i did this all on my own. you know, i just so you re indicating that danielle s only involvement was in order to help you basically get dirt on her husband to help with the divorce? nothing to do with harming him? right. reporter: but michael s response didn t sway cindy lutz. i didn t believe him. i think he was protecting her. i think he would have done anything for her. reporter: cindy believes that includes lying about danielle being involved in sam s murder.
That there was a conspiracy. michael minor never gave me that information. reporter: what is your gut telling you, that danielle was indirectly involved, directly involved or she wasn t involved. reporter: what had no no part in this whatsoever. she wasn t involved in that homicide. reporter: news of the decision not to prosecute danielle for sam s murder made sam s sister cindy furious. do i think it s a tough case? yes, absolutely. but you know what? their job is not to prosecute cases that are easy. their job is to prosecute criminals. reporter: but just when everyone thought danielle was free and clear, prosecutor fraivillig said not so fast. remember michael minor s videotaped break-in of dianne mcknight s apartment? the prosecutor believed danielle not only helped plan the break-in, but she also instructed michael to steal some of dianne s possessions. danielle was charged with burglary and theft. at trial, the defense argued