Craig melvin then they found it, the diary he recorded in secret. And the clues came pouring out. Blood in the bushes. This was the hotspot. This was your Crime Scene. Craig melvin a stunner of a surveillance tape. Jeff wilbert a tarp, a rope. Everything you might need for a murder. Exactly. Craig melvin and what just may be the most sinister Mother Daughter Conversation youve ever overheard. These are not the same people that the public thinks that they are. You realize how cold this family is. Its pretty twisted. Very twisted. [music playing] hello, and welcome to dateline. Stephen moore was a Champion Speed Skater who was fast on the track but slow to find direction in life. That is, until he fell for Kindergarten Teacher Kathleen dorsett. Soon came a marriage, a career, and a baby. When stephen disappeared, detectives wondered if there was trouble in his seemingly normal life. But even they could not have imagined the sinister scheme at the heart of this case. Heres Andrea Canning
and the clues came pouring out. blood in the bushes. this was the hotspot. this was your crime scene. craig melvin: a stunner of a surveillance tape. jeff wilbert: a tarp, a rope. everything you might need for a murder. exactly. craig melvin: and what just may be the most sinister mother daughter conversation you ve ever overheard. these are not the same people that the public thinks that they are. you realize how cold this family is. it s pretty twisted. very twisted. [music playing] hello, and welcome to dateline. stephen moore was a champion speed skater who was fast on the track but slow to find direction in life. that is, until he fell for kindergarten teacher kathleen dorsett. soon came a marriage, a career, and a baby. when stephen disappeared, detectives wondered if there was trouble in his seemingly normal life. but even they could not have imagined the sinister scheme at the heart of this case. here s andrea canning with shattered bonds. [music playing] andrea
away was a cozy cul-de-sac where the dorsett family lived. everyone knew the dorsetts. there was thomas, busy with his refrigeration business but not too busy to lend a hand, wife lesley, a school board member, and daughter kathleen, a kindergarten teacher. [children chattering] kathleen loved her work, loved her parents, and seemed happy nestled into the neighborhood where she grew up. but she longed for a family of her own. and then she met stephen moore. [music playing] could she have found someone more different? stephen grew up in southern california, chilling at the beach, taking things easy, according to his friend cam graham. never really held a job, but he always was working. he always would find something to do. andrea canning: stephen s mom evelyn says her son wasn t lazy, just laid back. evelyn moore: he got by, but he wasn t truly motivated.
attentive mother, the kind who made her own baby food and fretted over every detail of her daughter s care. did you check into their standing in the community? i knew what and who they were to the fact that she was a teacher and where they resided. [piano music] andrea canning: detective jeff wilbert learned that steven s father-in-law thomas adored his granddaughter, and he got along with the neighbors too. we had stories of thomas shoveling sidewalks and driveways. and if there was a mechanical failure on an air conditioner or something like that, a simple phone call, and thomas would be there. andrea canning: and steven s mother-in-law lesley? nearly everyone saw her campaign ads when she ran for the school board. today, i wanted to introduce myself and tell you who i am and why i m qualified to serve you. andrea canning: detectives also learned that the dorsetts often hosted pool parties and barbecues on this little block. steven s friend cam came for a visit. her parents lived on
and attempted murder. thomas dorsett, doting grandfather and good neighbor, pleaded guilty to murder and arson for hire. leslie dorsett, former school board member, pleaded guilty to second degree conspiracy to commit murder. the goal was to kill evelyn. andrea canning: kathleen got 58 years in prison. thomas got 45, and leslie was sentenced to seven years. she was released on parole after serving about half her time. thomas wrote a letter to dateline to say that steven s murder was not planned. it was, he wrote, the first fight of my life. and katie was not involved. he also wrote that he and kathleen took the pleas to save my wife s life. the crazy thing about this is that it all centered around a child. and she so desperately wanted to have this child. and that s what she never thought about. she didn t realize at the end of the day she was eliminating her own ability to be a mom. andrea canning: did it feel though