she d been a passenger in his car. he admitted as much to the original detective in 1982, when he was called in for an interview. one of the first things that russ said to detective bratton was the reason i didn t say anything was because i was on parole and i was scared to have police contact me. and he was gonna get jammed up if he correct. reporter: the bouncer had served time for receiving stolen property. he didn t want any trouble, he told the detective. but he did want to help. here was the truth, he said: he was driving dana home, nearing a corner, when suddenly he heard the engine rev louder and his car door close. next thing he knew dana was out of the vehicle. it would be such a simple explanation, if true. dana s massive head wound had been the result of an unlucky fall from a moving car, an accident. but that wasn t what was written on dana s death certificate. what did your coroner, back in the day, find? he found that she had, in fact, died from skull fract
them test the material that was found on the stick, and you became aware it was not blood, negative for blood? negative for blood. negative for hair. yes. reporter: and there was nothing linking the pool cue to russell adkins either. zip. you can t tell this jury that that pool cue came from russ adkins vehicle on september 5th of 1982, can you? no sir, i can not. reporter: what s more, it wasn t just that there was no evidence linking russell adkins to the murder. the defense pointed out the only forensic evidence investigators uncovered excluded him after the second autopsy, investigators had sent dana s fingernail clippings to the state crime lab. the male dna found under her fingernails was not mr. adkins ? that s correct. reporter: far more believable the defense said was adkins story of an accident. he has insisted since september of 1982 he didn t do anything, she fell from his car. that has that has not changed at all. lots of other evidence has vanish
adkins seemed eager to sit down and talk. you ve got a limited window here before he says, i want to have a lawyer. we re done here. you ve got to keep him talking as long as you can, i think. right. what s your strategy in dealing with him? i just wanted to go slow and easy. i wanted to go over his story. do you still want to talk to me about what what happened that night? yeah, this this needs to be figured out. this is just stupid, you know. reporter: adkins story started out the same as it always had. the chick fell out of my car. i mean, absolutely fell out of my car. i don t know if she grabbed the door handle, or i still don t know how. it still bugs to me this very day how she got out of that door. reporter: and once again, adkins had a ready explanation for why he d initially lied to the cops. you originally told them, russ, that you were just driving by and saw her laying in the grass. well yeah, cause i was scared. well what were you so scared
reporter: but as hard as he said it was to remember that night, adkins offered the investigator a brand new detail when confronted with evidence in the case. as you well know, dana s body was exhumed. right. okay, and then they did another autopsy and that led us to believe that she was hit over the head not from falling out of the car. so then that comes to me as asking you now how did she get the trauma on her head, then? from that pole that was there where the mailbox was at where she was leaned up against when the the officer came. he claims that he found her leaning up against a mailbox post. so she not only goes out the door, tumbles in the road. her head presumably hits a mailbox? that s what he says. which could account for the injuries. right. but we knew there was nothing there except for three very large trees kind of spread along the roadway. reporter: investigator kinder finally leveled with the bouncer. russ, with all due respect, i m not buying
watching their kids. cooking for them. once a year, russ would have a fish fry, and he would stand there the whole time and do nothing but cook fish. everybody else would bring in their dishes, whatever, but that s what he did. that s what he did. and he loved it because he was doing it for all of his friends. reporter: vera gregory was more than just a friend. she says she dated adkins for years. they shared a love of motorcycles and a home. she says he was kind to her. made her feel safe. yeah, we fought, we had problems. you know, we were a regular couple. but was i afraid of him, or anything like that? never. reporter: hardly the portrait of a murderer. russell s friends were shocked to hear police were sniffing at his door. we know russell, the person he is, the big teddy bear he is. and there s just no way that russell would intentionally hurt someone. something was said about, you know, russ, why don t you just get out of here? why don t you just leave? he said, why