i pulled the trigger. reporter: but james matlean did not shrink from it. he murdered ben oxley in his sleep and must live with what he did for the rest of his days. i m afraid to deal with what i actually did. reporter: he told his story in court last december. it was after the d.a. took the death penalty off the table and james decided to plead guilty. and that s when melissa sitting in the courtroom heard for the first time about something else. james was supposed to kill her, too. dawn asked me if i would kill melissa. i just automatically said yeah. reporter: there was a bullet there for you. what was it like to hear that? unreal. do you believe that she was in the house that night? i do, which makes me sick. i have a harder time with dawn than i do james, because if it wasn t for her, none of it would happen. reporter: and that s where
shrink from it. he murdered ben oxley in his sleep and must live with what he did for the rest of his days. i m afraid to deal with what i actually did. reporter: he told his story in court last december. it was after the d.a. took the death penalty off the table and james decided to plead guilty. and that s when melissa, sitting in the courtroom, heard for the first time about something else. james was supposed to kill her, too. dawn asked me if i would kill melissa. i just automatically just said yeah. there was a bullet there for you. what was it like to hear that? unreal. do you believe that she was in the house that night? i do. which makes me sick. i have a harder time with dawn than i do james. because if it wasn t for her, none of it would happen. reporter: and that s where melissa oxley and james s attorney, kent stover, firmly agree. only half a measure of justice. since dawn is protected by that