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And the only reason i picked him out of that crowd was i heard through the grapevine that his brother s car was used. what are you telling me this now for? what do you think this is going to accomplish now? nothing. i m just trying to come clean, i mean. reporter: now, that was a bombshell. livers own attorney had never been told by authorities that he d recanted his confession. so basically from the official story, his recantation simply disappeared? right. reporter: the cass county sheriff s department declined dateline s request or interviews or explanations of how this happened or, for that matter, anything else about the case, but in december, 2006, seven months after the murders, prosecution experts finally agreed, too, livers confessions were deemed unreliable. i went over to the jail and matt was in his cell and we told him, you know, it s over. you re going home. and, you know, i probably had the biggest hug from a man that i ve ever had in my life. reporter: ....
In? why would i make mistakes that point the finger at me. reporter: a federal jury in omaha heard the case and took just a few hours to acquit kofoed of all counts. but the state of nebraska wasn t satisfied. appointed a special prosecutor and charged kofoed with evidence tampering. and this time, after a week-long trial before a cass county judge on what one headline called a dark day for law enforcement kofoed was found guilty. you understand what you were convicted of? yes, your honor. ....
Nick sampson struggled with the bitterness the long jail-bound nightmare had planted in his soul while the children of wane and sharmon stock tried to make sense of the release of the man they had been told had killed their parents. it s a difficult situation. none of us are attorneys. none of us are in law enforcement. and you re just sitting there trying to take it all in, trying to figure out, okay, how does this work? why does this happen? reporter: hadn t their cousin matt livers confessed? at least he was still in custody. as were those two teens from wisconsin. so it wasn t as if the whole case was falling apart. at least not yet. but if anyone did not feel confused in the october chill, it was defense attorneys bear and soucie, who were as sure as the summer day that both nick sampson and matt livers were innocent, despite what matt told police during his interrogation. ....
Swiped under the dashboard of the car. a second search of the car, by the way. the first by an officer under kofoed turned up nothing. this was blood from the murder victim, wayne stock. how would it get there? it was the fbi that started asking that question. not of livers or sampson. the fbi s investigation was aimed at the local investigators who handled the case. in fact, at csi chief david kofoed himself. and after months of digging, the fbi concluded that kofoed must have planted that swipe of blood himself. phony evidence to nail down a shaky case. it was a bombshell. david kofoed, division commander of the csi unit in douglas county, nebraska, was indicted on four federal charges including falsifying records and violating livers and sampson s civil rights. kofoed pleaded not guilty to all charges, defiantly told reporters he d rather go to prison than resign, even passed the polygraph and was cleared in an internal sheriff s department investigation. ....
They had arrested 28-year-old matt livers. he d confessed. and he d named an accomplice, his cousin, 22-year-old nick sampson. so the cass county sheriff s department called in the press and announced that one of the most shocking crimes in this part of nebraska in decades was solved. people ask us is this closure on the case. it s not. it s another chapter, turning a page. still re still a lot of work to be done. reporter: though he was right, the sheriff had no clue just how much work there was yet to be done. but for the stocks children, the arrest brought a small measure of relief, at least they decided they could try to move on, as they knew their parents would have wanted them to. i could hear mom and dad say, tami, you can let this eat you alive or you can go on and be the best that you can be and do what needs to be done. and that is family. ....