All language subtitles for Dateline.Secrets.Uncovered.S11E08.720p.WEB.h264-BAE.[eng]

- I'm kate snow, and this is
dateline: Secrets uncovered.

- How could this happen?

A very healthy 31-year-old,
just winds up dead.

- A young father's death,
so sudden, so strange.

- We wanted answers.

- The word "poison"
just kept coming up.

- It was
anti-freeze poisoning.

- You can't smell it.

You can't see it.

- Someone wanted him dead.

Someone who was
hiding something.

- The details of the case
are very salacious.

There's sex,

There's the allegation
of poisoning.

- Cleaned out
the bank account.

- Are you trying to accuse me
of doing something to him?

- A brother determined
to find a killer.

- How dare anybody do that
to my little brother.

- It wasn't supposed
to happen like this.

- A toxic mystery,
an emotional trial.

- Is the jury being out long,
a bad thing or a good thing?

♪♪

- Hello, and welcome to
dateline: Secrets uncovered.

Navy vet,
matt podolak

And his fiancee,
holly mcfeeture,

Were a loving couple
raising a family together.

Then, quite suddenly,
matt's life was cut short

When the healthy
31-year-old died

Under very strange
circumstances.

His premature passing
was met with disbelief,

Then sorrow,
then suspicion

That maybe someone
was keeping a deadly secret.

Here's keith morrison
with manner of death.

- It was a mystery
from day one.

From that time right around
the end of the hockey season.

Didn't make sense
what was happening
to matt podolak.

Matt, the happy
hockey amateur.

Matt, the outdoorsman.

The hunter,
the fisherman, athlete.

Didn't make sense
from the very first day

Matt podolak woke up
in the morning

With that pain
in his back.

And after what happened
in the hospital

A couple of months later,

Nothing made sense
after that.

[flat line droning]

Though god knows,
there were accusations.

Oh, yes, plenty of those.

Then a brother, mark,
for whom the story,

The mystery became
a kind of obsession.

It's had quite an effect on me
over the past seven years.

- But the story of
what happened to matt podolak

Is one of those that--
well, you be the judge.

♪♪

Let's begin in the spring
of 2006.

Matt was 31-years-old,
maybe more than ever,

He was loving the intense
male roughness

Of amateur hockey.

He was number ten,
and he was good at it.

Even managed to keep
all his teeth.

- He started to take it up
when he was in high school.

And that was really
one of his loves.

- Mark podolak
was just a little older.

A little more
academically accomplished

Than his kid brother maybe.

But mark loved him.
Loved him for what he was.

- He was a good kid.

I mean, he didn't get in
any trouble.

And to be honest with ya,
my dad is a cop,

So...
- Yeah.

- ...He sorta put
the fear of god into me

And my brother
when we were growin' up.

- Matt told his mom patricia

He was going to join
the police force

When he came home
to brooklyn,

After a stint in the navy.

Brooklyn, ohio,
by the way.

It's one of the towns
around the edge of cleveland.

- Matthew always wanted
to, uh, be a police officer

Ever since he was little.

- His dad, len,
was a 39-year veteran

Of the brooklyn pd.

- There was a point in time
where it looked like

We may even work together.

- But life is full of
disappointments.

Matt didn't get the call.

And so instead he went
to work for his uncle,

Whose phoenix industrial
powder coated engine parts

For ford
and other companies.

- What did he think
of that job of his,

Over at the factory?

- The thing that
excited him about it

Was that he was gonna
take over.

My uncle was kinda
grooming him

To become the boss.

- But what matt wanted
perhaps most of all

Was a family.

And so, when he met holly,
holly mcfeeture.

- When matthew fell in love,
he fell 110 percent.

And, um,
he really loved holly.

- There are some people
who plan out their lives

Very carefully.

Those people may have taken
issue with matt and holly,

Whose daughter samantha
was born give or take,

Nine months after they met.

The marriage part
would come later they decided.

- He loved being a dad.
He loved that little girl.

- And loved holly.

Holly loved him.

Holly told her sister chrissy,
the story

Of how they eventually
got engaged.

It was during a romantic
weekend in niagara falls

Just before samantha
was born.

Holly was preparing
a bubble bath.

- And she couldn't hear
because the faucet's running,

And here's matt
down on his knee,

Like, hello.

And then she realized,
"oh, my gosh! You're proposing!"

- That is a kind of
romantic little story.

- I thought so.
The bubbles and--

I thought that was
pretty romantic.

- After samantha came along,
matt and holly now engaged,

Went to vegas to witness
a friend's wedding, lynn.

Did you almost make it
a foursome wedding.

- Oh, yeah.
Actually, yes.

Holly and matt said
we should do a double wedding.

- But holly knew
that her family

Would not be happy with that.

So, I think that's what
made them not get married.

- Didn't get married,

But something happened
in vegas.

Nine months after that,
josh was born.

- From what holly has told me,
josh was planned in vegas.

- Ready or not,
matt was now the father

Of samantha and a baby boy
he nicknamed "little man".

And holly's daughter
from a previous relationship.

Big changes,
in a very short time.

And by the end of
the hockey season,

A lot of things
started going wrong.

Josh was still very new then
and colicky.

Matt was stressed.

And with that young family
to support,

He'd gone and lost money
gambling on the internet.

He complained of feeling
depressed.

So depressed, his doctor
prescribed anti-depressants.

Now that's about
when it started.

The pain, that is.

Spasms of back pain.

He ignored it.

Figured it would go away
on its own.

But it just got worse.

After weeks of this,

Holly insisted
he go see a doctor.

- He had been
complaining of pain,

And she finally said,
you need to go.

Obviously,
something is not right.

So... She basically, you know,
had to drag him there.

- Kidney stones
was the diagnosis.

The doctor gave matt pills
to help dissolve them.

Four days later,
he took a turn for the worse.

Way worse.

Holly called her father,
matt's father and 9-1-1.

- I got a call from holly

Saying something's wrong
with matt.

So, I talk to matt,
and he says,

"dad, I don't feel good.

"I fell off the couch.
I'm really dizzy."

I said, "well,
get in the ambulance."

- Holly's father,
mike arrived,

And followed the ambulance
with holly to the hospital,

Where things went bad fast.

- I was nerve wracking because
all we kept hearing about

Was, okay, they're trying to
dial in on his kidney issue.

Well, then that medication
was making his heart go.

So then they tried to
address the heart,

And it kept seesawing
back and forth.

- And nobody seemed to know
really what it was causing it?

- No.

- Matt faded in and out
of consciousness.

Doctors told holly
and family members,

Go home, get some rest.

And then a few hours later,
they called everybody

Back to the hospital.
Right away, they said.

One look at the icu,

And big brother mark,
felt his world come apart.

- When I saw him
in the hospital,

It's something
I won't forget.

It seemed like
he was in a coma.

I knew if he made it through,

It wouldn't--
it wouldn't be the same.

- And everyone felt
a particular kind

Of helplessness, knowing
something was killing him,

But not knowing,
how could they, what it was.

- How could this happen?

All of the sudden,
a very healthy,

31-year-old young man,
just winds up dead.

Family and friends
ask a simple question,

Which will take seven years
to answer.

- How can you go into
the hospital for kidney stones,

And then die
eight hours later?

- When dateline:
Secrets uncovered continues.

♪♪

- The end came
on Monday morning,
July 31, 2006.

There in the icu,
the mysterious ailment

That attacked matt podolak

Overwhelmed his defenses
completely.

- I got a call that said
you better get here

Because he's gone into
full arrest,

And we've revived him
already once.

So, when I got there,
it was just downhill.

- Matt's fiancee,
holly mcfeeture

Begged the doctors,
keep trying.

- And holly said,
"don't stop. Don't stop!"

And saying,
"matt, don't leave me."

- It was no use.

- And once the doctor,
or nurse stepped away,

Holly just lunged on matt
and just wouldn't let go.

They actually had to
pull her off of his body.

- He was just 31-years-old.

And now his children
were fatherless,

And holly,
a single mother of three.

At the funeral,
said her sister,

She did not take it well.

- Holly was sitting
in her car

For about 20 minutes
bawling her eyes out

Before she even went in.

I don't know how I would
be able to do that myself.

Go in and see him,
lying there in the casket.

- Matt and holly's son, josh,
was just six months old.

And he cried, a lot.

So, said, chrissy,
holly repeatedly

Had to leave
the reception line

To care for
her colicky baby.

She was in the basement
with josh

Because she was nursing.

She had to still take care
of her kids

And show them
that she had to be strong.

- Holly's friend rebecca vega
did what she could to help,

Especially with
that little boy.

So young.

- This poor baby,

He would have never
known his father.

How could this happen?

All of the sudden,
a very healthy, 31-year-old

Young man,
just winds up dead.

It's kinda strange.

- Kinda strange?
It certainly was.

Matt's brother mark,
couldn't stop thinking

About how strange it was.

Matt's brother, mark,
couldn't stop thinking

About how strange it was.

- He had kidney stones.

How can you go into
the hospital for kidney stones

And then die
eight hours later?

- Exactly what the coroner
was wondering,

When he had a look
at some of the damage

To matt's organs
as if he'd been exposed

To some toxic chemicals
in his environment.

Matt had worked
for four years

For his uncle's
phoenix industrial,

Supervised an assembly line,

Involved in painting
and powder coating.

Any toxic chemicals there?

The coroner called
holly to ask

Her friend lynn [indistinct].

- The coroner told her a lot
of the chemical compounds

Were very similar to what
the chemical compound was

That they found in him.

- Right after that,
holly called matt's uncle,

The man who owned
the factory.

- Saying that my brother
needed to call the coroner

So that he can explain
what matthew was exposed to.

- But soon after the coroner
talked to matt's uncle,

After he got a proper list
of the chemicals they used,

He pretty much ruled out
any industrial cause.

- All those chemicals
were safe to work with,

They were osha approved,

And, um, they had
masks to wear.

- So if not that, what?

Perhaps a cause unhappily
all too common

When death occurs in
one so young.

That a depressed young man,

Overwhelmed by
his sudden responsibilities

And the pain of
his kidney stones

Decided to end it all.

It was a coroner's investigator
who brought up the subject

To matt's mother.

- And she was questioning me,

Would matthew have
committed suicide?

- Never, said his mother.
Never!

But it was, his family
had to admit,

A not unreasonable question,

Given matt's
depression and all,

Even though mark believed

His brother had that
under control.

- He went to a doctor
to-to get some help with that.

The doctor gave him
some antidepressants.

- Did that help?

- I thought it did.

He, um, he seemed
to be better.

- But then, matt had
a new family now.

You know how it is,
matt was spending

Most of his time with
holly and the kids

And her parents, they said,

So maybe mark didn't know.

Did he go to his own
parents' house very often?

- I don't recall him
talking about them much.

- His connection didn't
seem to be that close, then.

- It didn't seem to be.

- And mark didn't know,
not then anyway,

That matt actually
asked a friend to remove

His hunting guns
from his house

As if he was afraid, perhaps,
he might harm himself.

Was he really thinking
about killing himself?

- From what I heard, yes.

I heard that he was
having thoughts.

He had told holly.
I think he actually told my dad.

- Just as she insisted he see
the doctor for kidney stones,

It was holly,
said her sister,

Who insisted she get help
for his depression.

- She had sent him
to the doctor

And got him on medication
for that as well.

- What happened
to matt podolak?

Who knew?
Apparently not the coroner,

Who had still not issued
any official report.

And then, finally,
three months after matt's death,

Mark got a call
from his mother.

Come to a family meeting,
she told him.

She refused to tell him
what would be said there.

- Because I knew he would
be very, very upset.

- The news was
too bizarre, too shocking

To share over the phone.

- Why keep the topic
of this family meeting

A secret from mark?

Must be something big.

Well, turns out, it is.

Coming up...

The coroner's report
makes it clear,

Matt's death wasn't
just strange,

It was also
highly suspicious.

- We were all thinking
it was kidney failure.

We were not expecting that.

- It was my mission
to find an answer for this.

- When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

- There were just
the two of them,

Big brother mark
and the kid he looked out for,

His little brother matt.

And now, matt was dead,

And nothing made sense
to mark podolak.

- There's no way
that a guy's gonna go

Into the hospital
with kidney stones

And you're gonna die
because of kidney stones.

- Three months
after his death,

Matt podolak's family
gathered for a meeting.

Matt's mother arranged it.

Beforehand, she told mark
they'd be discussing

A possible wrongful
death suit

Against the hospital
where matt died.

- My mom called me over
and she said,

We're gonna talk with
the lawyer tonight.

We're gonna find out
our next steps,

What's gonna happen.

- But mark's mother wasn't
exactly straight with her son.

That was not what was
going to happen.

- So when I got
to her house,

The whole family was there.

And I-I was like,
where's the lawyer?

And she's like,
"he's not here."

- No lawyer.
Something far more disturbing.

The autopsy report.

Matt's mother did not want
her surviving son

Hearing about this
over the phone,

Afraid of how he'd react.

- The whole family was there
as a support thing,

And they said, "we got
the coroner's report back,

"and it was
anti-freeze poisoning."

And I kinda lost it.

- Anti-freeze poisoning?

That's just--
- yeah.

- The correct phrase for this,
said the coroner's report,

Was "chronic intoxication
by ethylene glycol."

Ethylene glycol being
the active and toxic ingredient

In anti-freeze.

- So I was like,
what is-what is that?

I mean, ethylene glycol
is anti-freeze,

But-but chronic?

And so, you know, it happened
over a period of time.

So once that
kind of set in,

I-I-I was shocked.
I was speechless.

- And that's when
something profound

Happened to mark podolak,
maybe right that moment.

A decision snapped
into place.

- From that moment on,
when we found out,

It was my mission to find, uh,
to find an answer for this.

- A mission complicated
by the fact there was

One very big question
the coroner couldn't answer,

Was matt's death the result
of some terrible mistake?

Or a suicide?
Or was it murder?

Nobody knew.

And so the coroner labeled
the manner of death,

"undetermined."

Across town, matt's fiance
holly was getting the news, too.

Holly's sister, chrissy.

- What did she say?
- What can you say?

What do you mean there's
anti-freeze in his system?

We were all thinking
it was kidney failure.

We were not expecting that.

- Was it really possible
that matt somehow

Ingested small amounts
of anti-freeze

For a period of weeks
if not longer?

That was the implication
of the phrase,

"chronic ethylene glycol
poisoning".

Mark had already
made up his mind

That his brother
did not commit suicide,

And certainly not
gradual suicide.

What did he have
to go on?

So far, only
a growing suspicion,

And rage, which he made
perfectly clear to the police.

- I finally got a hold of
the-the detective on the case,

And he-he did
some initial stuff,

But it wasn't the follow through
that I had hoped.

Maybe that was just because
that I was just screaming

And I was so upset.

- But when something
like that happens,

You want the whole world
to stand up

And pay attention
and do something.

- When something
like that happens,

I want every member of
cleveland police department

To be on-on it.

- And it seemed like
nobody was running it.

- And it-it didn't
seem that way, no.

It just, um-- and just
time started to go on.

And I-I... I became
extremely frustrated.

- Matt's father, len,
a former cop himself,

Could see the problem.

The case file was stuck.

- It kinda became
a catch-22 situation.

- The coroner said he
couldn't label it a homicide

Without more evidence
from the police.

Well, at the very same time...

- Cleveland homicide
was saying that

They can't investigate it
as a homicide

Until the coroner
rules it a homicide.

- And so it remained,
month after month,

Year into years.

And still, the manner of death
was listed as undetermined.

Just like mark,
matt's father, len,

Made something of
a pest of himself.

- I would call a detective
that was assigned to the case

And say,
"what have you got?"

Uh, and his standard
answer to me was,

"I don't have anything.
What have you got?"

I said, "well, this is
your job not my job."

[chuckling]
you know?

- Not unlike the way matt's
fiance, holly, was thinking.

- She was upset, you know,
that there was

No cause of death, yes.
- Nobody doing anything.

Yeah.

- None of our family
was interviewed.

- It's like they
were letting it go.

- Exactly.

- But holly had
three children to raise, alone.

Police versus coroner politics
was not exactly

Uppermost in her mind.

To make ends meet,
she took on two

And sometimes three jobs
at the same time.

And threw herself
into coaching

The children's little league
baseball teams.

Meanwhile, mark kept
hounding investigators,

But getting nowhere.

- It made me feel like
there was nothing being done.

It made me feel like
there was a--

My brother's case was
on a-on a desk of somebody

Who could care less,

And was counting down
the days to his retirement.

- But though mark
was getting nowhere,

Holly was hearing things
not from the police.

Remember the plant where
matt supervised other workers?

What was really going on around
the powder coating machine?

- Coming up...

Holly and her sister
had their own theory

About how matt died.

- There were some people
at his job that

May have not liked him.

He was supposed
to get a promotion.

And I think there were
some people that

Didn't think he deserved it.
- Didn't think he deserved it.

- Were they right?

When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

- Welcome back to
"dateline: Secrets uncovered".

I'm kate snow.

Matt podolak went in to
the hospital for kidney stones

But never came out.

When the coroner's report
revealed he died

From anti-freeze poisoning,

Matt's family was stunned,

With his brother now
hell bent on getting answers.

How did this toxic chemical
get into matt's system?

More importantly,
who put it there, and why?

Back to keith morrison
with "manner of death".

- Holly mcfeeture was
up against it, big time,

Three kids,
two still in diapers.

She'd lost the father
of her children.

The police couldn't seem to
figure out what happened to him,

Didn't seem even
to be trying.

The little bit of cash left over
in matt's checking account

Was soon gone.

Eventually, matt's
work-based life insurance

Paid out $10,000,
but that was way off yet,

And it wouldn't be
very much.

So in the meantime,
she did what she had to do.

She took on several jobs
at a time,

Even babysat for neighbors

When she had
a spare hour or two.

- The children needed food.

They still needed a roof
over their heads

And that's exactly
what she was doing.

She was paying their bills
and making sure

The kids were
taken care of.

- And the thing is,
holly mcfeeture loved kids,

Not just her own.

While matt's passion
was playing hockey,

Holly's was coaching
little league baseball.

She threw herself into it
after matt's death.

Baseball is how
rebecca vega met holly.

- Our kids were in
little league together

At that time.

- That was the spring of 2006
before matt died.

Their oldest girls
were school classmates

And sports teammates.
And holly--

- She was, um,
friendly in a way

That was intoxicating,
I guess.

So, it was like an
intoxicating friendliness.

- You just wanted to be
around her.

- You did. You did.
You wanted to be around her.

- Being around holly was how
rebecca met matt actually.

And then one day
matt tagged along with holly

To one of the kid's
tee-ball games.

He was already sick
by that time,

Though nobody knew yet
how sick.

He was sitting under
this tree all alone,

Said rebecca,
watching the game.

- You could tell
he didn't feel well.

You could tell that
he was in pain.

He shifted in the chair
quite often.

- And four days later,
matt was dead.

After the funeral,
rebecca tried

To comfort holly
and help with the kids.

- If she needed help
with the children--

If the children needed
something, um, yeah.

It was just to-to
kind of help her.

- When the coroner's report
came out and shocked everybody,

Holly told rebecca
of course right away.

What did you think
when you heard that

He died of
antifreeze poisoning?

- It kind of put
the mystery of,

"how does a healthy 31 year old
actually pass suddenly?"

You know,
he was poisoned.

- But who would want
to poison matt podolak?

Just a regular guy.
No enemies.

No known enemies,
anyway.

Holly told rebecca
that police didn't seem

To be doing anything
to find out,

But that she had
some leads of her own.

- And she suspected
somebody at work.

- She had suspected some--
somebody at work.

- And eventually she told
rebecca the police did too.

- They thought that somebody
poisoned him at-at work.

The word poison
just kept coming up.

- Sister chrissy heard
the rumors too.

- Why would they do
such a thing?

- There were some people
at his job

That may have
not liked him.

It was his uncle's company

And, um, people I think
were a little jealous.

He was supposed to get
a promotion

And I think there were
some people that--

- Didn't think he deserved it.
- Didn't think he deserved it.

- Increasingly,
holly and members of her family

Became all but convinced
that somebody at work

Found a way
to put antifreeze

Into, uh, matt's drink
or something.

And if that phrase in
the coroner's report was true,

Chronic ethylene glycol
intoxication,

That somebody would've done it
several times.

But one person who wasn't
buying that theory

Was matt's brother mark.

- He didn't have
any enemies.

- Matt had worked his way up
from the production line

To supervisor
at the plant, said mark,

And he was well liked
by the people

At phoenix industrial.

- He wasn't this guy
that was going around

Picking fights
with people.

He was loved
by his coworkers.

- By then, solving the case
of his brother's murder

Had become
mark's obsession.

He collected stories from
matt's factory coworkers,

From the streets,
from friends.

He fumed when
the official investigation

Seemed to go nowhere.

And then after three
frustrating years,

One small change that made
a huge difference.

A new supervisor in
the cleveland homicide division

Took over matt's case.

His name:
Detective sergeant mike quinn.

So at the time,
you took it over.

- I took it over.
- It was pushing three years.

- Pushing three years
and, uh, I reviewed the file.

- With fresh eyes,
quinn went over the case,

Re-interviewed people who knew
both matt and holly,

And suddenly...

- I felt a completely
different sense

Of what was happening.

- Now, said mark,

When he called with
questions or suggestions,

He felt like
somebody was listening,

Especially
when he told him

What he was hearing
on the street.

- I was trying--

Hey, maybe this is something
that could help you.

Maybe you should
look into this.

- You heard about things.

- Absolutely, it was a really,
um, close knit town,

So people talked.
There's chatter out there.

- Strange how that chatter
seemed to focus

On one particular person.

- A possible motive
for murder.

- She wrote checks,
writing his name on the checks.

Cleaned out
the bank account.

- What did that say to you?

- Obviously a huge red flag.

- In my mind, there
was nobody else.

There was no other way that
it could have happened.

How dare anybody do that
to my little brother?

- When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

- Three years after
matt podolak died

Of antifreeze poisoning,

Two families had sharply
different theories

About the cause.

Matt's fiance holly,
her whole family in fact,

Suspected somebody at work
had it out for him.

But mark and his family
were looking closer to home.

How close?

Let's put it this way.

The two sides of the family
weren't talking anymore.

An already
existing mistrust

Ramped up that night in
the hospital years before

When matt
was in the icu.

That's when matt's brother mark
began to wonder

If holly was
in some way responsible

For matt's mystery illness.

- My mom and I had
a specific conversation.

I remember it.
She said, "you don't think

She could've did this
to him, do you?"

And we kinda were like,
I don't know, maybe.

But at the time,
we didn't know why he passed.

- And then there was
the funeral.

Holly's family said
she was very upset,

Cried in the car
before going in,

But when sergeant quinn
read the old case file,

He found
a curious statement

From holly's friend
rebecca vega.

What sort of grief
was this?

- She was back and forth

Talking to different
individuals,

Um, almost
like a flirtatious--

That intoxicating
friendliness that she had

As if her fiance
wasn't even laying there

In front of everyone.

- Talking to
just everybody or--

Or was she concentrating
on men or women or...

- Mostly men.

- Flirtatiously?
- Flirtatious, mm-hm.

- That's how she was,
said matt's family.

How she always was.

At first friendly,
magnetic even,

But didn't stay
that way for long.

Later matt told him
holly became controlling

And demanding.

Did he ever complain
about his relationship?

- Of course he did, yeah.

He-he did.

- What did he say?

- "oh, she's nagging me,"
type thing.

Um, "she's yelling at me.

She's calling me all the time.
She's doing all this stuff."

There were some incidents
that happened.

Sometimes where they had
to, um, have police show up.

- Matt's protective big brother
called it downright nasty

The way
she treated him.

Said so, too.

- It's not worth the heartache
to keep going through this.

He was afraid that
he wouldn't see his kids

If they were apart.

- And now he was dead

And his family
was raw with suspicion.

When they went to collect
some of matt's personal effects,

Like his computer,
they told sergeant quinn,

Holly told them
she no longer had it,

That the hard drive
was being fixed,

Which sounded fishy
to the detective.

- Was this any effort
to destroy evidence?

- That's what most people do
when they get rid of a computer

And, uh, that may have been
connected with the crime.

They're going to
get rid of it.

- Not evidence really,
but suggestive.

Like when,
according to them,

Holly said
right after matt died

He wanted to be cremated,

An idea matt's family
quickly shot down.

Still, why would she
have said that?

And then they said
when they asked her

For his clothes
and other effects,

She told them she'd already
gotten rid of them.

It was as if she wanted to
erase matt from her life.

Was there anything left
to this guy at all

In her house?

- Not that I'm aware of.
Not too much.

- Then there was the business
about the money.

A big deal of that,
said detective quinn.

- She went to
the atm machine

And used his card
the day after his death.

Two days later
she wrote checks,

Writing his name
on the checks.

Cleaned out the bank account
and left one penny in it.

- Wow, well, what did
that say to you?

- Obviously a huge red flag.

- It was a measure
of the suspicion,

The broken trust,

That matt's mother,
in charge of his estate,

Reported holly
to the police.

Holly was arrested
and charged with theft

And two counts
of forgery.

She'd agreed
to make restitution

And was put on probation
for a year.

In return, prosecutors
dropped the charges.

What happened to her?
What was the sentence?

- She was given
a first time offenders program,

So she didn't do
any jail time.

- Then there was
the life insurance.

It wasn't much,
including matt's 401k

It amounted to
just $15,000,

But here's what made
matt's brother mark suspicious.

- My brother was talking
about a couple days before,

"we're moving her from
a life insurance policy.

"we're moving her from a--
as a beneficiary

Of-of the policies
and the 401k."

Uh, and that's how serious
it was getting.

- And so, when holly actually
got $10,000 of that insurance,

It seemed to mark to confirm
what he had been thinking

Since the beginning.

She must have killed him.

- In my mind,
there was nobody else.

There was no other way
that it could have happened.

None.

- So, the first reaction
is the shock.

What's the second reaction?

- Anger and then sadness.

How dare anybody do that
to my little brother?

How dare they?

- But really,
$10,000 in life insurance?

A motive for murdering
the father of your children?

What did you think
when you heard that?

I mean, this was a fairly
serious allegation, right?

- I thought
it was ridiculous

That somebody would
actually think that.

- Ah, yes.

Holly and her family
heard all the whispers.

They knew all about
the podolak suspicions,

Which were, they said,
absolutely baseless.

That business about
stealing money

From the bank account
for example?

Did she understand
that she was breaking the law

When she did this?
- No, absolutely not.

She was thinking that
she had to take care

Of her children
and his.

What else was she
supposed to do?

- And as for getting rid
of his stuff,

Erasing him from her life--
- that's not true at all.

As a matter of fact,
she still has some of--

A-a lot of matt's shirts,
that she actually wears.

♪♪

- But quietly, four years
after matt's death,

Sergeant quinn collected
the stories he heard.

But there was one story
he hadn't heard.

Nobody had.

Holly's story.

- Holly is invited downtown

For a little chat
with detectives.

When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

♪♪

- Welcome back.

Matt podolak
and holly mcfeeture

Were in love, engaged,
and had two children together.

But when matt's life
was mysteriously cut short,

His family became
suspicious of holly.

Could it be that she was
hiding a dark secret?

Detective sergeant mike quinn,
now about to question holly

For the first time,
planned to find out.

Back to keith morrison
with "manner of death."

- Four years after
matt podolak's death

By antifreeze poisoning,
the machinery of justice

Was coughing and sputtering
to life and pointing...

At her.

Matt's fiance
and the mother of his children,

Holly mcfeeture.

- Holly mcfeeture was
a suspect from day one.

- Prosecutors
were appointed.

Brian mcdonough
and allison foy,

Though they were
soon frustrated.

- But we were missing--
missing pieces,

Missing critical links
on the case.

- Evidence already collected
was maddeningly inconclusive.

For example,

Detectives recovered
two bottles of antifreeze

In the garage where
holly and matt lived.

But it turned out somebody else
had been living in the house

For more than a year
by the time they found it.

Whose antifreeze was it?
Nobody knew.

- But still, was there a way
that we could go ahead

And link it up?

- Nope.
Just confirmed,

The garage antifreeze
didn't match the antifreeze

That killed matt.

But remember holly's friend,
rebecca vega?

Detective quinn found her name
in the old file, called her up,

And discovered
that after matt died,

She spent practically
every day with holly.

And here's where
detective quinn's eyes

Really opened wide.

Rebecca told him that one day,
she was at holly's house

When she noticed some
odd-looking jugs of chemicals

In holly's kitchen.

- She had said that, uh,
it was antifreeze,

And that it was, uh,
to winterize matt's boat.

- Did you ask why
they were there?

- I mean, besides--
- yeah, I--

- ...Fixing the boats, but--

- I thought, "well,
it's in the kitchen.

"the boat's outside,"
you know?

And why would antifreeze
be in a kitchen?

- And then there was
the time she, rebecca,

Was complaining
about her husband,

And holly said...

- "I can get rid of him."
[scoffing]

- I can get rid of him?
- I can get rid of him.

And I kind of thought,
"oh, that was kinda..."

Kinda joked about it
and I laughed.

But she actually backed up
that, uh, statement with

"well, you could work,
and we could just move

"into your house."

- Weird, as she looked
back on that.

So once she heard about
the coroner's report,

And the podolak
family suspicions,

She cut off all
contact with holly,

Ended the friendship
without saying why.

- I had thought to myself,
I had exposed my family

To murder.

- She seemed to me like
she believed that, uh,

That holly
poisoned matthew.

- Was she a little
freaked-out by this?

- She stated that
she was afraid of holly.

- So quinn kept an eagle eye
on holly mcfeeture.

And one day, he heard about
holly and the karaoke bar.

- Holly and her sister
were singing a song

By the dixie chicks.

It's a song about a, uh,
an abused woman

In a relationship
with a man, who, uh,

To get back at the man,
ends up poisoning his food,

And, uh, they were
up there singin' the song

And laughin' about it.

This was after
matthew's death.

I thought it was
really cold-blooded

When I heard about it.

- That was 2010, four years
after matt's death,

The same year sergeant quinn
received a big gift.

Maybe it was the fact
prosecutors were appointed.

Maybe it was sergeant quinn's
investigation.

Maybe it was
the karaoke.

Whatever it was, that's when
the coroner changed his ruling

On matt's manner of death
from undetermined to homicide.

And with that little
bureaucratic stroke of the pen,

Everything changed.

- You can see that, uh--

- Thing one: For the very first
time, holly was invited

To the police station
to give a formal statement.

Chewing gum, looking casual,
holly came in without a lawyer,

And was read
her miranda rights.

So, what would she say about
her relationship with matt?

Holly said it happened
when she had a male friend

Over at their house.

She told them if they really
wanted to solve the mystery,

They should look for answers
at matt's factory.

And remember the $10,000
in life insurance bandied about

As a possible
motive for murder?

Holly said she didn't know
there was life insurance

Until after
matt was dead.

But how about that night
in the karaoke bar?

Over and over, the detectives
challenged holly

With the accusing question.

Holly protested.

None of this
made sense, she said.

And with that,
detectives thanked her

For coming in,
and sent her on her way.

With a warning
that most likely,

She'd be indicted.

That was late
September, 2010.

But holly wasn't indicted.

Not that year,
not the next year either.

But something strange
happened in 2011.

Holly answered her phone
and found herself talking

To a guy she dated briefly,
after matt died.

- Do you remember what
you told me about the drinks?

- Do you hear the trap
snapping shut?

- Police and prosecutors
think they've hit pay dirt

With the new witness.

- He claimed to have heard
holly mcfeeture confess

By saying she put something
in this drinks.

- But is that enough
to take this case to court?

- The details of the case
are very salacious.

There's sex,
there's the allegation

Of poisoning,
it's very interesting,

But that doesn't
make it necessarily

A dead-bang winner
for trial.

- When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

♪♪

- Welcome back to
"dateline: Secrets uncovered."

I'm kate snow.
It was all very strange,

If not suspicious.

A healthy 31-year-old man
mysteriously dead

From antifreeze poisoning.

The manner of death was
initially ruled undetermined

By the coroner,
then changed to homicide

Four years later.

More time passed
without an arrest,

But police seemed
to be zeroing in

On the victim's fiance,
holly mcfeeture.

Now, someone from holly's past
was about to reveal

What he knew. Once again,
here's keith morrison

With "manner of death."

- In the summer of 2011,
five years gone,

Matt podolak's death
was still an unsolved mystery.

All that time, mark podolak
had neglected his own life

In his quest to prove
holly was the killer.

- I know that my relationships
with my friends suffered.

Ultimately it led to
me gettin' divorced.

It was destructive
on a lot of levels,

'cause you focus
so much on a certain...

Goal, a certain mission.
- You're so damn angry, huh?

- And I'm angry.

- Even angrier now,
if that was possible.

Because there had
been a change.

The case was reclassified
as a homicide.

But holly
was living her life,

Free,
no charges filed.

- I became extremely
frustrated.

I'm not gonna lie.

- So frustrated

He sent a message
to "dateline" on facebook,

Asking us to look into
his brother's death.

Holly and her family,
meanwhile,

Were waiting to see
if the hammer would fall.

- I can't tell you
how many times she's cried,

Knowing that people
are saying, you know,

That she's a murderer,

And that this loving mom
and softball coach

Can kill a man
that she loved.

- But day by day,

Sergeant mike quinn
was closing in on holly,

Just one more big thing,

One more solid piece
of evidence

All he needed.
And maybe,

He and the prosecutors decided,

Maybe a jailbird
could provide it.

Holly briefly dated
a man named jamison kennedy

A year or so
after matt died.

And according to kennedy,

During a wine
and sex driven evening,

Holly made some kind
of confession.

This, thought the prosecutors,
was gold.

What did he claim
he heard?

- He claimed
to have heard

Holly mcfeeture confess
by saying

She put something
in his drinks.

- Then-prosecutor
brian mcdonough.

- And that she wanted to stop,
but that his kidneys had failed.

And that was
compelling evidence.

- But always something.

Mr. Kennedy was not exactly
the local church pastor.

His rap sheet was longer
than a Sunday sermon.

In fact, when he came up

With that little
offering about holly,

He was in county jail
under arrest

For beating up some cops.

So a snitch.

- As a prosecutor,

We don't like
informants.

But what was so compelling
about his testimony

Was that he was the only person
to have that knowledge.

- How would he have that
knowledge in the first--

Where would he--
how would he hear that?

- He heard that
from her lips to his ears.

- But how could they
possibly prove it?

One possible way, sneaky,

But it might work.
[phone ringing]

They set up
a phone call.

Kennedy in prison
called holly,

And they turned on
a tape recorder.

Sometimes these things work,
sometimes they don't.

- So what's going on
with you?

- Just how it is with
investigations of this sort.

Suffice to say
the call wasn't everything

They'd hoped it would be.

So here they were
at a kind of crossroads.

Should they go forward
or finally drop it?

The evidence? The story
of a jailhouse snitch

With multiple
felony convictions,

Never an easy sell,

An ex-friend whose talk
of antifreeze in the house

And offers to get rid
of her husband

Might've been real
or imagined,

A financial motive that
at most might've amounted

To a paltry 15 grand,

And a bit of
dixie chicks karaoke,

The performance
of which

May have been
monstrously cruel

Or perfectly innocent.

Still, who else
could have done it?

- The details of the case
are very salacious.

- Then-prosecutor
alison foy.

- There's sex,

There's the allegation
of poisoning.

It's very interesting,
and it's certainly enough

To keep anyone's
attention.

But that doesn't make it
necessarily a strong case

Or a dead-bang winner
for trial.

- And so the prosecutors
consulted mark and his family.

They were all committed now,
all emotionally attached,

That the family
should decide.

- We all agreed that
we wanted to go with it.

We've suffered long enough.

- Case number 564265,

Holly mcfeeture.

- So in 2012,

Six years after
matt podolak's death,

Holly mcfeeture was indicted
for aggravated murder

And contaminating a substance
for human consumption.

From her mug shot,
it didn't look like

She was too worried about
the outcome of the case.

But this was serious.

Maximum sentence,
life without parole.

Her attorney, bret jordan,
applied for bail.

- She was scared.
She missed her kids.

I would say probably in some
state of shock at that point.

- The judge took a look

At the circumstantial case
against her

And granted
the bail request,

Half a million bond
with an ankle bracelet.

But though the case
was not the strongest,

There was publicity.

Antifreeze poisoning?

Holly was
suddenly famous,

And not in a good way.

The old brooklyn
little league

Told the once-beloved coach

She wasn't welcome anymore.

And holly mcfeeture prepared
to defend her life in court.

- Iced tea
spiked with antifreeze.

The prosecution's theory
of how holly poisoned matt.

- You can't smell it,

And you can't see it
in the tea.

He would have no way
to know that it's coming.

It's so secretively done.

- When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

♪♪

- Seven years,

Seven years of pestering
the investigators,

Seven years of brooding
in the cemetery,

Seven years after the sudden,
agonizing death

Of his kid brother, matt,

Mark podolak watched
with grim satisfaction

As holly mcfeeture
walked into the courtroom.

- I finally felt that we were
gonna make this happen.

- Please rise.

- Mind you, the case
against holly

Was possibly a reach.

No guarantees here,
and mark knew it.

- I was extremely nervous.
Oh, my gosh.

Being in that courtroom...

- And you don't know
how it's gonna turn out.

- And I have no idea
how it's gonna turn out.

- Truth was, the prosecution
didn't have much to work with.

Without any hard evidence
to pin on holly,

Their case boiled down
to a process of elimination.

Someone did this to matt.

Who else could it have been
other than his fiancee?

In this case, telling a story
could be crucial,

Because there wasn't
a whole lot else to do, right?

- Absolutely.

- Prosecutor brian mcdonough
began his story

With the scene
inside the hospital room

The night matt died.

- His body was
shutting down.

His organs were
systematically shut down.

- And then matt's father,
glen podolak,

Described the horror of watching
his son's final agony,

So much pain
he couldn't talk

Except to ask
for his children.

- He would say,
"where little man,

And where's
samantha?"

- A picture was passed
around the courtroom,

Matt dead,
lying on the autopsy table.

Mark began to cry.

Across the courtroom,
so did holly.

And then coroner dan galita
told that jury

What he found
during his autopsy,

Discoveries that
became the core

Of the case
against holly.

- The cause of death
was chronic intoxication

By ethylene glycol.

- Poisoned with antifreeze,
very, very slowly.

He explained he'd found crystals
in matt's heart and brain,

Having inched their deadly way
through his body,

Kidneys to heart
to brain.

- How much time would it take
for the crystals

To deposit themselves

In the blood vessels
of the heart?

- It takes weeks
at least.

- The fact that his--

That crystals were forming
in his heart

And actually had traveled
to his brain,

Indicated
long-term exposure,

And not a one-dose deal.

- And matt's friends
and work colleagues testified.

They had seen his body
disintegrate before their eyes,

Starting weeks, if not months
before his death.

- He began
sweating profusely,

And he complained
of back pain.

- He was sitting
beside me,

And practically
was hunched over

To where his chest
was on his knees.

- Who could've made that happen
and how?

Investigators, remember,
had found antifreeze

In holly and matt's garage,

Admittedly a year after
holly moved out.

Prosecutors knew
they couldn't link

These bottles
to the crime,

But even so,
detective quinn took them

Out of the evidence bags
for the jury to see,

Left them on
the witness stand,

A prop, a little
courtroom theater.

- A bottle of saturn
antifreeze and coolant.

- Take a look
at those bottles,

The prosecution
seemed to be saying.

And common sense
would tell you

It wasn't suicide.

Nobody would down
antifreeze on purpose,

Said the prosecutor,
let along bit by bit

As indicated in
the coroner's report.

- There was no suicide note.

He didn't go ahead and give away
his possessions.

Suicide did not
make sense.

- No, there was one person,
the prosecutor argued,

And only one who had the means
and the motive to poison matt,

His fiance,
holly mcfeeture.

A parade of witnesses
testified

About matt and holly's
rocky relationship,

The bitter words,
fierce arguments

They couldn't help
but overhear.

- When we would be fishing,

That phone would be ringing
every five minutes.

She'd be screaming so loud

He'd be holding
the phone out to this--

Way away from his ear.

- I told him that he needed
to protect himself,

And I told him that

He should remove his shotgun

And-- from his house.

- And far from being shattered
by matt's death,

As her family claimed,

Prosecution witnesses describe
how holly seemed

Almost giddy
after matt died.

- What did you observe
of the defendant at the wake?

- Almost a party
atmosphere

Like nothing
had happened.

And then the prosecution
called holly's old friend,

Rebecca vega.

If anybody had
a ringside seat

To holly's life after matt,
it was rebecca.

How was it to actually
be in that courtroom,

See her there,
and answer those questions?

- Couldn't even
look at her.

- Rebecca told the jury

Holly didn't wait long
after matt's death

To remove any trace of him
from their house.

- It seemed as if everything
that-- being of matt

Had been taken
out of the home.

- But it was what holly
hadn't cleaned up

That made the biggest impression
on the rebecca,

Those bottles of chemicals
on the kitchen floor.

- What was
holly's response

When you asked her
about those items?

- One of the items was
brought up as antifreeze

For matt's boat,
to winterize his boat.

- But who winterizes their boat
in the summer?

Remember, matt died in July,
said the prosecutors,

So rebecca's story
was evidence

That holly had access
to antifreeze

Around the time
of matt's death.

- She was able
to put antifreeze

In the kitchen
of holly mcfeeture

After the death
of matthew podolak.

- Now they needed
to convince the jury

That holly actually fed
the antifreeze to matt.

That would take
a little doing.

First several of matt's
coworkers testified that

Holly sometimes dropped off
matt's lunch at the factory.

- Uh, holly would bring it in
every once in a while for him.

- How many occasions
do you recall that happening?

- Half a dozen?

- And holly always made sure
to include

Matt's favorite drink,
he said,

Half a gallon or more
of raspberry iced tea.

Antifreeze is sweet
but otherwise tasteless.

Did holly spike the tea?

- You can't smell it,
and you can't see it in the tea.

He would have no way
to know that it's coming.

- But why in heaven's name
would she do such a thing?

What was her motive?

Well, as the prosecution
saw it at least,

All those arguments
matt and holly were having

Represented the death throes
of their relationship,

A relationship
she wanted to leave

And he did not,
stubbornly,

Because he didn't want
to lose custody

Of those kids.

So it's your claim that
he was sticking like glue,

And to get rid of him
she had to poison him.

- That is what she saw
as the way out.

- A way out sweetened,
suggested the prosecution,

By the fact that holly was
the beneficiary of matt's

Life insurance policy
and 401k.

He was worth $15,000 to her
if he died.

So that was clearly
not a motive, really.

I mean, it's chump change
basically, right?

- Well, $15,000
for some person

Might be worth $150,000
for another.

- Interesting theory.

Trick was to persuade
the jury

That a hard-working,
committed young mother,

A woman who was always
volunteering to help others,

Who coached
tee ball teams,

Could at the same time
be a devious,

Cold-blooded murderer.

Yep, absolutely possible,

Said the prosecution's
star witness,

Still to come,

The man who knew all about
violence and secrets

And kissing and telling.

- Holly melts down
in court.

What happened?

When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

- Way up on the 22nd floor
of the criminal courts building

Here in downtown cleveland,

Holly mcfeeture
sat through a hailstorm

Of allegations and attacks
on her character and motivation.

Practically a monster,

If you believed
some of the witnesses.

And for the most part,
she listened politely,

Turned occasionally
to smile at her sister

Or share a word
of encouragement,

But then--
then the announcement was made.

- Your honor, at this time
we have jamison kennedy.

- And with those words,
"jamison kennedy,"

Holly went into
a kind of shock.

And then as quickly,

Even before kennedy
walked into the courtroom

Came the tears,

And something in her
seemed to crumble.

The tears became
wracking sobs,

As if she in full-blown
terror or panic

Simply could not go on.

All this happened

As the attorneys
were at the bench

Conferring with
judge brian corrigan

Before kennedy's
testimony began.

Holly left her seat,
rushed to her sister chrissy

In the gallery,
and broke down.

And it all happened
in front of the jury.

Mark podolak
was not moved.

In fact,
he was disgusted.

- Where was that emotion
during the funeral?

Where was that
emotion, uh,

When your lover was dying
in the hospital?

Yet a guy that you haven't
seen in years

Steps into the courtroom,

You have an emotional
breakdown?

That's courtroom drama
to my opinion.

- Was she afraid
of the man,

Or was she afraid
of what he had to say?

The whole business
was highly unusual.

Holly, visibly shaking,

Was allowed
to leave the courtroom

While kennedy testified.

- How do you know
holly mcfeeture?

- I originally met her
at a bar that she worked at,

The dirty dog.

- Jamison kennedy
was that ex-con

Holly dated a year or so
after matt's death,

The snitch who peddled his story
from the jail cell.

Was it wise to call him
a prosecution witness?

The man had eight felony
convictions under his belt

And was serving ten years
for beating up cops.

And yet here he was,
central witness against holly.

He's an alcoholic,
he's a drug addict,

And he wants something
from you guys,

So he'll say whatever
he has to say, right?

- The thing about this witness,
about jamison kennedy,

Is that he didn't want
anything in exchange

For what he was going
to come into court and say.

He knew that he was going to be
in prison for quite a while

And that nothing he could say
in court would ever change that.

- And kennedy's story,

If the jury chose
to believe him,

Was a potential
game-changer.

It was September 26th, 2008,
two years after matt died.

Kennedy was on probation,
he told the jury,

When holly stopped by
the law office

Where a kindly defense attorney
had given him

A job and a place
to sleep.

They shared a bottle of wine,
ate some takeout.

- We both were kind of,
you know,

A little bit tipsy.

And after-after drinking
we ended up having sex.

And after the sex is when
things got really emotional.

She just started crying.

- What did she say?

- She made some remarks

That she just wanted it
to all go away.

She wanted to move
out of cleveland.

Um, she was regretful
for what had taken place.

- Regret? About what?

Kennedy told the jury

That he pushed holly
to tell him more.

- She just told me
at that time

That she was sorry
for what she had done.

- What had she done?
- Um, on her words

Was that she had put
something in his drink.

- What had she put
inside of his drink?

- She didn't tell me.

- Did she say
what happened

After putting something
inside of the drink?

- Um, that he had gotten sick
and passed away.

- It was, quite simply,
stunning.

But-- big but--
was it true?

Could the jury
really take the word

Of this eight time
convicted felon?

Yes, said the prosecution,
because of this.

- Did you tell anyone about
what holly mcfeeture told you

About putting something
in his drinks?

- Yes.

- Who did you tell?

- Uh, my attorney.

- Well, not exactly that,
said the attorney in question,

Who testified that
kennedy asked him

In a cryptic sort of way
what he should do

If he knew about a murder.

Didn't name holly
or any particular murder.

- As an officer
of the court,

Did you provide him
with any advice?

- I told him that if he had
any information of that nature,

That he had to
inform whoever

About this
supposed situation.

- But kennedy didn't tell
authorities anything then.

Not until he was sitting
in a jail cell

Under arrest for
assaulting those cops.

Did he hope police
would go easy on him

If he told them something
they wanted to hear?

Sergeant quinn told the jury
he believed kennedy's story

Because kennedy
offered details

Only someone close
to the crime would know.

- There's no mention
in the media anywhere.

Where did it come from?

- The fact that this is
the one witness

Who we could bring forward
for the jury

To say that "I heard
holly mcfeeture confess

To putting something in
matthew podolak's drinks."

It's so important
that I think in our minds

It couldn't not go
to the jury.

Thank you so much
for your time

And your consideration.

- And with that the prosecution
concluded its case

Of circumstantial
evidence.

But there was a giant
void in the room,

A big, empty hole

Where the hard evidence
usually goes.

What would the defense
make of that?

- The defense strikes back.

- I asked the question,
you have no idea whatsoever

How that man died,
do you?

- Not to my knowledge.

- When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

- Welcome back.

The trial against
holly mcfeeture

Was well underway.

The prosecution
called on a witness

Who gave damaging testimony
that holly told him

That she put something
in her fiance's drink.

Next up, it was
the defense's turn,

And they were about
to make a bold accusation

As to who was
responsible

For turning the rumor mill
against her.

Back to keith morrison
with "manner of death."

- For almost a week,

Holly mcfeeture's family
sat in a courtroom

Listening to prosecutors
accuse holly

Of drip by drip,
ounce by ounce

Feeding her fiance
the poison

And watching him die.

Monstrous, evil,

And, said her family,
completely untrue.

Just nasty gossip,
gussied up as evidence.

- It was just a bunch of people
talking bad about my sister.

- Such a one-sided,
burn her at the stake

Type of scenario.

- Defense attorneys bret jordan
and billy summers agreed.

- It was all speculation.

It was all just finger pointing
without any basis.

- And now they knew they'd
have to persuade the jury

To buy something they personally
believed in their gut,

That holly mcfeeture
was wrongly accused.

- I don't think that
I have ever believed

In the innocence
of a client

More than I believe
in holly mcfeeture.

- The defense began
by putting

Some negative cards
on the table

That is the fighting.

Holly and matt
had been fighting a lot,

But that was hardly a surprise,
said the defense.

Two babies,
one of them colicky,

And matt was out fishing
all the time.

- You can't say that

Just because somebody's
arguing every day,

That's a sign of--
of hatred

And "I'm gonna
kill that person."

- And that story
that went around

About holly's behavior
at matt's funeral?

Uninformed judgments
made from afar,

Said the defense,

That somehow became
this big myth

That holly didn't care.

- Oh, I can tell you
right now she didn't care.

- You can?
- You betcha.

- So you can-you can
crawl into her mind.

- No.
- You can tell everybody here

What she was thinking.

- No, you can read it
on her face.

- Read it on her face.

- You don't have to be
crying your eyes out

At a funeral
to not be grieving.

- No, the defense argued,

All the testimony maligning
holly's behavior

Was really a product
of the six-plus years

Of rumor and innuendo,
which had,

Courtesy of the authorities
and matt's family,

Hardened into
what sounded like truth

Even if it wasn't.

- If you listen
to all the witnesses,

Anybody that was
holly's friend,

They all turned away once
they talked to the detective.

- That was certainly the case,
said the defense,

When holly's friend
rebecca vega

Cut off contact with holly
about a year after matt died.

- Who's the accused murderer
in this room?

- Holly is.
- Yeah, and you don't--

You can't even
look at her anymore.

- No.
- Only then,

After she heard
from the police,

Said the defense,
did she begin saying

What she said at the trial.

- But you have no idea
how that man died, do you?

- I didn't have
to see physical proof

In order to make--
- please, I asked a question.

You have no idea whatsoever
how that man died, do you?

- Not to my knowledge, no.

- Did the memory of
all those happy days

Rebecca spent with holly
suddenly sprout

With dark suspicion
once the police

Whispered in rebecca's ear?

Like the bit about
the antifreeze in the kitchen.

- Holly has children,

And she's very careful,

And I know she would not
leave chemicals like that

Just lying around
the house.

- No, the assault on holly
by her former friends,

The defense said,
was just a smokescreen

For the hard evidence
the prosecution did not have.

Like anything connecting
holly to the murder weapon,

By which, of course,
we mean the antifreeze.

Remember those two bottles
of antifreeze

Investigators found at
holly and matt's house

After she moved out?

- Those two bottles
of antifreeze

Are not linked to
matthew podolak at all.

- No.

- And those two bottles
of antifreeze

Are not linked
to holly at all?

- Other than the fact that
they came from that address.

- What was the point
in that?

- That's what--
- exactly.

There wasn't any.

- Another glaring weakness,
the defense said,

Was the prosecution's theory
that holly disguised

The antifreeze in matt's
beloved raspberry iced tea.

Zero forensic support
for that,

Said the defense.

- Do you know how that iced tea
got into that thermos?

- I have no clue.

- None of the cups at
the homes were ever tested.

The thermos that he allegedly
brought to work every day

Was never tested.

There was nothing
ever connecting

That it was even iced tea.

- And the motive,
the prosecution suggested,

The modest
life insurance money?

Laughable, said the defense.

Wouldn't even buy
a decent car.

Besides, holly said she had
no idea the insurance existed.

Matt's uncle, who owned
the factory where matt worked,

Couldn't say otherwise.

- The question is do you
have any personal knowledge

That holly actually knew there
was a life insurance rider

On his health insurance?
- Uh, I-I can't say that I did.

- But holly's defenders
did have a problem,

No getting around it,
huge problem.

That pillow talk
with jamison kennedy,

When, according to him,
holly actually confessed.

If they couldn't
knock him down,

They were done.

- Was the prosecution's
bombshell witness a dud?

Coming up...

- When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

♪♪

- What in heaven's name
would holly mcfeeture's

Defense attorneys
do about this?

- Her words was that she had
put something in his drink.

- There was no avoiding
the impact of those few words

From jamison kennedy.

Remember, just
the mention of his name

Sent holly into
an epic breakdown,

Weeping, sobbing,
fleeing the courtroom.

The next day was
the defense attorney's turn

To take him on.

- Good morning, mr. Kennedy.
- How you doin'?

- Holly had regained
her composure,

And she came back
into court.

The strategy was to
pick apart kennedy's story,

Expose him for
what the defense said

He most certainly was,
a liar.

Like the bit about
being tipsy.

Holly, kennedy said, had a glass
of wine or two that night,

While he knocked off
an entire bottle himself.

- You still are telling
the jury here

That holly was tipsy

Or drunk that night, right?

- Yes, sir.

- When in fact it was you
that was drunk that night,

Not holly.

- I think we were both,
you know, feeling a buzz.

- Now this is
the sort of moment

A defense attorney
probably lives for.

Listen.

- Were you aware that
holly's allergic to grapes

And she can't drink wine?

- No.

- Was this a man
who could be believed,

When he said he had
a real relationship with holly?

- She had told me that
he was stalking her.

He had got her name
tattooed on him.

He would not leave her alone.
- How'd she feel about this?

- Oh, she was afraid.

- And kennedy admitted
under defense questioning

That he got very angry
with holly when he heard a rumor

That she was with
another guy.

- So angry that you--
you grabbed her by the neck,

You threw her
against the wall,

You punched her
numerous times,

That type of angry, right?
- No, sir.

- No, that didn't happen.
- I-I do believe I pushed her,

When she-- only when
she approached me

To try to hit me,
I think, with the phone,

Or to smack me
or something,

I just kind of
stiff-armed her away.

I think she fell down.

That was the extent of it.

♪♪

- Really?

Holly called the cops
that night and said

Kennedy punched her
five times.

He'd already fled,
but she said she was

Gonna get a restraining
order against him,

But before she could,
he was at her door again.

And when holly called
the police this time,

Kennedy tried to escape
and fought with two of them

Before he was
finally arrested.

And it was only then,
after she'd turned him in

And he was in jail
facing years in prison,

Burning up with anger
toward holly,

That he called his attorney,
charlie feliciano,

To try to make a deal.

- You say, "charlie,
get me the police.

"I gotta help myself
get out of this jam.

"I'm gonna tell on holly."
right?

- Also, he was concerned
that she would try to

Put this on me.
- Oh!

So now we got a conspiracy
theory goin' here,

That holly's now gonna
blame you for the death of matt.

Is that what
you're tellin' me?

- It's just
attorney's recommendation.

- This attorney,
who'd bent over backwards

To provide jamison with a job
and a place to stay

While he was on probation
from an earlier conviction.

And what happened?

Kennedy stole from him.

And...

- Jamison threatened your life?
- He threatened me, yes.

- And he threatened
your family, also?

- Yes.

- He had mental problems
and was not stable, right?

- Correct.
- According to the defense,

Not even the police
believed kennedy.

For more than two years,
they did nothing

About his allegation.
And after those years?

Well, according
to the defense,

They couldn't find
any other evidence.

They put his story
to the test

By orchestrating that
phone call from kennedy

In prison to holly, trying to
get her to incriminate herself.

Curiously, the prosecution
didn't mention that call

In court, so the defense
was only too happy

To push play
for the jury.

This was something
they had to hear.

- Holly.
- Yeah?

- Do you know who this is?
- Uh, yeah, hi, jamison!

- Holly was taken by surprise.
Hadn't heard from him for years.

Police, of course,
were listening.

Didn't work out so well
for the police,

Or for mr. Kennedy.

No, said the defense,
holly didn't confess.

Not then,
not ever.

And kennedy was a sick puppy
who saw an opportunity

To combine revenge
with a little self-help.

- You are now trying
to tell everybody

That holly confessed to you...

About this case,
because it would benefit you,

Correct?

- Uh, I don't think--
I know it's morally right, sir.

- You know it's morally right.

If you knew it was
morally right, sir,

You would have gone
to the police on September 26.

Isn't that correct, sir?

- I should've.
- Big morals, right?

- I should've,
but I was very confused.

- Thank you very much.
I have no further questions.

- The prosecution said
kennedy did not get a deal

In exchange
for his story.

One more question
to answer:

If it wasn't holly,
who was it?

For that the defense
offered dr. Robert bux,

Forensic pathologist.

Matt wasn't poisoned
slowly over time,

Said dr. Bux. The coroner
simply made a mistake.

All that pain matt suffered
in the weeks before his death?

That was from simple
kidney stones, said dr. Bux.

Nothing at all to do
with antifreeze.

- Is flank pain a symptom
of ethylene glycol poisoning?

- Uh, shouldn't be, no.

- No. This wasn't a case
of chronic antifreeze poisoning.

This was a textbook case
of acute poisoning.

One large does,
said dr. Bux.

- This is a massive
acute ingestion.

These types of ingestions,
he's gonna have to drink

Almost a pint of it.

- And the most likely person
to have poisoned him

With a drink of that size
was matt himself.

- As to the manner of death,

What would your
ruling be?

- Probably be a suicide.

- Suicide by antifreeze.

A method more common
than most people realize,

Said the defense.

Who kills themself
with ethylene glycol,

With antifreeze?

That stuff would be horrible.
What a terrible death.

- Not true.
It happens all the time.

- And there have been
some famous cases

Covered in the media:

A retired
pro football player,

A writer for
"Saturday night live."

But why matt?

- He had gambling debts.

He was depressed.

He wasn't happy at work.

Throw in experience of pain
from kidney stones.

Throw in maybe
they weren't having

The best relationship
at that time.

That all adds up
to suicide.

- And at that,
the defense asked the judge

To throw out the charges
against holly.

- Your honor,
there has to be evidence,

There has to be proof,

There has to be something
that the state did

To show that holly was
the one who did it.

And it just
doesn't exist.

- For a moment it seemed

The judge might
grant the motion.

But, no, he ruled
holly mcfeeture's fate

Would be decided
by the jury.

As it turned out,
very slowly.

- Ethylene glycol.

Odorless, colorless,
sweet tasting.

- But did holly use it
to kill matt?

When "dateline:
Secrets uncovered" continues.

- It was seven years
almost to the day

Since matt podolak took
his last painful breaths.

The prosecutor appealed
to the jury,

Convict holly mcfeeture.

- He fell in love
with the wrong woman.

She was toxic to him.

This was the closing message,
a stark visual.

Look how easy,
said the prosecutor

For holly to mix antifreeze
to matt's beloved iced tea.

Look how hard for matt
to detect the poison.

- Ethylene glycol.

Odorless, colorless,
sweet tasting.

The defense appealed
to the heart.

There were two tragedies
in this story, they said,

Matt's death
and holly's suffering.

Nothing could be done
about the first,

Said the defense,

But the jury could
rectify the second.

- You've gotta end
the nightmare.

You've gotta put to rest
this family's tragedy.

- This could be
a close call.

The jury went out, no verdict
at the end of that first day.

Or the next.

Matt's brother mark
didn't know what to think.

- You don't know,
is the jury being out long

A bad thing
or a good thing?

- Holly's sister chrissy
was nervous,

Tried to stay confident.

- I mean, they had hearsay
from a man that was in prison

And some iced tea
on a table.

- Finally, toward
the end of day three,

Cell phones
started buzzing.

Verdict.

Holly, looking like
she'd seen a ghost,

Headed toward the courtroom
surrounded by her family.

- Please rise.

- As the jury filed in,

Holly began mouthing
the lord's prayer.

- I understand you've reached
a verdict in this case.

Is that correct?

- And then the judge
began to read.

- "we, the jury in this case
being duly impaneled and sworn,

"do find the defendant
holly mcfeeture

Guilty of aggravated murder,
violation of section..."

- I heard those words,
"guilty,"

And, uh, it was emotional.

- Please...

- Mark turned
to hug his mother,

Her face awash in tears.

Across the courtroom...

- Nobody could react,

Because it was
total shock.

Nobody was
expecting that.

- The guards came then,

Wrapped handcuffs
around holly's wrists.

She shook her head no,
seemed to be reeling,

The words less than
a whisper.

- She looked at me
and she was gone.

- What did that
do to you?

- It tore me apart.

I-I really couldn't
understand how this happened.

It wasn't supposed
to happen like this.

- The defense team
felt gutted.

The prosecution's case had been
so flimsy, they thought.

How had it all gone
so wrong?

- I'm still wondering
what happened.

- This was not an easy one
for the prosecutors either,

The sort of case you might have
reasonably walked away from,

If you didn't let yourself
get caught up

And start to care a lot.

What was it like
to get your guilty verdict?

- It affirms the work
that we do.

- It was a good one.
- A very good one.

- What made it so good?

- You meet with the family
at the beginning,

And you're on this journey
all the way through,

And to be able to deliver
something to them

That they believed
from the beginning,

Um, made it
very satisfying.

- A month later
at the sentencing,

Holly's sister wanted
the judge to know

What the children thought,

That their mother
was not a murderer

And that they were begging him,
send her home to them.

- "my mom is the greatest mom
in the world,

"because she is sweet
and kind.

"I really want to
see her again.

"I really miss her.

I wish I could have
my mom back."

- Then a surprise.

Matt's father,
the retired cop,

Had become
an ordained minister

Since his son's death,

And he told the judge
he had made a decision.

- I have come to the point
where I can forgive holly.

And I have forgiven her,

And I'm asking you,
your honor,

To temper justice
with mercy.

But mark?

Seven years of suspicion,
frustration, anger

Finally came bursting out
and filled the courtroom.

- I just have
one simple question, why?

Why put someone
in unimaginable pain

When you could've just walked
away from the relationship?

Why continue
to slowly poison him

When you could've stopped?

And why take him away
from those children

That he so dearly loved?

- The sentence was swift
and stern.

- The nature of the crime
in the case

Cannot be overlooked
in this matter,

And the court's going to impose
a sentence of life

With parole eligibility
after 30 full years.

- Holly mcfeeture won't be
eligible for parole

Until 2043.

As for the children,

Samantha and josh moved in
with one of holly's sisters.

Mark said he and his parents
see the kids often

And that both families
have been

Very friendly
toward each other,

Something that would have
made his brother proud.

- We want them
in our lives.

We want them to know
who their dad was.

- The night before holly was
shipped out to state prison

To start serving
her life sentence,

Chrissy took the children
to visit with her.

They couldn't touch.

The glass barrier
separated them.

They spoke over
a jailhouse phone.

- That just breaks my heart.
- It's hard to watch, huh?

- Very hard to watch.

I had to turn away
numerous times

Because like I said
it was just heartbreaking

Knowing that they
couldn't just touch,

She couldn't touch her babies
that she loves so much.

- And mark podolak
went where he always goes

On the anniversary
of matt's death,

To talk to his brother
at the cemetery.

- I hope that you're proud of
your big brother, a little bit,

Because I kinda hopefully
helped you rest in peace

A little bit more than--
than you have been.

- And there was still
a podolak

Playing amateur hockey
here in cleveland.

[shouting]

Matt loved the game.

Mark took it up
in his memory.

And since matt couldn't
be here to play, said mark,

He'd play for him.

- That's all
for this edition

Of "dateline:
Secrets uncovered."

I'm kate snow.
Thank you for watching.