Original subtitles

This isn't a love story.

It's two love stories.

Good friends who fall in love...

That day was picture perfect.

...build families...

...and make memories.

But best friends

can make the best of enemies...

He wasn't the best when he was angry.

...and turned love...

...into tragedy.

I noticed the blood trail coming from the garage area.

It was definitely coming.

1987 -- just outside Tellico Plains, Tennessee.

15-year-old Marie Ellis is a bridesmaid at a wedding.

Marie's best friend Katrina wasn't there

and is watching for the first time.

This is the Marie I remember. Kind of shy.

Skittish. Yeah.

Marie and I met in kindergarten.

We became good friends just riding the school bus together

sitting in the same row.

I sat behind her in school in fourth grade.

Marie is the perfect bridesmaid.

The kind of loyal friend you can always rely on.

I think one of my fondest memories

was on the school bus and footloose come on.

And her name is in the song footloose,

and we were up singing it on the bus

next to the speaker together.

Marie calmly takes her place at the altar.

The photographer asked the bridesmaids to pose

for a photo with the groom,

much to Marie's embarrassment.

There was a lot of laughter, a lot of good times had.

A lot of good memories.

After the ceremony, the party starts.

But Marie misses out on the bouquet.

She's yet to meet the love of her life.

Marie was quite shy around boys.

Because she was usually just quite

tuned into herself and real quiet.

So it's a surprise

when Marie starts dating popular senior Ben Hatchett.

Me and Marie met at Tellico Plains high school.

She had very long blond hair.

And she just had a nice laugh.

Fun to hang out with.

When they graduate high school,

Katrina goes away to college

while Marie stays home and marries Ben.

We went to the justice of the peace,

and that's where we got married.

And we was happy.

When I took those vows, I really meant them.

Marie and Ben have a baby girl the following year.

I was on top of the world.

That instilled the fact

that we would be together forever.

Just when life can't get any better,

Marie hears that her best friend, Katrina,

is moving back to town.

Marie and I had the type of relationship

where even if we hadn't spoken in a month or two,

when we did see one another, we could still reconnect

and we were still friends.

While Marie and Katrina catch up,

Ben makes a new friend,

fellow car enthusiast Mike Strickland.

When me and Mike met,

I guess our personalities fit good together.

Our passion was junkyards,

working on things,

getting things to run.

We just hit it off,

and we become very good friends.

And when Katrina meets Mike,

they fall in love.

Mike was handsome.

He had these very dark brown eyes that I just liked.

I was proud to be his girlfriend.

It's a perfect quartet.

On Christmas Eve 1992, six months after meeting,

Katrina and Mike tie the knot.

Ben was our best man,

and Marie and their daughter came.

And it was just a really nice, good friendship to have.

With Ben and Mike being friends

and me and Marie being friends, it was just a couple

having really good relationships.

That day was picture perfect.

The feelings, the emotion.

It felt like it was forever.

In June 1995,

Mike and Katrina film a road trip.

I didn't enjoy being behind the camera,

but it was something new and different.

I wanted to go to Colorado because I had family

that I had only met once.

And I really wanted to touch base with them

and introduce them to Mike and visit for a while

and get to know them better.

Mike promised to take me to Colorado

so that we could have basically a honeymoon

that we didn't get when we got married.

Mike and Katrina are totally at ease with each other.

They've brought along Katrina's 12-year-old nephew.

And the pair take the opportunity

to record a message for Ben and Marie back home.

It's cold.

The marriage is only three years old,

and Katrina wants to capture every memory.

Mike didn't like the camera.

He said I talked to it too much.

You're just supposed to film it and that's it.

You don't talk to it.

Katrina and Mike have a lifetime to look forward to...

...as they settle down in Tellico Plains

surrounded by friends who will stick by them forever.

Tellico Plains, Tennessee.

Friends Marie and Ben Hatchett and Mike and Katrina Strickland

depend on each other.

We were really close. Best friends.

We were just young and carefree and having a good time together.

It's Christmas 1995.

The holiday season is one of the few times the couples are apart.

And Katrina and Mike are driving

to spend the day with her parents.

I know. I love to bust them.

But while things are going great for the Stricklands,

friends Ben and Marie are struggling.

Marie said, because it was self-diagnosis,

that, she was bipolar.

Because one minute, she could be happy,

and the next minute, she could be crying.

I think Marie became focused on her daughter so much

that I think Ben kind of fell -- that relationship

with Ben kind of fell to the wayside.

In 1996, Ben starts spending more and more time

at Mike and Katrina's.

They were very dear friends.

I did wind up going by myself.

Me, Mike, and Katrina -- for me, it was an escape.

Ben records their closeness

on Katrina's camcorder.

They're yours. -Appreciate it.

...forgotten?

Ben finds constant reminders

of what he's missing in his own marriage.

I framed my marriage certificate and put it on the wall

because I was happy and proud to be married to Mike.

It was a milestone. We were good.

Ben laughs it off.

But it can't hide the strain in his marriage.

Nothing would please Marie.

She wasn't happy about anything.

I dealt with it the best I knew how.

Katrina and Mike seemed to go from strength

to strength, and son Jacob is born in January 2001.

I'll get you. I'll get you.

First-time mom.

Just very nervous, but I loved it.

Every time he did something, I wanted to record it.

You know, a smile, a laugh, anything.

Katrina's mom and dad

are overjoyed to become grandparents.

But the happy scene hide cracks

that are shaking Mike and Katrina's foundations.

Mike, he'd tend to not take to it as easy, I guess,

as I did motherhood.

He was just really distant.

At the time Jacob was born,

he wasn't at home a lot.

He became distant.

He was working day shift,

but he wasn't coming home until late in the evening,

or sometimes even overnight.

We lost our communication,

and it became a stressful relationship.

And in Tellico Plains,

nothing stays hidden for long.

I had got off work and ran into Mike unexpectedly.

Hey.

Hiya, man. How you doing?

Nonstop. Could do with a break, you know?

Yeah, work and kids,

he talked to me very honestly.

And trusting what he said to me as a friend

would stay between me and him.

But it's a secret so big

it will tear their friendship apart.

Old school friends Marie and Katrina

have married buddies Ben and Mike.

But behind the smiles,

things aren't going well for either couple.

And when Mike bumps into Ben in summer 2001,

he has a secret to share.

All I said was, how are you doing?

That's all it took.

Between us, got a date.

One of them girls from work.

Really?

He tell me that he was seeing another girl

over in Athens.

I ask him, why,

with you and Katrina just having the child?

And he didn't have a straight answer.

His main answer was

I'm a guy and she's a girl.

All right, buddy. See you.

The guy's gonna brag. He's gonna brag about it.

But Katrina is already beginning to think

that something is wrong.

Hi. It's Katrina, Mike Strickland's wife.

Listen, is Mike there?

I called Mike at work,

and his supervisor said he wasn't there,

he had took a vacation day.

But yet he wasn't at home.

And that confirmed my fears.

And then when he got home and I asked him about it,

he was like, well, I was just out with the boys.

I mean he just brushed it off like it didn't matter.

The betrayal is too much for Katrina to take.

I just decided that Jacob and I would move out.

He told me that I would be back,

that I would need him.

Katrina's determined not to look back,

and she and Mike get divorced in April 2002.

Despite the divorce, Jacob and his dad are close.

Even though Mike and I had divorced,

I still wanted Jacob to have a dad

and that father figure in his life.

So him and Mike still spent every other weekend

and some days through the week together.

Their father and son bond grows stronger,

and it's clear Jacob idolizes Mike.

Thank you. Here you go.

Give this one to somebody now.

There you go.

For Ben and Marie,

married life is anything but a party.

The arguing and the fussing did get to the point where

I decided it was time to leave.

It was time to call it quits.

2003 -- after 13 years of marriage,

Ben and Marie divorce.

But it's hard to escape your past

in a small town like Tellico Plains.

One day, I went to the video store.

I was leaving, and I saw Mike and Marie

get in the same vehicle together.

So I called Mike, and he didn't answer.

And I tried to follow him, but he sped up and ran.

I didn't know what was going on with him.

It's not long before the picture becomes clear.

I had it confirmed from a friend of mine

that Mike and Marie were seeing one another.

I was just, like, mad.

I mean, could you have not picked anybody else,

anybody besides my best friend?

And her, I was mad at her

because you have not picked anybody else but my ex-husband?

I mean why? Why? It was just crazy.

And when Mike moves in with Marie and her daughter...

It's a hammer blow to Ben.

I found out about Mike and Marie being together

about three days after me and her separated.

I was torn apart.

I felt like a failure.

I went to confront Mike.

He was not at work that day.

My family didn't deserve Mike.

My family deserved me.

It's not the last shock.

In 2007, Marie and Mike get married.

They didn't tell anybody.

Or, you know, they didn't tell us.

It was just Jacob came home and was like,

dad's married.

Despite his father marrying his mom's best friend,

Jacob's relationship with his dad is still strong.

We're kind of like best friends instead of father and son.

And the pair escaped from the turmoil

in Mike's garage.

The garage was his space, his little safe zone.

That's where he'd went.

That was just his zone.

October 10, 2013.

After a day together,

Mike drops Jacob back at Katrina's.

He kissed my forehead, said I love you.

I'll see you, and we hugged and I got out

and waved goodbye on the porch.

He saw mom and he waved at her, and then went back.

No one realizes

the next few hours will change their lives forever.

What was coming, it was definitely coming.

The call is from Marie Strickland.

As I arrived on scene, the female did flag me down.

She looked distraught.

Mike Strickland is lying outside his garage.

I noticed the blood trail coming from the garage area.

I followed it up to the garage.

And it appeared that Mike had been working on a vehicle

that was on a high lift.

I don't know exactly what's happened.

Could this be an accident?

Paramedics arrive at the scene.

As the paramedics were checking Mike Strickland,

they did roll him over onto his back.

And they determined that there was a wound to his neck,

and that's where the blood was coming from.

He's been shot.

Mike Strickland is pronounced dead at the scene.

At that point, the investigators pretty much determined

that we were dealing with a homicide at that time.

We were at home, and my sister called.

She was like, trina, have you heard?

And I'm like, heard what?

And she said, well, I heard Mike was gone,

had passed away.

And I called Mike's home phone.

And I got Marie.

I said, is it true?

And she said, has nobody called you?

And I said no. I said, so it's true?

And she said, yes, there was so much blood.

Katrina as to break the news to Jacob.

I called Jacob into the living room

and I sat him down on the couch.

And I said, Jacob, I got something to tell you.

And he's just like, what, mom?

You know, he is still just happy.

She told me that dad had died.

And I was just completely in shock.

I didn't know what to do, how it happened.

I was -- I was just in shock.

I just remember being in tears almost the entire day.

That's basically all that day was was just tears.

Telling Jacob that his dad was gone

was probably the hardest thing I've ever done.

Ever.

You just watch your child's heart break in front of you.

Detectives begin by questioning

the three people closest to Mike

who might have a motive --

his wife, Marie, ex-wife, Katrina,

and former friend, Ben.

They start with Marie.

She was very upset.

But nevertheless, she cooperated with law enforcement

and answered all the questions that they posed to her.

Police record her statement.

She said that her relationship with Mike

was a good relationship.

Law enforcement looked into Mike's finances,

and they were able to rule out any sort of financial motive

that Marie would have had to kill her husband.

Marie is free to go.

Mike's ex-wife, Katrina, is next.

I was nervous.

I really didn't know what was going on.

They asked if I knew anybody

that could possibly have done this,

who Mike's enemies were.

Based upon the questions that are asked, her demeanor,

they were able to rule out Katrina as the murderer.

I said the only person I could see

probably doing it would be a jealous husband.

Marie's rejected ex-husband, Ben Hatchett,

is at the top of their list.

I went to the window and looked out

and saw the three detectives with their badges.

And I thought, boy.

This ain't good.

Hi. Can I help you?

Ben Hatchett? Yeah.

Yeah. We'd like to talk to you about Mike Strickland.

I told them I didn't do it,

and they could investigate me all they wanted.

Ben made it clear to law enforcement

that he did not like Mike,

that he wanted to see Mike dead,

but that guy got to him first.

Ben has the clearest motive.

But with no physical evidence to connect him to the scene,

they can't arrest him.

Investigators continue to examine Mike's workshop

for clues.

They find something lodged in a car tire.

It's a bullet.

And it's at the end of the bloody trail

leading to Mike's body.

Finding a bullet in a tire is a bit of a lucky break.

Typically when someone is shot,

it's very difficult to find that exit bullet.

They check the slug in the lab and confirm

it's the bullet that killed Mike Strickland.

But there's no weapon at the scene.

And they lose a prime suspect

when Ben Hatchett's alibi checks out.

With no gun and no strong suspects,

police turn to Mike's 12 year-old-son, Jacob.

Took me into the police station

and was questioning me,

asking me if he had any enemies,

anybody who would want to hurt him.

They did ask me what the relationship

was at home with him and Marie.

And I told them they were fighting all the time.

Jacob tells investigators that Mike and Marie's relationship

wasn't really a positive one,

that they were having serious problems,

which was in contrast to

what Marie had initially told law enforcement

about her relationship with Mike.

Marie might not be telling the whole truth.

And Marie was the last individual who saw Mike alive.

Marie Strickland might have lied

about the state of her marriage to Mike.

So police search her phone records.

They find a list of deleted texts between her

and her brother, Chris smallin,

on the day of Mike's murder.

Why was it that there were deleted text messages?

We usually don't delete text messages.

But she had, and that was suspicious for law enforcement.

On December 10, 2013, detectives pay Chris a visit.

Would it be possible for us to have a look at your cell?

The text conversation with Marie is still on his phone.

And when they read it, detectives are stunned.

This is the biggest moment in the case.

These text messages show that Marie had a gun

on the day of the murder.

And she's asking her brother,

how do I make certain this gun is loaded?

And he told law enforcement that a couple of weeks

before the murder,

that Marie came to him, asked him for a gun.

She stated that she wanted a gun

because Mike was becoming increasingly more violent.

And he then provided her a gun.

Chris says that on the day of Mike's murder,

Marie came to see him in the library where he works.

She handed the .380 to him in a plastic bag

and said that she wanted him to have it

because she didn't know

what would happen with it in her possession.

Detectives confront Marie

with her brother's statement.

That was, I think, the breaking point,

when she realized that her brother

might be implicated in this.

Then she gave her account of the events.

Marie claims that Mike was controlling

and she needed a gun for her own self-defense.

She said that Mike and she went up to the shop,

stayed in the shop a little while.

She wanted to go back down to the house.

Mike didn't want her to go back down at the house

because she said he was very controlling.

She went back down to the house.

Mike came back down to the house.

But she does remember the aftermath.

She was unaware of whether she actually shot him or not.

Marie claims she then drove to the library

to give the gun back to her brother Chris.

And when she returned home,

she found Mike bleeding out in the driveway.

But detectives aren't convinced.

Her account just doesn't match their findings at the scene.

The physical evidence was very clear

based upon the trajectory of the bullet

that someone was sitting in a chair.

Mike was underneath the car.

And that is when he was shot.

Mike Strickland staggered outside

before collapsing in the driveway from blood loss.

The autopsy report showed that Mike died from a gunshot wound

that pierced the right internal jugular vein.

She then went to the library,

where she gave the gun to Chris

for Chris dispose of.

Records actually show she checked out a book

at the library, which is pretty incredibly cold.

43-year-old Marie Strickland

is arrested for the murder of her husband, Mike.

Police believe Chris smallin was unaware of the killing,

and he's charged with being an accessory after the fact

and given a two-year probated sentence.

On June 5, 2015,

Marie Strickland accepts a plea deal

and pleads guilty to second-degree murder.

She's sentenced to 21 years in prison.

The mystery that shrouds this whole case --

what is the motive?

He wasn't the best when he was angry.

But why do you have to resort to murder?

You get a divorce.

You move out.

Basically, you took being a parent away from yourself.

You know, your daughter -- you don't get to see

your daughter anymore over this.

And Jacob has no dad.

That's where he gets

his curly hair from his, his daddy.

I like people to remember my dad as a good person

because I do believe him to be a good person.

He was a great person to me. He was a great father.

He was one of my best friends.

I miss the laughs that we would have together.

I don't think I'll ever forgive her

because she took something away that my kid will never get back.