Original subtitles

[Kenda] It's a calm sea, off of Cape May, New Jersey,

near the Delaware state line.

[boat engine wailing]

A couple is exercising their new fishing boat.

It's not uncommon to find objects in the water.

It could be garbage, it could be a dead fish.

But, they suddenly realized,

this is not a pile of debris, it's a human body.

They're 3.3 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.

Now, how did this body manage to get here?

How did that happen?

Sometimes the script doesn't play out like you'd expect.

[Kenda] I spent my career closing murder cases.

But, I'm not the only one who answered the call.

It takes a rare breed to solve the unsolvable.

To catch a ruthless killer.

To find justice for the dead.

That's what it takes to be anAmerican Detective.

[man speaking indistinctively on police radio]

I'm Steven Brown.

I'm a lieutenant

with the New Jersey State Police.

I have been a trooper for over 21 years.

When this case came in,

I had only been assigned as a detective for maybe a month.

-What do we got? -Uh, it isn't pretty.

My name is Jim Thistle,

and I worked for the New Jersey State Police

for twenty 25 years,

and I ran the Crime Scene Unit.

[church bells dinging]

In the homicide world, you discover very quickly

that humans are very fragile.

They break easily.

And damage from decomposition is dramatic.

[Thistle] You know you have a human being there,

and you know it's a woman,

but it's almost unrecognizable as a person.

[Brown] You have a body that's in water,

it's going to be introduced to marine life contamination.

[Kenda] The fish will attack soft tissue first,

hence the ears and the eyes are the first.

It's easy for a small fish to feed off of that.

She had actually a rock crab gnawing on the inside of her thigh.

They're bottom feeders,

so she was probably on the bottom for a certain period of time.

[Brown] There was a large metal chain wrapped around her feet.

As soon as we saw that,

we knew that there was more to this

than just something that was accidental.

Someone believed the chains would take this body

to the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen again.

-Do you see any wounds? -Impossible to tell.

You're looking at this you're like, "Man, we don't have a crime scene."

[Brown] We don't have anything, so, it's easy to get overwhelmed

and start thinking, "Hell, how am I ever going to figure this out?"

[Kenda] This body is present in the Atlantic Ocean.

So, it leaves you with the total mystery of not only how did this person die,

but how do they come to be 3.3 nautical miles

off the coast of Cape May, New Jersey?

[Thistle] With a lot of dumped bodies

you don't know where they were killed,

so you start from basically the end

and you try to go back to the beginning.

The body becomes your crime scene then you work from there.

-[Thistle] Hey, doc. -Hey.

So, now we get to the autopsy.

There were X-rays done.

Dr. Blanchard noticed there were several fractures

at the base of the skull.

The medical examiner felt that,

either she was struck by a very wide object

or it was blunt force trauma from a fall at a certain height.

How high are we talking?

At least five stories.

That really didn't make sense.

If you were in a small size boat and you take the body and throw it overboard,

you're not going to suffer a large scale fracture at the base of the skull.

Do we have cause of death?

Impossible to say.

[Brown] So, we weren't sure if the victim entered the water is still alive

or if she was deceased prior to entering.

[Thistle] So, identification's gonna be key here.

Fingerprints to me, is the most logical way

to at least try to get started.

When bodies are found in water, the skin wrinkles.

Her fingerprints are obscured

by the wrinkling of the skin.

The lab coat.

[Thistle] So, I injected water into her top portion of skin,

and as I did, it started acting like a balloon,

and sort of blowing back up to where

I could then see the ridges without all that pruning

that takes place with being in water.

[Brown] Once we got the fingerprints,

we're able to submit those neatly to our AFIS system.

And it came back as a match for a 16 year old girl

by the name of Kimberly Holton, who was a foster-child at the time,

residing in Dover, Delaware.

I moved to the same development as Kim,

my sophomore year of high school.

We were together every single day since the day that we met.

[Andrews] She was a big animal lover, always reading magazines

about animals and watching [laughs] the Animal Channel.

She was so sweet.

We had found out that Kimberly had been reported missing

by her foster-mother and in a report,

detailing when the last time she actually saw Kimberly, September 29.

So, now we had starting point.

So, we needed to get together.

[Brown] We have Delaware State Police Homicide Unit.

-Porter. -[Brown] And began sharing information.

[Kenda] We now have the New Jersey State Police

and the Delaware State Police,

working together in this investigation.

[Jeff] Dover is the capital of the state of Delaware.

We're considered a small city.

[Thistle] This is what we're looking at, right here.

Seems like, when we do get into the news,

it is for something larger-than-life, as was with this case way.

We don't have many 16 year olds that are murdered.

I was just more determined to figure out a case because of her age.

[Thistle] Think of a girl being dumped in the ocean like a piece of trash.

It was devastating to hear.

I mean, you wonder what can go so wrong in her life

that she ends up 3 miles out in the ocean,

with a chain wrapped around her.

There is an address for this young lady in Dover, Delaware.

It is current. Her foster parents are listed

as Ronald and Laura Michaels.

The first step now is to contact the foster-mother

and give her the news that the child she reported missing has been found.

[Kenda] It's something all policemen dread,

to give that kind of news to someone.

I did it too often.

They already know when you come to see them.

You can see it in the person's face.

-Mrs. Michaels? -Yes.

We found Kimberly's body.

She's deceased.

[Brown] She took it really hard.

Kimberly had run away in the past, several times,

but she would always return within two or three days.

This time, she didn't return.

[Brown] At that point, we wanted to get some details,

just as far as the background goes into what

Kimberly's life was like.

Her foster-mother told us that Kimberly was from New Jersey.

Her life was a very difficult life.

There was a lot of conflict, a lot of sadness.

[Jeff] Her father was a criminal.

He was in jail at the time all of this happened.

[Brown] Her biological mother reportedly had some issues

with various things, relationships, substance abuse,

so, Kimberly would travel over to Delaware

and visit her grandfather there,

in the Dover Air Trailer Park.

Her grandfather tried to get some responsibility into her

by giving her chores and things that she needed to do around the house.

[Jeff] And Kimberly, apparently didn't like that.

And Kimberly didn't want to be with her grandfather.

-Oh, hey, you want a burger? -Come over and join us.

[Holton] Okay, thanks,

[Kenda] Laura Michaels had another child named Heather.

And because Heather and Kimberly got along so well,

Laura decided to become Kimberly Holton's legal guardian.

[Nasakaitis] Kim and I grew a quick relationship and bond.

We were friends. With Kim it was easy to be sisters.

And we did sisterly things. Dressing up the same...

She was just always happy, and she really liked to be around people.

I think deep down, Kimberly was probably looking for stability

[Jeff] As I understand it, she was very happy to be there.

[Porter] If you get through the death notification

then you start in with, "Who do you think could have done this?"

We wanted to get some details from her foster-mother.

[Brown] So, we interviewed her at the station.

[Brown speaking]

[Laura speaking]

[Kenda] What would cause Kimberly

to get out of bed and disappear into the cosmos?

So, they question Laura Michaels, "Has there been anything

you're aware of that she was disturbed or distressed about?"

Laura Michaels then drops a bomb in the middle of that conversation.

[Laura speaking]

[Kenda] Laura Michaels explains that Kimberly Holton

contacted the police on September the 13th,

17 days before she disappears, to report her husband, Ronald Michaels.

[Laura speaking]

It was like a red flag when he came around her.

[Andrews] She would get very uncomfortable.

and she acted totally different.

My stepfather was a monster and the things that he did,

I don't... I wish we could have done more.

[Kenda] Police arrested Ronald Michaels on the 19th of September,

which is only 11 days before Kimberly disappears.

[Kenda] They charge him with sexual assault on a child, very serious charges

and potentially carry a heavy penalty.

He's going to become one of our main suspects at that point.

He has great motive for wanting Kimberly dead,

Either not to testify against him or a revenge type of thing.

What do you have to say about that, Mr. Michaels,

'cause we'd certainly like to ask you.

[Kenda] Many homicide cases begin with the same level of mystery.

But this has an extra edge to it.

Sixteen year old, Kimberly Holton, is found in the Atlantic Ocean,

not in her bedroom.

This case really did get a lot of attention

because it was just frankly bizarre.

We found out that the foster-father had been charged

previous to Kimberly's disappearance with sexually assaulting her.

Obviously, he's going to become one of our main suspects at that point.

[Kenda] Ronald Michaels is scooped up and brought in for an interrogation.

He tells the usual story.

He denies it. Says, it isn't true.

"This is all a result of Laura, my soon to be ex-wife conspiring to cause me harm."

But he claims that the foster-mother

talked Kimberly into these allegations,

and none of them were true and he claimed that he was staying

on the 29th into the 30th with his biological daughter.

And she did confirm that he had stayed there during that time frame

that we know that Kimberly went missing.

Come on, stand up.

[Kenda] Now he has an alibi as to whereabouts for the night in question.

Therefore, he ultimately has no opportunity.

Part of the process of homicide investigation is,

you go from confident to no confidence from suspect,

to not having one, to bouncing back and forth all the time.

It is in nature of the beast.

[woman speaking indistinctively on radio]

-What about the oppressor? -This is what we have so far.

At the end of each day, we would get a game plan together

on what we're going to do the next day.

[reporter] Police are looking for any more information...

The more information that's put out through the media,

the greater the chance of coming up with a clue.

-[telephone ringing] -[indistinct talking on police radio]

[Brown] Porter.

[Kenda] At this juncture, Detective Porter

gets a phone call from a woman who identifies herself

as Kimberly Holton's aunt and she has information

that she thinks the police need to know.

[Brown] She had indicated some concern regarding an ex-boyfriend

who had made some remarks at some people

that if Kimberly ever broke up with him he would kill her.

[Kenda] Now that's a direct threat.

Matt Wyatt said he would do physical harm to Kimberly Holton

if she broke up with him and she broke up with.

So, we had to make sure we cross all our t's and dot all our i's.

[Brown] We were able to track him down and speak to him.

You can understand what we're saying, right, Matt?

When they find this ex-boyfriend,

he's working in a restaurant in the downtown area of Dover.

You threatened to kill the girl and then she ends up dead.

I know, but I didn't mean it.

He freely admits it.

"I just said it as I was mad and I was hurt."

Matt, can u tell us where you were the morning of September 30th?

Uh, September... Yeah, I was...

He indicated to us that he was actually getting his learner's permit

from the state of Delaware.

...my learner's permit.

[Brown] And fortunately for him

It had a time stamp and date and everything on there

to verify that that's where he was at that particular time.

[Kenda] It doesn't get much better in terms of alibi.

He's not a part of this.

Even though it sounded like he was. He isn't.

Elation. Depression.

After sometime,

Detective Brown gets a phone call from the forensics people

to report that they have some important information

that they have recovered from the chains found with the body.

What we got here?

Well, let's have a look.

[Thistle] The chains were actually in pretty good shape for being in saltwater.

So to really work on them, we did clean them a little bit and we took a close up.

We saw a marking on there.

He found out the manufacturer of the chain.

He contacted the manufacturer, and the manufacturer said, "Yes,

we sell that particular chain to Lowe's Department Stores."

We did some digging and, of course, right in this general area

a couple miles away from where Kimberly resides

is a Lowe's Home Improvement Store.

[man] Hey, here's a receipt I found.

There's a receipt where someone had purchased the exact length of chain

and the exact clamps found wrapped around Kimberly's ankles,

as well as two cinder blocks.

All these items were purchased on the very afternoon

that Miss Holton was reported missing.

So that was a huge turning point for us there.

This store, like all stores in the modern day, videos everything.

[Kenda] We might have a movie of our dude.

Now this case is hitting on all eight cylinders.

The Delaware New Jersey State Police agencies

have narrowed the chain

that was found wrapped around Kimberly Holton's ankles

to a particular store in Dover, Delaware,

So immediately we began checking video surveillance.

Wait, wait.

The tape matches the date and time of the transaction record.

You can see the length of chain

being piled on the sales counter,

the clamps being placed on the a sales counter

and two center blocks.

This is the it.

We were really excited because we have two males

buying the exact chain that we're looking for.

Because of the fractures to Kimberly's skull,

we knew she had to be lifted

and thrown from a higher elevation

whether it be a boat or bridge.

It would have been easier for two people to do something like this.

So that made sense.

Now we have to figure out who these two people are.

[reporter] Sixteen-year-old Kimberly Holton's body

was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.

Police are looking for any information

as to the identity of these two men.

So police publicize these photographs of these two individuals

On television and placed in newspapers,

asking for the public's assistance.

Do you know these men?

[Jeff] The surveillance video was not that clear,

but they could say to the public,

if there's something out there that looks familiar to you,

give us a call.

[waves splashing]

[Kenda] A matter of a few hours passes...

[phone ringing]

And detectives get a bonanza.

The voice on the phone says

that he's one of the two people in the picture.

It's a huge break. So you get really excited.

Come on down, my boy.

You're the next contestant on "The murderer is right."

He was genuinely scared,

and he wanted to clear his name on this investigation.

So he is anxious to talk to anybody

that'll listen to him about what he was doing

in this Home Improvement Center

with his "friend".

Buying things, they wound up attached to a dead girl.

He was able to identify the other person that he was with.

That's Jacob Jones,

And he goes on to explain that Jacob called him

and said, "Hey, I want to go down to the Home Improvement Center.

I saw this thing about how to make an exercise device

using center blocks and a length of chain."

[Porter] And we sort of looked at each other,

the Detectives and said, "This isn't right."

I've never known people to make workout equipment

from chains and cinder blocks.

And he says, Jacob leaves with his chain, cinder blocks and his clamps.

And never sees his after that.

That's his story. He said, I don't know where he is,

but you might check with his girlfriend.

[Kenda] Detectives are immediately struck by the name Heather.

They've heard that before.

Heather is Kimberly's foster sister.

So now we have a direct connection

between Kimberly and Jacob Jones.

[Porter] I don't really believe in coincidences

to see Jacob Jones purchasing the chain,

his girlfriend's Kimberly's sister.

It was just too much.

[Brown] So now we have to unravel what occurred here.

Was it something

[Brown] where Heather was involved

and told Jacob to do this.

or Jacob did it behind Heather's back.

Was it a love triangle?

We're left with this situation where the suspect.

prime suspect is dating the victim's sister.

That certainly could be a fatal mix.

[Kenda] We find 16 year old

Kimberly Holton floating in the Atlantic Ocean.

With chain around her ankles.

We have traced the chain to a buyer

who, interestingly enough, is the boyfriend

of Kimberly Holton's foster sister, Heather.

[indistinct chatter over radio]

[Brown] So we need to interview Heather

to try and piece this entire thing together.

[Brown speaking]

[Young Heather sobbing]

[sniffles]

[Heather] The reason why they wanted me

to come down to the station

was so that they could talk to me

about Kim and our relationship.

The indication given from Heather

was that she loved her initially.

Kimberly welcomed into the home.

And then at some point during the relationship,

things started to go south.

Jealousy started to seem

like its surface between the two of them.

[Young Heather speaking]

What are you doing?

[Young Heather] I'm looking for my sweater.

Well, I don't have it.

Are you kidding me?

-Come on. -Heather, relax!

It was one sweater!

[Heather] When I saw that Kim was wearing my clothes,

it was done. I wasn't her mom.

I wasn't anybody that could be there to take care of her.

[Young Heather speaking]

This household has become

in a state of disarray in the past few months.

The foster parents break up their marriage.

Ronald Michaels is accused of sexual assault

against Kimberly Holton.

Everything that had been a stable influence

had been taken away.

[birds chirping]

[Jeff] I don't think that she was emotionally

mature enough to be able to handle something like that.

I think she was just kind of drifting in the wind.

[Brown speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[Brown speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[Brown speaking]

Obviously, at that point, we knew it was Jacob.

And she's very reluctant to reveal

and confirmed that that was actually him.

[Brown speaking]

They explain to Heather, "This is not some silly game."

It's a homicide investigation.

Tell us what you know.

Because we're probably gonna find out anyway.

[Heather] I was just as shocked as everybody else.

I thought something happened to Kim in New Jersey.

When it led back to Delaware

and the Lowe's video, I was in disbelief.

I was panicking.

I felt that it was him.

[sobbing]

[Brown speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[Brown speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[crying]

[Heather] I'm sitting there freaking out

and I was crying so much, my nose was bleeding.

[Young Heather speaking]

[Brown] And then immediately,

she's almost trying to be a character reference for him.

[Heather] Jacob was very smart.

He was always a high performer at school.

He had that full ride to college?

Jacob is a sophomore at Delaware State University.

He's a student and aerospace science

and seems to be totally organized as do his life span.

[Brown] She said he has a job as a flight instructor

in a local airbase and would give lessons

and had access to different planes

at Delaware State, which is interesting.

[Porter] When we found out Jacob was an instructor pilot,

we said, "You know, Kimberly,

she could have been turned out of an airplane."

[Brown] We're kind of like,

"Well, is that something that's even possible?"

"Could that have actually happened?"

[detective speaking]

[crying]

[Young Heather speaking]

-[detective speaking] -[sighs]

The coroner says fractures in the head and neck

are probably from dropping from height into water.

[birds chirping]

What better way to do that than out of an airplane?

[siren wailing]

[Porter] At that point in time,

we knew Jacob Jones was our man.

[Brown] My thought was Heather

really didn't know exactly what happened.

But we obviously didn't have a confession there,

and we couldn't continue on in the interview.

So, now we need to get a statement from Jacob.

[detective 1 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

-[Jacob speaking] -[detective 1 speaking]

[detective 2 speaking]

[Brown] Initially he had little emotion.

He was very indifferent.

[detective 2 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

[Brown] He admitted to being

the person who bought the chains,

and he goes along with the same story

that they were gonna use it as a workout equipment.

[detective 1 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1] Mmm-hmm.

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

The more they press him, the more nervous he becomes.

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

[Jacob speaking]

-[detective 2 speaking] -[detective 1 speaking]

He invoked his right for an attorney.

Your conversation with this person

ends forever and a day at that moment.

[detective 2 speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

[detective 1 speaking]

At that point, we didn't have enough evidence

to charge Jacob criminally with anything.

So, we need to still work to build this case.

[Kenda] Defectives proceed to Dover Air Base.

There is a flying club

[Brown] How you doing? [Kenda] where Mr. Jones is a flight instructor.

[Brown] Hey, Jason.

[Kenda] They ask about him. [Brown] Jacob Jones.

He's a good guy. I liked him,

but having some problems with him lately.

[Brown] The supervisor indicated that Jacob

was very distracted and often times would set a date

and wouldn't show up.

And just wasn't very consistent.

There was some indication he had some issues with anger

and had some disciplinary issues.

So, we knew there was more to Jacob

than just what Heather was telling us.

And we're kind of starting to see another side of him.

Did you happen to have any records of his flights?

[Kenda] They pull their logbooks,

and they determined...

The flight records here.

...that on the evening of September the 30th,

he takes off in an airplane from the club

at 11:45 at night

and returns at 1:50 a.m. the next morning.

So he is there in the dead of night

flying this airplane.

The flight pattern shows exactly this plane

taking off from Delaware,

exactly where it went

and, exactly where it ended up over the ocean

and how it turned around and went back to Delaware.

[Porter] Our theory was,

He went to the Dover Air Force Base

after he killed Kimberly.

[airplane flying over]

[Porter] Loaded her in a plane

and dumped the body out over the bay.

[Kenda] So with that information in hand,

they are now prepared to arrest Jacob Jones

for the crime of first degree murder.

They haven enough.

[cell phone vibrating]

[Brown] They arrest warrant.

-Brown. -[indistinct chatter over cellphone]

[Brown] And as Delaware State Police detectives

are on their way to go arrest Jacob Jones for this crime,

we receive a call...

And, we were all just, we were shocked

that this happened.

Sometimes the script doesn't play out like you'd expect.

[siren wailing]

[Kenda] The warrant has been signed.

And the Delaware and New Jersey State Police

are on their way to the home of Jacob Jones

to charge him with murder of Kimberly Holton.

-Police! -[Kenda] House is unlocked.

It wouldn't matter if it was.

They make entry.

[indistinct chatter]

My God. What the hell happened in here?

[indistinct chatter]

Jacob committed suicide.

He killed himself.

I remember getting the call from a uniformed division.

And the first thing was like, "Whoa!"

He used a shotgun.

And it made a mess.

[Kenda] So, Mr. Jones was determined to not survive.

He selected the right weapon to do that with.

On the table was Detective Porter's business card.

TV was on, and I think he was watching the news of time.

[reporter on TV] 16 year old

Kimberly Holton's body was found.

[Brown] I think Jacob may have seen

the walls starting to close in on him.

[shotgun cocks]

[Brown] His parents were home at the time.

[man speaking over TV]

-[gun fires] -[gasps]

[panting]

[objects clattering]

[woman screaming]

[Destinee] That was a coward move.

I think that he took the easy way out.

[woman sobbing]

We're now having to deal with the Mom and Dad

who are shocked by what just happened.

[man] He told me what he did.

[Porter] Jacob Jones confided in his parents

That he did have something to do with this case

because they obviously saw him on TV,

purchasing the chains at Lowe's.

It was almost like instead of leaving a suicide note,

he left this confession with his dad.

[Kenda] Mr. Jones says

that Jacob killed Kimberly Holton

with the assistance

and participation of his friend Michael Keyser.

They haven't heard that name before.

[Jeff] Jacob and Keyser had known each other

for about six years.

They've known each other in school.

Their working theory has always been

and Jones had a helper.

And not only did he have one we know who is now.

[siren wailing]

So, Michael Keyser's located,

he's brought in for an interview.

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

He was genuinely scared.

[Michael speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[Brown] He admits to being there

during the murder of Kimberly Holton.

[Porter] Michael Keyser told me that he was contacted by Jacob Jones.

He wanted Michael together with him

to the residence and pick up Kimberly Holton.

[crickets chirping]

Jacob Jones is completely privy to the drama going on

in Heather and Kimberly's life.

Jones calls her the night of the 29th and says,

"We need to talk about this and work out

these problems between you and Heather."

Well, Kimberly probably wanted to do that as well.

So, she went.

I'm sure she didn't stop to think

that they were going to try to kill her.

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

[Kimberly laughs]

[Michael] So, what you want to get?

So, when she comes out, we can do it.

[exhales]

[detective speaking]

[Michael] Mmm-mmm.

No one's gonna miss her,

no one's gonna notice she's gone.

Jacob Jones sees her as a throwaway person.

Everybody's gotten rid of her up to now.

I'm gonna do the same thing.

I'm gonna make my getting rid of her for permanent.

[Michael speaking]

[detective] Uh-huh. [Michael] Uh...

Oh, Michael.

No one in that room believes that.

Probably not even Keyser.

We know that he has a role in it,

so, he's gonna do whatever he can

to try to minimize his role.

[Michael speaking]

-[Jacob grunts] -[screams]

-[Jacob grunts] -[Kimberly screams] Please!

-[Jacob grunts] -[[Kimberly choking]

Michael Keyser told us he held her legs down.

Jacob Jones took a phone cord

wrapped around her neck and strangled.

[Michael speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Michael speaking]

Now Keyser says,

"Out of fear of reprisal Assistant Jones

and loading this girl in the trunk of his car.

it was almost like there was a plan in place ahead of time.

-[cameras flashing] -There's items bought at Lowe's.

He's driven to the Dover Airport base,

-where Jacob had rented that Cessna 172 plane, -[engine whirring]

her body was loaded into the plane.

And the plane took off.

[engine accelerating]

and the body was discarded from the plane

into the ocean.

[Porter] When she hit the ocean way.

We think the impact disintegrated the cinder blocks

and, the only thing she had left on her was the chain.

Jacob Jones believed the chains would take her

to the bottom of sea, to Davy Jones's locker,

and that would have been that.

Except it didn't work that way.

[Michael speaking]

I find it difficult that if Michael Keyser

was involved with this up to this point

that just all of a sudden

he decided, "Listen, I'm not going with you in this plane.

I'm not assisting anymore.

[Porter] At that point in time, Michael Keyser

was going to get charged with murder first, regardless,

whether he helped push the body of plane or not.

We offered him a plea.

He didn't accept a plea bargain,

and he wanted to go to trial.

[reporter] Keyser's attorneys called only two witnesses

in his defense.

In an unexpected move,

The defense did not call Keyser to testify,

because Keyser decided against it.

Chief prosecutor Bobby o'Neill says

he was surprised Keyser didn't testify,

but he says it shouldn't have made

any difference on their case.

We put in the case that we, um,

thought was the strongest,

and the, um, evidence is what it is.

He was ultimately found guilty.

In the State of Delaware he's sentenced to life in prison

[Porter] We didn't think Heather was the killer,

but we did think Heather knew more than she was telling us.

[detective speaking]

[Young Heather] No.

[detective speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[detective speaking]

[Young Heather speaking]

[Brown] It's very difficult for me to believe

that Heather didn't have some knowledge of this.

Maybe not pre-medicated, but maybe post.

[Heather] After Jacob shot himself,

his father kind of stabbed at me.

He said, "Some way somehow, you're involved in this."

And, um, I said, "I'm not."

I'm in just as much shock as everybody else.

It all happen behind my back.

I don't know how it got to the point

where he felt he had to do that.

[detective speaking]

[Young Heather] I know nothing.

[crying]

[Heather] The reason why I decided to do this show

is because I wanted to be able to speak to the fact

that something really awful did happen.

We were all good people.

Things just got way out of hand

and something snapped.

And I want people to know

that it wasn't anything that any of us want.

[Brown] I think that Heather almost felt like

it was Kimberly's fault that the family had broken up.

The root of her entire issue with life

seemed to focus around Kimberly,

and she confided in her boyfriend, Jacob,

about the problems that Kimberly

was causing in the family.

So, Jacob, wanting to help Heather,

devises this plan,

and at some point

Kimberly ends up dead at that motel room.

I absolutely believe that Kim would still be here today

if she had a better life where she was.

I just want her memory to live on.

I want the fun, Kim the smiling cam.

I don't want her to be remembered

as a 16 year old girl who got murder in Dover, Delaware.

I want her to be remembered as Kimberly Holton.

[birds chirping]

[Brown] I f you do, you're 25, 30 years in law enforcement,

you have hundreds of cases, if not more.

This is one of those ones that nobody forgets.

I like to think that for nothing else,

somebody for once, stood up for Kimberly in her life.

That's why I look at it.

[Kenda] In the movies, there's all these

dramatic motivations to kill people,

but that's in the movies.

In the real world,

people die over nothing.

That's reality.

Reality is a terrible thing because it is so real.