1 00:00:07,340 --> 00:00:11,277 - I'm Craig Melvin and this is "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 2 00:00:13,580 --> 00:00:15,648 - Rod Covlin calls 9-1-1 3 00:00:15,682 --> 00:00:18,718 and says that his wife appears dead. 4 00:00:18,752 --> 00:00:22,489 He said that Anna found her in the bathtub. 5 00:00:22,522 --> 00:00:25,492 - I've never seen my son shell-shocked. 6 00:00:25,525 --> 00:00:28,795 - It was a case tailor-made for the tabloids. 7 00:00:28,828 --> 00:00:30,497 - You have this beautiful woman. 8 00:00:30,530 --> 00:00:34,934 A tall handsome guy. Greed. Infidelity. 9 00:00:34,968 --> 00:00:36,703 He's sleeping around with other women. 10 00:00:36,736 --> 00:00:39,739 - A failing marriage with millions at stake 11 00:00:39,773 --> 00:00:42,075 - He didn't have any money of his own. 12 00:00:42,108 --> 00:00:43,943 - This is getting ugly. - Yes. 13 00:00:43,977 --> 00:00:47,013 She said, "We're broken" and she cried. 14 00:00:47,047 --> 00:00:48,515 - Was it a fall in the tub 15 00:00:48,548 --> 00:00:51,017 or a husband's fall from grace? 16 00:00:51,051 --> 00:00:53,286 - We believed it was a staged accident. 17 00:00:53,319 --> 00:00:56,723 - He was adamant about his innocence. 18 00:00:56,756 --> 00:00:59,025 - The case bothered me for a long time. 19 00:00:59,059 --> 00:01:00,160 - He said to me, 20 00:01:00,193 --> 00:01:04,297 "You have to help me kill my parents." 21 00:01:04,330 --> 00:01:06,933 - You can't even think about the magnitude of it all. 22 00:01:06,966 --> 00:01:14,974 ** 23 00:01:15,075 --> 00:01:18,845 - Hello, and welcome to "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 24 00:01:18,878 --> 00:01:20,613 It was a tragic turn of events 25 00:01:20,647 --> 00:01:23,083 in an upscale Manhattan neighborhood. 26 00:01:23,083 --> 00:01:26,553 Shele Covlin was found dead in her apartment. 27 00:01:26,586 --> 00:01:28,621 First responders thought it was an accident, 28 00:01:28,655 --> 00:01:31,758 but investigators found troubling clues 29 00:01:31,791 --> 00:01:34,094 that seemed to indicate otherwise. 30 00:01:34,127 --> 00:01:38,231 Answers would take years, while those closest to Shele 31 00:01:38,264 --> 00:01:43,803 believe someone was keeping a dark secret from Day 1. 32 00:01:43,837 --> 00:01:47,273 Here's Andrea Canning with "Endgame." 33 00:01:47,307 --> 00:01:53,346 ** 34 00:01:53,380 --> 00:01:56,716 - If you had to pick one place that screams New York City, 35 00:01:56,750 --> 00:01:58,585 it's usually this. 36 00:01:58,618 --> 00:02:01,054 Times Square is the city's heart and soul 37 00:02:01,054 --> 00:02:03,056 and normally, full of noise and lights 38 00:02:03,056 --> 00:02:07,427 and people rushing somewhere, or nowhere. 39 00:02:07,460 --> 00:02:09,496 Take a short walk uptown, however, 40 00:02:09,529 --> 00:02:11,498 maybe 25 minutes on foot, 41 00:02:11,531 --> 00:02:13,833 and the endless racket of tourist hotspots 42 00:02:13,867 --> 00:02:18,405 and commerce gives way to a quieter vibe. 43 00:02:18,438 --> 00:02:21,641 Here, you find the tree-lined streets and cozy apartments 44 00:02:21,675 --> 00:02:24,444 of the Upper West Side. 45 00:02:24,477 --> 00:02:26,746 I started my own family here on the Upper West Side, 46 00:02:26,780 --> 00:02:29,449 just steps from Central Park. 47 00:02:29,482 --> 00:02:30,383 During the day, 48 00:02:30,417 --> 00:02:32,619 this neighborhood is buzzing with families. 49 00:02:32,652 --> 00:02:35,388 At night, it's quiet and safe. 50 00:02:35,422 --> 00:02:37,357 But just two blocks from where I lived, 51 00:02:37,390 --> 00:02:40,960 in the early morning hours of New Year's Eve 2009, 52 00:02:40,994 --> 00:02:43,763 something terrible touched this neighborhood. 53 00:02:46,199 --> 00:02:48,368 It happened inside this pricey apartment building 54 00:02:48,401 --> 00:02:52,105 on West 68th Street. 55 00:02:52,105 --> 00:02:53,306 Around 7 A.M., 56 00:02:53,340 --> 00:02:56,109 a man named Rod Covlin called 9-1-1 57 00:02:56,142 --> 00:02:57,744 to say his 9-year-old daughter Anna 58 00:02:57,777 --> 00:03:02,315 found his wife Shele unconscious in the bathtub. 59 00:03:02,349 --> 00:03:04,217 Rebecca Rosenberg, then a reporter 60 00:03:04,250 --> 00:03:07,821 for "The New York Post," covered the case. 61 00:03:07,854 --> 00:03:10,423 - He sees his-his wife in the tub. 62 00:03:10,457 --> 00:03:11,891 He pulls her out, 63 00:03:11,925 --> 00:03:14,494 puts her, um, face-up on the ground, 64 00:03:14,527 --> 00:03:16,529 and starts performing CPR. 65 00:03:16,563 --> 00:03:19,265 Then, he calls 9-1-1 66 00:03:19,299 --> 00:03:21,835 and, um, they tell him to keep performing CPR. 67 00:03:21,868 --> 00:03:23,436 - This is a horrible scene. 68 00:03:23,470 --> 00:03:25,105 - I-- And I would imagine absolutely devastating 69 00:03:25,138 --> 00:03:27,173 for their daughter. 70 00:03:27,207 --> 00:03:29,642 - The EMTs arrived in minutes. 71 00:03:29,676 --> 00:03:32,078 They found no pulse. 72 00:03:32,078 --> 00:03:36,082 47 year-old Shele Covlin was beyond help. 73 00:03:36,082 --> 00:03:37,784 - The police come to the scene. 74 00:03:37,817 --> 00:03:40,887 Eventually, a detective comes to the scene. 75 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,623 - Detectives found a tub full of bloody water 76 00:03:43,656 --> 00:03:45,091 and Shele wrapped in a comforter 77 00:03:45,125 --> 00:03:46,960 on the floor next to it. 78 00:03:46,993 --> 00:03:48,094 Above the tub, 79 00:03:48,128 --> 00:03:51,264 a cabinet with a door hanging off its hinge. 80 00:03:51,297 --> 00:03:53,433 They surmised Shele had grabbed it 81 00:03:53,466 --> 00:03:57,804 as she fell and landed hard in the tub. 82 00:03:57,837 --> 00:04:00,774 And so, investigators began the difficult process 83 00:04:00,807 --> 00:04:03,843 of deconstructing a life that had just come to a sad 84 00:04:03,877 --> 00:04:06,780 and mysterious end. 85 00:04:06,813 --> 00:04:10,216 The police would soon learn that Shele Danishefsky Covlin 86 00:04:10,250 --> 00:04:12,118 was larger-than-life. 87 00:04:12,152 --> 00:04:14,821 Nobody admired her more than her sister Eve 88 00:04:14,854 --> 00:04:17,223 and brother-in-law Marc Karstaedt. 89 00:04:17,257 --> 00:04:19,959 - We would have a blast. We would laugh a lot. 90 00:04:20,060 --> 00:04:21,728 Um, she was a lot of fun. 91 00:04:21,761 --> 00:04:23,863 - She graduated with a marketing degree 92 00:04:23,897 --> 00:04:27,434 and then m-my dad had asked her if she wanted to, 93 00:04:27,467 --> 00:04:30,937 uh, come and work with him, um, at Merrill Lynch. 94 00:04:30,970 --> 00:04:34,107 - Shele eventually became a private wealth manager. 95 00:04:34,140 --> 00:04:37,844 The money was good. So was the prestige. 96 00:04:37,877 --> 00:04:39,946 - Shele was fancy. 97 00:04:39,979 --> 00:04:42,082 She was smart. She was educated. 98 00:04:42,082 --> 00:04:43,883 - Shele's friend, Stephanie Goldman, 99 00:04:43,917 --> 00:04:45,285 remembers the day Shele took her 100 00:04:45,318 --> 00:04:47,520 to the upscale Friar's Club. 101 00:04:47,554 --> 00:04:48,722 - It was wintertime. 102 00:04:48,755 --> 00:04:51,458 She was wearing her fur coat, her mink coat. 103 00:04:51,491 --> 00:04:53,860 Men just came over to her. 104 00:04:53,893 --> 00:04:56,162 They-- It was like being swept off her feet. 105 00:04:56,196 --> 00:04:59,299 - She's got the finance job, the style, the-- 106 00:04:59,332 --> 00:05:02,502 I mean, sounds like she kinda was the-the classic 107 00:05:02,535 --> 00:05:03,636 New York City woman. 108 00:05:03,670 --> 00:05:08,508 - Absolutely. Absolutely she was. 109 00:05:08,541 --> 00:05:10,643 - In February of 1998, 110 00:05:10,677 --> 00:05:13,747 Shele went to a Jewish singles mixer in Manhattan 111 00:05:13,780 --> 00:05:16,616 where sparks flew with a guy she met there. 112 00:05:16,649 --> 00:05:18,818 His name? Rod Covlin. 113 00:05:18,852 --> 00:05:20,186 She called her sister that night 114 00:05:20,220 --> 00:05:22,122 with an outrageous announcement. 115 00:05:22,155 --> 00:05:25,625 - She was all giggles and she said, "I met a guy. 116 00:05:25,658 --> 00:05:29,362 "Really nice guy." And she said, 117 00:05:29,396 --> 00:05:31,598 "We're on our way to the airport to elope." 118 00:05:31,631 --> 00:05:32,866 She was laughing. 119 00:05:32,899 --> 00:05:36,202 And I said, "Shele, please don't do this." 120 00:05:36,236 --> 00:05:38,805 - Eve talked her sister out of it that night, 121 00:05:38,838 --> 00:05:42,575 but Shele was serious. And so was Rod. 122 00:05:42,609 --> 00:05:44,811 Shele was 11 years older than him, 123 00:05:44,844 --> 00:05:46,579 but that didn't seem to matter. 124 00:05:46,613 --> 00:05:48,581 His parents, Dave and Carol Covlin, 125 00:05:48,615 --> 00:05:51,217 say he adored her right from the start. 126 00:05:51,251 --> 00:05:53,353 - He told us he has a girlfriend 127 00:05:53,386 --> 00:05:54,721 and we have to meet her. 128 00:05:54,754 --> 00:05:56,790 And I said, "Okay, Passover's coming up. 129 00:05:56,823 --> 00:05:58,158 "We don't have time right now." 130 00:05:58,191 --> 00:06:00,193 "No, you have to meet her." 131 00:06:00,226 --> 00:06:01,561 - A brunette back then, 132 00:06:01,594 --> 00:06:04,164 Shele married Rod 6 months later 133 00:06:04,197 --> 00:06:06,332 and reality set in as they settled down 134 00:06:06,366 --> 00:06:08,335 to life as a couple. 135 00:06:08,368 --> 00:06:09,903 It wasn't exactly bliss 136 00:06:09,936 --> 00:06:13,106 because, while Shele was a stunning over-achiever, 137 00:06:13,139 --> 00:06:16,242 Rod was, well, not in the same league. 138 00:06:16,276 --> 00:06:19,079 He was a stock trader of middling success. 139 00:06:19,112 --> 00:06:21,848 - What I did see was a guy 140 00:06:21,881 --> 00:06:25,218 that really had a lot of big ideas. 141 00:06:25,251 --> 00:06:28,088 Um, and was unable to execute on any of them. 142 00:06:28,121 --> 00:06:30,056 - But he had a couple of talents. 143 00:06:30,090 --> 00:06:32,926 Martial arts and backgammon. 144 00:06:32,959 --> 00:06:34,561 - And when he sat down and played... 145 00:06:34,594 --> 00:06:37,063 - He won. And he won money. - He won. 146 00:06:37,097 --> 00:06:39,099 - Two years after she married Rod, 147 00:06:39,132 --> 00:06:41,434 Shele gave birth to baby Anna. 148 00:06:41,468 --> 00:06:43,903 - She was inseparable, um, from-from Anna. 149 00:06:43,937 --> 00:06:46,172 She was doting on that child. 150 00:06:46,206 --> 00:06:47,674 She was an incredible mom. 151 00:06:47,707 --> 00:06:50,510 A second pregnancy followed. Twins. 152 00:06:50,543 --> 00:06:52,145 But that ended in tragedy. 153 00:06:52,178 --> 00:06:54,214 - So, they were born prematurely 154 00:06:54,247 --> 00:06:55,949 and, um-- and they died. 155 00:06:55,982 --> 00:06:57,851 - Oh, my gosh. How did-- - I think at childbirth 156 00:06:57,884 --> 00:07:00,487 and one, like a few hours later. 157 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:04,057 - How did she handle that? How did you support her? 158 00:07:04,090 --> 00:07:06,159 It's just such an awful thing. 159 00:07:06,192 --> 00:07:07,761 - Devastating. - The entire year-- 160 00:07:07,794 --> 00:07:09,029 - Yeah. 161 00:07:09,062 --> 00:07:11,031 - Was, uh, a nightmare for her. 162 00:07:11,031 --> 00:07:15,035 - Then, in 2006, Shele had a baby boy. 163 00:07:15,035 --> 00:07:17,837 She and Rod named their son Myles. 164 00:07:17,871 --> 00:07:21,441 But now, three years later, Shele was dead. 165 00:07:21,474 --> 00:07:22,876 And the scene inside that apartment 166 00:07:22,909 --> 00:07:25,845 on the Upper West Side was chaos. 167 00:07:25,879 --> 00:07:28,415 Marc says Eve could barely function. 168 00:07:28,448 --> 00:07:30,717 - When I first saw her, she walked down the corridor 169 00:07:30,750 --> 00:07:33,920 and she was as white as-as a sheet. 170 00:07:33,953 --> 00:07:35,455 She was in terrible shock. 171 00:07:35,488 --> 00:07:38,224 - Carl Roadarmel was an NYPD detective. 172 00:07:38,258 --> 00:07:41,428 He was there, too. Pondering various scenarios. 173 00:07:41,461 --> 00:07:42,562 - I've been to places 174 00:07:42,595 --> 00:07:44,497 where people have fallen in the tub, 175 00:07:44,531 --> 00:07:47,667 and it's-- anything's possible. 176 00:07:47,701 --> 00:07:51,071 - In this case, that would be an understatement. 177 00:07:55,842 --> 00:07:59,646 - A whirlwind romance that ended in a storm. 178 00:07:59,679 --> 00:08:00,880 - She said, "He doesn't get a job 179 00:08:00,914 --> 00:08:03,249 "and he's just hanging around the house." 180 00:08:03,283 --> 00:08:04,884 And she was very frustrated. 181 00:08:04,918 --> 00:08:07,020 She said, "He's driving me crazy." 182 00:08:07,020 --> 00:08:08,922 - And, it might get worse. 183 00:08:09,022 --> 00:08:10,023 - When Shele told me 184 00:08:10,023 --> 00:08:12,726 that he was going to be living across the hall, 185 00:08:12,759 --> 00:08:14,227 my first instinct was, 186 00:08:14,260 --> 00:08:16,229 "I don't think this is a good idea." 187 00:08:24,070 --> 00:08:29,075 ** 188 00:08:30,143 --> 00:08:33,747 - New Year's in the Big Apple is usually a happy time. 189 00:08:33,780 --> 00:08:35,415 Celebrations everywhere 190 00:08:35,448 --> 00:08:39,819 and the promise of fresh starts and new dreams. 191 00:08:39,853 --> 00:08:42,756 But for those who knew and loved Shele Covlin, 192 00:08:42,789 --> 00:08:47,160 2010 began with sadness. 193 00:08:47,193 --> 00:08:49,462 Shele's sister Eve and her husband Marc 194 00:08:49,496 --> 00:08:52,665 couldn't believe the mother of two was gone. 195 00:08:52,699 --> 00:08:54,367 Did it kind of hit you later, 196 00:08:54,401 --> 00:08:58,071 the-the more emotional side of things, as-- 197 00:08:58,071 --> 00:08:59,873 do you think about your life without her? 198 00:08:59,906 --> 00:09:01,274 - Ri-Right. Exactly. 199 00:09:01,307 --> 00:09:02,509 - And the children without her. 200 00:09:02,542 --> 00:09:03,643 - Right. 201 00:09:03,677 --> 00:09:06,846 You can't even think about the magnitude of it all. 202 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:09,582 - Shele's in-laws, David and Carol Covlin, 203 00:09:09,616 --> 00:09:11,384 were also in shock. 204 00:09:11,418 --> 00:09:14,020 Their son Rod called with the news. 205 00:09:14,054 --> 00:09:16,089 - He says, "Shele's dead." 206 00:09:16,122 --> 00:09:18,658 I don't think I've ever made it to Manhattan faster in my life. 207 00:09:18,692 --> 00:09:20,727 - Did you get any details? - No. 208 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:22,095 - No. - In that first phone call? 209 00:09:22,128 --> 00:09:24,030 - Nothing. - No, he just said, "Shele's dead." 210 00:09:24,030 --> 00:09:26,032 - When you arrive, what's going on? 211 00:09:26,032 --> 00:09:28,201 - Roderick was sitting on the couch. 212 00:09:28,234 --> 00:09:29,369 - He was in shock. 213 00:09:29,402 --> 00:09:34,641 - Honestly, I-I've never seen my son shell-shocked 214 00:09:34,674 --> 00:09:37,177 and speechless in my life. 215 00:09:37,210 --> 00:09:39,512 - The next few days were a blur. 216 00:09:39,546 --> 00:09:40,914 For religious reasons, 217 00:09:40,947 --> 00:09:44,551 the family decided not to have an autopsy performed. 218 00:09:44,584 --> 00:09:48,121 - My father obviously made the final decision. 219 00:09:48,154 --> 00:09:53,126 He went by his rabbi who said, "Don't do the autopsy." 220 00:09:53,159 --> 00:09:54,728 - It was only as his friends and family 221 00:09:54,761 --> 00:09:58,331 gathered to sit shiva, the Jewish period of mourning, 222 00:09:58,365 --> 00:09:59,632 that they had time to think about 223 00:09:59,666 --> 00:10:02,869 the vibrant woman they just lost. 224 00:10:02,902 --> 00:10:06,206 - She was an incredibly devoted mother. 225 00:10:06,239 --> 00:10:09,709 She was an incredible person. 226 00:10:09,743 --> 00:10:11,511 - But what was also on their minds 227 00:10:11,544 --> 00:10:13,246 was dark and troubling-- 228 00:10:13,279 --> 00:10:16,349 Shele's rocky marriage to Rod. 229 00:10:16,383 --> 00:10:17,617 - She said he doesn't get a job. 230 00:10:17,650 --> 00:10:19,953 He goes to the gym twice a day, 231 00:10:19,986 --> 00:10:23,056 um, and he's just hanging around the house. 232 00:10:23,089 --> 00:10:24,791 And she was very frustrated. 233 00:10:24,824 --> 00:10:27,827 She said, "He's-- He's driving me crazy." 234 00:10:27,861 --> 00:10:30,897 - In 2009, Shele confessed to her sister 235 00:10:30,930 --> 00:10:33,366 that her marriage was in serious trouble. 236 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,268 - And she said, "We're broken 237 00:10:35,301 --> 00:10:37,337 and we just have to part ways." 238 00:10:37,370 --> 00:10:41,241 And she cried. She wept to me. 239 00:10:41,274 --> 00:10:44,711 - One thing Marc and Eve say came between the couple 240 00:10:44,744 --> 00:10:47,047 was Rod's dramatic mood swings. 241 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:51,418 - Rod has and has always had a violent, explosive temper. 242 00:10:51,451 --> 00:10:53,953 He could be sitting very calmly in the-- 243 00:10:53,987 --> 00:10:56,489 in a chair and something can set him off 244 00:10:56,523 --> 00:11:01,194 and in seconds, he will literally explode. 245 00:11:01,227 --> 00:11:04,464 - Shele also complained about Rod's growing obsession 246 00:11:04,497 --> 00:11:06,533 with backgammon. 247 00:11:06,566 --> 00:11:10,236 - It became an-- a passion and then an obsession for him. 248 00:11:10,270 --> 00:11:13,373 - Did he ever say why? 249 00:11:13,406 --> 00:11:16,609 - I think he had, um, forged relationships 250 00:11:16,643 --> 00:11:20,580 in the backgammon community that he really liked. 251 00:11:20,613 --> 00:11:23,083 - Even Rod's parents felt their son was spending 252 00:11:23,083 --> 00:11:24,951 too much time on the game. 253 00:11:24,984 --> 00:11:27,687 - I told him that he was being a little ridiculous 254 00:11:27,721 --> 00:11:30,123 with the backgammon and, you know, 255 00:11:30,156 --> 00:11:31,691 going to backgammon too much. 256 00:11:31,725 --> 00:11:33,093 I said, "You've got a family." 257 00:11:33,126 --> 00:11:36,463 - The Covlins say they saw changes in Shele, too. 258 00:11:36,496 --> 00:11:39,899 Ones they felt were equally damaging to the marriage. 259 00:11:39,933 --> 00:11:42,702 - She started going to the-- - Friar's. 260 00:11:42,736 --> 00:11:44,104 - Friar's Club. 261 00:11:44,104 --> 00:11:47,741 - From once a week, it became much more frequent than that. 262 00:11:47,774 --> 00:11:50,610 - The coupled seemed to be living separate lives. 263 00:11:50,643 --> 00:11:52,979 In what had to be a painful moment, 264 00:11:53,013 --> 00:11:55,915 Shele told her sister it wasn't the backgammon 265 00:11:55,949 --> 00:11:58,418 or the fact that Rod wasn't pulling his weight 266 00:11:58,451 --> 00:12:00,420 that pushed her to separate. 267 00:12:00,453 --> 00:12:02,589 It was Rod's cheating. 268 00:12:02,622 --> 00:12:04,758 - She believes that he left an email up 269 00:12:04,791 --> 00:12:07,327 so she would purposely see it, from another woman. 270 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:11,364 And she confronted him, and he said that, yes, 271 00:12:11,398 --> 00:12:12,866 he's sleeping around with other women 272 00:12:12,899 --> 00:12:14,467 and he wants an open marriage. 273 00:12:14,501 --> 00:12:16,770 He still loves her, and he wants and open marriage. 274 00:12:16,803 --> 00:12:18,905 - Most women don't wanna go along 275 00:12:18,938 --> 00:12:20,407 with the open marriage concept. - And she-- 276 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:21,708 - Right. - She was one of those 277 00:12:21,741 --> 00:12:25,078 who said absolutely no. 278 00:12:25,078 --> 00:12:27,914 - By June, Rod had moved out. 279 00:12:27,947 --> 00:12:29,416 And he didn't go far. 280 00:12:29,449 --> 00:12:31,584 Shele arranged for him to live for free 281 00:12:31,618 --> 00:12:35,088 in an apartment across the hall to make it easy for the kids. 282 00:12:35,088 --> 00:12:37,490 Her close friend, Stephanie Goldman, 283 00:12:37,524 --> 00:12:39,626 wasn't happy with the arrangement. 284 00:12:39,659 --> 00:12:40,794 - When Shele told me 285 00:12:40,827 --> 00:12:43,396 that he was going to be living across the hall, 286 00:12:43,430 --> 00:12:45,865 my first instinct was, "My goodness, 287 00:12:45,899 --> 00:12:47,801 I don't think this is a good idea." 288 00:12:47,834 --> 00:12:51,104 - Nevertheless, Shele was moving on. 289 00:12:51,104 --> 00:12:52,806 And so was Rod. 290 00:12:52,839 --> 00:12:55,475 - Well, he was very charming. Intelligent. 291 00:12:55,508 --> 00:12:58,111 Funny in a quirky sort of way. 292 00:12:58,111 --> 00:13:01,348 And I really enjoyed playing backgammon with him. 293 00:13:01,381 --> 00:13:04,117 - Debra Oles met Rod at a backgammon tournament. 294 00:13:04,150 --> 00:13:07,454 Months later, their relationship became romantic. 295 00:13:07,487 --> 00:13:11,057 - I wasn't looking for any sort of relationship, 296 00:13:11,091 --> 00:13:13,426 and, um, he was-- you know, 297 00:13:13,460 --> 00:13:14,594 he was pretty aggressive. 298 00:13:14,627 --> 00:13:16,663 And I think I was naive in the fact 299 00:13:16,696 --> 00:13:20,500 that I'm considerably older than Rod is-- 300 00:13:20,533 --> 00:13:21,835 - Yeah, like-- - So, it never occurred to me 301 00:13:21,868 --> 00:13:25,638 that he would be interested in me in that-- in that way. 302 00:13:25,672 --> 00:13:27,607 - So, it surprised you when he-- - It surprised me. 303 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:28,675 - Made an overture? - Right. 304 00:13:28,708 --> 00:13:30,343 And of course, it made me feel good, you know? 305 00:13:30,377 --> 00:13:32,912 A younger man bein' attracted to me. 306 00:13:32,946 --> 00:13:34,714 - Meanwhile, Shele was working 307 00:13:34,748 --> 00:13:37,083 with divorce attorney Lance Meyer. 308 00:13:37,117 --> 00:13:38,918 - We talked about all the problems 309 00:13:38,952 --> 00:13:40,186 she was havin' with her husband 310 00:13:40,220 --> 00:13:42,989 and the concern she had about herself, her children, 311 00:13:43,089 --> 00:13:45,592 and she was really tryin' to figure out the best way 312 00:13:45,625 --> 00:13:48,361 to go about proceeding with a divorce case. 313 00:13:48,395 --> 00:13:50,497 - By fall, she was dipping her toe 314 00:13:50,530 --> 00:13:51,931 in the dating pool again. 315 00:13:51,965 --> 00:13:53,500 - She was on Jdate. 316 00:13:53,533 --> 00:13:55,535 She had met some gentlemen and-- 317 00:13:55,568 --> 00:13:57,971 - Jdate, the Jewish dating website? 318 00:13:58,004 --> 00:13:59,472 - Yeah. Yeah. 319 00:13:59,506 --> 00:14:03,309 - Shele seemed on track to make a fresh start in 2010, 320 00:14:03,343 --> 00:14:06,046 until that fresh start ended 321 00:14:06,046 --> 00:14:08,348 in what seemed like a deadly accident. 322 00:14:08,381 --> 00:14:11,885 - When I heard that she slipped and fell in the tub, 323 00:14:11,918 --> 00:14:16,790 my initial reaction was-- she wouldn't even take a bath. 324 00:14:16,823 --> 00:14:18,892 - And now, Shele's friends and family 325 00:14:18,925 --> 00:14:21,861 were wondering about the story Rod told police. 326 00:14:21,895 --> 00:14:24,764 That his daughter Anna called him that morning in a panic 327 00:14:24,798 --> 00:14:28,535 and let him into the apartment because he didn't have a key. 328 00:14:28,568 --> 00:14:32,872 - I was very suspicious. 329 00:14:32,906 --> 00:14:36,710 - Suspicions that only deepened when Marc learned 330 00:14:36,743 --> 00:14:40,080 the medical examiner wasn't sure either. 331 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:41,915 - I'm reading the death certificate 332 00:14:41,948 --> 00:14:45,251 and I saw that the cause of death was undetermined. 333 00:14:47,687 --> 00:14:48,988 - Shele's family and friends 334 00:14:49,089 --> 00:14:51,124 are not the only ones with suspicions. 335 00:14:51,157 --> 00:14:55,595 Investigators focus on unsettling clues. 336 00:14:57,630 --> 00:14:59,099 - She had bruising to her lip. 337 00:14:59,099 --> 00:15:01,201 She appeared to have some scratch marks 338 00:15:01,234 --> 00:15:04,437 and she had bruising to her right hand. 339 00:15:04,471 --> 00:15:07,841 - And Rod said he had pulled Shele's wet body 340 00:15:07,874 --> 00:15:09,209 out of the tub. 341 00:15:09,242 --> 00:15:11,511 So, why wasn't he wet? 342 00:15:11,544 --> 00:15:14,681 - Two officers found this unusual and noted this. 343 00:15:14,714 --> 00:15:16,249 How would you not get wet? 344 00:15:16,282 --> 00:15:19,185 - When "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered" continues. 345 00:15:31,664 --> 00:15:32,799 - From the moment 346 00:15:32,832 --> 00:15:35,468 Shele Covlin's family heard the story of her death-- 347 00:15:35,502 --> 00:15:37,937 a slip and fall in a bathtub full of water-- 348 00:15:37,971 --> 00:15:40,774 they felt it just didn't make sense. 349 00:15:40,807 --> 00:15:43,076 - How do you fall in a bathtub? 350 00:15:43,076 --> 00:15:44,511 And then I started thinking and I said, 351 00:15:44,544 --> 00:15:47,614 "Shele takes a bath? She showers." 352 00:15:47,647 --> 00:15:50,183 You know, she's-she's not taking a bath. 353 00:15:50,216 --> 00:15:53,086 - Plus, Shele had gotten a keratin 354 00:15:53,086 --> 00:15:55,655 hair straightening treatment the previous morning. 355 00:15:55,689 --> 00:15:58,992 She wasn't supposed to get her hair wet for several days. 356 00:15:59,092 --> 00:16:00,360 And they say don't wash your hair 357 00:16:00,393 --> 00:16:01,561 for, like, what? - 72 hours. 358 00:16:01,594 --> 00:16:02,495 - Yeah. 359 00:16:02,529 --> 00:16:03,763 - Not even supposed to go to the gym. 360 00:16:03,797 --> 00:16:05,732 - This what's been sort of labeled 361 00:16:05,765 --> 00:16:07,467 the "Legally Blonde" moment. - Yep. 362 00:16:07,500 --> 00:16:10,637 - That any woman who knows about a keratin treatment 363 00:16:10,670 --> 00:16:11,671 to straighten your hair-- - Right. 364 00:16:11,705 --> 00:16:12,839 - Is not going to-- - Right. 365 00:16:12,872 --> 00:16:14,474 - Expose her hair like that. 366 00:16:14,507 --> 00:16:16,209 Shele's death didn't sit right 367 00:16:16,242 --> 00:16:19,079 with Lead Detective Carl Roadarmel either. 368 00:16:19,112 --> 00:16:22,282 While he felt her death could have been an accident, 369 00:16:22,315 --> 00:16:25,085 details at the scene bothered him. 370 00:16:25,118 --> 00:16:28,054 The way that cabinet door had been yanked down. 371 00:16:28,054 --> 00:16:29,456 The blood in the tub. 372 00:16:29,489 --> 00:16:31,658 And marks on Shele's body. 373 00:16:31,691 --> 00:16:33,526 - She had bruising to her lip. 374 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:35,662 She appeared to have some scratch marks, 375 00:16:35,695 --> 00:16:38,965 and she had bruising to her right hand. 376 00:16:39,065 --> 00:16:41,634 - And what the detective would learn later 377 00:16:41,668 --> 00:16:43,937 cast suspicion directly on Rod. 378 00:16:43,970 --> 00:16:45,605 Rod told an officer 379 00:16:45,638 --> 00:16:48,375 that he had to pull Shele's wet body out of the tub, 380 00:16:48,408 --> 00:16:51,111 yet his clothes were bone dry. 381 00:16:51,144 --> 00:16:54,547 Then "New York Post" reporter, Rebecca Rosenberg. 382 00:16:54,581 --> 00:16:57,951 - Two officers found this unusual and noted this. 383 00:16:57,984 --> 00:16:59,219 How would you not get wet? 384 00:16:59,252 --> 00:17:00,653 He was wearing a light-colored shirt. 385 00:17:00,687 --> 00:17:02,055 He just wasn't wet at all, 386 00:17:02,088 --> 00:17:04,758 and it wasn't consistent with the story he had told. 387 00:17:04,791 --> 00:17:07,794 And their doorman remembered Rod doing something 388 00:17:07,827 --> 00:17:11,131 early that morning that was highly unusual for him. 389 00:17:11,164 --> 00:17:13,366 He stopped by the front desk on his way 390 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:15,335 out of the building to get a snack. 391 00:17:15,368 --> 00:17:17,837 Even bought the doorman a Snickers bar. 392 00:17:17,871 --> 00:17:19,205 - The doorman thought this was weird, 393 00:17:19,239 --> 00:17:22,042 because Rod Covlin usually wasn't chatty. 394 00:17:22,075 --> 00:17:23,777 And had, in all the years he'd been there, 395 00:17:23,810 --> 00:17:26,112 never offered to bring him anything back. 396 00:17:26,146 --> 00:17:28,248 - Suspicious details indeed. 397 00:17:28,281 --> 00:17:29,883 The detective was hoping 398 00:17:29,916 --> 00:17:32,385 more clues would emerge from an autopsy. 399 00:17:32,419 --> 00:17:34,187 But remember, 400 00:17:34,220 --> 00:17:36,256 Shele's family didn't have one done 401 00:17:36,289 --> 00:17:38,058 for religious reasons. 402 00:17:38,058 --> 00:17:39,592 How did you feel about that? 403 00:17:39,626 --> 00:17:40,827 - I was uncomfortable, 404 00:17:40,860 --> 00:17:43,596 but if that's what the family wanted, 405 00:17:43,630 --> 00:17:46,566 I mean, you always wanna try 406 00:17:46,599 --> 00:17:48,501 to help the family the best you can. 407 00:17:48,535 --> 00:17:49,502 It's a hard time. 408 00:17:49,536 --> 00:17:51,438 - But without autopsy results, 409 00:17:51,471 --> 00:17:53,940 he says there wasn't much he could do. 410 00:17:53,973 --> 00:17:56,910 So, less than a week after Shele died, 411 00:17:56,943 --> 00:17:59,579 her family hired a private investigator. 412 00:17:59,612 --> 00:18:01,915 So, you're not satisfied. 413 00:18:02,015 --> 00:18:02,916 - Not at all. 414 00:18:03,016 --> 00:18:04,050 - The private investigator had started-- 415 00:18:04,084 --> 00:18:08,121 um, had started talking to friends of-of Shele's, 416 00:18:08,154 --> 00:18:10,557 and we had a flood of information 417 00:18:10,590 --> 00:18:14,294 that was extremely suspicious. 418 00:18:14,327 --> 00:18:18,598 People were telling us things that were very worrying. 419 00:18:18,631 --> 00:18:20,567 - Including things that confirmed 420 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,136 what the family had already seen for themselves. 421 00:18:23,169 --> 00:18:26,039 Shele's divorce attorney, Lance Meyer. 422 00:18:26,039 --> 00:18:27,507 - He would belittle her. 423 00:18:27,540 --> 00:18:28,475 He would yell at her. 424 00:18:28,508 --> 00:18:29,676 He'd call her ugly. 425 00:18:29,709 --> 00:18:31,144 He would make fun of her looks. 426 00:18:31,177 --> 00:18:33,380 So, he was-- he was a demeaning person. 427 00:18:33,413 --> 00:18:34,748 He would go low. 428 00:18:34,781 --> 00:18:36,816 - So low, in fact, 429 00:18:36,850 --> 00:18:38,818 that at one point during their divorce, 430 00:18:38,852 --> 00:18:41,321 Rod tried to undermine her at work. 431 00:18:41,354 --> 00:18:44,824 He called her company to report that Shele was on drugs, 432 00:18:44,858 --> 00:18:48,461 unstable, and depleting their joint bank account. 433 00:18:48,495 --> 00:18:51,264 - He was trying to get her to lose her job, and it was-- 434 00:18:51,297 --> 00:18:55,235 obviously, she worked in a family operation within UBS, 435 00:18:55,268 --> 00:18:57,170 so it was-it was a very serious thing. 436 00:18:57,203 --> 00:18:59,139 He was trying to hurt her and her family. 437 00:18:59,172 --> 00:19:01,875 - The company determined Shele was drug-free 438 00:19:01,908 --> 00:19:04,544 and found that Rod was taking much more money 439 00:19:04,577 --> 00:19:06,880 from their account than she was. 440 00:19:06,913 --> 00:19:09,315 The divorce got uglier. 441 00:19:09,349 --> 00:19:11,618 The two squabbled over child support. 442 00:19:11,651 --> 00:19:13,853 At one point, a judge told Rod 443 00:19:13,887 --> 00:19:16,089 he could no longer play backgammon, 444 00:19:16,122 --> 00:19:18,625 something he blamed on Shele. 445 00:19:18,658 --> 00:19:20,360 - He was beyond angry. 446 00:19:20,393 --> 00:19:21,461 She was taking away the thing 447 00:19:21,494 --> 00:19:24,497 he apparently cared about the most. 448 00:19:24,531 --> 00:19:26,866 - A couple of weeks after Shele's death, 449 00:19:26,900 --> 00:19:29,369 her family took their private investigator 450 00:19:29,402 --> 00:19:31,905 over to her apartment to check out the scene. 451 00:19:31,938 --> 00:19:34,674 Something caught the investigator's eye. 452 00:19:34,708 --> 00:19:38,712 The cabinet that Shele had supposedly grabbed as she fell? 453 00:19:38,745 --> 00:19:41,581 The screws had been pulled out of the wall. 454 00:19:41,614 --> 00:19:43,950 He thought that would've taken more force 455 00:19:44,050 --> 00:19:48,088 than the 5'4", 132-pound Shele could muster. 456 00:19:48,121 --> 00:19:50,090 - That it would've taken a lot of strength 457 00:19:50,123 --> 00:19:53,893 to pull the actual door of the cabinet off. 458 00:19:53,927 --> 00:19:55,695 - Something that Shele wouldn't have been able to do, 459 00:19:55,729 --> 00:19:57,197 he didn't believe? - Most likely. 460 00:19:57,230 --> 00:19:59,132 - So, there's no doubt in your minds now 461 00:19:59,165 --> 00:20:01,067 that this is a staged accident? 462 00:20:01,101 --> 00:20:03,603 - We believed it was a staged accident. 463 00:20:03,636 --> 00:20:06,873 - But none of this was a smoking gun. 464 00:20:06,906 --> 00:20:09,442 The only way to know for sure how Shele died 465 00:20:09,476 --> 00:20:12,078 was to exhume her body and do an autopsy. 466 00:20:12,112 --> 00:20:16,016 Two months after Shele's death, at the family's urging, 467 00:20:16,049 --> 00:20:19,986 her body was pulled out of its grave and reexamined. 468 00:20:20,020 --> 00:20:22,055 Detective Roadarmel was in the room 469 00:20:22,088 --> 00:20:23,723 with the medical examiner. 470 00:20:23,757 --> 00:20:25,992 What are you seeing? What are you thinking? 471 00:20:26,026 --> 00:20:28,561 - Pretty much near the end of it, he looked at us, 472 00:20:28,595 --> 00:20:30,864 he showed us the, uh, hyoid bone. 473 00:20:30,897 --> 00:20:31,965 That it was broken. 474 00:20:31,998 --> 00:20:34,034 - That's in the neck-- - I-Inside the neck area. 475 00:20:34,067 --> 00:20:36,136 And he says it was gonna be a homicide. 476 00:20:36,169 --> 00:20:37,771 - Wow. 477 00:20:37,804 --> 00:20:40,340 Shele had been choked to death. 478 00:20:43,510 --> 00:20:47,514 - The question was never, "Is he going to kill Shele?" 479 00:20:47,547 --> 00:20:50,550 The question was always, "When?" 480 00:20:50,583 --> 00:20:53,186 - What do they have going for them with this jury? 481 00:20:53,219 --> 00:20:54,521 - Covlin had access. 482 00:20:54,554 --> 00:20:55,789 He was right across the hall. 483 00:20:55,822 --> 00:20:59,592 He had motive, and he is not a sympathetic guy. 484 00:20:59,626 --> 00:21:03,563 - A trial of lies, secrets, and surprises. 485 00:21:03,596 --> 00:21:04,464 - Wow. - Yeah. 486 00:21:04,497 --> 00:21:06,700 - So, this is getting ugly. - Yes. 487 00:21:14,174 --> 00:21:17,744 ** 488 00:21:18,712 --> 00:21:20,980 - Welcome back to "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 489 00:21:21,081 --> 00:21:22,382 I'm Craig Melvin. 490 00:21:22,415 --> 00:21:25,485 Two months had passed since Shele Covlin died. 491 00:21:25,518 --> 00:21:28,855 Her family was certain it was no accident. 492 00:21:28,888 --> 00:21:31,157 They urged investigators to exhume her body 493 00:21:31,191 --> 00:21:32,425 and perform an autopsy, 494 00:21:32,459 --> 00:21:35,228 which yielded chilling information. 495 00:21:35,261 --> 00:21:37,797 Shele was strangled to death. 496 00:21:37,831 --> 00:21:39,799 However, the stunning revelation 497 00:21:39,833 --> 00:21:42,168 did not result in a quick arrest. 498 00:21:42,202 --> 00:21:45,271 Years passed, leaving Shele's loved ones wondering 499 00:21:45,305 --> 00:21:48,108 if justice would ever arrive. 500 00:21:48,108 --> 00:21:52,445 Back to Andrea Canning with "Endgame." 501 00:21:52,479 --> 00:21:55,648 - Shele Covlin had been found dead in her bathtub 502 00:21:55,682 --> 00:21:57,751 in December 2009. 503 00:21:57,784 --> 00:21:59,853 Investigators had long believed 504 00:21:59,886 --> 00:22:01,721 her husband Rod had killed her, 505 00:22:01,755 --> 00:22:04,791 but they didn't have enough evidence to prove it. 506 00:22:04,824 --> 00:22:08,728 Then, after nearly 6 years of slowly building a case, 507 00:22:08,762 --> 00:22:11,398 prosecutors finally became convinced 508 00:22:11,431 --> 00:22:14,100 they had enough to pursuade a jury. 509 00:22:14,134 --> 00:22:16,136 In November 2015, 510 00:22:16,169 --> 00:22:17,937 Shele's sister Eve got word from 511 00:22:17,971 --> 00:22:19,973 the District Attorney's Office. 512 00:22:20,073 --> 00:22:24,277 - She said, uh, "We're about to arrest Rod Covlin 513 00:22:24,310 --> 00:22:26,680 for the murder of Shele Covlin." 514 00:22:26,713 --> 00:22:30,150 So, um, I started to get very emotional 515 00:22:30,183 --> 00:22:31,551 and she says to me, "Are you okay?" 516 00:22:31,584 --> 00:22:33,753 And I said, "I've just been waiting a really long time 517 00:22:33,787 --> 00:22:36,389 to hear those words." 518 00:22:36,423 --> 00:22:39,826 - It would take three more years for Rod's trial to begin. 519 00:22:39,859 --> 00:22:42,796 - The People of the State of New York versus Roderick Covlin. 520 00:22:42,829 --> 00:22:45,298 - After waiting so long for justice, 521 00:22:45,331 --> 00:22:48,501 Eve and her husband Marc steeled themselves. 522 00:22:48,535 --> 00:22:50,704 Why was it important for you to be there? 523 00:22:50,737 --> 00:22:54,007 - So, I can tell you that on December 31, 524 00:22:54,107 --> 00:22:57,210 I said, "I'm not leaving 525 00:22:57,243 --> 00:23:00,146 until they take Shele's body out." 526 00:23:00,180 --> 00:23:01,781 And then, when it came to the trial, 527 00:23:01,815 --> 00:23:04,684 I said, "I will be there every single day 528 00:23:04,718 --> 00:23:07,187 so she knows that I'm there for her 529 00:23:07,220 --> 00:23:09,789 along with the rest of the family." 530 00:23:09,823 --> 00:23:11,424 - There's only one person-- 531 00:23:11,458 --> 00:23:14,461 - Prosecutor Matthew Bogdanos described Rod Covlin 532 00:23:14,494 --> 00:23:18,098 as a cold-blooded killer determined to get his wife 533 00:23:18,131 --> 00:23:20,734 out of his life, take their children, 534 00:23:20,767 --> 00:23:23,536 and seize her assets at any cost. 535 00:23:23,570 --> 00:23:27,073 - Only one person had the motive, 536 00:23:27,107 --> 00:23:30,844 the opportunity, and the means 537 00:23:30,877 --> 00:23:32,912 to have done this. 538 00:23:32,946 --> 00:23:36,116 - Prosecutors admitted their case wasn't a tidy one 539 00:23:36,149 --> 00:23:38,151 ready for CSI, 540 00:23:38,184 --> 00:23:40,620 but they put a lot of circumstantial evidence 541 00:23:40,653 --> 00:23:42,222 in front of the jury. 542 00:23:42,255 --> 00:23:43,690 We know it's a circumstantial case. 543 00:23:43,723 --> 00:23:45,625 - Mm-hmm. - But what do they have going for them 544 00:23:45,658 --> 00:23:47,093 with this jury? 545 00:23:47,093 --> 00:23:48,595 - Uh, what they have going for them 546 00:23:48,628 --> 00:23:50,663 is that, obviously, Covlin had access. 547 00:23:50,697 --> 00:23:52,332 He was right across the hall. 548 00:23:52,365 --> 00:23:53,733 He had motive. 549 00:23:53,767 --> 00:23:56,169 And he is not a sympathetic guy. 550 00:23:56,202 --> 00:23:59,005 - Prosecutors presented witnesses who said Rod 551 00:23:59,105 --> 00:24:02,409 didn't even try to hide his abuse of his wife. 552 00:24:02,442 --> 00:24:05,211 The family nanny told the jury that at one point, 553 00:24:05,245 --> 00:24:07,881 he had become enraged and violent. 554 00:24:07,914 --> 00:24:10,483 - She said to me, said Rod throw her down 555 00:24:10,517 --> 00:24:12,752 on the floor. 556 00:24:12,786 --> 00:24:15,588 And when he asked her to go into the bedroom, 557 00:24:15,622 --> 00:24:17,791 she said she was scared 558 00:24:17,824 --> 00:24:19,292 of going in there with him 559 00:24:19,325 --> 00:24:22,062 because she didn't know what he'll do. 560 00:24:22,095 --> 00:24:24,964 - The prosecutor described Shele as a textbook victim 561 00:24:25,065 --> 00:24:27,067 of domestic abuse. 562 00:24:27,067 --> 00:24:30,870 - The question was never, "Is he going to kill Shele?" 563 00:24:30,904 --> 00:24:34,574 The question was always "When?" 564 00:24:34,607 --> 00:24:37,610 - Shele was living in fear, prosecutors said, 565 00:24:37,644 --> 00:24:40,613 because her estranged husband was boiling with rage 566 00:24:40,647 --> 00:24:42,549 in their custody battle. 567 00:24:42,582 --> 00:24:45,352 Shele's divorce attorney, Lance Meyer, took the stand 568 00:24:45,385 --> 00:24:49,089 to say how Rod had even used his son as a weapon. 569 00:24:49,089 --> 00:24:52,892 - Mr. Covlin, um, took the children 570 00:24:52,926 --> 00:24:58,098 and, um, accused Shele of abusing Myles. 571 00:24:58,131 --> 00:25:01,267 - It turns out that he took them to the hospital 572 00:25:01,301 --> 00:25:05,905 and made allegations that Shele had sexually abused their son. 573 00:25:05,939 --> 00:25:09,576 - Wow, so, this is getting ugly. - Yeah, yes. 574 00:25:09,609 --> 00:25:13,680 - Prosecutors said those disturbing and false accusations 575 00:25:13,713 --> 00:25:17,417 were just one example of how Rod was becoming unhinged. 576 00:25:17,450 --> 00:25:21,087 He was also obsessively tracking Shele's every move 577 00:25:21,121 --> 00:25:24,357 with secretly installed software on her computer. 578 00:25:24,391 --> 00:25:27,060 Rod told this co-worker that it enabled him 579 00:25:27,093 --> 00:25:28,862 to read her emails. 580 00:25:28,895 --> 00:25:30,864 - He was reading through things 581 00:25:30,897 --> 00:25:33,400 and he was upset with the number of people 582 00:25:33,433 --> 00:25:35,568 that she was talking to 583 00:25:35,602 --> 00:25:39,239 and he was upset about, uh, the way he was being portrayed 584 00:25:39,272 --> 00:25:41,074 in her emails. 585 00:25:41,107 --> 00:25:45,178 - By late 2009, he was also deeply in debt 586 00:25:45,211 --> 00:25:47,280 with virtually no income. 587 00:25:47,313 --> 00:25:49,783 Still, even with their divorce pending, 588 00:25:49,816 --> 00:25:51,451 he believed he would gain control 589 00:25:51,484 --> 00:25:55,088 of her 5-million-dollar estate if she died. 590 00:25:55,121 --> 00:25:57,891 But then, Rod found some emails Shele sent 591 00:25:57,924 --> 00:26:00,894 just 2 days before her death. 592 00:26:00,927 --> 00:26:04,330 - She reaches out to a-an-an attorney 593 00:26:04,364 --> 00:26:06,900 and-and also tells several people 594 00:26:06,933 --> 00:26:08,168 that she wants to change her will 595 00:26:08,201 --> 00:26:10,770 and essentially write Rod Covlin out of her will. 596 00:26:10,804 --> 00:26:13,306 - The State said that's when Rod snapped 597 00:26:13,340 --> 00:26:15,141 and hatched his plan. 598 00:26:15,175 --> 00:26:16,776 The night of December 30th, 599 00:26:16,810 --> 00:26:18,611 her friend Melissa Fields saw her 600 00:26:18,645 --> 00:26:20,814 and sensed something was wrong. 601 00:26:20,847 --> 00:26:24,684 - Shele was nervous when we first met up 602 00:26:24,718 --> 00:26:26,619 and she was looking around quite a bit. 603 00:26:26,653 --> 00:26:28,955 And I did ask her what the problem w-- 604 00:26:29,055 --> 00:26:30,457 if something was wrong. 605 00:26:30,490 --> 00:26:33,059 She was worried that her ex-husband 606 00:26:33,059 --> 00:26:34,828 was following her. 607 00:26:34,861 --> 00:26:37,931 - On what would turn out to be her last night alive, 608 00:26:37,964 --> 00:26:40,333 Shele remained in fear. 609 00:26:40,367 --> 00:26:42,569 It was all heavy on her mind when she got home 610 00:26:42,602 --> 00:26:45,372 to her apartment that night at 7:51, 611 00:26:45,405 --> 00:26:47,874 caught here on security cameras. 612 00:26:47,907 --> 00:26:49,209 Later, she logged on 613 00:26:49,242 --> 00:26:52,412 to her online dating profile at 10:13. 614 00:26:52,445 --> 00:26:56,116 The last activity on any of her devices. 615 00:26:56,149 --> 00:26:58,752 Rod, meanwhile, was across the hall. 616 00:26:58,785 --> 00:27:00,887 He was usually online playing backgammon 617 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:02,422 late into the night. 618 00:27:02,455 --> 00:27:06,559 But suddenly, his online presence stopped at 1:03 A.M. 619 00:27:06,593 --> 00:27:09,462 No sign of him until he popped up on that surveillance video 620 00:27:09,496 --> 00:27:12,432 in the lobby at 4:13 A.M. 621 00:27:12,465 --> 00:27:14,567 The allegation was that he wanted to be seen on camera? 622 00:27:14,601 --> 00:27:16,569 - Yes, he wanted to make an a-alibi. 623 00:27:16,603 --> 00:27:19,739 That this was, like, his way of sort of building an alibi. 624 00:27:19,773 --> 00:27:23,243 - The prosecution called the New York State Medical Examiner. 625 00:27:23,276 --> 00:27:27,047 In the autopsy, he had noticed those scratches on her face 626 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,883 and that fractured bone in her neck. 627 00:27:29,916 --> 00:27:32,752 - My conclusion was that she had, uh, died 628 00:27:32,786 --> 00:27:34,721 as a result of neck compression 629 00:27:34,754 --> 00:27:37,057 and I classified her death as a homicide. 630 00:27:37,057 --> 00:27:40,960 - Strangulation, not an accidental fall. 631 00:27:41,061 --> 00:27:44,564 And in another sinister twist, prosecutors believe that 632 00:27:44,597 --> 00:27:47,534 three and a half years after Shele's death, 633 00:27:47,567 --> 00:27:49,069 Rod drafted a note 634 00:27:49,069 --> 00:27:52,072 composed from his 12-year-old daughter's email account 635 00:27:52,072 --> 00:27:54,474 pretending to be her. 636 00:27:54,507 --> 00:27:56,309 It read: 637 00:28:03,283 --> 00:28:05,585 It was never sent, but it did hit the tabloids 638 00:28:05,618 --> 00:28:07,721 after it was filed with the court. 639 00:28:07,754 --> 00:28:09,823 - What father does that? 640 00:28:09,856 --> 00:28:11,758 - Who does that to a-- Who does that to a child? 641 00:28:11,791 --> 00:28:12,826 - Right. 642 00:28:12,859 --> 00:28:14,227 - Who basically frames a child? 643 00:28:14,260 --> 00:28:16,162 - Right, and their own. 644 00:28:16,196 --> 00:28:19,733 - Prosecutors didn't get that note admitted into trial, 645 00:28:19,766 --> 00:28:23,069 but they were about to bring forward a star witness 646 00:28:23,103 --> 00:28:26,740 whose explosive allegations would rock the courtroom. 647 00:28:28,308 --> 00:28:29,676 - Coming up... 648 00:28:29,709 --> 00:28:32,812 - What was it like walking into that courtroom 649 00:28:32,846 --> 00:28:35,615 and seeing Rod Covlin in there? 650 00:28:35,648 --> 00:28:36,816 - Terrifying. 651 00:28:36,850 --> 00:28:39,786 - She fell in love with one Rod Covlin. 652 00:28:39,819 --> 00:28:42,255 Then, she says, she met the other. 653 00:28:42,288 --> 00:28:45,225 - He said, "You have to help me kill my parents." 654 00:28:59,305 --> 00:29:00,240 - Veteran prosecutors will tell you 655 00:29:01,207 --> 00:29:03,877 that once they've built their case for the jury, 656 00:29:03,910 --> 00:29:06,813 they try to put a closer on the stand, 657 00:29:06,846 --> 00:29:08,815 a witness who buttons everything up 658 00:29:08,848 --> 00:29:10,016 with a riveting tale. 659 00:29:10,050 --> 00:29:11,518 - The whole truth, and nothing but the truth? 660 00:29:11,551 --> 00:29:12,819 - Yes. - Thank you, ma'am. 661 00:29:12,852 --> 00:29:15,822 - In the trial of Rod Covlin, the closer turned out to be 662 00:29:15,855 --> 00:29:18,358 none other than Debra Oles. 663 00:29:18,391 --> 00:29:21,428 Rod's backgammon buddy and his former lover, 664 00:29:21,461 --> 00:29:24,264 taking the stand, sunglasses on. 665 00:29:24,297 --> 00:29:27,467 What was it like walking into that courtroom 666 00:29:27,500 --> 00:29:30,303 and seeing Rod Covlin in there? 667 00:29:30,337 --> 00:29:31,471 - Terrifying. 668 00:29:31,504 --> 00:29:34,641 I had to look at him one time. Once. 669 00:29:34,674 --> 00:29:38,144 Just to point him out and say that's-that's who he is. 670 00:29:38,178 --> 00:29:41,448 - Debra testified that she got a late-night call from Rod 671 00:29:41,481 --> 00:29:43,717 on that fateful New Year's Day. 672 00:29:43,750 --> 00:29:47,620 - He told me that his wife had an accident, 673 00:29:47,654 --> 00:29:49,789 and died. 674 00:29:49,823 --> 00:29:52,192 My very first thought was, 675 00:29:52,225 --> 00:29:54,794 "That's a really weird coincidence in timing 676 00:29:54,828 --> 00:29:56,863 and that really, basically, solves all his problems." 677 00:29:56,896 --> 00:29:58,798 But then, I felt guilty about thinking that 678 00:29:58,832 --> 00:30:00,467 because he said it was an accident 679 00:30:00,500 --> 00:30:02,669 and then the paper said it was an accident. 680 00:30:02,702 --> 00:30:04,971 - You're saying coincidence like, he needed money. 681 00:30:05,005 --> 00:30:06,706 - Right, mm-hmm. - They've broken up. 682 00:30:06,740 --> 00:30:07,874 And then she dies. - Yeah. 683 00:30:07,907 --> 00:30:10,010 - So, it-it make Rod's life easier? 684 00:30:10,043 --> 00:30:12,812 - Right, but then, he was very adamant about 685 00:30:12,846 --> 00:30:15,849 his innocence, always. 686 00:30:15,882 --> 00:30:18,251 - After that, their long-distance relationship 687 00:30:18,284 --> 00:30:20,587 progressed in fits and starts. 688 00:30:20,620 --> 00:30:22,989 They'd often play backgammon online. 689 00:30:23,023 --> 00:30:25,258 Debra would drive from her home down South 690 00:30:25,291 --> 00:30:26,593 to tournaments, 691 00:30:26,626 --> 00:30:28,328 sometimes picking up Rod in New York 692 00:30:28,361 --> 00:30:30,096 and taking him with her. 693 00:30:30,130 --> 00:30:32,232 Then, one day in 2010, 694 00:30:32,265 --> 00:30:34,701 the police paid her a surprise visit. 695 00:30:34,734 --> 00:30:36,236 - I answered all their questions 696 00:30:36,269 --> 00:30:39,139 and, um, offered to give them a copy of the games-- 697 00:30:39,172 --> 00:30:40,807 the backgammon games that we played, 698 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,543 so they'd have exact times that we played. 699 00:30:43,576 --> 00:30:45,745 Um, then, that was it. 700 00:30:45,779 --> 00:30:47,781 - Did they tell you why they were there? 701 00:30:47,814 --> 00:30:49,015 - They thought he was-- They thought he was guilty. 702 00:30:49,049 --> 00:30:50,850 They said he was a really bad person. 703 00:30:50,884 --> 00:30:54,621 And, um, I didn't believe them at the time. 704 00:30:54,654 --> 00:30:55,889 - You had gotten to know him pretty well 705 00:30:55,922 --> 00:30:57,390 at this point, too. - Right, right. 706 00:30:57,424 --> 00:31:01,061 I never saw the monster that I eventually came to know, 707 00:31:01,094 --> 00:31:03,496 until later. 708 00:31:03,530 --> 00:31:05,799 - But the monster was lurking. 709 00:31:05,832 --> 00:31:08,234 As Debra told the court, over time, 710 00:31:08,268 --> 00:31:11,771 she began to see just how volatile Rod could be. 711 00:31:11,805 --> 00:31:13,673 - He had a Mer-Mercurial temper. 712 00:31:13,707 --> 00:31:17,577 It didn't take much to set him off. 713 00:31:17,610 --> 00:31:21,114 - She also saw terrible fights that he had with his parents. 714 00:31:21,147 --> 00:31:23,683 By 2012, Rod and his children 715 00:31:23,717 --> 00:31:26,886 were living with his parents in a New York City suburb 716 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:29,322 and the fighting was constant. 717 00:31:29,356 --> 00:31:31,458 - One time, during one of these fights, 718 00:31:31,491 --> 00:31:33,593 Rod, like, brought his arms back 719 00:31:33,626 --> 00:31:36,229 and he shoved his father as hard as he could. 720 00:31:36,262 --> 00:31:38,998 His father went flying into the room. 721 00:31:39,099 --> 00:31:41,501 Hit his head on the floor. 722 00:31:41,534 --> 00:31:44,104 - Eventually, Rod's parents evicted him 723 00:31:44,104 --> 00:31:45,905 and kept his kids. 724 00:31:45,939 --> 00:31:48,641 Rod was determined to strike back. 725 00:31:48,675 --> 00:31:51,011 Debra says he hatched bizarre plots 726 00:31:51,111 --> 00:31:52,879 to kill his parents. 727 00:31:52,912 --> 00:31:55,115 She told the court about one he dreamt up 728 00:31:55,148 --> 00:31:57,951 when superstorm Sandy struck the East Coast. 729 00:31:57,984 --> 00:32:01,955 - He said that, um, because there was no electricity, 730 00:32:02,055 --> 00:32:05,692 the a-alarms-- the alarm would not be on. 731 00:32:05,725 --> 00:32:08,728 He wanted to go through a window in the basement, 732 00:32:08,762 --> 00:32:12,465 kill his parents, set his-- and set his house on fire. 733 00:32:12,499 --> 00:32:14,834 I was, you know, just stunned. 734 00:32:14,868 --> 00:32:17,070 - He was going to-- - He wanted to go over there. 735 00:32:17,103 --> 00:32:18,505 - Set fire? - Kill his parents, 736 00:32:18,538 --> 00:32:20,974 set fire to the house, and somehow get 737 00:32:21,074 --> 00:32:22,809 Anna and Myles out safely. 738 00:32:22,842 --> 00:32:25,979 And, you know, I dis-- I discussed it with him 739 00:32:26,079 --> 00:32:27,580 for like 15 minutes or so. 740 00:32:27,614 --> 00:32:30,417 I'm like, "No, you're not gonna do this," you know. 741 00:32:30,450 --> 00:32:32,652 And then finally, I said, "Just how are you 742 00:32:32,686 --> 00:32:37,223 going to explain, um, mir-miraculously, 743 00:32:37,257 --> 00:32:39,693 that you just happened to be there, 744 00:32:39,726 --> 00:32:41,961 um, to save your children?" 745 00:32:41,995 --> 00:32:44,664 And finally, that, you know-- 746 00:32:44,698 --> 00:32:47,267 - So, he backed down. - He finally backed down. 747 00:32:47,300 --> 00:32:49,903 - Then, she said, there was the poison plot 748 00:32:49,936 --> 00:32:52,939 that called for his young daughter Anna to participate. 749 00:32:52,972 --> 00:32:54,708 - He wanted her to, like, put rat poison 750 00:32:54,741 --> 00:32:56,743 in-in, uh, their food 751 00:32:56,776 --> 00:32:58,845 or, like, sugar for their tea or whatever. 752 00:32:58,878 --> 00:33:00,280 - Why don't you leave him at this point? 753 00:33:00,313 --> 00:33:02,782 - How am I supposed to protect his-his f-- 754 00:33:02,816 --> 00:33:05,352 you know, parents if I don't know what's going-- 755 00:33:05,385 --> 00:33:08,388 what he's plotting? You know? 756 00:33:08,421 --> 00:33:10,957 I can't-- I can't be there and protect, 757 00:33:11,057 --> 00:33:13,893 you know, them if I'm not there. 758 00:33:13,927 --> 00:33:16,963 He won't confide in me and let me know what's going on. 759 00:33:17,063 --> 00:33:19,632 - You're helping this situation is to be 760 00:33:19,666 --> 00:33:21,434 the-the voice of reason for Rod? 761 00:33:21,468 --> 00:33:23,136 - Either-Either try and talk him out of it 762 00:33:23,169 --> 00:33:26,940 or have enough definitive proof where I can go to the police. 763 00:33:26,973 --> 00:33:27,974 - By this time, 764 00:33:28,074 --> 00:33:30,110 Debra had rented an apartment for herself 765 00:33:30,143 --> 00:33:33,380 and Rod to live in just north of New York City. 766 00:33:33,413 --> 00:33:35,915 But she says she was growing weary of his anger 767 00:33:35,949 --> 00:33:39,085 and exasperated by his lurid schemes. 768 00:33:39,085 --> 00:33:42,355 One day, she testified, things came to a head. 769 00:33:42,389 --> 00:33:45,625 - We were in the car driving and he said to me, 770 00:33:45,658 --> 00:33:47,861 "You have to help me kill my parents." 771 00:33:47,894 --> 00:33:48,995 And I said, 772 00:33:49,095 --> 00:33:50,764 "I am not going to help you kill your parents." 773 00:33:50,797 --> 00:33:52,832 And he-he asked me, like, four or five times 774 00:33:52,866 --> 00:33:54,401 and I finally, I just, like, 775 00:33:54,434 --> 00:33:56,102 "I'm not gonna help you kill your parents. 776 00:33:56,136 --> 00:33:58,505 And even if I wanted to, which I don't, 777 00:33:58,538 --> 00:34:00,040 you'd kill me, too." 778 00:34:00,073 --> 00:34:02,542 And he had this kind of creepy laugh 779 00:34:02,575 --> 00:34:05,045 and he looked at me in a way that, like, 780 00:34:05,045 --> 00:34:07,047 oh, you're just now figuring this out? 781 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:09,482 And then, he said, quote, 782 00:34:09,516 --> 00:34:11,317 "No, I only wanna kill the people 783 00:34:11,351 --> 00:34:13,420 who try to take my children away from me." 784 00:34:13,453 --> 00:34:17,957 - Did you believe, now, that Rod killed Shele? 785 00:34:18,058 --> 00:34:20,560 - There was no questions susceptible of doubt in my mind 786 00:34:20,593 --> 00:34:22,762 that he killed her, at that point. 787 00:34:22,796 --> 00:34:25,298 - Finally, Rod and Debra split. 788 00:34:25,331 --> 00:34:28,935 In August 2014, she called investigators 789 00:34:28,968 --> 00:34:31,438 and told them everything she knew. 790 00:34:31,471 --> 00:34:33,406 Now, four and a half years later, 791 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:35,141 she had told a jury. 792 00:34:35,175 --> 00:34:37,177 And she was about to get grilled by 793 00:34:37,210 --> 00:34:41,081 Rod Covlin's defense attorneys. 794 00:34:41,114 --> 00:34:42,482 - Coming up. 795 00:34:42,515 --> 00:34:46,386 - So, is it fair to say, yes or no, you were jealous?" 796 00:34:46,419 --> 00:34:49,556 - No. I was mad at him. 797 00:34:49,589 --> 00:34:52,692 I was mad at him for a lot of reasons. 798 00:34:52,726 --> 00:34:53,860 - Questions. 799 00:34:53,893 --> 00:34:56,996 And after nine years, an answer. 800 00:34:57,097 --> 00:34:58,431 - How say you as to the first count 801 00:34:58,465 --> 00:34:59,399 of this indictment, 802 00:34:59,432 --> 00:35:01,101 charging the defendant, Roderick Covlin, 803 00:35:01,134 --> 00:35:03,937 with the crime of murder in the second degree? 804 00:35:04,037 --> 00:35:05,839 - How hard was it waiting for the verdict? 805 00:35:05,872 --> 00:35:07,574 - Oh, my gosh. That was so painful. 806 00:35:07,607 --> 00:35:10,543 I had s-such butterflies. 807 00:35:18,151 --> 00:35:22,455 ** 808 00:35:22,822 --> 00:35:23,823 Welcome back. 809 00:35:23,857 --> 00:35:26,326 Rod Covlin was on trial for murder 810 00:35:26,359 --> 00:35:29,195 and the plot was about to thicken. 811 00:35:29,229 --> 00:35:31,464 On the stand, Rod's ex-girlfriend, Debra, 812 00:35:31,498 --> 00:35:35,301 described his secret plan to kill his parents 813 00:35:35,335 --> 00:35:37,437 and regain custody of his two children. 814 00:35:37,470 --> 00:35:39,406 The defense was about to strike back, 815 00:35:39,439 --> 00:35:42,075 hoping the jury would see a gaping hole 816 00:35:42,075 --> 00:35:45,945 in the prosecution's case-- evidence. 817 00:35:45,979 --> 00:35:49,249 Here's Andrea Canning with the conclusion of "Endgame." 818 00:35:53,253 --> 00:35:55,321 - Carol Covlin sat behind her son 819 00:35:55,355 --> 00:35:57,424 during the long weeks of trial. 820 00:35:57,457 --> 00:36:00,026 Why was it so important for you to be there? 821 00:36:00,026 --> 00:36:02,162 - He's my son. 822 00:36:02,195 --> 00:36:06,099 And I think any mother would do that for their child. 823 00:36:06,132 --> 00:36:09,369 - You had to listen to your son being called a philanderer, 824 00:36:09,402 --> 00:36:12,439 a bum, an abuser, and a killer. 825 00:36:12,472 --> 00:36:14,074 How did you handle that? 826 00:36:14,107 --> 00:36:16,543 - You really wanted to get up and scream at them 827 00:36:16,576 --> 00:36:19,579 and call them liars, but you can't. 828 00:36:19,612 --> 00:36:21,915 - One of the most explosive pieces of testimony 829 00:36:21,948 --> 00:36:23,883 was Debra Oles alleging 830 00:36:23,917 --> 00:36:26,353 that-that Rod had wanted to kill you. 831 00:36:26,386 --> 00:36:28,388 And in grand fashion. 832 00:36:28,421 --> 00:36:31,358 We're talking arsenic, rat poison. 833 00:36:31,391 --> 00:36:35,328 Rod's dad, Dave, says Debra's claims were laughable. 834 00:36:35,362 --> 00:36:37,731 - The alleged murder plots, I think, are a farce. 835 00:36:37,764 --> 00:36:41,167 - Rod's defense attorney, Robert Gottlieb, agreed. 836 00:36:41,201 --> 00:36:43,336 During a testy cross-examination, 837 00:36:43,370 --> 00:36:46,139 he tried to poke holes in Debra's testimony. 838 00:36:46,172 --> 00:36:48,975 Starting with her story of those plots. 839 00:36:49,075 --> 00:36:51,411 - Were you scared? - Yes. 840 00:36:51,444 --> 00:36:54,581 - Did you call the police? - It-- 841 00:36:54,614 --> 00:36:55,749 - Yes or no, did you call the police? 842 00:36:55,782 --> 00:36:56,983 - No. 843 00:36:57,083 --> 00:36:59,652 - Gottlieb says Debra's stories of Rod's temper 844 00:36:59,686 --> 00:37:01,154 didn't add up either. 845 00:37:01,187 --> 00:37:03,757 - Time and time again, when she is saying that 846 00:37:03,790 --> 00:37:07,093 she felt bullied by Rod, she was afraid of him, 847 00:37:07,127 --> 00:37:11,731 the only thing she ever says in her emails is "I love you. 848 00:37:11,765 --> 00:37:14,801 Dear, I love you." Over and over again. 849 00:37:14,834 --> 00:37:17,604 - Despite her denials, Gottlieb said Debra 850 00:37:17,637 --> 00:37:20,340 had been crushed when the relationship ended. 851 00:37:20,373 --> 00:37:22,942 Her testimony, he said, was nothing more than 852 00:37:23,043 --> 00:37:25,545 the words of woman scorned. 853 00:37:25,578 --> 00:37:29,616 - So, is it fair to say-- yes or no-- you were jealous? 854 00:37:29,649 --> 00:37:33,053 - No. I was mad at him. 855 00:37:33,053 --> 00:37:35,922 I was mad at him for a lot of reasons. 856 00:37:35,955 --> 00:37:39,292 - Is it fair to say that you have a history 857 00:37:39,325 --> 00:37:42,429 and have admitted to being a habitual liar. 858 00:37:42,462 --> 00:37:46,199 - That is a f-- that is disgusting and false. 859 00:37:46,232 --> 00:37:49,069 That is not true. - The defense conceded 860 00:37:49,069 --> 00:37:51,805 Rod wasn't always a stand-up guy. 861 00:37:51,838 --> 00:37:54,274 But he said that didn't make him a murderer. 862 00:37:54,307 --> 00:37:56,109 - You may despise him. 863 00:37:56,142 --> 00:37:59,079 You may not even be able to look at him. 864 00:37:59,079 --> 00:38:01,881 You may want to convict him. 865 00:38:01,915 --> 00:38:06,619 To convict somebody of murder, there's got to be proof. 866 00:38:06,653 --> 00:38:09,022 - There was none, Gottlieb said. 867 00:38:09,022 --> 00:38:11,558 Zero evidence there'd been foul play. 868 00:38:11,591 --> 00:38:13,860 No signs of a struggled. 869 00:38:13,893 --> 00:38:16,363 He said Rod couldn't have slipped into Shele's apartment 870 00:38:16,396 --> 00:38:19,132 and killed her like the prosecution argued, 871 00:38:19,165 --> 00:38:21,768 because there was no evidence he even had a key. 872 00:38:21,801 --> 00:38:26,039 Remember, Rod said little Anna had let him in that morning. 873 00:38:26,039 --> 00:38:28,041 - There's been no evidence that Mr. Covlin 874 00:38:28,041 --> 00:38:30,076 was ever in the apartment on December 30 875 00:38:30,110 --> 00:38:33,613 or December 31 before 7 A.M. 876 00:38:33,646 --> 00:38:36,049 - No evidence either, Gottlieb said, 877 00:38:36,049 --> 00:38:38,651 about what had caused Shele's injuries. 878 00:38:38,685 --> 00:38:42,455 He suggested one explanation-- the exhumation. 879 00:38:42,489 --> 00:38:45,792 - They used backhoes to exhume. 880 00:38:45,825 --> 00:38:50,430 Uh, they used, uh, shovels to get to the-- 881 00:38:50,463 --> 00:38:51,731 uh, the coffin. 882 00:38:51,765 --> 00:38:53,800 - Carol said there was nothing she heard in court 883 00:38:53,833 --> 00:38:56,503 that convinced her Shele's death was anything but 884 00:38:56,536 --> 00:38:58,138 a tragic accident. 885 00:38:58,171 --> 00:39:01,307 If you see those photos, it doesn't look like 886 00:39:01,341 --> 00:39:03,476 she just slipped and fell. 887 00:39:03,510 --> 00:39:05,712 It looks like someone did something to her. 888 00:39:05,745 --> 00:39:06,813 - Not really. 889 00:39:06,846 --> 00:39:08,882 If you look at her face, if she slipped and fell 890 00:39:08,915 --> 00:39:11,017 and hit her face into the bathtub. 891 00:39:11,017 --> 00:39:13,053 - So, where did her scratches come from, then? 892 00:39:13,086 --> 00:39:15,288 I mean, you don't get scratches falling in a bathtub. 893 00:39:15,321 --> 00:39:18,925 - Depends on what's in there. How-How they took her out. 894 00:39:19,025 --> 00:39:21,928 - I have no idea. - No. We-- 895 00:39:22,028 --> 00:39:23,363 - I just-- You know. 896 00:39:23,396 --> 00:39:27,467 Again, you're left with a conundrum. 897 00:39:27,500 --> 00:39:29,769 - A conundrum that would never be solved, 898 00:39:29,803 --> 00:39:31,037 the defense argued, 899 00:39:31,037 --> 00:39:33,873 because of bungling by investigators. 900 00:39:33,907 --> 00:39:36,609 - And you did not have any notes for any of those interviews 901 00:39:36,643 --> 00:39:38,845 on December 31, correct? 902 00:39:38,878 --> 00:39:40,814 - Not that I recall, sir. 903 00:39:40,847 --> 00:39:43,416 - Investigators hadn't dusted for fingerprints 904 00:39:43,450 --> 00:39:45,819 or collected DNA samples. 905 00:39:45,852 --> 00:39:48,054 There was a long list, Gottlieb said, 906 00:39:48,088 --> 00:39:51,391 of what investigators hadn't done at the scene. 907 00:39:51,424 --> 00:39:56,196 - Every single viewer would know that 908 00:39:56,229 --> 00:40:00,200 that's not the way you investigate 909 00:40:00,233 --> 00:40:02,335 a suspicious scene. 910 00:40:02,369 --> 00:40:05,271 If there's even a remote possibility 911 00:40:05,305 --> 00:40:08,274 that it could be a homicide. 912 00:40:08,308 --> 00:40:10,343 It was disgraceful. 913 00:40:10,377 --> 00:40:13,680 - Then, in a bold move, the defense rested 914 00:40:13,713 --> 00:40:16,216 without calling any witnesses. 915 00:40:16,249 --> 00:40:18,418 After more than eight weeks of testimony, 916 00:40:18,451 --> 00:40:20,787 it was up to the jury to decide. 917 00:40:20,820 --> 00:40:24,891 Was this an accident or a cold-blooded murder? 918 00:40:24,924 --> 00:40:26,993 How hard was it waiting for the verdict? 919 00:40:27,027 --> 00:40:29,029 - Oh, my gosh. That was so painful. 920 00:40:29,062 --> 00:40:32,799 And I had s-such butterflies. 921 00:40:32,832 --> 00:40:36,202 Oh, my gosh. That was bad. 922 00:40:36,236 --> 00:40:38,238 - They didn't have to wait long. 923 00:40:38,271 --> 00:40:40,974 After only a day of deliberations, 924 00:40:41,007 --> 00:40:43,243 the jury was back. 925 00:40:43,276 --> 00:40:45,111 - How say you to the first count of this indictment, 926 00:40:45,145 --> 00:40:47,313 charging the defendant, Roderick Covlin, 927 00:40:47,347 --> 00:40:50,050 with the crime of murder in the second degree? 928 00:40:50,083 --> 00:40:54,087 Guilty or not guilty? - Guilty. 929 00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:56,056 - Judge, anything to say? 930 00:40:56,089 --> 00:40:57,090 - Do you want to poll the jurors? 931 00:40:57,123 --> 00:40:59,826 - Poll the jury. - Guilty. 932 00:40:59,859 --> 00:41:02,128 I've been through a lot of trials 933 00:41:02,162 --> 00:41:03,697 and I don't know that I've ever seen 934 00:41:03,730 --> 00:41:05,865 that much emotion from a family. 935 00:41:05,899 --> 00:41:08,468 And that many hugs and that many tears. 936 00:41:08,501 --> 00:41:11,838 I mean, it was pretty incredible to watch your family. 937 00:41:11,871 --> 00:41:13,807 - It wasn't a moment of celebration. 938 00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:16,343 It was a moment of relief. - Right. 939 00:41:16,376 --> 00:41:18,645 - For fear of what would have been 940 00:41:18,678 --> 00:41:22,615 if the wrong verdict, um, came down. 941 00:41:22,649 --> 00:41:25,885 - And outside the courthouse, family and friends gathered. 942 00:41:25,919 --> 00:41:27,387 - Finally! 943 00:41:27,420 --> 00:41:31,524 [shouting] 944 00:41:31,558 --> 00:41:33,493 - After all this time, they felt like 945 00:41:33,526 --> 00:41:35,829 they could breathe again. 946 00:41:35,862 --> 00:41:38,531 - First thing I thought of was, it's justice for Shele 947 00:41:38,565 --> 00:41:40,767 and she can finally rest. 948 00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:43,570 - Debra Oles hopes she can rest now, too. 949 00:41:43,603 --> 00:41:48,108 The prosecution's star witness is happy the jury believed her. 950 00:41:48,141 --> 00:41:51,711 - It was like a huge weight has been lifted off of me 951 00:41:51,745 --> 00:41:56,616 and I'm finally, like, completely, you know-- 952 00:41:56,649 --> 00:41:57,851 it's-it's done. 953 00:41:57,884 --> 00:42:00,086 - Do you regret the day you met Rod Covlin? 954 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:02,789 - I do. I really do. 955 00:42:02,822 --> 00:42:04,958 - Rod is appealing his conviction. 956 00:42:05,058 --> 00:42:07,727 One of his biggest supporters is his daughter, Anna. 957 00:42:07,761 --> 00:42:10,363 Both children live with Rod's parents. 958 00:42:10,397 --> 00:42:12,632 How are the children doing? 959 00:42:12,665 --> 00:42:17,137 - They're holding it together as best they could. 960 00:42:17,170 --> 00:42:18,672 - Shele's children are growing up 961 00:42:18,705 --> 00:42:21,508 without much contact with Shele's side of the family. 962 00:42:21,541 --> 00:42:23,977 - Is there anything that you want the children to know 963 00:42:24,077 --> 00:42:28,114 about their mother and how you feel about them? 964 00:42:28,148 --> 00:42:32,652 - Their mother, with every breath she took 965 00:42:32,686 --> 00:42:37,991 and every ounce of her, she adored them. 966 00:42:40,627 --> 00:42:44,197 - That's all for this edition of "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 967 00:42:44,230 --> 00:42:45,131 I'm Craig Melvin. Thank you for watching.