02x05 - Burning Obsession

[bunniefuu]

FEMALE NARRATOR: A
heartbroken family

mourns the death of a beloved
wife and mother.

TRAVIS: My family lost a
guiding light in their life.

That was irreplaceable.

GILBERT: The emergency
room doctor said

that she had died of smoke inhalation,

but the medical examiner told
us that she was dead

prior to the fire.

There's no sign of forced entry.

GILBERT: We found a bottle
of some kind of a sleep aid

on the dresser.

You don't know whether it's a suicide.

You need to answer that question.

NARRATOR: Investigators
race to find the truth.

She had been to a party
and met a gentleman.

GILBERT: He would post
little notes on her car,

little notes on her door.

DEBBIE: I kept saying, "You
need to get out of there,

you need to change those
locks."

GILBERT: We were thinking
he made some kind

of a confession as he slipped
the letter into the casket.

AMANDA: The decision was made

that we would seek exhumation.

GILBERT: They cracked the
casket, and I had to get

that letter in my hands.

AMANDA: This could be a
final piece of evidence

that we need to build the case.

♪

NARRATOR: Along the rocky
coast of Southern Oregon

sits the small rugged city of
North Bend.

GILBERT: North Bend is a
total blue-collar town.

It consisted mostly of loggers,
salmon fishermen.

AMANDA: It is very isolated
and has fairly severe

coastal weather.

I think because the elements
are harsh, people do kind of

band together.

So it's a tight-knit community.

NARRATOR: But like any
city, tragedy can strike

at any time.

May 20, 1999, at
approximately 3:30 AM

Officer Gil Daton was on patrol,
and he did notice

heavy, thick smoke at a house
on Main Street.

So he ran up, knocked on the
door and tried to

arouse somebody.

Couldn't do it.

He kicked the door in, gained entrance.

Went in on a low walk.

He was yelling the whole time.

"Is anybody here?

If you're in there, get out."

GILBERT: Obviously it's dark
'cause of the smoke,

but in the bedroom was a
female in the bed,

fully clothed, except for her
shoes off.

He tried to rouse her, she
wouldn't arouse.

At that time it's an adrenaline
rush, you know you've got

to do something, and your
whole being is wrapped up

in rescuing this person and
trying to get them

out of the fire.

So he grabbed her and dragged
her outside.

He found there was no pulse,
so he attempted CPR.

[sirens wailing]

NARRATOR: As the officer
desperately tries

to resuscitate the unconscious woman,

the North Bend Fire
Department EMS team

arrives on the scene.

They put her in the ambulance,
and they take her

to the emergency room at
Bay Area Hospital,

where she was pronounced dead.

The emergency room doctor,
taking all the facts

into consideration, determined
that she had died

of smoke inhalation.

We thought that given the circumstances,

that this was probably an accident.

NARRATOR: As the fire
department gets things

under control at the scene,
the North Bend PD arrives

and quickly gets to work.

GILBERT: There's a lot of
activity, there's hoses,

there's water, there's smoke,
there's a lot of ash.

NARRATOR: Detectives have
a lot of questions.

Was this an accident?

Was this foul play?

And most importantly,
who was the unknown female

in the bed?

GILBERT: Through the police
records, we were able

to determine that the resident
of that house

may have been La Quint a Smith.

To our knowledge, there were
no other females living

in that house.

AMANDA: Dispatch is able to
look at the DMV records

for La Quint a Smith.

At least circumstantially
it appears that the person

who's in the bed of La Quint a
Smith is La Quint a Smith.

And at this time, we're trying
to get a handle on notifying

next of kin.

NARRATOR: The tight-knit
community of North Bend

is like an open book, and
investigators quickly track down

LaQuinta's estranged husband.

AMANDA: We determined the
husband of the victim

was Alby Smith, but they were
not living together.

Early that morning, two officers
knocked on his door.

They told him that there had
been a fire at the house

and that La Quint a Smith,
his wife, was deceased.

He seemed shocked and surprised.

At the time,
Mr. Smith informed the police

that the two teenage sons
of he and La Quint a Smith

were staying with him that
night and were not in the home

at the time of the fire.

Investigators asked him to
go with them to the hospital

to identify the body, and he agreed.

Alby was sobbing for about
five minutes in the car,

and then he pulled it together
and went in the hospital

and did identify the body as
that of his wife.

It's obviously very upsetting
and traumatic.

NARRATOR: Early that morning,
news of LaQuinta's death

begins to spread among
LaQuinta's family and friends.

I lost my best friend,
I lost my confidante.

And all I could think about was
the boys,

all I could think about was
Todd and Tommy

and what they lost.

It was very unreal.

TRAVIS: My girlfriend said
there had been a fire

and my aunt, um, had died.

And I remember I immediately
stood up and I was like,

"Nope, nope, this didn't
happen."

Just crying and pacing the
room, um,

and so I put on my running shoes.

I ran over there to her house
and, um...

[clears throat]

And yeah, there was
caution tape all over it,

there was debris in the front yard.

And I was just...

That's when I knew it was real.

Somebody that was so full of
life, I just couldn't believe

that, that her,
that that life was over.

So...

NARRATOR: As investigators
begin interviewing

LaQuinta's loved ones, a vivid snapshot

of a beloved young woman
starts to take shape.

I met La Quint a in junior
high here in North Bend.

She was just funny and I just,
I loved her energy.

We hit it off and just became
best friends.

TRAVIS: My aunt was
definitely very outgoing.

Anybody that ever met her
loved her.

She looked at this store
called Bi-Mart in town,

and she had a lot of friends there.

And people would come up
to me at school and go,

"I met your aunt La Quint a at
Bi-Mart, she's so awesome,

blah, blah, blah, she's so
nice."

So yeah, she made a
big impact on everybody.

She really cared and loved
her family.

DEBBIE: We were, like, 19,


when she actually met Alby.

I thought he was just perfect
for her

because he was kind of shy,
but yet she wasn't.

So she brought him out of
his shell too.

He seemed very family-
orientated because he'd had

previously been married,
and he had a young son

named Tommy.

La Quint a loved him,
like, Tommy was her own.

And then Todd came along
and that was just,

that was the happiest thing
ever for her

because she's very family-
orientated.

And that was her dream.

TRAVIS: Our families were
very close growing up.

I spent thousands of hours
with my uncle

working on trucks,
going off road, hunting.

My aunt La Quint a,
for me she was the cool aunt,

and she loved taking care of
Tommy and Todd.

And they were like brothers
to me, rather than cousins.

After my aunt died, my family
lost, like, a guiding light

in their life

and a, and a loving person
that was irreplaceable.

NARRATOR: As the most
important people

in LaQuinta's life begin to
face their unthinkable loss,

investigators get to work.

AMANDA: The first step
was sort of looking

to figure out whether or not
it was foul play.

There's no sign of forced entry,

nothing that immediately
looks out of place,

like you might see in a robbery.

NARRATOR: But inside the
bedroom, something does

capture their attention.

GILBERT: In the bedroom,
we found the bottle

of some kind of a sleep aid
on the dresser.

The bottle was opened, and
it looked like pills were

missing from the bottle.

On the end of the bed,
we recovered a book

on depression.

GILBERT: It's just suspicious.

You don't know whether it's
a suicide or what.

You need to answer that question.

NARRATOR: Investigators
bag the pills and the book,

then peek inside the
scorched bedroom closet,

where they find what they
are looking for...

A fire-damaged metal
furnace that appears to be

point of origin of the fire.

DALE: In the corner of the
master bedroom,

there was diesel fuel on the
floor around the furnace.

And we found shreds of
paper around the furnace.

This appeared to be where
the fire had started.

This is strange.

I was thinking it could be
an accidental fire,

it could be death by suicide,
or it could have been arson.

NARRATOR: Coming up:
Investigators search

for answers to the mysterious death.

GILBERT: The county
medical examiner

had to come in and perform
an autopsy.

JOYE: There appeared to be
no life-threatening condition

that would have kept her on
that bed.

NARRATOR: And discover
connections just beneath

the surface.

AMANDA: She reported
that later in the evening,

he gave her water, and she
did feel drugged.

GILBERT: There was a
surveillance camera

of her leaving work,
and the rings were plain to see,

so he was obviously lying.

TRAVIS: My mom had
called me and said,

"Hey, they're going to exhume
your aunt."

Feel like this is a wound that
just, you know,

won't ever be healed.

♪

NARRATOR: As investigators
examine the origin of the fire

at La Quint a Smith's home,
they notice something strange

that makes them start to
think this may not have been

an accident.

GILBERT: In order to prove
an arson,

you have to eliminate any
possibility that that fire

may have been caused by
something else.

So the furnace had to be autopsied.

DALE: We took the furnace
out and stored it as evidence.

GILBERT: At that time,
Fire Chief Graham told me

that it just didn't seem right
to him.

AMANDA: But if the fire was
an arson, there's no sign

of forced entry, which means
it could have been

a person who had access
to the house.

NARRATOR: With the
circumstances surrounding

La Quint a Smith's death
becoming murkier,

investigators turn to
the county medical examiner

for more answers.

GILBERT: The emergency
room doctor

thought that she had died
of smoke inhalation.

But we needed to find out
for sure.

So the next day, the county
medical examiner

was called in.

DR. CARTER: The doctor
that performed the autopsy

documented that there
was really no burn injury

to speak of.

There appeared to be no
life-threatening condition

that would have kept her on
that bed

and not moved to safety.

So that means something is wrong,

and you have to look for
other answers.

DALE: The medical
examiner noted

that there was a bruise on
her upper right arm.

It was pretty obvious that it
was a hand print.

You could almost see the fingers.

So she didn't do this to herself.

He conclusively told us that
she was dead prior

to the fire, because there
was no carbon dioxide

in the blood and no soot
in her nose, in her throat,

or in her lungs.

DR. CARTER: La Quint a Smith's
death didn't fit

the categories of natural
suicide or accident.

So without another explanation,

it appeared clear that the
cause of death was homicide.

We just didn't know
the manner that had led

to the homicide.

After the autopsy, the body
was released to the family,

the next of kin.

TRAVIS: I remember
hearing that somebody

had m*rder*d my aunt,
and I just thought, like,

"Wow, that's...

That can't be right, you
know, this was an accident."

Because my aunt was, like,

pretty amazing and, uh...

You don't wanna believe a
person could do this to her.

NARRATOR: Hoping to shed
light on the circumstances

surrounding her death, Chief
Gil Zaccaro sends detectives

to circle back to her husband, Alby.

GILBERT: On May 20th, we
sent a couple officers over

to interview Alby Smith
once again.

He was crying, he was an
absolute mess.

And eventually he told us
that they were in fact

separated, but they were
working their problems out,

and that they were about to
get back together.

NARRATOR: Alby is clearly
distraught over losing

his wife.

But when investigators speak
to LaQuinta's friends

about the couple's relationship,
they hear a different story.

AMANDA: We interviewed
close friends

of La Quint a Smith.
And she had worked at Bi-Mart,

so they went and interviewed
her coworkers as well.

It is revealed that Alby
actually was involved

in a relationship with another
woman that had been

going on for some time.

GILBERT: That flies in the
face of "We are getting"

"back together, and I'm trying
the best I can

to make this marriage work."

So that immediately started
sparking suspicion

that we better look into
Alby a little closer.

NARRATOR: Now
investigators set out

to verify his alibi.

And they decide to speak
to one of the only people

they know was with Alby
that night, his son.

AMANDA: When Alby's son
Todd was interviewed

by detectives, he told them
that about one in the morning

he heard his dad in the
bedroom snoring.

He later went to bed,
and then he was awoken

by police knocking at
the door at about 4:30

in the morning.

His dad answered the door.

GILBERT: Todd told us that
his father was there

the whole night.

So Alby had an alibi.

NARRATOR: Alby may have lied

about having a new girlfriend,
but that doesn't make him

a m*rder*r.

With his alibi confirmed,
investigators keep digging.

And soon they get a lead on
a new suspect.

DALE: While talking with
LaQuinta's friends,

they told us that she had
been to a party

and met a gentleman, Harold.

AMANDA: She had been
seeing Harold pretty regularly

around the time.

And one of the things that
officers learned

about Harold, once they had
obtained phone records

from La Quint a Smith's phone,
was that La Quint a

had placed a phone call to
Harold the night before

she died.

So now it was very important
that we focus on Harold

and quickly and deliberately
find out everything we could

about Harold.

GILBERT: In my mind,
he was a suspect,

and we gotta get to
the bottom of this story.

♪

NARRATOR: When phone
records reveal

that the last person La Quint a
Smith may have ever spoken

to was her new potential
love interest, Harold,

Chief Gil Zaccaro and his
team immediately spring

into action.

GILBERT: We had to
contact Harold

and find out exactly
what was going on with him.

So you have to look at him
as a suspect.

AMANDA: Until we spoke
with him and discussed

the last time he'd seen her,

the nature of their
relationship...

La Quint a had placed a
phone call to Harold

the night before she died.

And on the phone records,
it appeared to be

a 20-second phone call.

And he said that he never
answered that call.

DALE: Harold told us
they had seen each other

for a little bit,
but La Quint a had decided

that she didn't want to get
entangled with somebody

until after the divorce.

NARRATOR: As Detective
Oester presses Harold

for more information about
his relationship with La Quint a,

the team decides to ask Harold
to take a polygraph test.

AMANDA: Ultimately, Harold
consented to a polygraph.

They polygraphed him,
and he passed the polygraph

with flying colors.

And there were no other
concerns with Harold.

La Quint a and Harold had
only known each other

a short time, and Harold had
absolutely nothing to gain

from the death of La Quint a
Smith financially,

or personally, or in any
other manner from her death.

So we were able to rule him
out as a suspect.

NARRATOR: Now, three days
after La Quint a was found,

investigators are back to
square one,

and LaQuinta's friends and
family are preparing her body

for her funeral.

DEBBIE: Three days before
her funeral, I was the one

who did her makeup for her.

And that was really hard,
that was, that was, um...

'Cause at the point, she just
looked like she was sleeping.

And I just was like, "Just
wake up."

You know, I just wanted her
to wake up.

And I thought,
"She's gone forever."

And now she can't tell me
what happened.

You know?

And all I can think about
is how scared she was.

NARRATOR: As Debbie struggles

to calm her emotions,
a tiny detail catches her eye.

DEBBIE: I'm doing her
makeup, you know,

and I'm thinking, "Okay,
where's her ring?"

Because she always had
her rings, she always wore

a ring on this finger,
and she had her wedding ring

on this finger.

And the rings were nowhere
to be found.

I said, "She wouldn't take
those rings off, I know that."

And I said, "I wanna know
where her rings are

so that she can be buried
with them."

Her friends and her family
wanted to know

where her rings were.

That she would never go anywhere

without those rings, and they
were always on her fingers.

They were very close and
near to her.

Those two rings were a
mother's ring,

so a ring that had the
birthstones of both of her sons,

and then a Black Hills
gold ring.

Now, it was reported that
she would take the rings off

when she would wash the
dishes or do housework,

and there was a small dish in
the windowsill of the kitchen

where she would set the rings.

DALE: The fire investigators
did a thorough search

of the house.

We asked them to sift the
debris in the master bedroom

and the kitchen, and they
sifted everything,

and the rings weren't recovered.

That means that she didn't
take them off

and put them on that windowsill.

NARRATOR: With no sign
of the rings on her body

or in the house, the homicide
team begins to wonder

exactly when was the last
time La Quint a had been seen

with the rings.

That led to additional
investigation, which included

talking to LaQuinta's
coworkers at Bi-Mart again

to see if any of them recalled
whether she had been

wearing the rings on the
evening of the 19th,

when she was at Bi-Mart,
the night before she died.

GILBERT: We interviewed
coworkers that were

working with her that night,
and every one of them said

that she had the rings on her.

DALE: And so I went back
to Bi-Mart and got the tape.

There's a camera viewing
the entrance.

And La Quint a worked May


to Bi-Mart, right there at
the front door.

The camera's above the door.

And it clearly shows her.

She worked from 11AM to 8PM.

And in the video,
you can clearly see that she

is wearing those rings up
to closing.

AMANDA: So now we know
that she was wearing

the mother's ring and the
black gold ring

when she was working at
Bi-Mart on the night

of the 19th.

She went home after work,
and then we know

that the rings are not found
at the scene

and are not on the body.

NARRATOR: Could La Quint a
have simply lost the rings

on her way home from work?

Or was there a more
frightening explanation?

DALE: It's possible that
somebody else was there

in the house before the fire
started and took those rings

after they k*lled her.

It's something you definitely
want to follow up on.

So to be fully sure,
I went to the mortuary again

to see if the rings were there.

And the mortician, he said
that somebody

had brought the rings and
put 'em on a chain

around her neck.

♪

♪

NARRATOR: Detectives
from North Bend PD

have learned that La Quint a
Smith's prized rings

mysteriously disappeared,
only to turn up

the day before her funeral
in the hands of someone

very close to her.

DALE: The mortician,
he said that somebody

had brought the rings
and put 'em on a chain

around her neck.

It was Alby.

NARRATOR: Investigators
are stunned.

If Alby ended up with
LaQuinta's rings, that means

he must have been with her
at some point between

when she left work and
when she was found dead...

A fact he denied when
interviewed by police.

As they start to dig
for more information

about what actually
happened that night,

La Quint a Smith is laid to rest.

DEBBIE: At the funeral,
it was a packed house.

She had a lot of coworkers,
a lot of friends.

And I just kept looking
at the casket and thinking,

"Okay, this is all just a joke."

TRAVIS: At that time,
Tommy and Todd

were really sad and
having to go through this.

As we're dropping the roses
in there,

you walk up to the edge of
it, it's just...

It's, it's way too final.

I was 20 years old, and that's
what I think I struggle with

the most is, that's it,
it's... it's done.

And there's nothing I can
do about it at all.

We're all just basket cases,
but when I saw Alby

at the funeral,
he was just emotionless.

Never seen him cry one tear.

NARRATOR: Debbie isn't
the only one

with lingering questions
about Alby.

Despite his alibi, detectives
begin to dig deeper

into his relationship with La Quint a

and uncover some troubling information.

DEBBIE: When I talked to the
investigators, I said

that when I met Alby, I just
thought he was a great guy.

I never really thought anything
bad till later on

in their relationship,

because he was so controlling
of her and yeah,

it bothered me a lot.

GILBERT: La Quint a wanted
to move on,

but he would post little notes
on her car,

little notes on her door.

AMANDA: It became very
clear that even though

Alby got a new girlfriend,
he doesn't want La Quint a

to be with anybody else.

She had gone

from annoyed to terrified

and, you know, very concerned
about her well being.

But La Quint a also
communicated to her girlfriend

that she was struggling to
make the mortgage payment

and had asked Alby to help
her make

the mortgage payment that month.

She was acting nice to Alby
at the time

because she just needed to
get the money

for the mortgage payment.

And as soon as she had
that done,

she was going to go
and file for divorce.

That was her plan.

NARRATOR: Debbie tells investigators

that as much as La Quint a
tried to make nice,

Alby's behavior took
a turn for the worse.

AMANDA: Debbie said that
on the 15th of May,

La Quint a had attended a
party with a man,

and Alby had apparently
heard about it

and had confronted her about it.

And she had told him,
"Yeah, I met a man,

and I'm moving on."

And then the following day,
on the 16th,

when La Quint a got home
from work,

Alby was in the house,
in her home.

And he had let himself in.
He had a key.

DEBBIE: She was saying
"Alby was over

"and wanting to fix me dinner.

"And he poured me a glass
of tea,

and I took a drink of it."

And she said, "It tasted
really weird."

AMANDA: And she started
to feel dizzy.

And she confronts him,
and he says,

"I put Valium in your tea,
and it's just gonna help you

loosen up so that we have
a better night."

She also reported that later
in the evening,

he gave her water and that
it had sleeping pills in it.

And that she did feel drugged,

she was sort of halfway conscious,

and in this state,
he had had sex with her.

DEBBIE: I kept saying,
"You need to get out of there,

you need to change those
locks."

But she was scared about
leaving the house.

She didn't wanna lose the house.

DALE: During interviews
with several of her friends,

La Quint a had told them that
if something happened to her,

if she wound up dead,
Alby did it.

AMANDA: It appeared that
he was rehearsing how much,

or which drugs, or how she
might respond,

or how pliable she might be
to not put up

much of a fight or resistance.

GILBERT: On May 26th, the
team decided

that we need to bring Alby in
and get his story straight.

DALE: The interview started,
but his answers

to the questions were very inconsistent.

He couldn't remember when
the last time he saw her.

GILBERT: He said that she
gave him the rings

to get cleaned on the 16th.

And then he changed it to
the 17th.

And then he changed it to
another date.

So of course we knew there
was a surveillance camera

of her leaving work on the
night before she died,

and the rings were plain to see.

So he was obviously lying.

Eventually we asked him to
take a polygraph to verify

his story.

He agreed to take a polygraph.

DALE: This detective, in
his polygraph examination,

did an elimination-style test.

GILBERT: We asked him,
"Do you know if La Quint a

"was stabbed, do you know
if she was strangled,

"do you know if she was shot,

"do you know any way that
homicide violence occurred

to her?"

To all those he said "no".

And to all those he was truthful.

But when he was asked
"Was she smothered?"

He was deceptive on that question.

He was lying.

♪

NARRATOR: After failing a
polygraph test on May 26th,

Alby Smith is now the prime
suspect in his wife's m*rder.

But detectives in North Bend,
Oregon need more

to build a case against him.

GILBERT: We had no proof.

And Alby had an alibi.

So we had to do a complete
and total investigation

of timeline, where he was,
what she was doing,

who she told what to,
who he told what to.

TRAVIS: At the police station,
I was very, like, um,

shocked and, uh, I just
didn't believe it

that Alby could have done this.

When the detectives asked
me questions,

they asked a lot of questions
about the funeral.

And so I told them I had
a letter that I had written

to my aunt and that
I wanted to put, um,

in the coffin with her.

And I just remember putting
my letter in there,

and then my uncle had put
a letter in there.

NARRATOR: Detectives
wonder,

was it a love letter to his
beloved wife

or a confession to her m*rder.

GILBERT: We wanted that letter.

Okay?

Because what we were
thinking was that he made

some kind of a confession
as he slipped the letter

into the casket.

NARRATOR: And that's not
the only thing

investigators need to
try to prove Alby's guilt.

Everything circumstantial
has to fit.

So was there anything in
that furnace

that would have caused that
fire?

That furnace had been autopsied,

and when the technicians
got through,

they said there was absolutely
no reason for that furnace

to have started that fire.

AMANDA: After that, we
discussed sleeping pills

with LaQuinta's family.

DEBBIE: I said, "She never
would have used"

"the name brand, she would
have used Bi-Mart.

"She bought everything
Bi-Mart brand, always,

because it was cheaper."

And I said, "And I've never
known her

to use a sleep aid to begin
with."

GILBERT: There was no other
substance in that house

that had the active ingredient
the same as the sleeping pills

right there next to her.

And I remember that Alby mentioned

during the interview that
there was an empty bottle

of sleeping pills in the house,
and we did not disclose that

to anyone else at that time.

NARRATOR: Investigators
now believe Alby slipped her

this name-brand sleeping pill.

But first, they have to prove
whether the drugs

were in her system at all.

AMANDA: At that point,
we wanted to know

whether or not there was a
high level

of diconhydramine
hydrochloride in the victim's

system at the time of her death,

which is basically
the active ingredient

in the sleeping pills.

In the case of La Quint a
Smith, it appeared

that her first postmortem
examination was performed

by a doctor who was not
trained in forensic pathology,

so the first autopsy was not complete.

And so there was a need to
answer the question

as to exactly what happened
to this young woman.

AMANDA: The local
pathologist had taken blood

and urine samples from
the victim for the purpose

of testing for carbon dioxide.

But what we did not have
were tox screens,

which would confirm the presence

of diconhydramine hydrochloride.

It was important because if
the result said there really is

no diconhydramine hydrochloride

in the victim's system,
then it would cut away

at our theory.

So on June 2nd,
we consulted with

the deputy medical examiner
from the state

medical examiner's office,
named Dr. Cliff Nelson.

DALE: And it was his
suggestion that we exhume

the body, and he would
come down and conduct

the second autopsy.

It felt like we were violating
her, but it was necessary.

AMANDA: Once that
decision was made,

that we would seek
exhumation, we wanted

to get the family's consent.

TRAVIS: My mom had
called me and said,

"Hey, they're going to
exhume your aunt."

You're like, "Ugh, is this
gonna ever end?"

You know?

"Can we get some closure?"

I supported it, but it's
still hard, even if it's for

the right reasons.

AMANDA: La Quint a Smith
had been buried on May 25th,

and then the exhumation
was June 16th.

So it had only been about
three weeks

from the time she was buried.

DALE: To prevent the
press from showing up,

we did the exhumation
early in the morning,

just after daylight.

And they used a backhoe
to remove the dirt,

and then they lifted the
casket out,

and we escorted the body
to the morgue

at the hospital.

AMANDA: I remember
being at the autopsy,

and I thought that this
could be a final piece

of evidence that we need
to build the case.

NARRATOR: Once LaQuinta's
casket is opened,

investigators and the
medical examiner

begin the careful work of
obtaining critical evidence.

AMANDA: When we first
opened the casket,

she's, you know, dressed
beautifully and made up.

And there was a spray of
roses on her chest

which had begun to decay
and had caused that area

of her body to decompose.

There were also the notes
that her boys and Alby

had put, they were sort of
near the flowers

and her chest and her hands.

GILBERT: My anxiety was
very high.

They cracked the casket,
and I had to get that letter

in my hands.

I pulled the letter out,
and as I did, other folks

were over my shoulder
reading the letter

along with me.

But in fact the letter didn't
contain any admissions.

It was just an "I love you"
letter.

And it was kind of like
taking the air out of my sails

for a second.

NARRATOR: Without the
smoking g*n

of a written confession letter,
investigators turn

their attention to the tissue samples

that could break this case.

AMANDA: We needed to
confirm the presence

of diphenhydramine
hydrochloride in order to

prove the theory that Alby
had drugged her iced tea.

And so they took tissue samples.

And at the end of the process,
she was immediately

transported back to be buried.

NARRATOR: With the
autopsy completed,

investigators must now wait
for the crucial toxicology

results to come back.

GILBERT: When the
toxicology results came back,

they found that the active
ingredients were in fact

in her body.

AMANDA: That was
consistent with the theory

that he had drugged her tea again

the night before she died
with diphenhydramine

hydrochloride, and that is
why she would have been

unconscious to the extent
of not resisting

being smothered, say, with
a pillow.

NARRATOR: With every circumstance

and all the physical evidence
pointing toward Alby Smith,

investigators have one last
hurdle to jump.

AMANDA: Initially Alby
Smith had an alibi,

and that came from his son Todd.

So Todd was reinterviewed.

GILBERT: He told us that
he is a very sound sleeper

and his father in fact
could have left and came back

while he was asleep.

And that was confirmed
with a polygraph on the son.

So Alby's alibi collapsed.

AMANDA: And that was the
crucial piece of evidence

we were waiting for before
taking the case

to grand jury.

GILBERT:
And on March 31st, 2000,

approximately nine months
from the homicide

we went out and arrested him.

♪

♪

♪

NARRATOR: On March 31,


on 15 different crimes,
including aggravated m*rder

and first-degree arson.

As the prosecution prepares
for trial,

the search for a motive
becomes crucial.

AMANDA: At that point,
talking to more witnesses,

it is revealed that Alby
needed money,

that he wanted La Quint a to
sell the house

and cash him out.

And she was unwilling to do that.

And then we learned that
there is an insurance policy

on the house, and if La Quint a
is deceased, 100%

of the proceeds would be
paid to Alby Smith.

It appears that the primary motivation

for this homicide and arson
was financial.

NARRATOR: With the pieces
starting to fall in place

for the prosecution, family
and friends of La Quint a Smith

try to prepare themselves mentally

for the reality of the trial.

TRAVIS: So when I first
found out

that Alby had been arrested,
I just remember

that whole time, just back
and forth, my mind, like,

"Is there a chance he
didn't do this?"

'Cause you don't wanna
believe a person

that you knew and you loved
could do this.

So once they set a trial date,
I decided

that I was gonna go every day
because I wanted to know

beyond a shadow of a doubt
that my uncle Alby

had done this.

NARRATOR: In June, 2001
the trial of Alby Smith

began at the county
courthouse in Cokeel, Oregon.

TRAVIS: I went to the trial,
and I, I walked in

where my uncle's sitting.

That's when I finally looked,
like, you know, face to face.

There's no really
acknowledgment or anything

like that.

I kind of realized at
that point, like, he did it.

My uncle m*rder*d my aunt.

And that is a wound that
just, you know,

won't ever be healed.

This is gonna be part of
my life for the rest of it.

And that's something
I'll never be able to forget.

AMANDA: Mr. Smith never
did confess

to any involvement in his
wife's death.

And even at trial, he took
the stand and stuck to his

narrative that he loved her,
that they were getting

back together,

which I thought must have
been interesting

given the fact that his girlfriend

was in the courtroom.

NARRATOR: On June 21,


a verdict.

We were scared,
we were apprehensive.

Because there's still
a 50-50 chance, you know?

TRAVIS: I was trying to
prepare myself mentally

for the alternative of
"not guilty".

And, uh, it's, um...

It's the most profound silence.

Uh, and we're all just holding hands.

DEBBIE: We just held our
hands and we were just like,

"Please, please, please,
please, please."

I was sitting next to my
mom, I just remember

she was squeezing me.
For a little woman,

she was squeezing me so tight.

AMANDA: At that point
the jury found Alby Smith

guilt of arson in the first degree

and intentional m*rder.

TRAVIS: We didn't react.
We kept it all in.

Inside, though, for myself,
um, I was happy

that they came back and
he's gonna have to pay

for what he did.

AMANDA: On June 30, 2001,

the court imposed sentence
on Alby Smith.

And he was sentenced
to a total of 32 years.

And Mr. Smith continues to
be incarcerated in Oregon

today.

GILBERT: I thought it was
exceptional work.

For a small town,
a small county like we were

to get those convictions,
to me was, was terrific.

I think that the strengths
of this case

was all of the small pieces
that point

in the same direction
with no other explanation.

He's the only person with the
motive to k*ll La Quint a Smith.

He has a key to the residence.

There's no sign of forced entry.

He's got the rings, which
place him with the victim

at the time of death.

And then the exhumation
did confirm the presence

of diphenhydramine hydrochloride.

TRAVIS: It was the death
of my aunt

and it's the death of my uncle.

And he caused it.

And, uh, so there's anger
and sadness.

That's what I felt.

♪

DEBBIE: Last night,
I went and visited her.

And I just, I went and I sat
with her.

And I said, "I want everybody
to know about your story"

"because you had so much
life to give,

"and you had so much,
and he just took everything

from us."

I mean, he took such a
great person.

He took such a great person.

♪