[female narrator] a powerful family rocked by tragedy.
Her father is a prominent judge.
She found her husband unresponsive on the couch.
There was a great deal of blood
[narrator] investigators pry into a guarded reputation.
The family name was synonymous with law and order.
It made the front page of the papers.
[narrator] in a tightly knit community,
Secrets rarely stay hidden.
She was staying out late into the night partying.
He did everything he could to pursue a relationship.
She continued to turn him down.
[narrator] the truth reveals a money hungry killer
Consumed by greed.
She was one of those gimme, gimme, gimme people.
She wanted the money, she wanted that house.
She could get a man to do just about anything for her.
He was a puppy dog after her.
She promised him money and marriage.
[joel] desperate people do desperate things.
She was a desperate person.
[music]
[narrator] the town of st. Charles
Sits on the banks of the missouri river,
Just 20 miles from st. Louis.
[kirk] back in the '90s,
The young professionals kind of flocked to this area.
Everything was new.
St. Charles at that time was a, uh...
Small community that was up and coming.
A lot of everybody knew everybody type of thing.
[narrator] October 12th, 1991.
A 911 call interrupts a leisurely Saturday
In the middle-class community.
[nicholas] sometime around noon,
The police received a 911 call by lisa suter,
Who had gone home and she found her husband,
Alfred, also known as fredy, unresponsive on the couch.
It was rather calm and collected.
There was no hysterics.
Uh, there was no screaming into the phone.
[nicholas] she could've been in shock.
That happens quite a bit.
You could have all kinds of reactions from people
That walk in on something like this.
[nicholas] the police showed up along with
St. Charles fire protection district ems.
They kept her outside.
[john] first responders arrived.
They went over to alfred
And they, they found that he was in fact deceased.
There was nothing they could do.
It was obvious that he had been shot.
[nicholas] there was a great deal of blood
What looked like a wound to the back of the head,
And an exit wound in the front of the face.
He was shot down from an angle, from behind him and downwards.
They find a shell casing from a 9-millimeter on the couch.
There doesn't seem to be a sign of a struggle.
The house is not ransacked.
There aren't, necessarily, valuables missing.
Fredy was an awesome, friendly,
Sparkling person.
It didn't make sense who would do that.
[narrator] born on June 1st, 1955,
In grindelwald, switzerland,
Alfred "fredy" suter spent his childhood surrounded
By the breathtaking alps.
It's very pretty, high mountains and, uh, chalets.
Lots of snow in the winter, nice in the summer.
[narrator] by his mid-twenties, alfred was a gifted engineer
At the international machinery manufacturer, hydromat.
[eric] alfred was really talented
At the career that he chose.
He was really well respected.
[narrator] when alfred was 26,
He was offered a life-changing opportunity.
In 1981, alfred and his mentor and friend,
Bruno schmitter, relocate to the united states
To start a branch of hydromat.
They were really building things from the ground up
When they began working here in the st. Louis area.
[nicholas] he came over for the american dream.
He wanted to get ahead.
He was sort of a little bit of an adventurer
And he wanted to get out and enjoy life.
[narrator] fredy bought a home in st. Charles
And found a group of friends among his fellow ex-pats.
He would go up to the bar and he had his friends
That would show up, too, and play pool.
[narrator] after 6 years in missouri,
Fredy was out one evening with friends
When the unexpected happened.
We were sitting at the bar
And the bartender brought fredy a beer.
And the bartender said the gal across the bar
Ordered the, the beer for him.
He went over there and thanked her,
And that's the way he met lisa.
[narrator] 12 years fredy's junior,
Lisa was the youngest
Of donald and carleen dalton's six children.
Lisa dalton grew up in a pretty prominent family
In the st. Charles area with a life of privilege,
With a silver spoon in her mouth.
[john] her father is judge dalton.
He's a prominent judge
In the st. Charles county court systems.
[eric] for more than 40 years,
He had never lost an election for public office.
The dalton name was synonymous with law and order.
For lisa, that meant a little
Bit of pressure to live up to the family name.
She needed to meet certain expectations.
Lisa graduated from high school in 1985.
And after that, she attended college, where
She seemed to be an average to above-average student.
[narrator] while out with her friends,
Lisa spotted fredy across the bar.
When they met, lisa was twenty and alfred was thirty-two.
There was a significant difference there.
She was pretty charming.
Fredy saw something in her.
[narrator] a whirlwind romance started on the spot.
[eric] in 1987, less than a year after meeting,
Alfred and lisa were married,
And lisa moved in with alfred at their home in st. Charles.
[inge] he was just overjoyed.
And they were in love with each other.
She was just a lovely,
Young lady that he was just all excited about.
[narrator] the dalton family welcomed
The brainy swiss engineer with open arms.
Lisa's family thought that lisa had finally hit the jackpot.
He was a lead engineer at his company,
So he was able to provide for her.
[narrator] lisa eventually left college to join the workforce.
Lisa was gonna become a police officer,
And she applied for the st. Charles county,
Missouri, police academy.
[narrator] lisa's career in law enforcement
Would prove to be short lived.
Lisa was hired by the hazelwood police department.
There, she went through her field training phase.
I don't believe she made it off field training.
She had hurt her ankle.
That was the end of her law enforcement career.
[narrator] in 1991, lisa embarked on a new venture.
[eric] lisa began l.A. Designs,
Which was a wholesale fragrance business.
She had investors, and then she eventually brought in employees.
[becky] the perfumes were well known.
They were knock-offs, but they were well known.
I applied for a job and I was pretty much
Hired on the spot to sell perfume.
When everybody would start, you know,
Gathered their box full of perfume
And get ready to go out,
And it was like, we're going to do this.
We're going to sell a ton of it
We were told that there's a few top sellers that,
They'd go out and they'd come back
And their boxes would be empty.
And everybody's like, "oh, well, if they can do it, I can do it."
[narrator] as lisa and alfred embark
On their new business venture,
They seem to have a bright future ahead.
But after only four years together,
All of that comes crashing down
When lisa finds her husband murdered.
As lisa waits outside the couple's home,
St. Charles homicide investigators
Get their first look at alfred's body.
[john] as we were examining blood,
There were three droplets that led from the couch
Towards the basement door.
[narrator] investigators consider
Whether an intruder broke in an snuck up on alfred from behind.
[john] we went down the stairs into the basement
And we found a basement window that had been broken.
The glass was laying outside the house
Rather than inside the house.
Whoever broke the window did so from the inside.
It told us that, possibly, it was staged.
[john] if a stranger's gonna knock on the door
And force their way in,
They're probably gonna do the shooting right then and there.
They're not going to let you sit down on the couch
To watch tv and then shoot you from behind.
Someone was there who fredy trusted and knew.
Alfred knew the person who killed him.
We just had to figure out who that was.
[narrator] coming up...
Could an innocent crush have turned deadly?
He, apparently, was totally infatuated with lisa.
[narrator] and the investigation takes a high-profile turn.
Her dad, judge donald dalton, showed up at the crime scene.
[music]
[narrator] st. Charles county sheriff's deputies
Are at the home of lisa and alfred suter.
Alfred lies dead on the couch
From a gunshot wound to the head.
When investigators step outside to speak with lisa,
They find she is no longer alone.
Her dad, judge donald dalton, showed up at the crime scene
And asked to be let into the crime scene.
Most of the officers on the scene
Would have known who judge dalton was.
They still told him that he could not enter,
At which point he respected that decision.
[narrator] with the powerful judge's presence
Looming over the case, investigators make a decision.
[john] the st. Charles county sheriff's department
Called for an activation of the major case squad
To keep politics out of it.
[eric] that meant that police officers
From many local police departments,
Some miles away from the crime,
Were called and converged to investigate.
The first thing we heard was that a judge's daughter
Found her husband murdered,
So everything had to be done absolutely perfect in this case.
[narrator] the same day alfred's body is found,
The major case squad takes over
As their first order of business,
They do a thorough sweep of the suter home.
[john] alfred was on the couch facing the television,
Kind of slumped over.
The kitchen area was directly behind him.
They find some weapons on the kitchen counter,
Along with a cleaning kit.
The assumption here
Is that fredy had his guns out and was cleaning them.
The possibility that there had been a gun there
That the murderer could have grabbed and used was an option.
[narrator] however, investigators discover
A significant problem with their first theory.
Police found a 9-millimeter shell casing.
The firearms that were out on the table
Didn't match the bullet casings.
[john] none of them had been used as the murder weapon.
We had to identify if there were any guns owned
By either lisa or alfred that were missing.
[narrator] when investigators step outside to ask lisa,
They find she has been joined b another powerful family member.
Her brother, who was a prominent attorney, had showed up.
[narrator] attorney gene dalton announces
He is acting as his sister's counsel.
He allows lisa to answer questions about the guns.
Lisa told the police about all the weapons that she owned.
She had a beretta 9-millimeter
That was not found in the kitchen.
They escorted her upstairs
And looked for that 9-millimeter beretta.
It was nowhere to be found.
The 9-millimeter beretta is missing.
[narrator] lisa and her brother head to the station
To answer more questions.
There, lisa tells investigators
She didn't spend the previous night at home.
Lisa said she was with a friend who actually works for lisa
At lisa's perfume company.
They apparently went to a celebration.
And when they returned the next day,
She came home and discovered he husband on the couch like that.
She tells the police that her and alfred
Have a happy marriage.
They have a normal home life.
She had nothing to do with what happened to alfred.
She wasn't allowed to say much because her brother,
Who is a skilled attorney, was with her.
[narrator] after the interview,
Investigators follow up on her alibi.
[nicholas] her friend confirmed that lisa was with her
And spent the night with her over at her home.
[narrator] with lisa in the clear,
Investigators look to alfred's closest and oldest friend.
[eric] they contacted bruno schmitter,
Who was alfred's friend and mentor.
They interviewed him and he was, of course,
Shocked and sad by alfred's death.
[narrator] like lisa, he says alfred had no enemies,
But he points out that the sute marriage wasn't perfect.
[nicholas] fredy was truly in love with lisa.
And, at first, he was happy.
But the longer the relationship went,
She became a different person, basically.
She also liked her freedom, so she started going out.
It got much worse when lisa decided
She wanted to become a police officer.
Lisa brought her work home
With her by bringing fellow classmates home
With her to party, drink, hang out,
Do things up until very late hours of the night,
When fredy had to get up the next morning and go to work.
[kirk] I talked to him a little bit about his relationship.
You could tell there was problems.
[narrator] certain that lisa's attorney brother
Will deflect that line of questioning,
Investigators instead contact her instructors at the academy.
She went to the academy.
Mediocre grades, but she did graduate.
She was a probationary officer for three months.
[john] the field training officer
Was quite open and honest
And said that her evaluation process was poor,
Barely acceptable.
She had a personality that exemplified
She expected others to do the work for her.
They were gonna continue her probation
Because she simply was not cutting the mustard.
So, three days after she was notified about
Being put on further probation,
Lisa had an ankle injury and she simply resigned.
[narrator] he points them to debbie young,
Lisa's closest friend at the academy.
Debbie told police that she hadn't seen lisa in a while,
But that they were close while they were at the police academy
[john] I asked her what her opinion of lisa was.
Debbie's answer was lisa was the kind of person
Who could get a man to do just about anything for her.
Debbie had told me about a gentleman
By the name of richard and he, apparently,
Was totally infatuated with lisa.
He would bring her roses, presents,
Offered to do homework for her.
He did everything he could to pursue a relationship
With lisa suter.
[narrator] at first, lisa enjoyed the attention.
But eventually, she told richar to knock it off.
[eric] richard didn't really take that news very well
And continued to pursue lisa,
Sending her notes and small gifts.
[john] he was trying to get her to date him,
Even though she continued to turn him down.
Debbie described richard
As somebody who was maybe a little unstable
And would do strange things
Like boast about getting into fights over women.
[omar] he was wanting to get with lisa.
If he would get rid of the husband,
He has free reign to, to be with her.
[nicholas] richard had raised some red flags,
And we had to get those red flags answered.
Police bring richard in for questioning
And he denies any involvement in alfred's murder.
He said he had never had any sort of issue with alfred
And that he didn't know him that well.
He seemed totally open and honest,
Willing to help us in any manner, shape, or form.
[narrator] richard says the romance between
Himself and lisa wasn't a one-way street.
[john] lisa went out with him.
He said that they had dated.
[nicholas] lisa wanted to cut it off.
He wanted her back and she said no.
[john] they had a relationship
That he tried to get to go further ,
But then after the academy,
There had been no further contact.
[nicholas] richard was a police officer.
He really didn't have a motive to kill anybody,
Especially fredy suter.
He also had an airtight alibi
That he was nowhere near the crime scene.
We were able to verify that alibi and rule him out.
He was no longer a suspect.
[narrator] richard may be a dead end,
But investigators see that the suter marriage
Was not as picture perfect as lisa let on.
There's obvious evidence
That that relationship is not healthy.
Those conflicting statements
Just throw a bunch of red flags up.
Lisa is not being totally honest.
There's something not quite right here,
We need to investigate further.
[narrator] coming up...
Alfred's co-workers disclose chilling allegations...
All of us pretty much pointed the finger at her
Right off the bat.
Alfred had woken up one night
And she was pointing a gun at his head.
[music]
[narrator] the night after engineer alfred suter
Is gunned down on his couch,
Authorities begin paying visits to his co-workers.
Police decided to ask
As many people as they could about alfred,
His relationship with lisa.
We were all just flabbergasted.
I mean, we were just like, nobody could believe it.
[narrator] after the shock wears off,
The employees are eager to assist.
All of us pretty much pointed the finger at lisa
Right off the bat, you know?
No hesitation.
But, we just felt who else would do something like that to fredy?
[narrator] they report that the marriage
Had been troubled from the start.
[kirk] fredy got married to lisa pretty quick.
It went well for first couple of years,
And then they separated.
[joel] she went home to her parents,
And they said,
"you can't come home. You're supposed to be married.
You go back to fredy."
So, here she comes with her tai between her legs.
Then a year later, uh, fredy's back with her.
[narrator] soon after, lisa started her business:
L.A. Design perfume.
It became another sore spot in the already tense relationship.
Fredy was the financial backing for l.A. Design.
I don't know the exact amount,
But quite a bit of money to lis for this company,
And he was seeing nothing in return.
Fredy was continually feeding her money to keep it afloat.
She would keep going back to him, begging for help.
[narrator] his co-workers report that alfred was finally done.
It was obvious that lisa and alfred
Were not sleeping in the same bedroom.
He had been complaining about how the marriage was over.
He was trying to get her to leave him and divorce him.
She was refusing to move out of the house because,
If she had moved out, she wouldn't get the house.
[nicholas] she was gonna stay there.
She wanted fredy's money and she wanted fredy's house.
She was one of those gimme, gimme, gimme people.
[narrator] lisa dug in her heels and turned to intimidation.
One co-worker said that alfred told him
That he had woken up one night
And lisa was pointing a gun at his head.
Lisa had said, "see what I could do to you any time I want?"
It wasn't a healthy relationship in any way,
And you could tell fredy was afraid.
[narrator] investigators look into the rumored
Financial troubles.
[john] I did a little background on l.A. Design
And found it to be kind of along the lines
Of a pyramid-style scheme or business.
She would buy cases of imitation cologne
From a company in another state,
And then she was allowed to sell them
At whatever price she thought was appropriate.
She got these employees to sell them
For more than what they would have to pay lisa for,
Which was more than what lisa paid the original company for.
[narrator] hoping to gain additional insight,
Investigators visit l.A. Design
And speak with several employees.
[john] we interviewed various co-workers.
I learned that they were losing money
And probably going to have to close up shop.
Several of the employees observe
That lisa is a little flirtatious
With some of the men in the business.
Some people described her as promiscuous,
And that lisa could be manipulative with men
To get what she wanted.
Lisa even bragged about how she was getting in shape,
And she had a girlfriend who she became friends with
And would go out with and pick up guys with.
[narrator] investigators are informed
That lisa was especially fond of a certain employee,
23-year-old danny johnson.
[becky] there were rumors going around that lisa and dann
Were seeing each other.
Did I notice it? Maybe.
They seemed real friendly,
But was it overtly?
No.
[narrator] while lisa seemed to like danny
He wasn't popular with everyone
[john] most of 'em just got a bad feeling
About who he was and how he handled himself.
[becky] he was off.
Danny would have been more submissive.
He was a puppy dog after lisa.
He just didn't seem like everybody else.
He wasn't the norm.
[narrator] neither lisa nor danny
Are present at the time of questioning.
Armed with this new information
Investigators leave and refocus on their new potential suspect.
Danny told a lot of people that he was a police officer
From salt lake city.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
We found that danny did have a criminal record
In another state.
I believe it was assault 3rd.
Knowing what we just found out about danny johnson
Is we need to bring him in and talk to him a little bit deeper.
We'd had enough information to bring him in for questioning
[eric] when police first talk to danny
He says he doesn't know that much about lisa
And alfred's relationships,
That they didn't really talk about that very much at work.
But, over time, his story changes.
[narrator] danny slowly starts to admit
That he was friends with alfred
[john] she had brought him to meet alfred,
And the two of them hit it off over sports,
And that he was often over ther without lisa being around.
[narrator] police aren't buying
That danny was closest with alfred.
They continue to press.
He broke down and said,
"yes, her and I have been seeing each other."
He was under the impression
That lisa was going to leave alfred and marry him.
[narrator] investigators know that lisa didn't fire the shot
That killed alfred.
Now, they wonder if danny did.
So, we then treated him not just as a co-worker
Or a friend of the family,
But as a suspect, and started doing a deeper dive
Into who he was and where he may have been
On the night of the homicide.
[narrator] coming up...
A witness connects the dots.
She had seen danny cleaning a semiautomatic pistol.
[narrator] and a cold-hearted scheme is exposed.
The plan was to make this look like a home invasion.
[music]
[narrator] two days into fredy suter's murder investigation,
The greater st. Louis major case squad
Has just learned that fredy's wife, lisa,
Was dating her employee.
Lisa was having an affair with danny johnson.
He and lisa had been having relations
And he had been a friend of alfred's.
[narrator] with danny denying any involvement
And lisa protected by her high-powered family,
Investigators look for proof to back up the rumors
That lisa was in dire financial straits.
One of the things we found was that lisa
Had major debt problems.
She could barely pay her own bills.
If it wasn't for alfred's money,
She wouldn't be able to keep the business up and running.
[nicholas] the police found out that lisa
Was well over a hundred thousand dollars in debt.
[narrator] investigators learn that fredy's death
Could give lisa an out.
Alfred had recently gotten
A life insurance policy for a hundred thousand dollars,
And lisa had contacted that life insurance company
Shortly after, trying to increase it
To two hundred thousand dollars,
Unsuccessful at the time because she needed alfred's signature.
[nicholas] lisa saw this money as a way to escape.
She could move on with her lifestyle the way she wanted.
[narrator] lisa's alibi proves she didn't pull the trigger.
But her lover, danny johnson, isn't in the clear.
Danny's address led us to a house
That this woman and her children lived at,
And her name was dorothy.
Dorothy was danny's landlord,
But she would be willing to talk to us.
Dorothy told me that danny was a good kid.
She felt that he was kind of a son.
She had helped other young adults
By giving them a place to stay,
Providing them with a room,
Until they can get on their feet again.
And danny johnson was one of the people that she had helped out.
[nicholas] she knew a little bit about what was going on.
He told her about how lisa was his girlfriend.
Lisa had promised him money and marriage.
[narrator] dorothy discloses that danny recently made
Troubling comments about his lover.
Dorothy tells the police that danny said that lisa
Had been looking for a hitman on her husband, alfred.
[john] danny had made a comment
Just a few days before the homicide
That he and lisa had trouble finding a hitman,
So he would have to do the murder himself.
A lot of times, when people hear statements like that made,
They think a person's just ranting and raving,
And they don't mean to follow through with those things.
So, a lot of times, people will not call police.
[narrator] dorothy didn't take the comments seriously,
Nor did she think much about what she saw
On the night of October 11th.
[john] she also told me the night of the homicide,
She had seen danny sitting in the living room of her house
Cleaning a semiautomatic pistol
[narrator] on October 14th,
Investigators confront danny with dorothy's statement.
[john] by the time they had made it
Down to the jennings police department,
He was in custody as a suspect, the lead suspect.
[narrator] faced with dorothy's claims,
Danny still denies involvement.
They ask him to take a polygraph test.
[john] he passed most of the questions.
However, when it came to specifics about
"were you involved in alfred's homicide?"
And "do you know anything about the gun used
In alfred's homicide?",
He failed those questions.
[narrator] authorities confront danny with the results.
[john] look, you know, you failed the polygraph
And it's kind of in your best interest
To tell us what you know because we know
You were involved somehow.
Talk to us.
[eric] danny knew that he was boxed into a corner.
Danny said that lisa had told him that,
If they were truly to be together
And start a life together,
That alfred would have to be killed.
The plan that lisa had was to make this look like
That this was a home invasion,
Like an intruder broke into the home,
Saw firearms at the table and grabbed it,
And was able to kill alfred at the scene.
[john] she told danny how to stage the house,
Including breaking a basement window
To look as if it was a burglary gone bad,
Where the gun would be,
And what to do with the gun afterwards.
Lisa convinced danny that he should be the one
To kill alfred.
As soon as this was all settled, they would get married.
[narrator] danny tells investigators
He attempted to put the plan into motion on October 10th.
[nicholas] he said he also chickened out.
He couldn't go through with it.
Lisa suter was absolutely furious
And sent him back to her home the next night.
[eric] danny, on the night of October 11th,
Went over to the house.
Alfred let him in.
They hung out together and, under danny's jacket,
He had brought a gun with him.
Lisa had given danny her 9-millimeter gun
To use as the murder weapon.
They were talking and drinking, watching television.
Fredy fell asleep.
When fredy was asleep,
He went up behind fredy and blew the back of his head off.
Once he actually pulled the trigger,
He kind of panicked, and he didn't leave the house
In as big a mess as lisa had originally told him to,
To make it look like a burglar had been there.
He haphazardly set up what was supposed to be a break-in.
This was a horrible, heinous murder,
But it was done in a very amateurish way.
Nothing was done correctly.
Danny johnson said that he went over the bridge
Crossing the missouri river and threw the gun into the river.
At that point in his interview, danny was placed under arrest.
[john] he even took us out to that location
Where he tossed it in,
And we sent divers down to try to locate it,
But that was to no avail.
[narrator] on October 15th,
Authorities prepare to arrest the prominent missouri woman
They believe is the mastermind.
All roads led back to lisa,
Especially after the statement given by danny johnson.
So, lisa was arrested by turning herself in.
All that was said was, basically,
Her husband was murdered.
She found him and knew nothing else.
[eric] lisa does post bond.
It's a half a million dollars' bond.
[nicholas] she did not have to spend time in jail.
Her parents' house was used as collateral on a property bond,
Which allowed lisa freedom to leave after being arrested.
[narrator] lisa's arrest is big news in st. Charles.
[joel] the presiding circuit judge's daughter
Is accused of brutally murderin her husband?
Yes, it made the front page of the papers.
[narrator] despite the stain of her alleged crimes,
Prosecutors learn lisa's family might be their biggest obstacle
[joel] she had a father who was a presiding circuit judge.
No judge in st. Charles county or anywhere close by
Was going to touch that case.
[music]
[narrator] missouri authorities have arrested lisa suter
And her lover, danny johnson,
For the murder of her husband, alfred.
The high-profile case struggles to find a home.
There are four circuit judges in st. Charles county,
And they all excused themselves
Because they knew lisa suter's father,
Judge dalton.
They went to boone county, and that is columbia, missouri,
Right in the middle of the state.
That is where the case was tried.
[narrator] on February 22nd, 1993,
Lisa's trial begins in boone county,
Two and a half hours away from where the crime took place.
Lisa pleads not guilty and maintains
That she had nothing to do with alfred's murder.
[narrator] her lover and co-conspirator
Stands by his confession.
[nicholas] danny johnson took a plea deal.
He was offered life without parole
If he would testify against lisa suter, which he did.
[eric] the prosecution uses danny as their star witness,
And he turns against lisa,
Telling the jury that it was her idea
To kill alfred to collect the life insurance policy.
Danny also described lisa as manipulative, greedy,
And somebody who would do anything to get what she wanted
[nicholas] danny johnson told the whole story
Exactly the way it really happened.
He was promised many things and got nothing.
She wanted everything that a single woman could have,
But without fredy.
She saw the only way to get all these things
Was by fredy leaving the scene with a bullet through his head.
[narrator] next, prosecutors drop a bombshell.
They allege lisa made previous attempts to have fredy killed.
[joel] the state brought in two other men
Who she had solicited to do the murder.
They were very clear on the stand when they testified.
She asked them to kill her husband.
[nicholas] she had left a trail of crumbs here
That show that she was going to get this done
Any way she could've.
[narrator] lisa's defense team takes aim.
The tactic, the only thing you could do
Is try and discredit the witnesses against her.
We cross-examined the two guys
And make them out to be fortune hunters.
They just wanted the 15 minutes of fame.
If we can show that they are not credible
Or parts of their story don't make sense,
If there's no credible evidence,
Then you can't find somebody guilty.
[narrator] lisa never takes the stand.
Her attorneys present her as a lost and lonely young woman.
[joel] she wanted out.
She tried to divorce the guy.
Her parents wouldn't let her.
She's stuck in a marriage that she doesn't want to be in.
She's in her early twenties.
And what's she going to do?
She developed the plan to free herself.
[narrator] they allege this led to lisa's affair with danny
And the deadly consequences that followed.
She denied everything and blamed danny doing this all on his own.
[joel] desperate people do desperate things.
She was a desperate person, more desperate than anybody realized.
[narrator] on February 25th, 1993,
The jury reaches its verdict.
Lisa was found guilty of murder in the first degree.
Lisa was sentenced to life in prison
Without the possibility of parole.
I was glad that there is justice because she was the instigator.
Even though she had people to actually do the murder,
It was her.
She was just evil, evil, evil.
[kirk] fredy was just that friendly
And he was taken advantage of to the extreme.
It just broke everybody's heart.
You kind of lost a little faith,
You know, in-in all humanity over it.
There's certain souls out there that, uh, they have that spark,
That infectious smile.
I was able to take some of that with me.
You know, fredy had that magic,
And this is the best I can do for it,
You know, to carry it on.
[music]