- Female narrator: She was the queen of the texarkana
dance circuit.
- Kindra: Her husband, he was the caller.
She was like the belle of the ball.
- All of the men just were head over heels in love with her.
I loved her to death. She was fun to--to be around.
- Narrator: But was someone in texarkana looking
for a new partner?
- Stephanie: We're in the bible belt.
It's not looked kindly upon--
people having extramarital affairs.
- We see that he's getting divorce papers.
He's getting them served to his wife.
- Narrator: When her body is discovered in a pool of blood,
rumors spread through this tight-knit community.
- This person wanted her dead and they wanted her dead bad.
- It was a terrible thing, you know, who would do this?
- She wanted to leave $10,000 to each of them.
It was pretty suspicious circumstances.
- Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
- ♪
♪
- narrator: December 3, 2013, 5:30 p.M.
The sun has already set in texarkana, arkansas,
when barbara ricketts and phyllis nabors
arrive at the home of their friend,
59-year-old widow patti wheelington.
- At 3 o'clock, she was supposed to be taking her friend
to the doctor, and she did not show up.
Nobody could find patti.
We kept calling, leaving messages.
She never returned anybody's call, so around 5 o'clock,
we get concerned about her
and we're gonna get to the bottom of it.
I told barbara to come and get me,
I thought it would be better if we go out there together,
so she came and picked me up.
So, we went out to the house. All the lights were on.
Eventually we got out of the car
and went up to the porch.
It just looked like a rug at the front door.
It was kind of dark 'til we really realized
that that was her. Patti was dead.
She was laying right at the front door.
She was so cold and swollen.
I knew she had been there for a while,
and there was not gonna be any reviving her.
The only thing I knew to do was call 911.
I was in a state of shock.
There's nothing we can do for her.
She's passed away.
- Narrator: Patti ann phillips
was born in philadelphia, pennsylvania,
on November 2, 1954.
Beautiful and charismatic,
patti always had a way with people.
- Oh, she was fabulous. She had, uh, shorter hair.
And it was silky. It was shiny.
And she had these happy eyes and always smiling.
- Patti was just a beautiful, giving person
with a personality-- she could do anything.
She never met a stranger.
- Narrator: After studying at the university of delaware,
and then texas a&m university,
patti took a job at the department of human services
in the city of texarkana, arkansas.
- It does have a small town feel, and you pretty much--
you don't know everybody, but you know somebody
who knows somebody and--and you know each other that way.
- Narrator: Patti worked with senior citizens
in the community, where the vivacious 35-year-old woman
caught the eye of 59-year-old korean war veteran
and successful sales manager, ray wheelington.
- I think that ray did very well for himself in business.
He had a very nice house.
- John: Patti was attractive.
And a lot of times, as men grow older,
they kind of like the attention of younger women.
And patti, she was really sweet. She was extremely flirty.
- Narrator: After a brief courtship,
the couple married on December 29, 1989.
Although a northener by birth,
patti embraced life as a southern lady,
even taking on one of ray's more unusual hobbies:
Square dancing.
- Phyllis: Everybody's like a family.
Doesn't cost much, and you get a free meal.
And I just loved it.
Once--if you love it, you love it,
and you will be there every week.
- Kindra: It's what they identify with as a--
they are square dancers. That's what they do.
That's what they are.
I just remember that it was a lifestyle.
- Narrator: Patti and ray joined a 100-person strong
square dancing club known as the guys 'n dolls,
and the weekly dance quickly became the very center
of the couple's social calendar.
- Ray, he was the caller.
He got up there, so she was... Like the belle of the ball.
She would walk around and visit and talk and made sure
everyone was comfortable.
- Phyllis: Ray and patti was so friendly,
and their house was, like, open to just...Everybody.
We would have big cookouts at their house.
- Narrator: Ray and patti's house was the club's
de-facto headquarters until tragedy struck in 2009.
- There was a fire, and that fire, you know,
ravaged that home.
- Narrator: When ray and patti decided to rebuild,
they turned to one of their closest square dancing friends
to oversee the project: James hyatt.
- Ray and patti knew james from the guys 'n dolls club
and they hired him to rebuild their house.
- They rebuilt the home, it was nice.
A pretty extravagant home.
- James's friendship with the wheelingtons
just really blossomed.
- Narrator: Even after james finished
the last coat of paint, the wheelingtons stayed close
with james and his wife, virginia.
- They were fairly tight-knit.
They went out to dinner together, they went to movies,
you know, little couple dates and stuff like that.
- We played cards two or three times a week.
Virginia was a very good card partner. Fun to be around.
They were all just together all the time.
- Narrator: In 2010, the wheelingtons' marriage
was thriving in their new home,
until ray's health suddenly began to deteriorate,
and in 2011, he was diagnosed with dementia
at 81 years old.
- Kindra: His health was declining.
He could no longer be at the club,
and he could no longer do the calls at the club.
- Patti had been working with the--with senior citizens
with the, uh, department of human services,
but ray got so bad at home, that she worried so much
about ray that she gave that job up to stay home with him.
And he did not last very long after she quit her job.
- Narrator: On November 10, 2012,
ray passed away,
leaving patti a widow at only 58.
With her husband of 22 years gone,
patti filled her days with square dancing
and volunteer work.
- They had no kids, uh, you know it was--
he was her world.
- Phyllis: When ray passed away,
patti got really close to the rest of us dancers,
because patti didn't have anyone.
- Stephanie: She, you know, took people to their
doctor's appointments, and, um,
she helped people with their medication and helped them
get the groceries they needed.
- Narrator: After nearly a year of mourning,
patti was ready to start the next chapter of her life.
- She was vivacious and bubbly,
and--and maybe a few years younger than some
of the other dancers.
- All of the men just were head over heels in love with her.
- Narrator: Sadly, patti would never get the chance
to find her late-in-life love.
On December 3, 2013,
patti's friends barbara ricketts and phyllis nabors
are beside themselves when they discover her lifeless body.
- They discovered patti on the front porch.
So then, they called us.
- Narrator: When officers arrive on the scene,
they are met by patti's shaken friends,
who gesture towards the gruesome scene on her porch.
As officers approach, their flashlights illuminate
patti wheelington's cause of death.
- Stephanie: They went and checked on the body.
Patti wheelington was shot five times.
She was clearly deceased.
- Narrator: Coming up, investigators piece together
a surprising list of suspects.
- She knew this person... Definitely.
Without a doubt, she knew the person.
- Narrator: And a shocking discovery suggests patti
wasn't the only thing this calculated killer was after.
- Patti had a lot of money and no heirs.
- John: When you start looking,
there are some huge red flags with several people.
- ♪
- narrator: For 59-year-old widow patti wheelington,
December 2013 was the time for her second act.
- She relied heavily on her friends,
her close group of friends.
And eventually, started getting out again.
She was ready to make a change.
- Narrator: But on December 3, 2013,
investigators are standing on patti's front porch,
wondering who shot her five times.
- I think we were surprised, um, when we started looking
into this case and we started seeing the age of the victim.
- Jason: It was really kind of eerie, 'cause you don't know
why this is happening out there.
It's not our typical homicide.
- Later in life you don't-- around here--we don't really
have those types of crimes or murders.
You know, ours are usually, unfortunately, younger people.
- This was an affluent person in a nice neighborhood
and that kind of sent a message out to the community
that this could happen to anybody.
- Narrator: As detectives begin their investigation,
it's clear the two women who found patti
are in no condition to interview.
- Paul: Both of them appeared to me to be shocked.
It's like they couldn't believe what had taken place.
- Narrator: While patti's friends collect themselves
before further questioning,
a team of investigators turns its attention
to the crime scene.
- Paul: Ms. Wheelington is laying right there
at the entrance to the doorway.
She was in a position where she was clutching her chest
with one hand and then her right hand was laid out
with a cigarette still in her fingers.
- Marc: She had a bullet wound
kind of right of the--uh, the spleen.
She had one in the top of her right breast.
She had, uh, another one towards the bottom
of her right breast.
She had a through and through on the right forearm,
and then she had one in the back,
that come through the back and through the--
through the side. So, she was hit five times.
I know that it was relatively close range, because our victim
had, uh, stifling on her-- on her face.
- You're usually not shot that many times.
Seemed like it was at close range.
It was very determined, there was anger in it.
This person that wanted-- wanted her dead,
wanted her dead bad.
- Marc: Rigor mortis had set in, and you could tell that
she had been there pretty much all day long.
- Stephanie: This is not someone who was involved in dangerous,
illegal activity, this is someone who is sitting
on their front porch drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette,
like she did often.
- From the table, you can see a blood trail.
Along with the blood trail, we found bullet strikes.
- I had a bullet hole that was in the back of the chair,
and I traced that bullet hole through the back of the chair
and into the bedroom window.
I believe it was a--a .38.
- It's clear she was trying to get away
and was continuously hit with bullets from every direction.
- And I could tell that there were six shots fired--
a minimum of six shots fired,
which is kind of consistent with a revolver--
a six-shot revolver-- and we had no casings,
that's a pretty good indication that it's a revolver.
- Narrator: To detectives, this crime seems personal.
- If it was a stranger coming up your driveway,
and you were sitting on your porch in your bathrobe,
you'd probably get up really quickly and run inside
and put on something a little more appropriate.
- It was not the type thing where it was
a spur-of-the-moment thing
and someone's emotion just got out of hand.
Somebody went there with the intention to kill her.
- Narrator: As csi work to comb patti's home for clues,
detectives canvass the neighborhood.
- Patti wheelington lived in a somewhat remote area.
It was still in town, but it was, um,
in a neighborhood where the houses sit on large,
multi-acre lots.
- You're thinking, there's not gonna be anybody
that witnessed this, more than likely.
So, you're trying to run through your mind,
"I hope we can find somebody, some way to solve this one."
- narrator: Luckily, a few neighbors claim
to have heard a commotion that morning.
- We had numerous individuals around the home
who heard gunshots around 8 o'clock that morning,
and they all describe pretty much the same thing:
Four or five gunshots.
- I believe they were, like, almost one second apart.
Just, "bam, bam, bam."
- they thought nothing of it because it wasn't unusual
for folks around there to-- to fire a couple of rounds
into the air to--to get the geese out of their garden
or the deer off their lawn.
- Narrator: Meanwhile, csi has begun processing
the inside of patti wheelington's home for evidence.
- Marc: The one thing I remember about the house is,
everything was in place.
It was very clean, it was, uh, nothing was ransacked, uh,
I am totally confident that once the victim was killed,
nobody entered that house.
- Jason: We couldn't see that anything had been taken.
We were able to, uh, rule out a robbery very shortly.
- Narrator: The only thing that catches detectives' attention
inside the home is a pile of papers
on the kitchen counter.
- There was a receipt that was laying on the countertop.
And this receipt was from a locksmith company
who had just changed her locks the day before.
That's something that, of course, drew our attention,
because most people don't just randomly change
their door locks.
- You're kinda thinking, "why's all of a sudden
she getting her--her locks changed on the house?"
- john: She could be saying, "there's someone I'm afraid of."
she was definitely saying,
"there's somebody I don't want in my house."
- narrator: The other papers on the counter are documents
concerning patti's life insurance policy,
which lists a number of beneficiaries.
- When ray wheelington passed away,
he left patti a lot of money and no heirs,
so patti left money in her will to help local organizations.
She also left money in her will to these members
of the guys 'n dolls club.
- Narrator: Two familiar friends appear
in the life insurance policy:
Barbara ricketts and phyllis nabors.
The women who found patti's body.
The revelation forces police to consider the possibility
that patti's seemingly concerned friends
are actually her killers.
- Phyllis: They had to, you know, check us all out
and make sure we--we weren't the ones that killed patti.
- Narrator: Coming up, had money driven a wedge
between old friends?
- They all got a substantial amount of money after her death.
- Narrator: Or is there a darker motive at play?
- They believe that there was an affair going on.
- Paul: If someone is reluctant to sit down for an interview,
it does raise suspicion.
- ♪
- narrator: Detectives in texarkana, arkansas,
have just discovered the life insurance policy
of patti wheelington listed two beneficiaries
very close to the case:
Barbara ricketts and phyllis nabors,
the women who claim to have discovered patti's body
hours earlier.
- They all got a substantial amount of money
from her--after her death.
- She was a wealthy person and the members
of the dance community were in her will.
She wanted to leave $10,000 to each of them.
It was pretty suspicious circumstances.
- Narrator: That evening, detectives separately
interview both women.
Barbara and phyllis say they were contacted earlier
that day by a mutual friend and fellow square dancer,
80-year-old ken caldwell.
- Ken caldwell called us that-- told us that he, uh,
was not getting picked up by patti to take him to the doctor.
And he got worried, and that's how we got out
to see about her around 5 o'clock that afternoon.
- Narrator: Detectives ask the two women if they knew
that patti had left them money in her will.
- After ray had passed away, she had a $100,000 policy,
and she said, "y'all are the only family I have,
and I'm gonna split this up."
and I said, "oh, yeah, that's really cool, patti,
"you're younger than all of us.
"we're gonna be dead so, you know,
we're not gonna ever see this money."
but she insisted.
- Narrator: Investigators grill both women to find out
how far they would go to receive their cuts
of patti's life insurance payout.
- They had to interrogate us like we could have murdered her
to get our $20,000 well, that was a joke.
- Narrator: Barbara says she was with family
all afternoon, and phyllis claims
that she and her friend had spent the day together.
- There was no one in this world that would ever hurt patti.
There's no one in this world that was angry enough
to kill patti--no one.
- Her friends would tell us everyone that knew patti...
Loved patti.
She just warmed up to anybody, she talked to anybody,
and she usually made good friends.
- Narrator: Phyllis and barbara tell police that patti
hadn't settled on a new beau yet,
but there were ugly rumors circulating
around the square dancing club.
- There was rumors even before ray died,
that patti was seeing someone.
- Narrator: Phyllis says that james hyatt,
a contractor who was married to another square dancer,
virginia hyatt, had been close to patti
and her late husband, ray.
- This life insurance policy had james and virginia
and me and harvey and barbara.
- There was a lot of trust there, obviously,
because both ray and patti named james
as executor of their wills.
- After ray passed away, james was there to help patti
around the house, fix things that needed to be fixed.
- Even if patti wasn't there, he had a key, he could go in,
he could fix things.
- Phyllis: There's a lot of the women that were jealous,
'cause patti was flirty, and of course they believe that
there was an affair going on.
The ones that were closest to patti is the ones
that did not believe it.
- Narrator: Although they dismissed the gossip,
phyllis and barbara admit that patti and james's behavior
had recently added fuel to the rumor mill.
- John: There was a time right before patti was murdered
that her and james went out of town at the same time.
- All of a sudden, james goes out of town,
patti's out of town,
and then james sends divorce papers to virginia.
- Narrator: Phyllis says when virginia hyatt
received those papers just days before the murder,
she immediately called her.
- Virginia hyatt called me on Friday just in tears
and crying and said james had left her.
She was just distraught.
- He leaves virginia and left her high and dry--
41 or 42 years, I think, they were married.
No children, no family, nothing.
- Narrator: The women say the square dancing club
buzzed with the news that james and patti
had run off together, but even though james
hadn't come back to town,
patti had returned alone on December 2.
- She had been out of town, uh, she had gone to louisiana.
But it just so happened that this was at the same time.
- From the outside looking in,
that looked extremely suspicious.
- Narrator: When she checked in on virginia on December 3rd,
phyllis says that her friend had made peace with her divorce.
- She went from desperate and angry to calm and relaxed,
and...You know, happy outlook on life,
"everything is gonna be good from here on out."
- and I thought, "alright, we're on our way to recovery."
- narrator: Still, james's whereabouts
remain a mystery.
- James was gone, and this is highly suspicious.
- Narrator: After striking phyllis and barbara
from the suspect list, investigators are able to reach
james hyatt on his cell phone.
He tells police that friends have already informed him
about patti's tragic death.
- John: I believe it was phyllis nabors who called
and told him patti had been murdered,
he needed to get back there.
- James had gone to florida where his sister lived,
and was spending time there.
- Narrator: Detectives question james
about his relationship with patti.
- They spent time together, they were close.
They talked to each other every day.
James did admit that.
- James basically denied all things
about a sexual relationship with patti.
- Jason: He wasn't very cooperative, really.
He didn't want to talk to us, he wanted to talk to a sergeant.
He didn't care to talk to a lowly detective,
he wanted to talk to somebody of rank.
- I don't recall him really offering a whole lot of anything
that was other than what we specifically asked.
- Narrator: James agrees to come in for a formal interview
when he returns to texarkana.
While detectives wait for his return,
they ping james's cell phone.
- Paul: We can see where he traveled,
the route he took and what time he was traveling.
So, we knew he was well away from the area
when patti was killed.
- We thought maybe james was involved in this,
and then we find out james was in florida,
and james had left on Friday, right after thanksgiving.
And so, he couldn't be involved in it.
- Narrator: And yet, james's earlier demeanor
on the phone doesn't exactly dispel detectives' concerns.
- Paul: If you're a friend of someone and your friend
has been killed, you should be willing to jump through hoops
or whatever we ask you to do if it helps us get to the person
who killed your friend.
One of the things that we dealt with
was trying to establish a motive that he would have
to try to cause harm to patti.
He was in her will as the executor of her estate.
We learn that, you know,
he was mentioned in her life insurance policy.
- She has a substantial estate, substantial money gonna be
coming to him when she passes.
We don't believe in coincidence.
You know, things happen for a reason,
and we see that he's getting divorce papers.
He's getting them served to his wife the same day
that patti had the locks changed.
- Narrator: With james out of town,
investigators shift their focus and decide
to sit down with 80-year-old ken caldwell,
the man who first raised the alarm
about patti's disappearance.
- Stephanie: Ken caldwell definitely was sweet on patti.
He relied on patti to get him to his doctor's appointments
and help him with his-- getting his medication
and groceries and things of that nature.
- Jason: They had a special relationship.
He liked her, enjoyed talking to her,
talked to her every morning.
- Narrator: Ken tells police that on December 3,
he and patti were chatting on the phone around 8 a.M.,
just like they always did.
But ken says that morning, their call was interrupted.
- She just said, "virginia's here again,
I'll call you back." uh, and hung up immediately.
- That was the last anybody ever talked to patti.
- Narrator: Coming up, a killer's true colors
are exposed.
- She was presented as this crazy person who was jealous.
- She is literally just, you know, weeping, wailing,
gnashing teeth.
- It's hard for me to imagine a grown man
being that scared of his wife.
- ♪
- narrator: After dissecting the rumors swirling around
the texarkana square dance circuit,
investigators have reason to believe there was bad blood
between their victim, patti wheelington,
and her friend, virginia hyatt.
- Virginia had assumed, and perhaps correctly,
that james was leaving her for patti wheelington,
and had discovered that her husband was filing for divorce.
- Narrator: According to patti's friend, ken caldwell,
virginia knew about the rumors surrounding her husband
and patti's relationship, and when she learned
of her husband's intent to divorce her,
just days before patti's murder, she did not take it well.
- Phyllis: The last time that we were at patti's,
virginia was mad and upset with her.
She was just rude and ugly.
- Stephanie: She made some disparaging comments about patti
and saying that patti was...Flirtatious.
She was always flirting with all of the men.
I think everyone was kind of dismissive of it
and rolling their eyes and, you know, kind of, you know,
"isn't virginia crazy?"
- narrator: So when patti said on their phone call that morning
that virginia had pulled up to visit,
ken tells police he was immediately wary.
- Jason: She'd been talking to ken caldwell and, uh,
as he was talking to her that morning,
virginia hyatt came to the house, and she told ken,
"I'll call you back later, virginia's at my house again."
uh, and so, she hung up with him.
- Stephanie: Mr. Caldwell, uh, was concerned the minute
he got off the phone with her because he was already concerned
about virginia hyatt's behavior.
- It just further fueled his anxiousness and worry that--
that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong.
- Jason: It was right around 8 o'clock--
8 o'clock in the morning, uh, which is the time that
we were able to get from the neighbors
that the shots were fired.
- So, that really led the detectives to suspect
that they had a pretty clear, identifiable suspect
in virginia hyatt.
- We secured a warrant for her arrest.
- Narrator: At 2 a.M. On December 4,
nearly 24 hours after patti wheelington was murdered,
officers arrive at virginia's modest texarkana home.
- We take her into custody.
Put her in handcuffs, put her in a patrol car.
- Jason: You feel sorry for her. Uh, and you're like,
"I don't know."
you start, maybe guessing yourself going,
"could she really be the one to do this?"
- narrator: At the station, detectives ask virginia
about her relationship with patti wheelington,
her husband's alleged mistress.
- Paul: Virginia knew about the affair.
She described patti as friends,
though I believe she tried to conceal it,
she held resentment for patti.
- Jason: She was upset because james left her
and she couldn't believe that he would do that
after all those years.
- Narrator: But virginia says that she's made peace
with the end of her marriage.
- Virginia gave the appearance that she had accepted things
as far as james filing for divorce.
She never gave us the appearance
that she was the distraught person
that we believed that she was.
- And she's telling us that she would never,
never do anything to patti.
- Narrator: Virginia says that 80-year-old ken caldwell
must have made a mistake when he said
she was at patti's home that morning.
- She told us that she had gotten up, uh,
and about 8 o'clock, and she went to...Mcdonald's,
then she went to the nursing home and visited her mother.
- Jason: Eight o'clock in the morning
she had been at mcdonald's getting food for her mother,
and spending time with her at the nursing home.
If she's there at 8 o'clock, it's gonna be impossible for her
to kill patti at 8 o'clock.
- Paul: We ended our interview with her,
she was taken up to the jail, where she was booked in,
and we go about
starting to try to investigate her story.
- Narrator: Detectives start by subpoenaing patti, virginia,
and james's phone records.
- As we had patti's phone... Analyzed, uh,
we were able to discover that there were some voicemails
that were left from virginia to patti.
- Lynn: She is literally just, you know, weeping, wailing.
She's just trying to talk and sob at the same time
and it's just unintelligible.
- It definitely supported the motive that we knew
was there for virginia to have killed patti.
- Narrator: Virginia's voicemails aren't the only
big break that come from the cell phone sweep.
- They found out that james had two cell phones.
- Jason: He's too old to be a drug dealer,
and he shouldn't have two phones.
I was like, "okay, this is highly suspicious."
uh, I was very bothered by it.
- Narrator: When detectives retrieve the calls
and messages from the phone,
it turns out james had used it to contact just one person:
Patti wheelington.
- He didn't want virginia to be aware that he was, uh,
making phone calls to and from.
It was obvious by the information in the phone
that they were more than just friends.
- Virginia was presented by all the members
of the guys 'n dolls club as this crazy person
who was jealous for no reason, but it turns out,
she was jealous for good reason.
- Narrator: After detectives finish combing
through cell phone records,
james arrives at the station for his scheduled interview.
- We sat him down and we said, "look here's--
"here's what we have, you need to be honest,
it's very important for you to be honest."
and so, he admitted that, yes, they did have an affair.
- He wanted to protect patti's reputation.
- Stephanie: In texarkana, this is a small town.
We're in the bible belt.
It's not looked kindly upon;
people having extramarital affairs.
- Narrator: According to james, the affair began in 2009,
shortly after he finished rebuilding
the wheelingtons' home.
- She and james struck up a romantic relationship
before ray's death, but during a period of time
when ray didn't really know who people were.
It's not surprising that she would have sought solace
in--in, you know, somebody really close to her.
- I felt dumb that I didn't know, you know,
it's right in front of your face and you can't see it.
- Narrator: According to james, his relationship with virginia
had been on the rocks for years.
- He said they had separate bedrooms for the past ten years,
they were not close.
- After I thought about it, I don't think him and virginia
had any kind of a relationship outside of dance partner.
- Jason: She's not as attractive as patti.
Her and james don't have any children,
they don't have anything really holding them together anymore.
- Narrator: James says the situation worsened
when virginia learned of the affair.
- The older she got, the more possessive she got.
The more jealous she got.
- James even said he locked his door at night
for fear of virginia.
It's hard for me to imagine...
A grown man being that scared of his wife,
that he would lock the door.
- There was obviously something in virginia's character
that caused the people who knew her best
to--to think she was capable of anything.
- Narrator: James says his fears were confirmed at thanksgiving,
when virginia pulled james's sisters aside
for a private chat.
- Virginia told james hyatt's sisters, around thanksgiving,
that she felt like james was going to kill his self.
So, they got concerned.
- Lynn: The sisters came to james and they said,
"you know, virginia's coming to us and she's saying
she's concerned that you're gonna kill yourself."
they all theorized that, "virginia's gonna kill you
"and try to make it look like you did it yourself,
you need to get the hell out of dodge."
- narrator: James says he took his sisters' advice
and went to florida.
- He begged patti to go with him to florida and be out of town
because he was afraid of what virginia would do
when she received the divorce papers.
- Paul: Patti said, "I'm not running.
I'm not running from her. I'm"--
basically, she felt like that whatever came up,
she could talk to virginia.
- Patti did have her locks changed,
but refused to leave her home.
- Narrator: When detectives ask if virginia
had access to a weapon,
james says virginia did have one gun: A .38 revolver.
- She had a gun just like the one used in this murder.
- Narrator: Coming up, can prosecutors convince a jury
that this 67-year-old woman is a cold-blooded killer?
- Virginia she just looked... Kind of pitiful.
- There's no way that this decrepit old lady
climbed those steps and fired five shots.
- [gunshot]
- ♪
- narrator: Nearly 36 hours into the investigation
of who killed patti wheelington, detectives now believe
that on the morning of December 3, 2013,
virginia hyatt killed her husband's mistress
in a jealous rage.
- Paul: I believe that she was lying about her alibi.
Fortunately for us, uh,
she gave us the part of her alibi that was true
as far as her going to mcdonald's.
- She said she was at mcdonald's at 8 o'clock
going through the drive thru.
He obtained those videos.
So, after viewing the videos, he found that she did not
go through at 8 o'clock, but she did go through at 9,
adjusting her time by an hour.
- She had plenty of time and opportunity
to drive to patti's house to kill patti--
- [gunshots]
- paul: --And then come back and carry out through her day
like she had done nothing.
- Narrator: Later that day, investigators go to virginia's
home with a search warrant.
Although they don't find the suspected murder weapon,
they uncover something else.
- Paul: We go to the video at mcdonald's and we're able
to see what she's wearing.
We know we need to locate her clothing that she was
wearing that day in her home.
- Stephanie: In her house, on her bed, were some clothes
that she had obviously worn and tossed on the bed,
and one of those items was a shirt that she was seen
wearing in the mcdonald's video.
- Narrator: Detectives send the shirt to the arkansas
crime lab to test for gunpowder residue.
A few days later, the results come back.
- Lo and behold there's, uh,
gunpowder residue on her clothing.
- Narrator: Details of virginia's arrest
and patti and james's affair quickly become front-page news.
- Phyllis: I just had to sit down 'cause...
I had defended it that they didn't have an affair
for so long, it was just shocking.
- Because patti wheelington was an...Very involved member
in the community, people took note.
I had several members of the community approach me
to be sure that virginia was prosecuted
to the fullest extent of the law.
- Narrator: Virginia's trial gets underway
on February 2, 2016.
Prosecutors assert that after her husband of 40 years
filed for divorce, virginia turned
on her husband's mistress, patti wheelington.
- Phyllis: She wasn't gonna get james back.
Her life was over. But she could kill patti.
And then everything would be okay.
- Lynn: She got that .38-caliber pistol,
she went over to patti's house on the morning
of December the 3, she got out of her car
and started to walk up.
- Paul: Everyone who knew patti
said that she always felt like she could talk to anyone.
And...I--I believe that's probably the way she approached
virginia coming up that morning, was that she could talk to her.
- Lynn: Patti probably said, "hey, virginia, you know,
james isn't here."
and virginia just pulled that gun out and started shooting.
- [muffled gunshot] - paul: Patti panics
and tries to make it to the door of the house,
but virginia tracks her across that porch
and continues shooting her up until the point
that patti fell dead.
- Narrator: Virginia's attorneys argue that the woman sitting
at the defendant's table isn't the cold, calculated killer
that prosecutors describe.
- Virginia, she just looked... Kind of...Pitiful.
Just looked so much older 'cause she hadn't got
her hair fixed.
- She would limp into the courtroom,
or at hearings they'd have her-- wheel her in in a wheelchair,
and--and she really did her best, I think,
to play this little old lady role.
- It was a concern that the jury would look at her
and say, "there's no way that this decrepit old lady climbed
those steps and fired five shots."
- narrator: On February 8, 2016,
after only an hour of deliberations,
the jury returns with a verdict.
- They found her guilty of capital murder,
it's an automatic life sentence.
- I was so proud they found that virginia guilty
and that she will never get out and hurt anyone else.
- Narrator: For prosecutors, investigators,
and the town of texarkana, it is a bittersweet end
to this case of a woman scorned.
- Phyllis: Patti was so generous.
It's just unreal.
What a personality that we have lost.
- Stephanie: Patti should be remembered how she lived.
She was happy. She was friendly.
She was kind and she was giving,
and that's how she should be remembered.
- ♪