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Officials rule Jake Embert’s death a suicide. Then his family hires a private investigator, who uncovers troubling details that suggest not everything is as it seems. Blayne Alexander reports.
Lester Holt goes behind the scenes of the making of this episode in ‘Talking Dateline’
Listen on Apple: https://apple.co/4l9THbs
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Tonight on Dead Live, he says I'm so sorry, but your dad has passed the corner is telling me this is a suicide. This is a suicide
There's no freaking way
And I'm hallway
I thought I was going to spend my money
She was like don't go back in the bedroom. This was your dad's wife. Yeah
He's hanging right there in his office. You didn't think his body needed another look
Any more testing any more anything now based on the information that I had at that time. Was that a mistake?
Zero investigation zero odd-topsy open-and-shut we have pictures of what exactly happened in that bedroom
It was painfully obvious the body had been moved
You didn't have to be an expert to see that this crime scene was staged you have to admit that it does look suspicious
I don't know what it looks like to other people. I know he loved me and I loved him fire shot through my entire body
My dad did not take his own life
How does your family handle this?
We get to work. It was ruled a suicide, but who really pulled the trigger a family fights to uncover the truth
I'm lester Holt and this is Dead Live
Here's plain Alexander with
Malice
Time once it's gone. It's the one thing you can never get back
Time with loved ones
Time spent waiting for answers
The clock on this story for this family began on a Saturday morning. I want to talk about June 28th
2014
Oh
Okay
Yes, all Benny's Georgia a woman on the line with 911. She was frantic
Her name was Susan Embert. She was calling about her husband Jake
Just shot his show
I thought maybe he was cleaning his guns or something because he's always messing with him, you know
So I did know what happened when you heard the noise. Did you immediately know it was a gun shot?
I knew it was a gunchup, but I didn't know if it came back there or where I just heard it was loud
All right, man. Don't catch me or anything. Okay. Oh
She was still on the phone when a truck pulled up to the house
It was Will Embert Jake's 17-year-old son from a previous marriage
He had been there earlier that morning and was coming back to spend the day with his dad
I'm a truck off and I can hear yelling Susan comes out like just comes barreling out the house real fast
She's on the phone. She's yelling. Could you hear what she's saying?
Just is discombobulated and I'm like what's going on and she was like don't go back in the bedroom
You were trying to keep him away from the house to protect you know from not seeing that the sight
I was like why and she wouldn't tell me why and eventually she just told she told me that my dad shot himself
Oh
What did you do? I fell on ground. The thing I blacked out the house
Very upset. I was crying
I remember I looked up
Well, I remember Susan saying that the police are here. I
Remember I opened my eyes and the dirty County police car pulling up the driveway
We'll got on the phone with his older sister Rachel. She was 30 at the time
He said calm as can be I'll never ever ever forget it. I
Don't know how to tell you this
Instantly I'm thinking oh my gosh my little brother's about to tell me that he got his girlfriend pregnant
Because you could hear in his voice something was yeah
Something was just off and he just paused he didn't say anything and I'm like just spit it out well and he said
Dad's dead
and I
Have to get there. I have to get to him. I have to get to my dad's house
Jump in the vehicle. Don't stop at any red lights. Don't stop at any stop times
At the house Dordy County police officers were already inside
There's blood on the floor right there as they surveyed the scene in the bedroom their conversation was broadcast over the County
White Police Channel
Yeah, right there in the wall
It's good and I have anything you know
There's all this matter stuff on that
Do we need to retain this to weapon? I don't see why
The corner arrived next and had a look at Jake's body
He was still there when Rachel pulled up to the house. I
Get to my dad's house. They have a very long dirt driveway
So I park at the end of the driveway and I immediately jump out of the vehicle. I'm stumping up the driveway
My fists are bald by my side and I'm literally just stomping up the driveway
I see officers up at the house. I see stews and standing out there up at the house and instantly
I'm like what the
happened what the
happened
It would not be the last time Jake's family asked that question nobody ever asked you. Hey, what did you see?
What happened? Oh, you didn't think his body needed another look didn't need any more testing any more anything
Nothing went upstairs on in your head nothing did nothing
There's blood splatter
Floor you have a cleaned up you basically have a detective's mind at this point. No. Why does watch?
They lie
Jake and Berksister Revan lipped 600 miles away in North Carolina Jake's daughter Rachel called her
She said ain't you mom?
My dad shot herself
Immediately I thought he was cleaning his gun and it must have went off
So I started screaming at her and asking her
Where is he?
I just screaming. Where is he?
And she said
He's not here anymore
I feel like I left my body. I said I this can't be it can't be
It was a cruel mixture of pain and she or disbelief that Jake was suddenly gone
He had always been dedicated to his family. Did he have a
philosophy or a special way that he lived his life?
Yeah, you know, he just always put himself full force and anything if he committed to something
He was gonna just see it through and that was just with everything
He was also a jokester who loved to make others laugh
So he would throw a joke in any situation situation. No matter what yes, even if it wasn't really appropriate. Yes. Yes, that part
But what really made Jake light up his family says being a dad
Jake wasn't Rachel's biological father. He married her mother when Rachel was just a baby
He was never a stepfather or an adopted father
He was your dad. He was my dad like through and through and through my dad. Yeah, I love how you describe him because you talk about
He was funny, but at the same time he had this military like discipline about oh absolutely. Yeah, definitely authoritative
You wanted to always remain on my dad's good side
Jake was an army veteran and mechanic at a nearby marine base
He was a guys guy who Rachel says did his best to relate to his makeup loving daughter and then his son
Will was born. I don't even know if my mom got a hold him that day. I'm pretty sure my dad was like my son
You know, I mean he was just so over the moon and meeting bond. Yeah, you guys were instantly best friends
Right, you know like most kids were trying to get away from their parents as often as I could but always
One lying out my dad
Jake loved taking his son to the racetrack cars
It always been his thing since he was a little boy
His sister remembers a time Jake took the family forward out for a spin when he was six years old
He had gotten in the car
In the driveway, and I guess he knocked it out of gear. So this man knocked on the door and told my mom um
I believe that your car across the street and it rolled out of the driveway. Yes. Oh gosh
But Jake acted like it was great
He was you know at the steering wheel doing his little thing and had no idea that he had done something wrong
Jake was the youngest of six and the only boy
You all must have dote it on him like crazy
We used to tease and say that he had six mothers
Five sisters and his real mother
Jake went from a childhood surrounded by women to a marriage of 26 years when that marriage ended in divorce
Jake found himself without a woman in his life for the first time
He joined an online dating service and soon met Susan
She was 48 Jake 51
What was it about Jake that caught your eye?
He was
While around my age and it was clean cut. I mean, you know, we just clipped we clipped
We just a good time when you have to do anything. We can just ride somewhere and
We have fun. She was a nurse
You know, she was a good person. He was interested in her. So he was really going on about her. Yes
Just a few months into the relationship Jake's health took a sudden turn. He had a hard attack
Susan moved in with Jake as he was recovering and she says very soon after he suggested they get married
I started serious and he's like, yes, and I said no. I'm not ready to get married
Were you surprised when he asked you to marry him? Yes, but I know he loved me and I loved him three months later
Yes, they marry him again
This time the answer was yes. They married in a short courthouse ceremony in front of just a few family members
To Rachel it all seemed too fast, but in a way she could understand it
Sometimes when things happen, you know, like him having a heart attack
her being a nurse
Yeah, you probably would want that woman's touch, you know around that's what I would want you know
I would want to be cared for. Yeah, absolutely
After recovering from the heart attack Jake had a new health problem. He started having seizures
They checked them out and they couldn't find nothing wrong
But he was emcees. I didn't understand
16 months after his first heart attack Jake had another one and it was massive
Jake survived, but he started to have even more symptoms stomach pain and nausea
At this point, well, were you getting worried? Yeah, he started just getting sick and sicker and sicker and just wasn't getting better
He ended up because he was so sick
having to
Remain out of work
Which that was the first in his
Entire working life that he's ever missed so much work
His health problems led to financial problems and then another blow his dog Zoe got sick and had to be put down
My dad was crying. He was upset. He said that
Susan
Took Zoe to the vet the vet said that she had distemper and that she needed to be euthanized
It was all too much losing his health his dog and Jake's family could tell it was taking a toll
Soon the normally upbeat persona was largely gone
Did you get the sense that he was trying to put on a brave face for you?
I feel like he was trying to put it on for everybody. He was a tough guy
He was fighting
and um
I think he knew that I would try to help him
Just didn't get the chance
Now June 28th 2014 after struggling with his health for a year and a half Jake was gone
The victim it seemed of his own depression
Right there and hanging out there. I mean there. I'm not gonna see a side kind of person is nothing like that
But I mean it's obvious
you know
An obvious suicide to first responders at the scene Susan was telling police about Jake's health struggles and how sad he had been
After assessing the scene the corner made it official
He documented Jake's gunshot as self-inflicted
Open and shut it seemed
But not to everyone
What are you thinking at this point things are not adding up nothing is adding up
You
Susan Embert remembers the days following her husband's death as some of the hardest of her life
I thought he was going to be the one
That you know you grow together
Rock and rocket chairs front porch kind of thing after that Tom
I was sitting in my right mind for two months. I didn't think I was coming back
And my mom had to take care of me
This is Susan's daughter Krista were you talking to your mom throughout this time? What was her state of mind then?
She was she was just crying. She was hysterical. She was devastated that her husband was gone
I knew that Jake was
Was sad and and stuff like that, but like
You never think somebody's actually going to do something like that
Will certainly didn't think his dad was depressed enough to take his own life and not on that day of all days
He'd seen his dad just that morning
They'd had coffee together and made plans to go to the racetrack
In fact, Jake's old car was set to be raced that very afternoon and 1975 firebird
It wasn't even a question. It was like we're gonna go see it. We're going because he loved that car
He did I said, okay, um, I'm gonna go
Pick up my girlfriend and come back and then we can go when you left
What was his demeanor like was he excited was yeah, yeah, yeah, he was like I just expected him, you know to go
Shower and get dressed and we by then I'd be back
That timing seemed especially puzzling to Rachel
She just couldn't wrap her mind around her dad ending his life then when Will was on his way back to the house
And would likely see the aftermath
The relationship that my dad and my brother had together was so oh my gosh
When I say best dad award. I mean that in all capital letters. He was he never ever ever
Knowing that Will was coming right back
Never would have done that to my brother
Confused and looking for answers Rachel and Will went back to the house that night after the shooting
They went into the bedroom where their dad died
I went back there um saw it
The sheets were stripped off the mattress is still there
There were two towels
laid
On top of the blood but the blood was still soaking through the towels
And then so my brother and I were just standing in the room and we just started crying
Rachel tried to imagine what her dad had been thinking it wasn't easy
My dad was sick
He was experiencing health issues
You know, I try to put myself in everybody's shoes. Okay, you're sick all of this stuff is transpiring
And everything I just kept being right to the back. There's no freaking way
She wanted more information from Susan but Susan and her dad hadn't been married that long just over a year
Rachel didn't know her very well
And it was an emotional time for everyone
When Rachel and Will return to the house the next day the locks were being changed
Changing the locks on our home. Why that part why
Why that is
You know, I mean
The trauma makes you do weird things, but that was very bizarre
Also strange what Rachel says happened when family members tried to talk to Susan about planning a memorial service
Well, we're not having a memorial service. That's what Susan says. Yeah, well
Why are we not having a
funeral service? Well because he doesn't have any family or friends. It was just us. It was just us
He's got a sister. Yes, got tons of family tons of friends tons of co-workers people who would want to remember him
Absolutely
Susan says Jake's family has it all wrong. She was planning a service
But they went ahead and organized one without her they took it upon herself
I guess to have it before me. I was I was trying to get it together
But it was like they wanted it done right then and did you go to that one? I do not
I wasn't no, I do not that wasn't invited over there. They don't want me there. Did you feel that there was
Some contention between you
I felt like something was going on. Yes, I didn't know
I was not even in my right mind at that time actually. I mean, I was really devastated
As the ember said goodbye to Jake they were still in disbelief maybe even denial about how he died
I remember my dad having a conversation with me about that and how strongly
My dad was against suicide
Thanks that it's a permanent solution to a temporary problem
So you were very clear on where your dad stood. Yeah, when it came to suicide. Yeah
I asked this devil's advocate
There are unfortunately plenty of people who have
Mental health issues who mask it very well who can appear happy
But still go off and take their own life. Did you think that was a possibility?
Nah, I didn't think so at all things are not adding up
Nothing is adding up. We were trying to figure out
What really took place on June 28th
Jake's family made a decision
They needed someone to look at this
This is Yvonne Magnus in reference to my uh
The death of my brother
Like Jake's kids his sister Yvonne just couldn't accept the official narrative of her brother's death
Did you believe that your brother had heard of no instantly? I was like no not even for a second not even for a second
She drove down from North Carolina and went to see the police
You're thinking someone has to look into this
We're trying to rally someone to look into this case, right
In fact, Jake's family pleaded their case to officers several times
And so two detectives went to the house. They spoke briefly with Susan until she declined to talk further
But nothing changed
Yvonne recorded one of her follow-up phone calls with a detective
It's closed nothing they can't do anything
You know just in my
Short time of knowing you Yvonne I'm very sure that you are not one to be messed with
It's very clear that you know you don't take no for an answer. I don't take no for an answer when I believe that
Somebody either isn't telling the truth or something is very wrong and you believe both those things yes
A friend suggested Yvonne try a different approach a private eye
Have you ever thought of that before? Did you know much about private investigators? No
I know for a lot of people that sounds like something you hear in them. It was like foreign a movie or a TV show
Yeah, I had no idea what to do where to find one where to go
So she did what most of us would do
I was sitting in front of my computer and I actually typed
private investigators. Oh, when you judge
Just google just google and I was crying so hard when you see my screen
So I pointed to it and touched this screen
And when I did
said Lee Wilson I got the call and Lee Wilson a former police detective with more than 20 years of experience
He's handled all kinds of cases including suicides. It had been a month since Jake died
Lee met with his family. He listened and he agreed the case did deserve a second look
No, your son's going to be coming back in an hour with his girlfriend
And y'all gonna go to a planned event that day and you just walk in the bedroom and take your own life
I just didn't sound right. It just doesn't you tell you know it peaked my interest
But he says in his experience law enforcement usually makes the correct call
So he took the case with no promises
You were pretty frank with them you said you know what if my findings
Determined that he did die by suicide
You'll have to accept this. Yes. I tell them that you know, I will
Call it like I see it. That's how we wanted
Investigate it
Investigate it
So Lee got started first up collect as many records as he could
I wanted to see
The photographs. I want to see any crime any lab reports talks about your reports police reports
I wanted to see what led
Law enforcement and ultimately the corner to put on the death certificate that jade died from result of self-inflicted gun shot one
But all those things that you mentioned toxicology
Measurements all sorts of forensics any of that stuff was any of that done. Yeah
The case file he got from police was thin as far as he could tell no detective had even shown up at the scene
The entire investigation took less than an hour
From the time the call came in until
The last call to the radio operator saying they were clearing the scene and processing a scene like that should typically take
hours
Just zero open and shut called in as a suicide ruled at a suicide with zero investigation boom
Lee spoke to one of the first officers on the scene to find out what happened
Turns out he was brand new to the force that scene had been his first time responding to a death call
He explained to me that you know
When he got the call he thought in his mind that he was prepared for that scene
He admitted that he had watched videos in the police academy. He'd never seen a dead body
He had not seen a dead body
From my understanding before that day
So he walks into that having never seen a dead body fresh out of police academy and his comment and me was
Mr. Lee I just wanted to get out of there
As for the more experienced officers
I'm not gonna see a side kind of person and nothing like that, but
Lee learned they didn't do much more
Here's Lee talking to one of them when you went into the bedroom
Did you do any kind of investigative work or
Making the observations to determine whether it was suicide or not. Oh, I looked at the body
And of course I saw the cease with the gun in his hand
And they land back on his dead
I pretty much soon
Was quickly ruled a suicide based on their observations at the scene
And the statement of Susan Ember
No one ever
Meach innards cast or considered to your knowledge that this could be something other who suicide did that no
The coroner never ordered an autopsy
And Susan had the body cremated within 24 hours
There was so much that um
Could have been it should have been done before determining calls a matter of death
He could have taken it back to hit the morgue. He could have cleaned the wounds there taking measurements
Check for gunpowder residue on the hands of mr. Ember
The coroner's role is especially frustrating to Jake's family because Rachel had pleaded with him at the scene
I said over and over. Are you sure my dad did this? Are you sure my dad did this? Are you sure my dad did this?
He could have taken that and said something to somebody and she's sure
Yes, and then said hey the daughters out there questioning you know if we're sure nothing went upstairs on in your head
nothing did nothing
Re-investigating the case with so little evidence would be an uphill battle
But Lee says the responding officers did manage to do one thing right
And it would make all the difference
You knew that there was something wrong with those photos. Yeah, I knew that this had manipulated by somebody
You
In homicides and suicides
There's a typical method of processing a scene
Collect evidence test forensics
Interview witnesses in the case of Jake Embert almost none of that happened
We asked the Doherty County police department about that but they declined to answer our questions
My job is determined to cause a man to jump up the individual
But Michael Fowler the Doherty County coroner did agree to an interview June 28, 2014
How long have you been the coroner about a year and a half?
What's your first step once you get there first? I have to speak with him is then I need to go see the individual
I saw the gun land beside him once I see him then I pronounced the time up there
Then I go back out and see what's going on
So to get with the law enforcement then I listen for Miss Emery to talk for a while
Then I went back into the house trying to see what was the story kind of lining up what she was saying
Jake Embert's daughter Rachel kept saying over and over again. Are you sure? Are you sure?
We're talking less than an hour at that point
How could you definitively say at that point that this
Is a suicide there'd been no autopsy the body hadn't been transported
Based on the investigation to speak with the law enforcement
What they'll find is if in the process of interviewing whoever was there
I take their finding and come over to that determination
On law enforcement and on what Susan Embert told police that's what I was basing it on Jake Embert was cremated the next day
Yes
You didn't think his body needed another look didn't need any more testing any more anything
No, I was pretty well comfortable at that time based on the information that I had at that time
Was that a mistake?
No, I don't think it was a mistake
It's based on the information I have at that time. I'm basing on that
Now a month and a half later private investigator Lee Wilson was at the Dordy County Police Department
picking up those photos from the scene
I'm waiting on the receipt from my payment and I start flipping through the photographs
It wasn't much but Lee was noticing things he thought investigators had missed
And I got to like the fourth fifth photograph in the packet and the police chief was standing in the hallway
And I said chief, you got a problem. You got a problem. I knew that scene had been manipulated
He took us through those photos on an iPad. What immediately stands out to you if you can show me
You know here his hand is laid over the gun. There's two fingers laid across the handle of the gun
But nothing on the trigger. The other thing is if you look the gun is tucked up under his right leg
So you're thinking how would the gun have gotten under his leg?
Yeah
Lee knew that with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head
There likely would have been blood on Jake's hand, but none was visible
Lee also noted the state of the bed around Jake to him. It looked like Jake had been moved
There's a bath map behind his head
Look at the sheets, the rippling of the sheets. Look how tight the sheets are over here. Look at the rippling there
What does that say to you? It's somebody's trying to pull that body back up on the bed
Just test his theory. He asked a couple of colleagues to take a look
I had a couple of friends that were still in law enforcement that had done a number of death investigations
gave them no background. You sent the photographs and both of them came back. So that's a stage scene
And immediately they said that yeah, I just wanted to see if they were seeing what I saw and they did yes
If the scene was staged that meant Jake hadn't killed himself
He was murdered and the only other person in the house was Susan
What it started as an unspoken suspicion and Jake's family was now out in the open
We all had our own
Kind of suspicions, but we were not talking about it to each other
To all of you had some sort of sneaking suspicions. Yes somewhere. Yes
In order to dig deeper and get access to Jake's records and property Lee had Rachel petitioned the court to become
Executor of his estate
After Susan found out she left Albany. There was a you haul at our house
And she was loading up everything and then she booked it right to Florida
So when you go back in there, I mean the house
Filthy unrecognizable filthy
Rachel's father had been dead two months when she recorded this video of the house
Today is August the 29th at a two four two thousand and fourteen at approximately four p.m
Never cleaned trash everywhere and there were some things missing too
Everything
Everything from washer and dryer were no longer there
Kitchen table dining room set no longer there. She had completely vacated the house
We had a plethora of childhood heirlooms no longer there. You can blatantly see how it was left
Just left nothing but her trash. This house has never been
Disturbingly dirty
Susan had the bloody mattress moved to the yard
But the bedroom still had not been cleaned
There's blood splatter on the floor never cleaned up
Um
More blood this is
Where the bullet hit the wall
You can see that this dripping on the wall is possibly
I'm assuming brain matter
The state of things confirmed to Jake's family something was not right and to them that something was Susan
Well, she wasn't who she tried herself today
In the weeks and months after Jake emberts death his family grew more and more suspicious that his wife Susan was hiding something
They didn't like how she behaved after the shooting, but the truth was they'd had issues with her even before that
We'll live with Jake and Susan part-time. He remembers lots of yelling. He says by Susan
What was she say to your dad? He accused him of cheating all the time
Hmm Susan would drink and pick fights
That had to have been a really difficult dynamic. I didn't understand it
I remember I was there for two occasions that the police showed up
Both of them were really unfounded nobody got arrested
Now they thought back to that rushed wedding at the courthouse
Will had expected to be the best man, but the wedding happened without him or his sister
Was it surprising to you that he got married without either of his kids there? Very
Yes
Rachel had long wondered what drew them together now she went looking for clues. I
Hacked into my father's Facebook account
I figured out the password all these Facebook messages between my dad and Susan pages the pom pages the pom pages
The pom pages and then I get to a part in the Facebook message right before they get married
Where Susan says to my dad she's not feeling well
Her stomach is hurting
She just took a pregnancy test and it came out positive
I
Was floored
That is what signified why my dad married her. Well, she in fact pregnant. Oh, absolutely not
And once they were married there was something else that bothered the family
They had always known Jake to be responsible with his money
But Susan took over the bills and soon they had serious financial problems
Jake called Yvonne for help and I could hear her
Telling him to do it. This is on the phone
What was she saying? I asked her for money
I asked her for more money
And this is something your brother has never done never in all your years never
not ever
Oh
And then there was Jake's life insurance they weren't even married six weeks when he said
Susan's pressuring me to change my life insurance
Beneficiary to her to her
And I said Jake
You have an underage son
I think you should think about that. He said I already did it and he said Yvonne
Susan will take care of will if anything happens to me
Yvonne wasn't so sure and she was apparently right to not trust Susan
My investigation showed there was an actual
Completely different side of this woman that the family didn't know and and
They had strong reasonably Jake didn't know a different side meaning what
Well, she wasn't who she for trade herself today
Susan had been married three times before
Lee spoke with two of her ex-husbands she used to drink but I don't know what she does now
Right, but when y'all were married if it's the drunken god
Oh god god, oh my god, he wasn't ever
You know, she always been nice stuff in the head on my day
No two ways about it
She also had things in her background about 15 years where she had
Encounters with law enforcement. What were those
Interactions there was several rest down in Florida her record includes convictions for trespassing
resisting arrest and several DUIs
Susan and the kids were no longer speaking but Rachel and will told Lee
Everything they could remember about how Susan described the shooting that morning. So the first thing is
She's just getting out of the shower
heard the bang
Went back there found my father
Just out of the shower
But will remember how Susan looked when he pulled up minutes later. She looked like she was ready to go
I mean she's fully dressed
Make up hair everything
Later that night Rachel recalled Susan telling another version of what happened
She said I was by the computer desk
Heard the bang I went back there and I found your dad and that's different from what she told you that morning so different
Susan spoke with Yvonne that same night and added yet another detail and she said well
I was blow drawing my hair and uh
I went to the computer, you know where that is right Yvonne and I yelled back to Jake
I'll be right back. I have to straighten my hair and boom
Though small inconsistencies didn't seem like a big deal at the time
But now they seemed important to the family at this point. What are you thinking happened? She killed my brother
Was the rest of your family thinking the same? Yes
By then Susan had left the state. She wanted nothing to do with Jake's family or their search for answers
and then
The phone rang
Susan would have her own story to tell you were the only other person there Susan. Did you shoot your husband?
No, I did not. Am I really hearing this? I could not pick my mouth up off the floor and just when they thought it was over
I mean typically that's where the story ends
You might think
Private I Lee Wilson had been investigating Susan Embert for a couple of months when out of the blue he got a phone call
It's her students in Embert
How did she know that you were even looking into her? Her words were that she heard I'd been asking about her
I don't know why I'm being investigated. You're asking questions about me if I don't understand why
If it's any questions I rather not answering because there's the I haven't done anything I can say that
As you talk to her, I mean what vibe did you get from her? How did she sound up on the phone? She was fishing
Trying to figure out what I knew
Lee talked to Susan several times each time she insisted she had nothing to do with Jake's death
She said she was grieving
Like every other day about this stuff and that all she really wanted from Jake's family was to be left alone
In each conversation Lee prodded her for any bit of clarity
It would probably be a little bit easier if the family had some answers to you don't seem to feel
I don't think that's why I'm sitting there so Wilson I don't have an answer
And then she was done
1.440 p.m.
There she hung up on me
The phone calls didn't yield any new information about that morning, but Lee wasn't done digging
Jake's family pushed his investigation in an entirely new direction
They suspected the shooting was not the first time Susan tried to kill her husband
All of us kept coming back to the conclusion
Because of how sick he was
Because of the only common denominator was when she entered his life and the rapid decline
Maybe it was a possibility that she could be in fact poisoning my dad
Poison well as Jake's family saw it. It seemed the more Susan nursed Jake the worse he got
There were the two sudden heart attacks his serious GI issues and that onset of unexplained seizures
Ivonne struggled to understand this new symptom she recalled asking Susan the nurse about Jake's meds
I said to her it shouldn't be having seizures
There's
There's not heart medicine that calls you to have seizures
Ivonne says even before her brother died she started to question Susan's medical knowledge
I mean, you know, she said she was a nurse. I just didn't take that
I got online and researched it. Did you ever find any evidence that she was a nurse? No
In fact my investigation showed that she had gone to a registered to go to a nurse's aid school similar to what they call a CNA
And Georgia, but she didn't even complete that
It was Susan who administered all of Jake's medication and Susan who cooked all of his meals
Around the same time Jake's dog Zoe started having stomach problems too
She started throwing up and going to the bathroom in the house. I mean she she was
An older dog, but it just started happening like older dogs. They start to kind of get incontinence that happening there
Yeah, but it just I don't know where like it took my dad by surprise it took me by surprise when she started getting real sick
It was Susan who took Zoe to the vet to get checked out and returned empty handed telling Jake the vet had ordered
She be put down my personal belief is
She was poisoning the dog maybe perhaps testing some of her point
I don't know whether it was or whether she just wanted to get rid of Zoe
But it shows her mindset
It doesn't surprise me that she killed Jake if she did that to that man's dog
This was just a theory they would need forensic evidence to prove it
And at Susan's direction Jake's body had been cremated the day after his death
But Ivan had an idea. I said to Rachel you need to go to the house and get
Jake's hairbrush and she said
What she said why
Because that's what she always does why why I said Rachel
Just get it get a brown paper bag
Put the hairbrush in the bag don't tell anybody you have it
So you're directing her to take it and bag it for evidence
Pretty much you basically have a detective's mind at this point. No, I just watch
date line
Rachel played detective she went back to the now deserted house she found one of her dad's brushes and handed it over to Lee
Jake's family saw themselves as investigators uncovering the truth
But if you ask Susan Embert they were just reaching for the perfect scapegoat. They don't know me
I don't know why they're alive. I have no idea
You're maintaining that all of these people are lying
I don't have nothing to hide from nobody and I still don't
Susan Embert's story was entirely different than the one being told by her husband's family
She says when she and Jake first got married their life was nearly perfect
I had a good husband
And he had a good wife and I had a stepson that I loved
It was it was nice
Susan says she felt accepted by her husband's family and insist they were all invited to the courthouse wedding
She remembers Jake even moved up the date to accommodate their schedules
Will is saying that he had no idea that he would have been there
He wanted to be there and be his father's best man
But that he was blindsided when he found out after the fact
He knew the date that we were going to get married and he also knew the date was moved up
Are you saying that Will is mistaken? I think so. Yes
There were some Facebook messages between you and Jake
Were you told him that you were pregnant?
Did that play a role in the timing of your wedding?
I never told him I was pregnant
Then I know of you don't remember Facebook messages that you sent to him saying you took a test your stomach was feeling
Uncomfortable. Oh, yeah, well, I took a pregnancy test and it said positive
But I knew I wasn't about it. I think I was pregnant. I didn't know
Susan believes Jake's family has been twisting her words. She denies ever telling them she was a nurse
You did not leave them to believe that. I know. I told my work in the nursing field
I was in actually I said the nurse in field in the medical field because I have a lot of certificates and
um
Stuff like that in the medical field
And Susan says Jake had money troubles before they got married
It was only when his house went into foreclosure. She says that he admitted it. He said that um
He used his money
um
Unwisely or you know didn't use it wisely that he would buy like him and his son like real expensive things like
Bose and eras and guns and all kind of stuff like that
But he raised his hand to took blame for it. You're saying yes
That it was his his fault. Yes
As you learned about this financial situation
Did it have an impact on your relationship you and Jake? Well, I mean to me. I don't I mean
It wasn't really I was not really worried about it. I mean, I was worried to a certain extent
But I was it because I knew that would hit me and him together
We could walk it out. We could get it worked out
They were inseparable says Susan and she claims it was Jake's idea for her to be the beneficiary on his life insurance policy
After all she was his wife
He said he had this and that and he need you change it over to me
And I said okay. Well, when you whenever you want to do it or do it
The sister of on says that
Just within weeks of getting married that you were pressuring him to change the policy
So that you were the beneficiary. That's not true
Hmm
You never asked him. No
You never said pressured. No suggested. No
And then there was that day in 2014 she took us through her version of that morning
It was around 9 or 10 a.m. And she was getting ready for the day. She says talking to Jake while he stayed in bed
We was just talking always talking about going through the races matter back
He was going to the races. Yeah, we were going to the races
That day at that night. What was he saying about it? I was asking him if he still wants to go
Yeah, what did he say? You see, I don't know probably or something like that. You know, we didn't seem real excited
Susan told us she went into another room and what she says happened next is yet another version of what she was doing when the gun went off
I was in that living room
I went to get my vapor cigarette believe it or not
Yeah, my vapor sick and I heard the gun go off
What happened then I ran down the hallway
And I fell going down there in the door was cracked open about that much take me back to that moment when you first saw Jake
I was ecstatic
I
Thought I was gonna lose my mind. I didn't know what to do. So I called 911 like I was supposed to do
I don't know what to do. That's what I did. I called 911
You were the only other person there Susan. Did you shoot your husband? No, I didn't
And then staged the room to look like a suicide. No, I did not
No
Did you poison Jake Embert? No, I did not. Nope
I went to poison somebody I loved
No, I went poison anybody
Did you poison the dog? No
If people were to look at the situation knowing that it was just you just him you were in charge of his meals
You prepared the food
People would say that you had plenty of opportunities
To put things in there to poison your husband over a period of time
How do you explain that? I can't explain that because I would I did not poison my husband
I would not have done it. We all ate the same food
I have to ask Susan in our interview in our conversation
You have repeatedly said that a lot of people are lying about you from Jake's family to
Sister other people
How is it that so many people
Are lying about you? I don't know
I don't know I don't know why they're lying about me. They don't even know me enough to lie about me
But they don't know. I mean, I don't really talk. They don't know me. I don't know why they're lying
I haven't been wanting you. You're maintaining that all of these people are lying
No matter how much Susan declared her innocence Lee Wilson kept working and finding what he says is proof
She murdered her husband
He was so confident in his evidence that he presented his findings to the corner and the district attorney Greg Edwards
Edwards had his investigators pour over Wilson's work and came to a conclusion
And in my immediate opinion, you know, this was a staged crime scene
And a homicide that needed to be prosecuted
Another major move the coroner changed his findings on Jake's death certificate from suicide to homicide
Investigators tracked Susan down in Florida the moment Jake's family had long been waiting for
She's gonna get arrested in February 2015 a group of investigators swarmed Susan's front door
They said Georgia wants you best for what and they said um
Homicide Susan was arrested on charges of malice murder felony murder and aggravated assault
But had to have felt surreal for you. It did it was worth every minute to get to that point
But there was still a long way to go
Susan would go on trial and try to explain herself and her words to a jury
And what she would say would leave everyone in the courtroom stunned
Why did you tell you
The 911 operator
And Jake Ember had a sexual transfer to the disease
I didn't say that
Four months after Susan Ember was arrested the district attorney called Lee Wilson
There was news and it was about that hairbrush Rachel collected from her dad's house
The DA's office had sent it out for testing and the toxicology results were in
What are those results show? It showed that Jake had high levels of
Different pesticides
Beat is the common name that we know it by and there was anaphrase when you got those results those lab results
What did that tell you about Susan Ember? She was a cobalt ember
It's pretty hard to believe
I'm for a while. I blamed myself, but you know that wasn't your fault
Protected him his whole life
I
This time I didn't
But I didn't know I needed to
Most of the state's case was circumstantial now the lab results gave prosecutors something they could sink their teeth into
The DA tacked on another aggravated assault charge related to the poisoning in addition to murder
But there was delay after delay
You all have quite a waiting game ahead of you. Oh god
Yes, four and a half years. Yes
In December 2019 the trial finally got underway
Jake the prosecution laid out its case arguing that Jake was poisoned before he was shot
Yes, I prepared
In various other penny mills
These toxic chemicals
could all remain in his body
Only in his body
From the rig ingestion
If the state was right and Susan Ember was in fact trying to kill her husband with poison
Why shoot him?
Lee Wilson pointed to the timing
Jake had an upcoming doctor's appointment where they planned to run some tests
And sooner or later some lab report would have shown some sort of level in his blood or some of the tests that
Was inordinate and they would have in our likelihood
Going to exploring the poisoning aspect
So you're saying that she felt that she would have soon been exposed
Probably you know, and I think he just wasn't dying quick enough
Douglass as evidence of her premeditation the state called this man to the stand
Douglas Buckner a fellow race car lover about two weeks before Jake was shot
Buckner came by the house to buy Jake's firebird and at one point he was alone with Susan
I was like well, what's going on with Mr. Jake getting rid of his car?
She was like well, he's not in good shape
He's not going to be here much longer and he wasn't around for much longer because prosecutors say
Susan shot Jake then she worked hard
They argued to redirect investigators the prosecutor played Susan's 911 call
He had to work day nine. He's tired of heart and the DA asked the jury to listen carefully to this part
We got married about two years ago and he
Up and out he was gay. I didn't know this and I didn't give more time
I said you know so long to stay and just tell you what's wrong
Well, he was gay and then he got these diseases and transmitted disease
Jake Embert was gay and had transmitted diseases
What was Susan talking about?
Susan Embert within within seconds 30 seconds of starting to call begins to lay out why
Jake Embert supposedly killed himself unprompted unprompted, you know, he's gay
He has these diseases and it shows premeditation. She had thought this out and it was going to say that
After having done act
On the stand Yvonne testified her brother was not gay and Susan was lying
Was he holding some secret that you didn't detect all the years you know him?
No
The prosecution brought up another apparent inconsistency in the 911 call Susan told the dispatcher she didn't touch Jake
All right, man. Don't catch him or anything. Okay. I'm sorry
But Will testified that when he saw her at the scene. I remember seeing her on her hand
It looked like blood to me
Susan's defense team had one clear message the corner's first determination was the right one
This was a suicide the kind of death that can be hard to accept
Nobody can understand why he did it
They planned their counterattack to the state's narrative around Susan
They called her to the stand and asked her directly about that 911 call
Were you sincere at the time when you were having that
conversation
with the 911? Oh, it's very sincere
What state of mind would you describe you were being a bad state of mind
I was ecstatic
As for telling the dispatcher Jake was gay. I don't know why I said that. I had no proof that he was gay
She did testify that she and Jake were having intimacy issues. I asked him. I said, do you have another girlfriend?
What profit are we?
Because
Our
Our sex life went out and he did seem like he was interested in me anymore
I'm sorry our sex life went down. I didn't think he was interested in me anymore
During that call you told the operator that Jake was gay
And had transmitted diseases are either of those two things true
No, the transmitted disease they had that wrong. I said he had PTSD
They said I said STD
No, it was PTSD. I have the 911 call
And I want to bring it up so we can listen to it together
But you said transmitted disease. I said no, I didn't I don't I didn't hear that
I know I said PTSD. I thought this and that's what I said
Why bring up those two details that he was gay and had transmitted diseases
Especially if you're saying now that you didn't believe that to be true. Why why say that on the 911 call?
Because that's the last thing I said to him before I walked out the room to get my vapor cigarette
And I thought maybe it might have had something to do with why he did what he did
So you and I've had to live with that last words all these years
That's my last words
So in the moments before he died you all were
Arguing the arguing I asked him a question you asked him are you gay? Yes
What did he say can it save me
That conversation was a new detail she never told the family or investigators and I have to ask in a situation like this
obviously
Details granular details are important the story that you told on the stand that you're telling me
Is different from what Jake's family says that you initially told them both Rachel and Yvonne say that they heard different versions of that story
Why are there differences in those details? Maybe they didn't hear the whole story
I don't know because that's the deep that's help. That's what happened
What you're saying all along you've told one story that is the story I told
The one I just told you
Susan never wavered on her innocence telling the jury what she told us
She didn't poison Jake and she definitely didn't shoot him
But would this sway the jury
I mean typically that's where the story ends you might think
You
It had been more than five years since Will Embert arrived at his father's house on that June morning
Five years since Susan Embert told him Jake was dead
Being in that courtroom that brought you again into the same room with Susan for really the first time
Almost since it happened right that couldn't have been easy. Yeah. It was very uneasy failing
And now Susan's fate was in the hands of 12 jurors. They deliberated for less than an hour
Guilty of murder and aggravated assaults. I mean are there words to describe that mom? No, no
It was just
I can't use a word happy I guess, but you're just glad to know that she's gonna pay for what she did
Susan Embert was sentenced to life in prison with 10 years tacked on for the poisoning charge
I mean typically
That's where the story ends
You might think
Not this time while Jake's family finally tried to move on
Susan's daughter Krista could not like I felt like my entire being my entire soul was shattered
Like I just lost my best friend my mom. I can't call my mom just to say hey any time I want to I have to wait on a schedule
I have to talk to her on a tablet like I can't hug my mom
Susan assured her daughter it wasn't over. I knew one day
I believe because I knew one day the truth will come out. I knew I'd be going home. I just said no waiting
She found a new lawyer to mount an appeal. There's been so many errors in this case
It was just like one after another
Defense attorney Jen Hyman was fresh out of law school when she took Susan's case
This was actually the first motion for neutral that I worked on
Hyman scrutinized every part of the case the investigation the evidence testimony even the jurors
So you just ran some of the names through Google
Just to see what popped up. Yeah
She found something and it was big
One of the jurors had some criminal history
So you see this information and you knew that you would found something major
Absolutely yes
The juror was a felon and while there is a process to restore rights to serve on a jury
That had not happened and no one from the court or the district attorney's office caught it
That was grounds to overturn Susan's conviction
Should your office be taking a closer look double checking things like this when you're seeing a jury?
Yes, we now require documentation indicated they do not
Just qualify for serving as a juror so we we just double down on making sure that that's that's
Review and important fix but too late for Jake's family and the mistake was costly
Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. Thank you family. Thank you attorneys. I love y'all
After more than four years in prison, Susan Embert walked out a free woman
They called me and they told me that Susan was being released and that is like I was astound
What do you mean she's being released? How do you even process this? You know, I'm angry. I'll be honest
Yeah, I'm very angry. How did this transpire? How?
Jake's family felt the mistakes and wasted time had plagued the process from day one and now with Susan's release
They would have to start again
What do you even do with that news?
Question the whole judicial system. Are you just thinking to yourself
There's this pattern of people just missing things folks not doing their jobs exactly
Susan would have to stand trial all over again this time with a new jury
But her new attorney had a plan we immediately started working on the motion to get the case dismissed on what grounds
So
It's a
BD trial violation a lot of people are probably familiar with
The fact that you have a right to a speedy trial, but most probably aren't familiar with
How that actually works the defense argued that now too much time had passed since she was first charged a delay that violated her rights
And so you're saying that because that felon was on the juror
That was thrown out and it's almost like saying a trial never happened in the first place
It's exactly like saying that and so now you're starting the clock
From back in 2014 when she was first charged exactly
The judge agreed the delay was unfair to Susan
It was a critical decision that meant she would not face another trial all charges against her were dropped
It was amazing
Getting a murder case dismissed is you know an amazing feeling
It wasn't long after that ruling when we sat down with Susan
We've talked about you walking out of prison
You're out now on a technicality. What would you say to people who look at you and say
She got away with murder
What would I say?
What would you say to those people?
I'd say no I didn't because I didn't do it. I got away with telling the truth and that's what set me free
They didn't get away with anything
I know the truth. God knows the truth and people that know me know the truth
Susan's family members were not her only supporters. Her ex-husband Glen Melton also stood by her
Did you ever think that Susan is capable of murder?
No
No way no question
No question about it. He know where she could done that like that
The DA's office wasn't done. It appealed the judges ruling about the speedy trial violation to the Georgia Supreme Court
For Jake's family another excruciating weight. I know it wasn't
over
Then I know we're gonna probably have to
start completely over
He was right the Supreme Court sided with the prosecution
Susan Embert would stand trial again
Like oh yeah, we're gonna get her again
A retrial but far from a repeat
Because the prosecution's case was about to take a huge hit and the defense had a new plan of attack
It wasn't evidence. It was just fantasy and it was just absurd
Fire shot through my entire body
Because you knew those wasn't good. No not at all
You
Susan Embert was headed to trial for a second time attorney Charles Colin joined her defense team and examined all the evidence with fresh eyes
The whole poisoning theory
Just needed somebody to step down and say wait a minute
Is this possible? Is this reasonable? Does this make any sense at all?
He thought the poisoning evidence was weak
Remember Jake's body had been cremated quickly and there was no autopsy
So it was all based on the hairs found in Jake's brush
collected by Jake's daughter
The first part is you have to ask was there a chain of custody on the hair right and there wasn't it wasn't gathered by the police or anything like that
And the lab that detected pesticides and antifreeze had its license suspended after accusations of
Conduct you're saying that evidence should have been nowhere near the first trial
Because it wasn't evidence it was just fantasy and it was just absurd
The idea that she's poisoning him with deat that she's spraying insect repellent on the food
For years and you're saying that's just not reasonable
That's not realistic. That's not realistic
Just weeks before the trial began the defense asked the court to drop the poisoning charge and exclude all evidence of poisoning from the trial
The judge agreed a major victory for the defense
So this time around
Poisoning wasn't even supposed to be mentioned. Yes
During the proceedings completely excluded anything suspecting of poisoning mentioning of poisoning
When Susan Embert's second trial began in December 2025 the prosecution's case was whittled down significantly
This case is about the murder of Mr. Jake Embert
On the first day of testimony the state called corner Michael Fowler to the stand this time. He sounded
Defiant
Does the Michael Fowler of today regret not
ordering a medical examination of this body in 2014?
I was still standing on what I did on that part. It's gone shot wanted to hit
Okay, and I would now for the information that I received now about the
Here say the animal freeze
Did not serve
It was that word any freeze here say the animal freeze
Fire shot through my entire body
Because you knew it wasn't good. No, not at all
And it stopped the proceedings in their tracks. Yeah, what happened to the courtroom in that moment?
Well, we made a motion for Miss trial the judge declared a mistrial
so the case
over for now
Rachel furious with all the mistakes and delays sent a scathing letter to the DA's office
I want to read you just a portion. Yes. Yes
Our father was murdered once the justice system has destroyed us repeatedly ever since
This is not delay. This is not normal. This is not justice. It's not
Those are very strong words and I mean every word of them every single word
The ball was dropped on so many different levels
Whether it be from these government agencies the corner the judicial system
You were not supposed to mention poison no one have told me didn't tell me that
You had no idea no one told me that I wasn't supposed to mention that. I'm standing on this
They did not tell me that so we asked the district attorney
He says that you all left him hanging out to dry on that. Well, I
Can only anticipate that maybe that that might have happened
Maybe that did slip through the crack. So I can't say that that did not happen
One month later both sides were back in court this time for trial number three
Stay the DA's office knew it was time for a new approach
Dowdy white was assigned as lead prosecutor this case touched everybody in the DA's office at some point every single person
Worked on this case this defendant
Intended to kill Jake
And stage it as a suicide
The prosecutors knew they had to do more with a lot less evidence
And that included getting the jury to focus on Susan's potential motive
Mr. Buckner good morning
Jake's friend Douglas Buckner testified again and prosecutor guy Terry asked him to tell the jury about something new
Did you
Receive any late night communication all for no I received the text that had some content in it. She in fact sent
Buckner
Send my new to new photographs of herself. Oh, and I finally told her that day
I was like listen when I see mr. Jake said yeah, I'm gonna be showing mr. Jake all the Texas
The prosecution said Susan was worried that if he showed Jake the text Jake would divorce her
Jake lies out about what she's doing with mr. Buckner
He's gonna kick me out and the prosecution said Susan didn't want a divorce. She wanted Jake's money
Specifically that life insurance policy Jake had signed over to her
After his death Susan received a payout, but Jake's children never got a dime
However prosecutors daddy white and guy Terry say the most important part of the case was the crime scene analysis
The whole theme of the case was shown that suicide is not a reasonable option here. We had to focus on on the crime scene
The only solid evidence remaining from the crime scene
Those photos these pictures are absolutely crucial. They were absolutely critical in the entire analysis
Prosecutors say the photo of the gun in Jake's hand was most telling
Given the power of a 45 caliber the gunpowder in there you're gonna have a gun that kicks
Are you saying it's likely that the gun would have had so much kick it would have just flying out
They probably would have fallen out of his hand and ended up on the ground over here
Another critical detail the gun was found in Jake's right hand
So this is Jake's you know Jake's right hand
Jake's left handed
That was new information and trial number three
If a person is gonna commit suicide with the firearm
That's arguably the most important shot that person's ever gonna make
Do you make that shot with your non-dominant hand?
A forensic expert confirmed what private investigator Lee Wilson had noticed about the bed
This body appears that it has been moved
Are you able to conclude that this scene was manipulated
Stage and altered to appear as if it was a suicide
It appears that way yes
It all added up the prosecution said to one thing
Jake's death was not a suicide every element of murder is met
But Susan's defense team had another explanation
Something about Jake that even those closest to him didn't know
Were you aware that he's seeing a psychiatrist?
No
For more than 10 years Jake's family and prosecutors had fixated on the botched police investigation
They believed that if the case had been handled differently Susan's guilt would have been clear from the start
But defense attorney Charles Cullen didn't see it that way
What would have changed for your client had there been a thorough police investigation?
She would have been exonerated. They would have been able to say no
We did an autopsy
Here's what we found
They could have said you know we tested her for GSR
There's no GSR on her. There's only GSR on him
And the problem is that you know once you don't do that all that evidence is gone
Right all that evidence is lost
There will be no evidence that rules out suicide
As for the left-handed Jake being found with the gun in his right
Cullen said plenty of people shoot with both hands
Like many other people who are either ambidextrous or
Own
Guns that are not altered to accommodate left-handed shooters like Jake Embert
he was capable and
Possibly even preferred shooting with his right hand talking to his family all of them say that they have never seen
Jake
Shoot a gun with his right hand
Why would he choose to put the gun in his right hand to take his life?
so
I think that
It's important to remember
That this family
Believes 100% that Susan Embert murdered him and I think that
As the case has gone on
Sometimes memories can change a little bit to sort of fit
What you need them to fit
He also said that Susan may have mixed up words and details
But it wasn't because she was guilty
This is a person who kept saying
I you know, I I was ecstatic that day that was ecstatic
I was ecstatic and she means hysterical right so this is someone who confuses words mixes things up
The defense maintained that the most logical explanation for what happened to Jake was also the simplest
He was depressed maybe more than his family knew if you would just stand up and raise your Jake had been a patient of Dr. Bruce
Halston for more than four years
He's also prescribed
Blue walks the team blue walks the time pro's act
That's okay. That's also known as pro's act
Pro's act is also an anti-depressant
It's similar to lexapro is an SSRI
Were you aware that he's seeing a psychiatrist?
No
Were you aware that he was being prescribed lexapro?
No
Pro's act no
There is such a stigma on mental health
But we all need a little bit of help sometimes and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that
Hey y'all, I know
That's exactly the point prosecutor doubty white tried to make during closing arguments with a surprising admission of his own
I take an anti-depressant every day
Let me answer a side
Oh
Of course not it was a pretty strong way to drive home this point that
This medicine that the defense is brought into the equation is a non-issue for Jake
Susan did not testify in this trial her defense focused on what they said the prosecution was missing
Ask
Did they prove murder?
They want you to just plug or ignore
These holes in their case
Susan's fate was once again in the hands of the jury her daughter Krista was confident
You're supposed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that somebody committed a murder or somebody committed a crime and
They can't do that after a couple of hours the jurors went home for the night and
I just asked that God give them the clearest hearts and the clearest minds and the cleanest eyes
And when they returned the next morning they have a verdict a decision
What did you feel when you heard the jury return that verdict like a weight lifted off my shoulders
12 days later Jake's family returned to Albany for one final day in court Susan sentencing
There are no words that could describe the pain that I feel inside
The same pain that I've had since June 28th 2014
You remember that day don't you Susan?
Well nothing can undo what's been done accountability matters matters for my brother for my family
For justice
So no other family ever has to endure endure what we have at the hands of pure
Evil
Susan was sentenced to life in prison. She's already filed a motion for a new trial
It was clearly just getting up there and talking was to Harvard. It's hard when
She's looking at you and you know what she did
And um
Up until this point whenever I looked at her. She wouldn't look at me
She looked at you today. She did. What did you see in her eyes?
Nothing
Nothing
After 12 years to this feel like justice from a judicial aspect. Yes. We're forever broken
You know the prosecutors have said that this case would never have gotten to this courtroom if it weren't for you
Well, I mean I appreciate the
Recognition that it was just a lot of trying to undo what was wrongly done
And it culminated today with this sentence
But getting to this day had been a long process through a system that the family says caused years of frustration
This corner's fault. It's the investigating officer's fault
It's the on-call detective that didn't show up's fault
It's a court's fault for not vetting their jurors better. That's just a system's fault
It's them not doing their job
Will was just 17 when his father died in the years since he served in the army got married and now
He's chosen to be part of that very same justice system as a police officer
I'm not gonna do my job the way that they did theirs
More times or not. It is probably somebody's worst day
So they need you to be a hundred percent
So this is what I
That's what I give them when you go to calls like that
That's always in the back of your mind always
What do you think your dad would say to know that you're a police officer now? I think you'd be proud. I'm sure he is
A
Final note this evening we cover these kinds of difficult cases every week
During our Olympic break one especially hit home for all of us the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie
Savannah's mom
Investigators are still desperately seeking clues a reminder that anyone with any information can call the FBI's tip line at
1-800-call
FBI our hearts are with Savannah and the entire Guthrie family
That's all for this edition of date line. We'll see you again next Friday at nine eight central
I'm Lester Holt for all of us at NBC News. Good night
Dateline NBC


