00:00:00
Real people, real crimes, real life drama. I I'm ready reporting. I think somebody's just been shot in my
00:00:15
neighborhood. And I can hear somebody screaming through the door. When Skyler and Danielle met,
00:00:24
it was something that you read in the fairy books. It was instantaneous. We heard a bang and then we heard a
00:00:35
noise in our neighbor's apartment. Skyler and Danielle [clears throat] loved each other.
00:00:43
They were gushy in love. If we're not Skyler then who is alive? >> [music] >> I think she really
00:00:55
believed that they really had this end of the movie fade to black type Jimmy love.
00:01:02
>> [music] >> There is like nothing that could keep them apart. Skyler joined the army.
00:01:08
I'm so excited. Danielle was junior in high school. You couldn't think of a perfect
00:01:14
cheerleader. bubbly Thank you. >> [music] >> outgoing Today pretty. La te da te da.
00:01:23
That was Danielle. Danielle had it in her mind that she was going to marry Skyler and
00:01:31
wherever he went she went. He graduated from [music] boot camp and they got married.
00:01:38
Danielle was lonely. She was away from her friends, everything she knew. She loved Skyler
00:01:45
but she just said he's gone all the time and he was. Skyler had been gone for 20
00:01:51
days out in the field training. When Skyler got home he was so excited to see Danielle.
00:01:58
Is she breathing at all? No. They loved to go shoot their guns. Shoot that can. Danielle said it gave her power.
00:02:11
Skyler bought her own rifle. She decorated it out. The husband has [music] said that she's
00:02:17
dead and he doesn't want me going in to see her. My son picked up a loaded gun. Oh my
00:02:23
god. He looked at it with a naked eye, did not see any ammunition in it. I'm a bad
00:02:29
person. Bad person. It went off. Shot Danielle in the back of the head. I love my wife so much. This was an
00:02:40
accident. I mean to say I didn't I didn't mean to hurt anybody. He is seeing this as [music] an accident, his
00:02:46
family sees it as an accident. We believe he murdered his wife. Did you intentionally kill your wife, Skyler?
00:02:52
No, I did not. I never meant to hurt you. I love you so much, Danielle. My wife.
00:03:11
>> [music] >> It's a matter of state of Washington versus Skyler Nemetz, who is present in
00:03:35
court. A year and a half after shooting his 19-year-old wife, Danielle, [music] 21-year-old Skyler Nemetz is on trial in
00:03:43
Tacoma, Washington, charged with murder in the first degree. He stood [music] about 5 ft away from
00:03:50
Danielle. He had his finger on the trigger and he pulled it. I feel like my heart was ripped out of
00:03:57
my chest and all the veins too with it the day that my wife died. But you caused it. I know. But that's the most
00:04:04
painful thing of all this is knowing that I caused it. Skyler Nemetz shot his wife. No one disputes that. The only
00:04:13
question is why? Did he pull the trigger in a jealous rage or was it just an accident? And will you reach the same
00:04:22
conclusion the jurors did? Skyler and Danielle were the picture [snorts] of a happy couple. No one who
00:04:30
knew them could have imagined the [music] tragic events that unfolded on October 16th, 2014.
00:04:37
Skyler's mother, Donnette Heller. None of it made sense to me. Donnette calls her middle child a gentle
00:04:45
and kind soul. Very loving, caring, [music] sensitive. Who was and still is very
00:04:53
much in love with Danielle. She was so bubbly and fantastic. She was She was great. Danielle was his
00:05:00
everything. There was no issues in their relationship. Except for the times they
00:05:05
were forced to be apart. In the fall [music] of 2014, Skyler, an infantry soldier, had been on
00:05:12
deployment in Eastern Washington for nearly 3 weeks of battlefield training. After living in a Stryker vehicle with
00:05:19
three guys, Skyler couldn't wait to get home to Danielle. Danielle had called me that morning and
00:05:26
she had bathed the dogs. She said she went and got candles. She was just so excited.
00:05:34
On the afternoon of October 16th, Danielle was waiting at the army base to drive Skyler home to their small
00:05:41
two-bedroom apartment. They ordered pizza to celebrate. I had a shot of Seagram's
00:05:48
and a glass of Fireball with Red Bull. Were you drunk? I don't think I was a drunk, but I was I would say I was
00:05:55
buzzed and tired. But also in a great mood. But less than 3 hours later, everything suddenly went
00:06:04
wrong. Why me? I love my wife so much. Why me? Hey Skyler, were you notified you're being audio and visually
00:06:14
recorded? That's fine. I'm not going to do anything. Okay. This is Skyler, minutes after he was taken into custody.
00:06:21
I've never been in trouble before. I've never hurt anybody. For the next 7 and 1/2 hours, I'm Detective Jordan. You
00:06:27
want to come talk to me? Come on. Yeah, I want to. Hi Skyler, we're recording right now,
00:06:32
okay? >> Everything he said And this is what happens to me. and everything he did was
00:06:38
recorded. >> What's it like in jail? by video cameras. The details of what led up to the
00:06:44
shooting are sketchy, but according to Skyler, when [music] he got home, Danielle's rifle was in their bedroom
00:06:51
closet. He had given her the AR-15 assault rifle for her birthday. And she who knew how to handle that rifle, load
00:06:59
the rifle, discharge it, clean it. It was something Skyler and Danielle loved to do.
00:07:08
Skyler grew up with guns, firing his first weapon when he was just a kid. The rules in my home when I had my
00:07:16
children, your guns stay in your safe and always unloaded. And Skyler says those were the rules in
00:07:23
his home as well. I was so big about gun safety. Always was so big about gun safety. I'm the
00:07:31
my friends cuz I'm so big about it. And then I'm the I'm the I'm the guy that it happens to. Sometime
00:07:40
before 6:00 p.m., Skyler says Danielle brought the rifle into the small second bedroom [music]
00:07:47
and asked him to put it away. Danielle's computer was also in that room. >> [music]
00:07:52
>> When she sat down to finish some work, her back was to Skyler. Last thing I told her, "I love you, [ __ ] I love
00:07:59
you, girl." Skyler, believing the rifle was unloaded, he says, picked it up and was
00:08:04
checking to make sure when the gun went off. Danielle How does this happen to people?
00:08:15
Who does this Who the [ __ ] does this happen to? How the [ __ ] What the [ __ ]
00:08:22
WHAT THE DANIELLE SKYLER INSISTS HE NEVER saw the single bullet that was in the chamber of the
00:08:30
rifle. That bullet went through the back of Danielle's head and into the computer
00:08:36
screen. Danielle died instantly. >> [snorts] >> Where is this day? My wife She was killing me.
00:08:45
Who was killing me? My wife My love He said, "Please, let me die. Please, let me die." Danette says her
00:08:56
son has been suicidal ever since. I am not positive that Skyler won't take his own life still.
00:09:03
But Danette refuses to give up on her son. For the past year and a half, the divorced mother of three has been in a
00:09:10
desperate battle for [music] her son's future. Hi. A struggle she has documented for 48
00:09:18
hours in these video diaries. I just know that I have to fight for what I have in front of me, and that's
00:09:25
my son. My mom has sacrificed everything she's had for me. Danette spent what she had and borrowed
00:09:35
even more to get Skyler released on bail and to assemble a top-notch legal team.
00:09:42
The reality is I have spent every cent I have on this case. Dianne has uprooted her life putting
00:09:51
everything she owns into storage. I'm Skyler's brother. Leaving her teenage son Aaron with friends in Utah and
00:09:58
moving to Tacoma to be with Skyler. She went from living in a multi-million dollar home to living in a
00:10:06
spare bedroom. Dianne and Skyler staying with friends while he's under house arrest. Skyler wears a ankle monitor
00:10:14
>> [music] >> and mother and son This is it. This is the top drawer. and have learned to live in very close
00:10:21
quarters. Skyler and I share a room. It's been tough on both of them. Just really lonely
00:10:31
and scared. And the uncertainty of what the future holds for Skyler is always [music] on Dianne's mind. I know I
00:10:39
probably try to put up a good front and have everything in control, but >> [snorts]
00:10:44
>> I don't. It's been really hard. I guess it's hard on not knowing what's going to
00:10:49
happen. What mother wouldn't reach to the ends of the earth to try to believe that it was an accident and try to
00:10:55
convince themselves that their son's not a murderer? But James Peltier says Dianne is wrong.
00:11:03
Do you believe Dianne is deluding herself? >> she's delusional is what I think she is.
00:11:10
>> [music] >> Let's jump on into it. Danielle was the happiest girl you could ever meet.
00:11:24
A little spark, just full of energy. She just leap up and give you hugs daily if
00:11:29
not multiple times a day. You just could not fall in love with this little girl just being around her for one day.
00:11:38
Before Danielle became Mrs. Skyler Nemetz, she was a beloved high school [music] student who adored everything
00:11:45
about life, her friends, her family, and her two favorite high school pastimes, makeup and cheerleading.
00:11:58
>> She just shined out there. She was beautiful to watch. Super energetic. Coach Sharon Nikolai immediately cast
00:12:06
5-ft 100-lb Danielle as the flyer, the lucky one who gets tossed around in the air, a role she was born to play.
00:12:19
And did she like being the center of attention? >> Loved it. Center of attention was where
00:12:23
she belonged for sure. It was attention Danielle wasn't really able to get at home. Her mom died of
00:12:30
cancer when she was just a toddler. And so Danielle and her three siblings live with their grandmother in McKinleyville,
00:12:37
California. Money was tight. >> [music] >> And then when Danielle was 14, her grandmother died, too.
00:12:46
The kids then moved in with their stepfather. [music] She was type of girl that it's like you
00:12:51
knew she had a hard home life, but you would never know it at the same time. She just didn't dwell in it. Danielle
00:12:56
and best friend Michaela Yingling formed a special bond after both losing their mothers at about the same time. She was
00:13:04
always happy. Like I didn't know where she got it from. But deep down, she longed for what she
00:13:11
was missing, says Coach Nikolai. And she went looking for it [music] in boys. Every boyfriend was the one she
00:13:18
was going to marry. She always got very close with the families of the boyfriends that she had because they
00:13:24
always were the most stable part of her life. But it was just that need to be loved [music] and for that nurturing and
00:13:32
that attention. And relationships would end and the next one would start. In her junior year, Danielle found that
00:13:40
next one on Facebook. A recent graduate from a neighboring high school who was about to join the army, Skyler Nemetz.
00:13:49
>> I remember I fell in love with her just like that. I was head over heels like
00:13:54
immediately. When Skyler and Danielle met, I had never [music] seen the sparkle in
00:14:00
his eye that he had with being with Danielle and the love he had for her. Danielle shocked [music] everyone when
00:14:08
just a month after meeting Skyler, she moved in with him >> [music] >> at his mother, Janette's home. I felt
00:14:15
sorry for her, for her upbringing. I love spoiling her, you know, cuz she had never been
00:14:21
spoiled. But she was an absolute doll. And I love being able to help her. My mom saw Danielle as a daughter. I was
00:14:30
crazy about her. She called me mom. After knowing [music] each other for only 3 months, Skyler bought a diamond
00:14:37
ring and proposed to her on the [music] top of Neilan Mountain. That was a relationship that moved very
00:14:45
quickly. >> Yeah, sometimes I would sit there and I'd be like, "Oh my gosh, I'm 18 and I'm
00:14:49
getting married." But the thing is though, I loved her so much and she loved me so much and
00:14:56
we didn't want to wait. We wanted to get married. Aaron, what was your reaction? Um it
00:15:03
wasn't positive. I felt like I needed to be the person to shake her and say, "Slow down. There's no rush."
00:15:09
But she's the type of person she was just so strong-willed that there was never going to be any convincing her and
00:15:14
there just wasn't an adult in her life that could put a stop to it. Danielle dropped out of high school and
00:15:21
married Skyler at the courthouse the day he graduated boot camp >> [music] >> 5 months after their first date.
00:15:29
>> It was about 10 minutes long. [music] He wore his uniform and he was so happy.
00:15:34
When she was a Skyler, she was just so grateful. >> [music] >> And she'd always tell me how much she
00:15:39
loved being married. She loved being Skyler's wife. They settled into off-base housing
00:15:46
[music] in Lakewood, Washington, where he was stationed at Fort Lewis. What was it that drew her to him? I
00:15:54
think she just really wanted to get a fresh start and try to make a family of her own and
00:16:00
um to be happy. I think it was following a dream is what I think it was. Something bigger than right here, you
00:16:07
know. Former neighbor James Peltier became almost a father to Danielle. You know, we took him to the movies, out to
00:16:15
dinner. I mean, we went to church. We would go camping. Both James and McKayla were concerned
00:16:20
that Danielle was pinning her hopes on a guy she had known for less than 6 months. He took her away and they moved
00:16:27
away so quick. Like nobody really got to know him. A guy who seemed to have no interest in knowing them. He just like
00:16:35
ignored us. I met him on three occasions. Even the few times Danielle and Skyler dropped by for a visit.
00:16:42
>> Danielle was her bubbly self. Peltier says Skyler wanted no part of the conversation. I think I shook his hand
00:16:49
and back to the car he went and he left. He says he let it go until he learned something he couldn't ignore. Danielle
00:16:57
[music] told him Skyler had smashed her cell phone in a fit of anger and then immediately rushed out to buy
00:17:04
her a new iPhone. I sat her face to face and I said, "I just need to know if there's any big problem is all you have
00:17:12
to do is tell me you don't want to be with him anymore." And I said, "I can guarantee you the boy won't even come
00:17:17
through that door." And she's like, "No, I love him. I forgive him." Danielle enrolled in a local high school
00:17:27
to finish her senior year, got a new puppy, and a new job at a granite counter company. [music]
00:17:34
But Michaela, who FaceTimed and texted her every day, felt something was not right. Did she ever express fear of
00:17:44
Skylar? No, but sometimes, you know, she acted a little weird, like when I asked
00:17:50
her, like, "When Skylar coming home?" And she's like, "Oh, well, I have to clean this before he gets home." Like,
00:17:56
"I have to shampoo the carpets and make sure everything's just like in perfect order." Is that because she wanted to do
00:18:02
that, or she felt she had to do it for him? I don't think she wanted to do it. I think he was forcing her to do that
00:18:09
kind of stuff. [music] I just had a feeling like in my gut. When was the last time you talked to her? The
00:18:17
night she died. Skylar had just returned from a grueling 19-day training mission in Yakima. It
00:18:25
was around 5:00 p.m. We were FaceTiming, and she was sitting at her computer desk. Skylar was in the background on
00:18:31
the couch, and she like ran over to him and like jumped on his lap and was acting all happy that
00:18:36
he was home. And did he talk? Could you see whether he was in a good mood? He seemed like he was in a good mood. Do
00:18:42
you remember the last thing she said to you? She was just said that, "I love you so
00:18:46
much, and I can't wait to talk to you next." They hung up, and 12 minutes later,
00:18:54
Danielle Niemietz was dead. >> breathing at all? I'm really [snorts] excited. I hope you
00:19:11
enjoy. Thank you guys for watching my video and I will check you later. Don't forget to like
00:19:17
and subscribe. And yeah, have a good one. Bye. James Peltier will never forget the last
00:19:27
time he saw the girl he loved like a second daughter. She come through the door and just come running over to me
00:19:34
and jumped in the air and gave me a big old bear hug. What is the hardest part, James?
00:19:41
Not hearing [snorts] her voice. Not seeing her. James and his wife, Sam, plan to attend
00:19:50
every day of the trial, hoping to find justice for Danielle. As soon as I knew he had shot and killed her,
00:19:58
there was no doubt in my mind that it had to have been on purpose. I mean, who takes a gun
00:20:04
and points it at somebody? Why are you pointing a gun at somebody? It's clear that he's an expert when it
00:20:11
comes to handling firearms. Too much of an expert to make such a mistake, says Deputy Prosecuting
00:20:18
Attorney Greg Greer. By the time he's in the army, he's building AR-15s. It's clear he's obsessed with guns. How could
00:20:26
it be accidental considering his expertise with firearms? The detectives doubted Skyler's story
00:20:33
from the beginning. >> See, I'm good with weapons. I've used weapons a lot, okay? But I don't This
00:20:37
time I just That's just it. I don't think you'd violate those safety rules to the back of your wife's head if
00:20:43
you really loved her. You might if you were pissed off. That direct hit, dead center to the back of
00:20:50
Danielle's head, seemed more like an execution than an [music] accident. Tell me what happened. The more Skyler
00:20:58
talked, the guiltier he looked in the eyes of his interrogators, in part because he kept changing his
00:21:05
story about how he held the gun before it went off. That's what it like this. I hit it on my thigh. And when I did that,
00:21:13
I don't know what happened. Like when I hit it against that, it went off. Then, he switched to this. It was on my
00:21:21
shoulder. It was on my shoulder. It was on her breast. It was up high. It was around here. I don't know why I thought
00:21:27
it was on my thigh, but that was just You didn't think it was on your thigh. You thought the story sounded better,
00:21:31
Skyler. I'm not a stupid guy. I'm in the interrogation room 45 minutes after Danielle dies. And
00:21:40
I'm trying to figure it all out for myself. My mind is just destroyed. I don't remember where the hell they were.
00:21:45
I don't remember I don't know where they were. But Greer says Skyler's actions speak louder than his words. The
00:21:51
strongest evidence, believe it or not, is what he does immediately after the fact.
00:21:57
Skyler didn't call 911. A neighbor did. And there wasn't a single drop of Danielle's blood on him. A clear sign
00:22:05
that he didn't try to save or even comfort her, says Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jared Ausser. He doesn't render
00:22:13
aid at all. He never checks on his wife. If it was an accident, he's going to drop the weapon immediately, run over,
00:22:18
grab her, assess her. He doesn't do that. She wasn't alive Skyler, sitting with his lawyer, told us in his only
00:22:26
interview not holding Danielle is something he regrets to this day. I wish I would have held her. Why didn't you? I
00:22:34
was scared. I was freaked out and I didn't know what to do. I seriously didn't. My brain was I was not all
00:22:43
there. Good morning. Please be seated. But at trial, Greer hopes to show that Skyler knew exactly what he was doing.
00:22:51
This is a case about control. Greer uses Skyler's own texts to paint him as an angry, controlling husband who wanted
00:22:59
Danielle to know he was in charge. Danielle, what the [ __ ] we have Amazon, you don't need the prime [ __ ] Come on.
00:23:08
Can you ask before you [ __ ] with my money? Thanks. You're an idiot. Who talks to their wife
00:23:15
like that at any stage of their marriage, much less the beginning stages of their marriage? Someone consumed by
00:23:21
jealousy, says Greer. In one text, Skyler accuses Danielle of going on a date with Jeremy Henry, an
00:23:30
old friend from high school. Danielle writes back, "You have either insecurities you need to work on or you
00:23:37
don't trust me when it comes to hanging out with Jeremy." I think that this truly was her friend from high school. I
00:23:44
think everything was just in the mind of Mr. Niemetz that he believed the worst and it got to him.
00:23:50
Greer says Skyler erupted in a [music] jealous rage the day he got home from training, believe it or not, over those
00:23:58
bottles. The most significant aspect of this case is going to be two bottles of alcohol.
00:24:04
And this is the state's star witness, Skyler's army buddy Anthony Foss. He was supposed to buy the two bottles of
00:24:12
alcohol for Skyler. I was going home early a few days before the rest of the guys.
00:24:18
So he asked if I can buy alcohol for him because they weren't 21. Turns out Foss
00:24:23
did not get the alcohol. Too busy, didn't do it. Danielle panics somewhat because she needs to get this. He really
00:24:29
wants this alcohol. So Danielle gets two other guys to go with her to buy the alcohol. One is her
00:24:36
old friend Jeremy Henry, but Skyler had no idea until [music] he went to thank Foss for the alcohol. And Foss gives a
00:24:45
look and says, "I didn't buy that and you know who did." Foss claims Skyler got visibly angry. He
00:24:52
was mad because she lied about how she got the booze. Because Mr. Foss didn't get it for her like he promised.
00:24:58
And while Skyler may have appeared in a good mood on that FaceTime call between Danielle and Michaela, prosecutors
00:25:05
believe he was hiding his anger, lying in wait like a well-trained soldier. He waited for her to get off the phone.
00:25:14
And shot her in the back of the head. This was an act of rage. You were mad for some reason and you shot
00:25:21
And then you went and you went and tried to hide everything. Skyler had told police he stashed the
00:25:28
gun back in the closet, emptied the bottles of alcohol, and threw them off the balcony.
00:25:34
The police believed he wanted to get rid of evidence linking him to a motive. You
00:25:39
throw the gun in the closet like it didn't have an didn't have no gun. Skyler knows it looks bad, so he's about
00:25:46
to do something defendants rarely do. I can live with I'm the reason Danielle died.
00:25:53
But I can't live with being called a murderer. Denette Heller still remembers waking up
00:26:09
in terror one autumn night in 2014. I had a horrible dream that Danielle shot Skyler in the head. It really shook
00:26:18
me up. A month later that horrible dream [music] became a terrible reality. Only
00:26:24
it wasn't Danielle who pulled the trigger. It was Denette's son. >> [music] >> And as the detective who broke the news
00:26:32
put it, it didn't look good for Skyler. He goes, "Your son's going away for prison the rest of his life."
00:26:39
Denette believes the detectives had their minds made up the minute Skyler walked into that interrogation room.
00:26:45
They found him guilty within hours without investigating. I don't know if you're trying to accuse me of killing I
00:26:53
I understand I killed my wife. I killed my wife, okay? I KILLED MY WIFE. I'M just trying to figure out why.
00:27:00
Danette knew she was in for a fight and went [music] looking for the best criminal defense lawyer she could find.
00:27:07
Okay. All right. She chose Michael Stewart. I've been a defense attorney for 20-plus
00:27:13
years. Toughest case I've had. Why? Cuz I've got a kid that I absolutely believe
00:27:20
I believe this is an accident. And the facts and the circumstances around it look bad. He knows the challenge will be
00:27:27
convincing 12 jurors that a highly skilled soldier with years of weapons training could make such a fatal
00:27:35
mistake. The state wants you to believe that a dead tired kid could never make a
00:27:42
mistake. It had to be intentional because nobody makes mistakes with guns. But Stewart is able to get the state's
00:27:50
own gun experts to admit on the stand that mistakes can be made. It's not always easy to tell when the AR-15 rifle
00:27:59
is loaded. If the order is not followed precisely, you can easily load a weapon thinking that you were
00:28:08
actually clearing it, correct? Yes. You put a gun to your shoulder and you pulled the trigger Next, Stewart takes
00:28:16
aim at the contention that Skyler shouldered [snorts] the gun when it went off. I don't know. Stewart says the
00:28:22
investigators pushed Skyler to admit that as Skyler was struggling to remember what happened. I thought it was
00:28:30
on my thigh. He told the police that he had it down low and then he said it was around here and around here.
00:28:36
>> I think it might have even been on my breast or my shoulder. I don't know. They're ratcheting you into a story that
00:28:42
makes it fit how they view a case. Defense forensics expert K. Weenie testifies that Skyler was not
00:28:50
shouldering the gun. What do you believe the height of that bullet was? 46 and 1/2 inches above the floor,
00:28:56
approximately. That would put the gun just below his chest. But, what about that direct hit to the
00:29:03
middle of Danielle's head? >> That is just sheer chance. And there's so many times I've thought like, why
00:29:09
couldn't it have been 2 inches to the right? On day 12 of the trial, Stuart has a heart-to-heart with his client
00:29:17
about the single most important decision he may ever make. I said, "Kid, we've shown so much in this case. I don't
00:29:26
think you need to take the stand." Despite the risk, Skyler felt he had no choice. I needed to. I wanted to because
00:29:34
for Danielle. On the night before, I watched Skyler preparing for one of the toughest days
00:29:41
of his life. How are you feeling tonight? I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm nervous. I'm really nervous. I just
00:29:51
I'm so nervous for Skyler. The defense calls Skyler Nemetz. Did you intend to hurt your wife?
00:30:01
>> I did not. I did not intend to hurt my wife. I never did. Stuart wants to show Skyler as a loving
00:30:10
husband, not the controlling person depicted in those texts. He [music] points to the scores of other texts from
00:30:18
Skyler, ones like, "I'm going to bed, hon. I love you. >> [music] >> Hey, babe. How was your day?"
00:30:26
Then, Stuart turns to the state's star witness, Anthony Foss. Remember, he said Skyler [music] was furious when he told
00:30:34
him that Danielle had turned to two other men to buy the alcohol. I was not angry at all. In fact, I never
00:30:41
had any sort of conversation with Anthony Foss. But why would he lie? I mean, why would Under Oath
00:30:47
>> Why does anybody lie? But I know that it never actually happened. Another army buddy, Richard Oakley, back
00:30:53
Skyler's story. He testifies he didn't even see Anthony Foss on base that day >> [music]
00:30:59
>> and that Skyler was excited to see Danielle. They both seemed pretty happy. They were both
00:31:05
smiling. Everything seemed good. You look at everything leading up to this day and there really isn't any of
00:31:12
this [music] tension. There never was a motive. This is an accident. But now it's the moment Greer has been
00:31:20
waiting for. His chance to grill Skyler. And he wanted to show him as a killer. He puts the gun that killed Danielle
00:31:31
back into Skyler's hands hoping to burn that image into jurors' minds. I wanted to expose him.
00:31:39
I wanted to show [music] them that he had things to hide. Mr. Foss told you he did not purchase
00:31:45
those two bottles. But his repeated challenges >> I do not recall him saying that. don't
00:31:50
seem to rattle Skyler. I did not talk to Anthony Foss that entire day, sir. He either dodged the question or claimed to
00:31:59
not remember. Your finger takes from safe to fire and you pull the trigger and she's 5 ft away from you and
00:32:08
that round hits her square in the middle of the back of the head. That is not how it happened, sir. You
00:32:15
don't recall telling the detectives that. Are you asking if I know that from my memory, sir?
00:32:22
Mr. Niemetz, do you recall telling the detectives that? Not from my memory, sir.
00:32:28
That's all I have, Your Honor. Skyler and his attorney hope [music] the impression that stays with the jurors is
00:32:35
Skyler's emotional testimony [music] about what he says really happened that terrible day.
00:32:43
I got off the couch and I went into the room to put this rifle away. The gun went off and um
00:32:51
Did you pull the trigger, Skyler? I don't recall pulling the trigger, but I know the trigger had to be pulled for
00:32:59
the weapon to go off. >> [panting] >> After the smoke cleared, I saw my wife. And [snorts] she wasn't moving.
00:33:09
I dropped the weapon and I [laughter] I went up to my wife on the left side. And I saw her face.
00:33:18
And my wife wasn't there anymore. >> [snorts] >> Did you know she was dead? I knew she was dead.
00:33:28
And I didn't know what to do. I never meant to hurt her. I never meant to hurt her.
00:33:38
Stewart fears that Skyler's tears may not be enough to win the full acquittal they had hoped for.
00:33:45
So, he makes [music] a stunning strategic move. >> [snorts] >> And this is hard for a defense attorney
00:33:51
to say. He actually tells the jury to find his client [music] guilty. Manslaughter in
00:33:57
the second degree. >> Of the lesser charge of manslaughter. It is manslaughter. It is.
00:34:06
I'll tell you what it's not. It's not premeditated first-degree murder. I believe his soul is pure, but his
00:34:14
hands aren't. He was negligent in the operation of that weapon. Thank you very much.
00:34:21
What will the jury decide? They will wrestle with the case for days. >> [music] >> My days are like roller coasters going
00:34:42
up and down and just um just hard. My heart hurts all the time. After a month-long trial
00:34:58
I love you. Skyler Nemetz's future is in the hands of the jury. Most jurors are asked to decide whether someone's guilty
00:35:06
or innocent. >> Mhm. That wasn't the case for you. No. Ralph Flick, a civil lawyer, is the
00:35:13
jury's foreman. This is not a whodunit case. Like we know who did it. He says he pulled the triggers. So, our question
00:35:21
was what was going on in his head, which was what made this case so challenging.
00:35:27
Jurors have to determine Skyler's [music] intent on that terrible day. If they believe he pulled that trigger to
00:35:34
kill his wife, that's murder, and he could face more than 30 years in prison. But if he pulled it by accident, [music]
00:35:43
even a reckless accident, that's manslaughter. I never meant to hurt you. I love you so much, Danielle.
00:35:52
As the jurors deliberate I'm hoping that it's going to be a swift verdict. Everyone else waits. The jury's been
00:35:59
deliberating now for 2 days [music] plus. Day There's nothing I can do. It's out of my
00:36:05
hands. after day. This is the sixth day. Who can take [music] this waiting? after
00:36:11
day. I'm nervous. I'm wondering what the jury is doing right now. [music] I think when
00:36:17
you play dangerous games, there are consequences. Four jurors agreed to explain the difficult decision they had
00:36:24
to make. Prosecutors said Skyler shot his young wife in a jealous rage, but at trial there was only one witness, the
00:36:33
army buddy Anthony Foss, who says Skyler Niemetz was angry that day. Without Anthony Foss, there's no evidence of any
00:36:41
kind of a fight that day. That nobody heard anything or saw anything. And Foss was contradicted by other witnesses,
00:36:48
including Skyler. >> [snorts] >> I do not remember seeing Anthony Foss that day. If it's at all questionable,
00:36:57
that whole part of the case falls apart. >> Jurors were troubled by Skyler's suspicious behavior after he shot
00:37:03
Danielle, not calling 911, and emptying bottles of alcohol. But more significant
00:37:11
was the 12 minutes leading up to the shooting, when prosecutors claimed [music] Skyler was seething with anger.
00:37:18
Jurors just [music] didn't see it. Where did this jealous rage that led to an execution come from? And what did they
00:37:27
think of Skyler himself? Was he credible? Seemed very coached, very rehearsed. >> rehearsed. Even the crying for me was a
00:37:36
little bit like theatrical, I guess you could call it. I thought he was so unreliable every
00:37:42
time he spoke that I don't really think that his testimony hurt him or helped him. It was really hard to believe him
00:37:48
anything he said. But what troubled jurors most was how Skyler, a firearms expert, could make
00:37:56
this kind of mistake. Brad Hardesty is a retired army soldier. Never point the weapon in the direction of anybody and
00:38:06
pull the trigger like that and believing that it's unloaded. To me, there was one
00:38:11
key fact in the whole case. Did Skyler know or did he believe that there was a bullet in the chamber? So jurors did
00:38:17
their own test, recreating what the state's gun expert had demonstrated in the courtroom. Was it possible that
00:38:25
Skyler thought the gun was unloaded? Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So, a round could have been in the chamber.
00:38:32
And Skyler pulled back on the charging handle, nothing came out. He thinks it's empty, the bolt goes back forward,
00:38:40
and he pulls the trigger. Still, what about that perfect shot right to the center of Danielle's head? Now, you
00:38:47
might believe that it it's not or it's unlikely, but it still could have been. It's a reasonable conclusion that it
00:38:54
could have been a mistake. >> If they could have given me one good piece of evidence that proves that there
00:38:59
could have been intent, I might have taken that and said, "Well, it's good enough for me." But it wasn't there.
00:39:05
After seven long days, the jurors finally agree on a verdict. When the verdict form is handed to the
00:39:13
judge, there is nothing like it. That moment when you know what your fate is going to be,
00:39:21
wow. Find the defendant guilty of manslaughter in the first degree. >> [music] >> Guilty of manslaughter in the first
00:39:32
degree, the reckless taking of a life. It's a win of sorts for the defense, a terrible disappointment for
00:39:40
prosecutors. [music] Before Skyler is taken to jail, he and his mother are allowed a final goodbye.
00:39:48
Three weeks later, inmate Skyler Niemetz is back in court to learn his sentence. Danette is there,
00:39:57
so are Danielle's friends and family, including her younger sister. All eyes are on Skyler [music] as he addresses
00:40:05
Judge Jack Nevin. It's about Danielle, and it always will be. They were my actions and my actions
00:40:11
alone, and I take full responsibility for them. I was reckless and negligent, and for
00:40:17
that I will pay. And then, Skyler apologizes I'm sorry to everybody here for what he's done.
00:40:23
>> But most of all, I'm sorry to Danielle. I'm sorry that she was ripped out from
00:40:27
this world and the I'm sorry to her friends and family. And I accept any punishment that you
00:40:33
give me. With that, [music] Judge Nevin gives Skyler Neimitz the maximum sentence.
00:40:40
13 and 1/2 years in prison. Watching from the back of the courtroom are some of the jurors. I kind of feel like I owe
00:40:48
it to Danielle. Juror Ralph Flick says he will be haunted forever by this video of
00:40:59
Danielle shooting a rifle. There she is holding a weapon just like the one that >> [music]
00:41:04
>> killed her. She finishes shooting and she looks in the camera with this big bright smile on her face, her whole
00:41:10
future in front of her, and what was lost when she was killed was to me captured in that final frame of that
00:41:15
little clip. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]