Dateline NBC - Dangerous Secret

Episode Date: November 1, 2023

A small town in the Ohio River Valley is left in shock after beloved local coal miner Brad McGarry is found fatally shot in the basement of his home. As investigators dig into his personal life, a secret affair reveals a surprising suspect. Dennis Murphy reports.

Tonight on Dateline. Did you say he's dead? Oh my God, I'm in trouble. There's blood everywhere. I'm trying not to freak out, I'm sorry. He said, Brad was my best friend in the whole world. Please find out who did this to him. My mom's like, Uncle Brad is dead.

I fell to the floor. Who would want to kill Brad? Exactly, who would want to kill Brad? You start to see things like ransacked drawers maybe somebody was there to rob him he was working as a miner yes how common is it to have gay guys in the mines i think it's very common i think brad broke that barrier he was having a hard trouble at work anybody in particular all of them was he murdered just because of who he was he never pretended to be anyone that he wasn't He got a text message from a lover that they were going to meet up. People don't want to get caught cheating.

How do you not get caught? You lie. Two can keep a secret if one's dead. That's the point of the story where the wheels fall off the crazy train. It was the ultimate betrayal. Nine times out of ten, the person that killed you loved you at some point. A killer who betrays not just one lover, but two. Nine times out of ten, the person that killed you loved you at some point. A killer who betrays not just one lover, but two. I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline.

Here's Dennis Murphy with Dangerous Secret. The Ohio River Valley. For decades here, generations of men have gone underground. And in places like Bel Air, Ohio, population 4,000, it's still a way of life. Is it as tough as most people think to be a coal miner? It's not for everybody. Super physical demanding. Former mine foreman Franco Pinaccio. You're almost 2,000 feet underground.

One way out, the gases will kill you. Moving equipment will kill you. The coal falling will kill you. It's an unforgiving environment. But with risk comes reward. In this case, a big payday for some up to six figures. Luring men like Brad McGarry to don a hard hat and take their chances underground. The 43-year-old had risen through the ranks to become a foreman. A bit remarkable because Brad McGarry was not your father's coal miner. Friend, Melanie Roscovich.

He was openly gay. Never tried to conceal it, right? Correct. Was comfortable in his skin. Yes. He was being Brad. Yes. He was real.

He never pretended to be anyone that he wasn't. But Brad was also a person with a secret. And a secret, as we all know can be dangerous 9-1-1 where is your emergency oh my god my husband's dead a late sunday afternoon in may 2017 on with 9-1-1 a distraught sherry kinney who along with her husband david and 13 year old daughter elizabeth have just walked into an awful scene we came to visit my husband's friend and his back door was cracked open he wasn't answering his phone so he came in the house and he's in his basement okay oh my god okay calm down did you say he's dead i I think so. Oh, my God. I think so. He's on the floor. There's blood everywhere.

What is his name? Brad McGarry. Brad McGarry? I was on just general patrol, driving through the town when I got the call. Veteran Bel Air patrolman Hank Martin was the first to respond and encountered the couple and the young teenager outside Brad McGarry's house. Highly upset, crying, shaken up. What you would normally expect of somebody finding a dead body.

Officer Martin entered the basement to secure the scene. On the floor, sandwiched between a covered hot tub and piles of storage, was Brad, with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. I seen blood by his head area, and he was laying down and touched. Didn't get any kind of pulse. I'm trying to freak pulse. I'm trying not to freak out. I'm sorry. I can't not see that.

I'm not supposed to see that. It's all right. It's understandable. Understandable, because the Kinney family and Brad were as close as could be. David and Brad met several years earlier in coal mining training classes. We just took him and his family, you know, and we celebrate holidays.

We have a vacation and all this is supposed to go on. We're together with him. My kids go, go, go. Ryan Aller, chief detective with the Belmont County Sheriff's Office, arrived on the scene to assist the Bel Air PD. They were very close. Best friends. Best friends. Now, meanwhile, what scene to assist the Bel Air PD. They were very close. Best friends? Best friends. Now, meanwhile, what's happened to the daughter?

She saw the body. There was no question. Yes. So you get her out of there, I guess, huh? Yes. We didn't want to re-traumatize her more than she already had been. The girl was taken to a neighbor's as police got the story from the couple. How you coming about coming out here?

All right. All right. That right there is a weed eater is the story from the couple. How are you coming out here? All right. Yes, sir. That right there is a weed eater is the whole plan. Okay. You're bringing the weed eater? Yes, sir. David told police they'd stop by to lend Brad a weed eater. I noticed that the kitchen was scattered.

There was stuff all over the place. I told my wife, I said, Sherry, something's wrong. There's something everywhere. She said, just open the door and yell for Brad. David yelled, but got no response. He went down to the basement, and then he yelled, call 911. And I ran down. I can't believe that.

That basement was now a possible crime scene. Tell me what you're seeing. What we have is a garage slash basement. And it's what I would call organized clutter. There's a lot of stuff, but it's stack-packed in containers and whatnot. Cluttered, but no signs of a struggle. If you're just looking at a dead body in a basement with a head wound, you definitely got to look and say, could this have been a suicide?

Any problems with depression or anything like that? In the past, yes. Yeah. He had some bad... I think at one point in time he was, but... Nothing like... I don't think it was anything major. ...that we know of.

But if Brad shot himself, something was missing. If it was a suicide, the gun would have to be in the immediate area, and we didn't see it. I didn't see a gun. Now, it's not saying he couldn't have fell on it when he could have. A lot of times, if it's a suicide, the gun would have to be in the immediate area, and we didn't see it. I didn't see a gun. Now, it's not saying he couldn't have fell on it when he could have. A lot of times, if it's a suicide, you know, gun will fall underneath him or whatnot. There could well have been a weapon tucked under his belly. Sure.

Investigators rolled Brad's body over. I don't see a firearm. No, I don't either. I don't see nothing there, guys. We didn't find anything. There was no gun there. So we had to go to step two, which was that it was a homicide. You need to canvas the neighborhood.

Correct. See if anybody's doorbell cam caught an image or something. Those are so helpful right now. Everybody seems to have got one. But at this time period, it was kind of a novelty. Only one house on Brad's block had security cameras. And stroke of luck, that house happened to belong to the Bel Air chief of police. What are the odds that he would live on the street and have a camera that was operational?

Sometimes things work out. The chief's security video would be scrutinized for clues. Back at the house, officers were done talking to Brad's shell-shocked friends. Go ahead over to your truck. I know it's tough. You guys go home, rest. We will be in touch in a day or two. I shook his hand and he kind of pulled me in to the truck window there and looked me right in the eye. He said, Brad was my best friend in the whole world. Please find out who did this to him. Please figure this out, huh? Yeah. That's exactly what the detective intended to do, but he had no idea the secret he'd uncover along the way. Coal miner Brad McGarry had been shot to death inside his Bel Air, Ohio home. The news

blindsided friends like Melanie Roscovich. So sudden, so shocking, huh? Yes, and so senseless. What did the town lose when Brad got killed? The town lost security. They didn't feel safe any longer. And those who knew Brad personally, they lost a dear friend. You're never going to see him again. Just like that, so quick. Just like that. So quick. Yeah. And a heartbeat. We were devastated. Mary Kay Millican and her daughter, Abby, thought of Brad as family.

How do you find out, Abby? I was at school. I was my senior year and my mom came to school. I got called down to the office. So I went down there. I was like, hey, what's up? And my mom's like, Uncle Brad is dead. And I fell to the floor. I was a mess, just sobbing uncontrollably. And my mom had to take me home for the rest of the day. After a late night processing the scene, police were back on the case early the next morning. You got to get Brad's backstory in here pretty quickly, huh? Yes. We did a lot of interviews in a short period of time. He has many people that knew Brad because it's very important for us to get to know Brad. I have known Brad for almost 20 years. Mary Kay was one of the friends who spoke

to police. If he were to walk in the door here, who would we meet? He's larger than life. He absolutely had the best personality and he was friendly and just wanted to have a good time. Make you laugh? Oh, definitely make you laugh. One of the craziest things we ever did, we were at Walmart and we were just goofing off and he was looking at fish and he wanted to ask some questions about the fish. We couldn't find anybody to help, so he just got on the intercom and he was yelling for help himself. Over here on three, oh. Yeah, somebody help me at the fishies, please. Mary Kay and Abby met Brad before he became a coal miner.

Back then, he was a professional hairdresser. The switch had been a head-snapping career change. I couldn't wrap my head around it. I still can't. Why do you think he made the change? The money. He was looking to make more money, and he just wasn't making the kind of money he wanted in doing hair. To Abby, Brad was more than just an uncle figure. He was a role model. I was about 15, 16 years old. And one day I just had an urge to tell him, I said, Uncle Brad, I need to tell you something. He said, what's up little girl? And I said, I'm gay. No way. Yeah.

And he said, how did he, How did he swing with that? Girl. And it was Brad Abby turned to when she was bullied in high school. Would you get a hold of Uncle Brad and say, I'm having a really bad day here? Absolutely. I'd text him and be like, Uncle Brad, this and this happened today. I feel so low. Please, like, what do I do? And he would just tell me, water off a duck's back, baby girl, you know, you shine like

a light in the darkness and don't let that crown fall because, sorry. It's such a sweet thought. Yeah. It's something that ought to be written out on a card by your bedside. I think about that message all the time just because that's really what pulled me out of the darkness. That's really what I was like, okay, I do matter. I need to be myself.

Who would murder a friend like that? Police wondered if Brad's killing was a random attack. There were no signs of a struggle in the basement, but upstairs was a different story. All the cabinets and drawers are open. There's stuff spilled out on the floor. Things scattered everywhere, especially in the kitchen. Had Brad interrupted a burglary in progress and paid with his life? His best friend David had shared this bit of information. I know he had guys here just last day into last week putting in the pens. I said, well, do you know if he paid them by cash or check?

Well, I think maybe cash, and Brad had cash around the house, and that drew up a bit of a red flag. Investigators were also pursuing another line of inquiry. We definitely had to look at this as a potential hate crime. Was this the reason that he was murdered just because of who he was? Friend and former mine foreman, Franco Panaccio, says that at work,

Brad did not hide his orientation. In fact, he embraced it. He just didn't dress like the typical coal miner. You know, all of us did. You know, he took pride in how he looked, how he smelled, you know, how he presented himself. Brad always wore a safety gear.

But Brad always made a point to make sure his shirt was always unbuttoned, three or four buttons down, show his chest, show his gold chains, sprayed his cologne. He would joke around, let you know if you thought you're good looking, compliment you on what, maybe how you looked in a certain pair of jeans that day or whatever. Now Brad was dead, a bullet to the brain. Maybe not everybody found his joke so funny. Time to find out what was going on underground. He was having a hard time. He was in trouble at work. Anybody in particular?

All of them. Speaking to investigators, Brad McGarry's friends were at a loss. What would be so bad that you'd have to shoot him over, you know? Did that make any sense to you? It did not make any sense. Who would want to kill Brad? Exactly. Who would want to kill Brad? Police continued to press those close to Brad for clues. Wendy Neubauer was a friend who'd met Brad years earlier at a wedding.

What's your relationship to Brad? Oh, we were just best friends. Brad, it seemed, had a lot of best friends. This best friend talked to police about one theory they were already considering. His murder is a hate crime. He was having a hard time at work. Anybody in particular? All of them. Wendy, with her two children in tow, said initially Brad had no problems underground. It took a lot for him to get associated up there being gay. That one point, and then he got settled and situated, and they all loved him. Coworker Franco Panaccio agreed.

Never did I ever see anybody, you know, give him a weird look or, you know, want to beat him up, so to speak. But after a recent transfer, Wendy said Brad was stressed. And they moved him down here, and he just was miserable with this work. What was he struggling about? With all the people. Making him work over when he didn't want to, making them do this, and the people weren't nice to him and that. To run down the information from Wendy,

Detective Aller, along with fellow investigator Doug Cruz, utilized their own inside man. We lucked out. A former detective of ours had left to work at the mine. So we had a pretty good information pipeline into there and able to kind of cut through the BS. So what was the real story? Had Brad been harassed or discriminated against? Anyone at the mines they should look at who may have had a hateful motive?

Quite to the contrary, from everybody we talked to, Brad was very well liked by his co-workers. So there's nobody down in the pits that has it in for this guy, as far as you can tell. People in the coal mine, in the small towns, are much more accepting to different lifestyles than somebody in the bigger city would think. Since a hate crime didn't seem likely, police dug into their other theories, like a burglary gone wrong.

You start to see things like ransacked drawers and noticing that there's a lot of stuff in the house that maybe somebody was there to rob him, was spooked. Maybe there was a confrontation in a shooting. And there was a lot to rob. Brad was a collector. Oh, he had lots of toys. He liked his antiques. Oh, antiques, that was hisiques. That was his thing. That

was his thing. That was his catnip. That was his catnip for sure. His house was filled with all kind of antiques and country things. He had a Cracker Barrel house. His house was like a Cracker Barrel? The decor. Kind of woody and rough. Yeah, it was really nice. So that's kind of the joke that we have about Cracker Barrel has to do with his home decor and the way that he decorated. I know he had guys here. Investigators remembered what Brad's best friend David had told them. Two workers had recently installed a fence. Had they come back to rob the place?

It was a lead detect as followed, but they were having little luck in tracking down those workers. You know, we would have to try to find some kind of contract or something when you have major work around your house. No such contract was found. We were looking for a ghost, in other words. And a closer examination of the upstairs gave police pause. The ransacking, it was too neat. Articles were taken out and dumped. It was like in one particular area instead of being strewn. Valuables within easy reach. There

was nice televisions. There was iPads, iPhones, high dollar items, things that a thief could sell pretty quickly. The burglary scenario was scrapped. Police now wonder if Brad's murder wasn't about plunder or hate. Was it about love? Nine times out of ten, the person that killed you loved you at some point. So you always look towards lovers, family. Of particular interest to investigators, Brad's most recent romance. The Kinneys had provided a possible lead on that, too.

He's the last relationship he was in. It was pulled off, and he hasn't been with anybody ever since. He's my best friend. How long ago was that? I couldn't even tell you. Who was the girl? It was a guy. Oh, he was in with a guy?

Yes, sir. Okay, who was the guy? Scott something. Who was the guy? Oh, he was in with the guy? Yeah. Okay, who was the guy? He, uh, Scotty... Brad had a relationship that had soured in the past couple weeks with a man named Scotty. So this is a recent relationship that's come to an end, huh? Yes, apparently. That's interesting. Absolutely, and at that point, we didn't have a whole lot to go on, so we were pretty interested in that. They needed to track down the recent love interest.

Where was he the night Brad was killed? And investigators were about to learn that Scotty was not the only man in Brad's life. It was insinuating that they were having sex. It was romantic. An investigation still underway into the death of the man who lived at this home on Wagner Avenue. As word of Brad McGarry's murder was echoing through the Ohio River Valley, investigators were busy digging into Brad's love life, trying to locate a recent ex. First name, Scotty. Nobody seemed to know what his name was off the initial conversations with people. Pretty quickly, though, police were able to utilize social media to identify Scotty as 22-year-old

Scott Ray Butler. His dad was a friend of Brad's from the coal mines. Brad met Scotty at a Butler family party. They were on and off? Is that the picture you had? They were a hookup, yeah. Wasn't going anywhere serious? No, no, it wasn't going anywhere serious. When investigators located Scotty, he was willing to talk. So what is Scotty's story? Scotty basically says that he and Brad were kind of on again, off again, and it had kind of cooled off. Did your people say, Scotty, we got news for you? Yes. How do you take it?

He was upset. I'd say devastated. When the investigators informed Scotty of Brad's passing, you know, all the appropriate indicators were present. There were no indicators of resentment or anything where Scotty wished bad things upon Brad. Scotty was cleared in Brad's murder, and not just because he showed genuine affection for Brad. You see, Scotty had an ironclad alibi, as in iron bars. He was incarcerated at the time of this homicide. Scotty was in jail for a probation violation on a prior burglary conviction. So he was in-house and accounted for in the county jail when you believe that Brad had been murdered? Correct. It's a pretty good alibi. A very good alibi. But Scotty wasn't the only love interest detectives were hearing about.

We're cousins. Brad's my first cousin. Grew up together. All right? Okay. Brad's cousin, Skylar Strauser, came forward with a story, and for investigators, a tantalizing new lead. She tells you about a Sunday brunch.

Family's getting together. What's her story? So the night before the murder, Brad went to a family wedding and had spent the night there. The next day, there was like a family brunch. We were at Grammy's on Sunday. At Grammy's, we... Me, the cousins, most of the cousins. During this brunch, Brad tells his cousin skyler he got a text message

from what uh she took as a lover that they were going to meet up in a little bit to take a nap he made a joke about he said tisha which is one of the other cousins calls it taking a nap and it wasn't taking a nap but when he was insinuating that they were having sex. It was romantic. So he's getting this text message a couple of the later, huh? Correct. And then he leaves the family gathering? Is that what happens?

Yes. We kind of ate and he just left. Just kind of left. I don't even think he stayed for dessert. A tryst with a lover on the very day Brad was killed. This becomes a person that we want to reach out to immediately. This is somebody that we need to know because they obviously are going to have a piece of the puzzle that we're missing. But once again, detectives didn't get

a full name. Though Skyler told police the relationship had been going on for years, the cousins just knew him as DJ. That mean anything to you? No, at that time, no. We don't know who DJ is. Brad's friend Melanie had heard a lot about DJ. You knew him as DJ? Mm-hmm. What did DJ mean to Brad?

Oh, he was absolutely in love with him. There wasn't anything that he wouldn't do. If DJ needed anything, Brad was right there. He would literally rearrange anything in his life to be there for him. Brad thought he'd met the love of his life the way you're describing it. Was it being reciprocated? From what Brad had shared with me, he believed that DJ was in love with him as well. The love of Brad's life. Just one problem. A big one. One of the things we learned was not only is he married, but he's almost living a double life because he, while he's dating Brad, he's betraying himself to everybody that he knows as a happily married man. A married man with a secret. Was it a dangerous secret?

Detectives needed to find DJ right away. Turns out he was someone they'd already met. I didn't even know his name until I went on Facebook to find it out. Investigators were running down their most promising lead. A married man who was having a long-time affair with Brad McGarry. One who'd had an intimate rendezvous planned with Brad on the day he was killed. A guy named DJ. I didn't even know his name until I went on Facebook to find it out. Brad's cousin had already done some detective work for the investigators.

I guess they call him DJ or David Kenny. David, the guy who was at the house. Yes. With his wife and had found the body. Correct. DJ is David Kenny. David Kenny. David Kenny.

Brad's best friend from the mines, who, with his wife and stepdaughter, had found Brad's body. I'm trying not to freak out. I'm sorry. David, the guy on the scene who had sounded so devastated, so willing to help. I know he had guys here just last day and the last week putting in the fence. Known to friends and family as DJ, short for David Jr., had he lied about the true nature of his relationship with Brad? David agreed to speak with Chief Detective Ryan Aller voluntarily

and to bring along a cell phone. We had already told David we're going to need copies of all the text messages you have with Brad because he was one of the last people to talk to Brad. All right. Give me a couple minutes and I'll buzz right through this. Yes, sir. He's turned it over to you without an issue, huh? Yes. Here it is. Knock yourself out. Take a look.

Correct. Waller is speaking with Mr. Kinney in one room that I can literally take his phone, walk down the hallway in our forensics lab and process it in real time while he's talking to him. And talking to David, it seemed his grief was still raw. Are you sorry? It's okay. I hate the first huge being to cry in this room. I know, right? I've just been trying so hard to... It's okay. It's all right. Down the hall, Detective Cruz was using a forensic software program to retrieve texts and photos, some deleted from David's iPhone. What I'm finding on the phone is pretty clear.

These guys are way more than friends. You know, they're intimately involved. David, there's some stuff on your phone that's a little questionable. Yes, sir. Confronted with the evidence on his phone, David changed his story and admitted to being more than friends with his best friend, Brad. Did you guys have sex together?

There's a few times in the past where, you know, he's attempted a lot and we've kind of fooled around a little bit in the past. It's okay. When was the last time you guys didn't do anything together? Um, it's been a little while. Weeks, maybe months. A month max. But what about that take a nap date Brad told his cousin about?

Investigators estimated Brad's time of death to be between 3 and 3.30, close to that planned meeting. So Detective Aller wanted David to account for his whereabouts around that time. Where were you and your wife at Sunday afternoon? We went to a Chinese restaurant, got some lunch after we hung out at the house. Then David said he drove alone to window shop some trailers for his truck before heading back to his house in Brilliant, 30 miles north of Brad's place in Bel Air. I was back home, I think it was like three, I was back home about three o'clock. Three o'clock, near the approximate time Brad was killed. But once again, David's phone told a different story. The GPS clearly shows that at the time we believe that Brad was murdered, your phone was there. David's story suddenly morphed again. He wasn't Brad's after all.

I went to his house. He was not there. I stayed and I hung around for a little while and that was it. David insisted he left before Brad got back from his family brunch. But remember, the Bel Air police chief had a home security camera just down the street from Brad's. It showed David in his wife Sherry's car heading toward Brad's house just before 2 p.m. We see David drive by Chief Kovalec's house. Then, 56 minutes after that, you see Brad drive down the road, and then about 15 minutes later, there goes David, leaving. David, look at me. It's starting to look... Yes, sir, I know, but it's starting to look pretty messed up. As the evidence mounted, David's story took another left turn.

I didn't shoot you. You didn't know? I'm going to tell you. Then who did? Tell me what happened. That's the point of the story where the wheels fall off the crazy train. David said, yes, he was still there when Brad got home, but said when Brad arrived, he wasn't alone. He had another guy with

him. I don't know who he was. I don't know his name. He starts telling me about, okay, I was at the house. Brad pulls up with this dirty looking guy I've never seen before. They went in the garage. Okay. It's okay. David, look at me. Look at me in the eye. You can tell me what happened next. I was so f***ing scared. What happened?

You heard a gunshot? You heard a gunshot? Yes, sir. So there's a mystery man who arrives with Brad who then ends up killing him. Yes. But detectives knew there was a problem with the third man scenario. We see Brad and this guy pulled in

with the Beamer? Yes, sir. Brad's front seat in the Beamer was full of stuff that he brought from the wedding. Yes, sir. He didn't have a passenger. Look, here's a picture of the car with all the stuff there. So where did the mystery man sit? So mystery man is now gone.

Mystery man is out. So now he's got to explain what he's doing in the basement with the body of his best friend. In a quiet voice, a now subdued David began yet another version of his story. Perhaps he didn't want me to leave my wife for a while. For quite a while. For what we gleaned at this point is Brad felt like David was taking advantage of him. He wanted to be with David. He wanted David to leave his wife and be with them. They'd be a real couple. According to David, he arranged to meet with Brad that Sunday afternoon, not for sex, but to end their

years-long affair. News David said that Brad didn't take very well. Yes, sir. He hit me, smacked me around a couple times. He said, this has been going on for too long. You need to leave your wife. Okay.

I told him, I said, I'm done. I'm not doing this with you no more. I'm done. That's when, according to David, Brad pulled out a Derringer pistol. He kept leaving it at me, so I grabbed it. Okay. What happened after you grabbed it? I pushed him.

Okay. What happened after you grabbed it? I pushed him. Okay. Then what happened? I shot him. Detective Aller asked David to demonstrate. Show me where. On top of the head right there. Top of the head?

Yes, sir. Investigators had a confession and a claim of self-defense. David Kinney was arrested for the murder. How would his self-defense story play for a jury? And how would the whole story play for his wife? Oh, fuck. I can't even look at you. David Kinney admitted shooting his best friend and secret lover, Brad McGarry. I was like, no way. There's no way.

Couldn't be him. No, could not be. Why not? Why rule him out in your mind? Just because of how close him and Brad were. You know, they were doing everything together. Their families went on vacation and holidays. I could not picture him doing that. David's admission meant the horrible shock of finding his friend's body had been an act. Question now was, had his wife Sherry been acting too? My kids called. Did you have a sense of whether the wife knew about

this at that point? We were awful interested in that. You could come up with a narrative where she's the wrong person in this triangle and the gun's in her hand. Yeah. It's not hard to get there as a story. It's really not. David told investigators Sherry knew nothing about any of it. But when

David asked if he could be the one to break the news to Sherry, investigators kept the camera rolling, keen to see her reaction. He flipped out on me and he grabbed this.22 Derringer. Before he even did that, he slapped me around a little bit after I told him this was it. Okay? You are f***ing kidding me. Listen. Oh, f***. How can he not look at you?

The shock just goes over her because he doesn't come out and say it, but he's clearly walking up to it. He can't map me with that gun, okay? He can't map me with that gun, okay? He came at me with that gun because... Oh, no! He wants me to leave you guys. I told him that when he come at me with that gun.

Oh! I had to tell him that. No, no! It comes across very honest, very raw at the moment that it's going on. We believe she definitely reacted appropriately, but what is that reaction? What are our kids going to think? You and our kids are my whole world.

So much to absorb at once. Her husband was Brad's killer and Brad's lover. So you had an affair with him? Before? Yeah. I want to know what happened between you two. Before? I want to know.

I want to know the last time. It's been a while. It has been a while. A while. A while. I want to know. It's been a while, trust me. Our heart broke for her.

Any one of those things was enough to break anybody, but to get all that news at once... It's a lot. It was a lot, yeah. And there was more. Perhaps the most painful realization of all. Oh my God, he took me and our daughter there. I know, I know.

I didn't know what else to do. Mr. Kinney took not only his wife, but his stepdaughter, a child, to a crime scene where he knew, he knew that there was a dead man inside. I mean, there's just no other way to describe it other than disgusting. This guy brings his stepdaughter to a murder scene and she sees everything. Who would do that? I think he felt really backed into a corner, and his mind was going crazy at that point, because there's not a sane person that would involve a child in that way.

David pleaded not guilty to aggravated or premeditated murder. With bail set at $1 million, He remained behind bars to await trial. When Brad's friends got wind of David's self-defense claim, they thought, no way. What do you think happened here? I think that Brad gave him an ultimatum. And I think he said, if you don't tell Sherry, I'm going to. You see this as premeditated.

He came there with murder on his mind. Absolutely. So that the truth would not come out about their affair and his fear of losing his family. Law enforcement agreed. Either we're going to be amicable and reasonable with this, or one of us is going to walk away because two can keep a secret if one's dead. In January 2018, David went on trial at the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas. Prosecutors were ready to rebut David's claim of self-defense with their own smoking gun. Forensics, they revealed, showed that Brad was shot from behind,

in the back of the head, not in the front, as David had initially said. What's more, the jury heard that Brad had been shot not just once in the back of the head, but twice, which didn't exactly sound like self-defense. Your Honor, we have made the decision that Mr. Kinney will not testify. David never took the stand to explain that second shot, but jurors were shown the police interview with Detective Allman. You shot him once, he's dead on the ground. Why'd you shoot him again? It was just, it just happened. After just four hours of deliberations.

We, the jury, Julian Palin, have sworn to find the defendant, David Carl Kinney, guilty. His sentence, life in prison without parole. And I'm trying this to happen, and I wish I could take it all back. And all the apologies in the world will never bring him back. I want you to know I'm truly sorry for it all. It doesn't bring Brad back. No.

Nothing's going to bring back the laughter that we had and the tears when something would happen and that we were always there for each other. Sherry Kinney, now divorced, has done her best to move on. She told us she's found a new love and is focusing on raising her three children. Brad's friends are left with the notion that the hairdresser-turned-coal miner

faced a much darker and more sinister peril above ground than he ever did below. It was the ultimate betrayal. It could have played out another way, don't you think? It could have. He could have come clean to his family, talked to his wife, let her know what was going on. He was willing to kill somebody that loved him to keep a secret that I really honestly feel at the end of the day, nobody would have cared about. When do you miss him the most, Abby? I miss him the most when I'm feeling sad or anxious or unsure of myself.

Sometimes I go on Messenger and I just message him his account. I know nothing will come back, but I think that he got the message up there in heaven some way. Uncle Brad to Abby, close friend to so many others. A man comfortable in his own skin, be it cutting hair or bringing up coal. Most of all, they will remember this companion they met along the way as someone who liked to tease, love, and of course, laugh.

I have gotten some feelings that he's just enjoying the attention. Oh, he would like this. He absolutely would. He loved attention. So he's absolutely smiling up in heaven somewhere and looking down on us. That's all for this edition of Dateline. We'll see you again Friday at 9, 8 central. And of course, I'll see you each weeknight for NBC Nightly News. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.