Dateline NBC - Deadly Liaisons

Episode Date: August 10, 2021

In this Dateline classic, Rhoni Reuter, the long time girlfriend of former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle, is murdered in her own home. Who would have killed a woman with no enemies? Rob Stafford reports. Originally aired on NBC on April 15, 2011.

They were a gorgeous couple. From the minute you saw her, you felt happy just being with her. He was once a pro-athlete, football royalty. She was expecting their first child. Baby was moving and she said, come and feel my tummy. Then a crime that stunned the city. The beaming mother-to-be gunned down in her own home. I see bullet holes in the floor where my sister was murdered.

It was terrible. So full of love and life, who would want her dead? Her celebrity boyfriend? They're trying to say they're naming me as a suspect. Or maybe one of his other girlfriends? She said, you don't know that he's seeing other girls? Mysterious letters were spilling secrets. Did someone want her out of the way?

I had a wig. I had dark sunglasses to cover my face. A mother-to-be killed, and a mother of three who was not what she seemed. Now, an undercover plan to catch a killer. She opened the door. She started screaming. I took the first shot. Thanks for joining us. I'm Lester Holt. It's a story about celebrity and mystery,

and it centers on one of Chicago's hometown heroes. He and his longtime girlfriend were expecting their first child, but no one was expecting their tale to end in the heartbreaking and deadly way that it did. Here's Rob Stafford. It was morning in a condo complex in the upscale Chicago suburb of Deerfield. The day was just getting started. Quiet. Until the screaming. A woman in the building heard it, so she called her pregnant neighbor upstairs.

Are you okay? I heard a woman screaming and I don 911. Police rushed to the scene. The 911 caller had been right to be worried. In the unit above her, they found her pregnant neighbor dead. What had happened upstairs and why? Solving the mystery would lead police to a famous and beloved pro football player, would involve several women in his life, and would set the stage for a high stakes cat and mouse game between authorities and the person they ultimately came to believe killed an expectant mother in cold blood. Her name was Ronnie Ryder. From the minute you saw her, you felt happy just being with her.

Ronnie was stunning, stylish, and sweet. Her brothers, Thad and Wade, adored her, as did their wives, Anna and Lori. Ronnie is the person that you see that you would want to be. She was everything. She would do anything for anybody. She was very caring, always thought of other people. She called us every night. There was a warm tenderness that Ronnie brought everywhere she went.

Ronnie was a woman with no enemies, so who on earth could have wanted her dead? The investigation began at a crime scene that was only minutes old. Detectives Vince Nichols and Juan Mazaragos of the Deerfield Police Department caught the case. You could still smell the odor of gunpowder. No immediate signs of a struggle. And no signs of forced entry. Bullet casings and live ammunition from a nine millimeter Beretta semi-automatic handgun littered the kitchen. Deerfield Police Chief John Slioses thought

that was telling. The sheer number of shots would indicate that there was some emotion, there was something driving the shooter. In all likelihood, the victim could have known the offender. So who's the first person you want to talk to? Sean Gale. The boyfriend? Correct. Sean Gale, her boyfriend of 17 years, was an ex-football player, smart, popular, and charming. The two met in 1990 at a charity event. Back then, Sean was a member of the iconic 85 Bears team that won the Super Bowl. Super Bowl champions! For the most part, they were just together all the time. They talked every day on the phone.

They took trips together. Ronnie's family says she and Sean seemed to make it work. The revered pro athlete and the girl from a small town living in the big city. She eventually juggled two jobs, one in the food industry, the other part-time at Macy's because she loved fashion. And then in March 2007, after many years with Sean, Ronnie became pregnant at age 41. She would finally become a mother. She was elated, which was obvious when Wade, his wife, and parents visited Ronnie in Chicago that September. That was the happiest I've ever seen my sister in my life. She was just glowing. And the baby was moving. And she said, Mom,

come and feel my tummy. The baby's moving. I will never forget that. Ronnie was a woman in love, even though this was no conventional relationship. She'd been with Sean for close to two decades. They never married or even lived together. So Anna wondered why Ronnie stayed with him when she wanted both. You know, I'd say, what is it about him? And she said, I don't know what to tell you, Anna. I just love him.

And it was unclear if anything would change, even after the baby was born. Did she want to get married? Yes, she did. Did he? I don't know. And there was one other thing. Ronnie's family rarely saw Sean. We just knew that Ronnie said Sean was a private person and didn't want people bothering him. Just as Ronnie's family was wondering how a baby might affect Ronnie and Sean's relationship, she was suddenly gunned down early that October morning. I was probably the most angry I've ever been in my life. I was in an uproar. I mean, I just wanted to go down there and get the person. I wanted to grab them myself and do what they did to my sister. Police, too, were committed to bringing the killer or killers to justice.

So they started this investigation by the book. Look at the people closest to the victim. That's why they wanted to talk to Sean Gale. And they didn't have to wait long to do it. Coming up... This is Sean Gale, and they're trying to say they're naming me as a suspect. A sobbing boyfriend under suspicion. Coming up... This is Sean Gale, and they're trying to say they're naming me as a suspect. A sobbing boyfriend under suspicion.

Is he acting, or is this real grief? That's what we're listening for. When Dateline continues... Ronnie Ryder, more than six months pregnant, had been shot to death in her own home. It would have been a shocking crime anywhere, but it was especially so in Deerfield, a tranquil, affluent Chicago suburb which had not seen a murder in more than 30 years. Who could have committed such a crime? First on the list of people police wanted to talk to was Sean Gale, Ronnie's longtime boyfriend. But before police could call Sean, he called them himself a few hours after the murder. Sean didn't seem to know yet that Ronnie was dead and sounded confused about just what had

happened. I've been getting calls from the media. This is Sean Gale and they're trying to say they're naming me as a suspect. We've heard that too. Was it Ronnie Ryder? Is she okay? Yes, it was Ronnie and no, she's not. I'm driving to her house right now. Okay, don't go to her house. If you want to go somewhere, come to the Deerfield Police Department. Sean, don't go to her house, okay? Sean, come to the police department. Do you know where it is? Hey, Sean, do you want me to stay on the phone until you get here? Please? No! Sean seemed shocked and distressed, but detectives weren't necessarily buying it.

As police officers, you're listening to see, is he acting, or is this real grief? If they're playing it several times, yes, that's what we're listening for. It appears to be sincere. But you're not basing any conclusion on that tape? That's correct. You want to talk to him? Oh, absolutely. Sean may be part of football royalty, a player on a Super Bowl winning team, but now he was a potential suspect in a high profile murder case. Detectives say Sean was still emotional as they sat down with him in an interview room and started with the basics. Where had Sean been at the time of the shooting? He was en route to see

his physical therapist, but since he was early, he decided to go get a haircut in North Chicago. So he's not far from the murder scene at the time of the murder? No, he's not. Investigators checked out Sean's alibi. The barbershop confirmed he had been there the morning of the murder. We also, when his fire is pulled a video from his complex, which captures the alley where he would drive out and drive through to leave his house. And sure enough, he is captured leaving his house. In terms of the timeline in the shooting, does that videotape clear him of being at the murder scene at the time? Yes. No gunshot residue was found on Sean, and he did not match the description

police had from neighbors of a small, young, dark-complected male with black hair wearing a baggy sweatsuit who was last seen at Ronnie's condo the morning of the murder. But that didn't let Sean off the hook as far as police were concerned. They say they had to consider whether someone else, perhaps connected to Sean, had committed the crime. The victim's family was wondering the same thing. At first I thought, well, maybe it was someone hired as a hitman to do this, and that was them running away from the scene. I didn't think the person who was behind this would be stupid enough to do it themselves in broad daylight.

Did you think that person could have been Sean Gale? Did it ever cross my mind? Certainly. That maybe he didn't want the baby in the picture? We really didn't know what to believe. Reeling with questions and anguish, Ronnie's family made the sad pilgrimage to her condo to collect her things. We walked in and it was stark quiet and cold and empty.

And it just, it felt awful. All of her stuff, but not her. It was awful. She had all the baby clothes that people had gotten her were on a great big table next to the kitchen. I'd see bullet holes in the floor when my sister was murdered. That was terrible. As Ronnie's family grieved, they hoped the police would find answers.

And one tantalizing lead came when investigators asked Sean Gale, if not him, who? Sean gave them a name, a woman's name. Coming up. This is definitely a suspect. She knew of Ronnie. If she mailed this letter,

she obviously had to know Ronnie's address. Spurned lover? Yes. Jealous? Yes. Motive? Yes. When Dateline continues. Sean Gale was a handsome and popular ex-football player for the Chicago Bears. Now his girlfriend, Ronnie Ryder, was dead. And it wasn't long before police learned Ronnie wasn't the only woman in Sean's life. Far from it. And they learned that from Sean himself. It was kind of an open relationship. He had made it clear to her. It was not exclusive.

Correct. Sean told police one of the women he had dated the year before might be responsible for Ronnie's murder. Monika Karoska. Originally from Poland, she's a fitness trainer who met Sean at a Bears promotional event in 2005. She was 27 at the time, he was 43. He was a person who I can truly open up, gentle, I would say in a gentleman manner. Monica says Shawn never mentioned other women, so she assumed she was the only one he was dating.

Did he tell you that? He didn't really have to tell me that because we were seeing each other quite often. Then late one evening, after nine months of dating, Monica says she happened to be in Sean's neighborhood and decided to stop by his home. I came out from the car and I stopped by the window where I saw him sitting with another woman. I've never would I suspect that there is somebody else. That was not for me. That was a shock. She started knocking on Sean's window.

And I really got upset because they run upstairs. Instead, you know, if there would be just a friend or something, you know, why wouldn't you open the door? Monica admits breaking the window, although she says she didn't intend to. I was very angry. I don't think I was ever cheated by anybody. That was shocking for me. And Monica remembers confronting the other woman as she left. I asked her, are you seeing him? And she said, you don't know that he's seeing other girls? I'm like, no. Monica says that night marked the end of her relationship with Sean.

Just a few weeks later, something strange started happening. Women in Sean's life began to receive letters. Describing the fact that he was not only seeing this one particular woman, but seeing many women at the same time, trying to dissuade these other ladies from seeing him. Dayline has obtained some of the letters, which not only contain angry allegations that Sean cheated and lied, but also include copies of what look like very personal emails between Sean and the women, as well as supposed travel itineraries indicating Sean had taken foreign trips

with two different women less than two months apart. One was written in poor English, as if by an immigrant like Monica. Sean, who says the letters were full of lies, immediately accused Monica of sending them. After all, she broke in his window and confronted that woman. He got an order of protection against Monica, but the letters and other harassing behavior continued for more than a year. It seemed to Sean that Monica was repeatedly violating that order of protection. By the fall of 2007, Sean was so frustrated with the harassment, he wanted Monica jailed or fined. His request was filed in court on October 4, 2007, the same day Ronnie Ryder was killed.

So Ronnie Ryder didn't have any enemies. That's correct. But you learned that Sean Gale did? Yes. Sean told police about Monica Karoska and those letters. Not only did they think they might have a direct connection to the murder, but one of those letters was found in Ronnie's purse the day she was killed. How big a break does that seem at the time? This is definitely a suspect. She knew of Ronnie. If she mailed this letter and Ronnie had the letter, she obviously had to know Ronnie's address. Does Monica Karowska sound like a spurned lover? Yes. Jealous? Yes. Motive? Yes. Monica's alibi for the time of the murder was that she was training one of her regular clients,

who happened to live in a town right next to Deerfield. Her alibi seemed to check out. As soon as you talk to the client that she says she was with, is she crossed off the list? Not immediately. We don't know what their relationship is, if he could be lying for her or not. Police had their hands full juggling Sean Gale and Monica Karoska as potential suspects when yet another woman in Sean's circle popped up on their radar from tipsters. Three phone calls from people who gave the name of Marnie Yang.

Marnie Yang. Yes. And the information they were leaving was that she would be an individual capable of doing something like this because of the relationship she had with Sean Gale. Capable of this kind of murder? Yes. The plot, as they say, was thickening. Coming up, who is Marnie Yang? She tells us that Marnie has always bragged about Sean Gale being her boyfriend. Police zero in on a mysterious single mother, and they enlist Sean Gale to help them. When Dateline continues. Not long after Ronnie Ryder was gunned down in her own home in suburban Deerfield, Illinois,

her longtime boyfriend, Sean Gale, and a former lover of his, Monica Koroska, were being investigated as possible suspects in Ronnie's murder. But now the mystery was deepening. Callers had given police a new name, yet another woman in Sean's life, Marnie Yang. Police soon learned she was a divorced mother of three, a Chicago native who worked multiple jobs, including as a real estate agent to support her family. She was also an aspiring fitness model. Someone that's promoting sales of fitness equipment like we see on TV all the time.

Photographer Jason Stoller first met Marnie during a quick photo shoot in her garage in 2006. Marnie's children were there, twins, a girl and boy, 15 at the time, and a younger son, age 10. How was she with her kids? I saw a very in-control mom, protective of her children that communicated very well and was even really, really liked by her children's friends. He took more than a thousand photos of Marnie during four modeling sessions in 2006 and 2007. At nearly 40 years old, Marnie was in great shape. And Jason says Marnie was incredibly driven. She was looking for success in real estate. She was looking for success as a fitness model.

Was the modeling about ego or was it about trying to make money? I think both. I think this woman was trying to make all the money she could for her and her family. Jason's girlfriend, Miranda Bauman, did Marnie's makeup. She had a lot of interests, athletic, skydiving, scuba diving, these kinds of things. Marnie was also fascinated by police work, even applied twice to be an officer, but was turned down. Still, she was very active in the Chicago Police Department's Neighborhood Watch program. She talked about wanting to make sure her neighborhood was safe and being concerned about her children's safety. This was hardly the profile of a murder suspect.

Still, police continued to look into her background and learned about her connection to Sean Gale. Jason says he first heard about what was going on between the two of them when she brought it up at a shoot. She mentioned Sean Gale, that she was involved in real estate transactions with him, and this is who she was seeing. She knew Sean was involved with other people. Marnie had shown up at some of the shoots with a man she described as a family friend. And she was in fact seeing a few men. But it appeared to both investigators and the photographer that it was Sean she was really interested in. And on her last shoot in the winter of 2007, Jason says Marnie arrived with an outfit and a request. She said, I wore this specifically and I would like to get some pictures specifically for Sean.

It says Chicago Bears on the front and it said Chicago Bears on her butt. And she really wanted to take some pictures in this outfit for Sean. Police were investigating those tips they'd received from callers pointing them to Marnie Yang. One was from a former friend of hers. And what she told police refocused their whole investigation. She tells us that Marnie Yang has always bragged about Sean Gale being her boyfriend, but she then starts to tell us stories about these letters that Monica was being accused of. Marnie has bragged to her how she hacked into Sean Gale's email account and was able to obtain all these other women's information and email addresses. Marnie bragged to her how Monica was the one getting in trouble for all this, and that Monica might be deported. She laughed about it.

She laughed about Monica being deported, possibly? Yes. What did that tell you about Marnie Yang? Well, that just told us that she was very vindictive and that she would do anything to get anybody out of the way. Just hours after speaking with Marnie's former friend, police went to the alley behind Marnie's Chicago home and seized her garbage, no search warrant needed. They simply scooped up all her trash and took it with them. In it,

they found a bank statement. And on that, they discovered she'd been paying for background checks on other women Sean was seeing. Police also learned about the time Marnie planned a trip to the same resort in Mexico at the same time he was going there with Ronnie. She tells him she's just there to do scuba diving. Aside from that incident, Sean said Marnie never suggested she wanted more from the relationship than what they already had. Basically, some real estate dealings and sex. Yes, sex. And police found it very interesting that Marnie had gone to Sean's house to bring him dinner and have sex the very evening before the murder.

When it came to women, Sean's life seemed complex. But as police became more interested in one woman, Marnie Yang, they were crossing another off their list of suspects. They determined Monica Koroska had nothing to do with sending those nasty letters to women in Sean's life, and she had nothing to do with Ronnie Ryder's murder. The ordeal was a nightmare for her. It was just so mysterious. Everything sounded crazy. And here in the middle, it's me, my name. I did nothing besides just going out and dating a wrong person at the wrong time.

Sean Gale was also fully cleared of the murder within a few weeks of the shooting. The investigation was soon focused on Marnie Yang, and Sean then went from possible suspect to unofficial police agent. He allowed police to wire his home, and then he invited Marnie over to see what she might say about the murder. Investigators who hovered nearby and listened in later said Marnie sounded more like a concerned friend than a killer, as she asked questions about the investigation. Did you talk to the police today? What did they think? Police then got a warrant to search her computer at work.

We find that she had Googled Ronnie Ryder's address, a Google map from her workplace to Ronnie's residence. Marnie had also checked online for photos and videos of Ronnie. Police felt it was time to bring Marnie in for questioning. She tells us about the relationship, how she met Sean Gale, and it was at a Bears convention, and how they talked about real estate. Investigators were particularly interested in her whereabouts the night before the murder, which as they already knew from Sean, included a couple hours at his home. She was honest about that. She was there on October the 3rd between 7 30 and 9 30 p.m. at his residence. And Marty told them something else about that night, something that would become central to their investigation.

She then tells us that on that evening, she was supposed to meet her friend, Christy Passion, for a real estate deal at Christy's place, but had to cancel because her vehicle broke down. She had to stop at home to check on the kids, and then her vehicle broke down. Christy Passion, that name comes up. How important would that name prove to be? It would be the most important piece of this whole puzzle. In early January 2008, three months after the murder, police stepped up their investigation of Marnie Yang and brought her, her children, and her friend,

Christie Passion, in for questioning. What they learned was surprising, especially from Marnie's older son. Coming up, police dropped a bombshell on Marnie Yang. All those things that your 16-year-old son could believe that you were responsible for. Oh, God. When Dateline continues. Three months after Ronnie Ryder was gunned down in her own home with a 9mm Beretta,

police were zeroing in on Marnie Yang, a woman also involved with Ronnie's longtime boyfriend, Sean Gale. Police have been told Marnie was obsessed with Sean, was a woman who loved guns, and hated people who got in her way. She's conniving. She's manipulative. Very arrogant. They searched her home, as well as her mother's, where Marnie had stashed some of her firearms. They were hoping to find the murder weapon, a nine millimeter Beretta. We found a few weapons, but nothing of a nine millimeter. But they did find evidence of Marnie's true feelings about Sean, a revealing photo of

Sean and two Bears mementos she kept in her top dresser drawer. And they came across a letter she wrote to Sean, but never sent. In it, she complained, you go on these romantic trips everywhere with all these other women, but you bring back a $2 keychain, and I'm supposed to feel special about that? What message does that send about how you view me? Police also found mailing labels for those letters sent to women in Sean's life. The noose was tightening. Now, as a camera rolled,

police questioned Marnie on and off for three days. Marnie was very talkative. In fact, she had answers for everything and seemed confident, even cocky. When asked what her reaction was when Sean told her about Ronnie's pregnancy, Marnie responded, Marnie's attitude was interesting to investigators,

but more important to them were the specifics of the case. They asked her about the murder weapon. Marnie told police she had had a 9mm gun that had gone missing, along with other things in her home, but she never reported it. I did not make a police report because I had no homeowner's insurance at the time. They asked her about a receipt they'd obtained, showing she purchased two books online in early August 2007, two months before the murder, about how to make a homemade silencer.

She said she had bought the silencer books for a child school project. A science project on noise displacement. There was no such project. In fact, when she bought the books, school hadn't even started. Right, but I mean, you have to start thinking about the project ahead of time. She then changed her story and said she actually bought the books for a friend as a gag birthday gift. When his birthday was done, I got him tickets to a show, you know, dinner and a show. books for a friend as a gag birthday gift. Police asked Marnie about the information she collected on women in Sean's life. She said she did that because Sean had started to get closer to her children. She portrayed herself as a vigilant mother, wary of the people around her friends.

I'm sorry that I make it my business that anybody that comes into contact with my children, I will check you out, I will check out everybody who's connected to you, and when I'm done, I will check out your mother and her two sisters too. Most important, police asked Marnie where she was at the time of the murder. She said she was home because she was having car trouble. And indeed, her cell phone had bounced off towers near her home that morning. But there were witnesses they wanted to talk to who could shed light on her alibi,

Marnie's own children. Their older son first said that mom was home, that he had stayed home from school because he was sick. But then they spoke with his sister, who said Marnie had asked her older brother to lie for her. So police confronted him with what his sister said. And that's when he says had asked her older brother to lie for her. So police confronted him with what his sister said. And that's when he says, yes, I'm done lying for her. He then admitted his mother, Marnie, had told him to tell police she was home with him the morning of the murder,

when in fact she had not been. Then he startled police by what he said next. He told the investigators that after hearing and seeing the story on TV, some of his friends brought it to their attention that one of his guts reactions is that she somehow might be involved. His own mother might be involved in the murder of Ronnie Ryder. Correct. Very unusual response. And for a son to do that, I think every investigator was thinking that that's an honest response. The son would have no other reason to answer that way. Police confronted Marnie with what her own children said about her.

All those things led your 16-year-old son to believe that you were responsible for it. Oh, God. I also think that his time and recollection is off a little bit, but, oh, like, no way. Investigators also questioned Marnie's best friend, Christy Passion. The women had known each other for 15 years, ever since Christy, a psychic, read Marnie's tarot cards at a psychic fair. She denied having any knowledge of Marnie planning or committing the murder. Believer? No. Investigators were convinced both Christy and Marnie planning or committing the murder. Believer? No.

Investigators were convinced both Christy and Marnie were lying, but they didn't have anything close to a confession. True, police did have circumstantial evidence, proof she'd had a gun like the murder weapon, that she bought those silencer books and purchased parts to make one, even proof she purchased a bucket of cement the day after the murder. And investigators believe she lied about most of that on tape. But the Lake County State's attorney, Michael Waller,

said it was not enough to make an arrest. We don't have any physical evidence tying her to the scene. Blood, hair, anything like that? No, there's no physical evidence. And that wasn't all police were missing. One of the questions I asked was, can we put Marnie Yang anywhere near Deerfield on the October morning of the murder? And they said no. I said, okay,

well, that's a problem. Police had checked security tape from a gas station near the murder scene for Marnie's Infiniti SUV, but found nothing. And when we discussed it, we said, you know, have you checked all potential avenues, you know, rental cars, disposable cell phones, which is what they did. That turned out to be fruitful. We find that Marnie Yang rented a car on October the 3rd of 2007 and returned it on October the 4th, the day of the homicide. The rental was from Enterprise, and the pickup address on the form led directly to the home of Marnie's best friend, Christy Passion. But more interesting was the odometer reading. It was a black Volkswagen Rabbit, and it was returned with 40 miles on it. 40 miles. Detective Mazzaregos had a hunch and drove between Enterprise, Christy's home, and the murder scene.

Round trip, it added up to 40 miles. I know they're out. I know she did it. Then he checked that gas station security video again, this time looking for a black VW. He watched the video more than 50 times and finally located what looked like the VW passing by less than an hour before the murder and speeding through just minutes after. What's more, there was a phone number on the rental form that was new to investigators. Turns out Marnie had bought a disposable phone with cash a week before the murder. She made only a few calls on it, but that was enough.

And there was at least one call that placed her in the vicinity of Deerfield on the day of the murder. More strong circumstantial evidence, but still not enough, the prosecutor said. It was aggravating. They kept on pushing one more thing, one more thing. It was maddening for police. They worried their prime suspect would never be brought to justice. But they had a plan, an undercover sting, and they thought they could convince someone in particular to try to get Marnie Yang to confess on tape. Police were about to get her own best friend, Christy Passion, to turn against her. Coming up. I had a wig, I had dark sunglasses, this big covering my case, hoodie on, okay.

Marnie Yang is about to chat up a storm when Dateline continues. 17 months had gone by since Ronnie Ryder's murder, and yet there had been no arrest, not even a publicly named suspect. To the community, it seemed the case had gone cold. But the Deerfield Police and Lake County Major Crimes Task Force had been working hard since day one, including months preparing for a wiretap operation. They wanted to try to catch Marnie Yang talking about the murder on the phone. As they geared up for that, police brought in Marnie's close friend, Christy Passion, a second time for questioning.

If Marnie told anybody this was going to be the individual, she knew more than she was letting in. Police figured from a car rental form they'd seized with Christy's address on it that Marnie actually had gone from Sean's place to Christy's and stayed there the night before the murder. And they discovered Christy's employer routinely records all phone calls. They found one Marnie placed to Christy at 9-11 the morning of the murder. It seemed to include some kind of code, but they didn't know what it meant. Christy Tashman, how can I help you? Do you want to go to dinner?

Okay. That's fine. Is everything all right? Yeah, I'm fine. It seems like Christy's bothered by something with that call. She's hesitating, she's thinking. It was just suspicious in its nature. Did you first think at 9 o'clock in the morning, you're asking, you want to go to dinner?

At first, Christy wasn't giving the police much. But eventually, under pressure, she relented. Police say no deals were made, but once it was clear they had a lot of evidence, she opened up. We knew what she knew, but not as much as she knew. It was a big wow. It was surprising. Christy told them Arnie had nicknames for Sean's various girlfriends. Her name for Ronnie was Miss Macy's. A little dig at Ronnie because she worked at the department store.

Marnie thinks retail's beneath her. Right, exactly. Because she's a realtor. Right. Christy said the night before the murder, Marnie asked her to bring out her tarot cards. She then posed a most unusual question. Will I be successful in killing Ms. Macy's? And Christy pulled out the sun card.

It indicates that Marnie was going to have success in whatever she was planning on doing. Did Christy try to talk her out of it? She did try talking her out of it. She really didn't believe she was going to go through with it. Because of the past couple of times that she had talked about it with Christy, about killing Ronnie, and she didn't follow through with it. Because of the past couple of times that she had talked about it with Christy about killing Ronnie and she didn't follow through with it. Christy told police that before she went to sleep that night, Marnie told her if she were indeed successful in killing Miss Macy's Ronnie Ryder, she would call Christy that morning with a code. Police had been right about

that phone call. The code was going to be, do you want to go to dinner? Then police struck pure gold. Christy told them that the evening after the murder, Marnie went to Christy's home and confessed. She tells her that she murdered Ronnie Ryder. She shot her to death. Christy told police she and her friend got in Marnie's car and began stopping at dumpsters. Marnie threw out a dark wig and was about to toss in a sweatsuit when Christy stopped her. Christy tells Marnie, well, don't dispose of it. Why don't you just donate it? Donate it. Donate it. You know, like the Salvation Army box, that kind of thing. Which is what they did. As investigators drove Christy around, she showed them which dumpsters they had visited that night.

As they were driving, she tells them that it came to her mind that she had buried something. Marnie had buried something small the night of the murder. Christy had no idea what it was or how important, how damning it would be. Investigators needed a metal detector to find it, but once they pulled it out of the earth, they knew it was big for them and special to Ronnie. It was a bracelet that said pregnant on it. A friend later identified that bracelet as belonging to Ronnie. It was a bracelet. It said pregnant on it. A friend later identified that bracelet as belonging to Ronnie. Case closed? It was probably the definitive piece of evidence that

the investigators have been looking for for 16, 17 months. It tied Marnie Yang directly to the crime scene, but the case was still not closed. Yet again, prosecutors wanted more. They wanted to get Marnie talking about the murder on tape. Because she was being so guarded on the phone, Christy agreed to wear a wire and meet Marnie at their usual dining spot. Christy, like Sean, became an unofficial police agent. She even had her own ideas on how to trap her best friend. She knew how Marnie's mind worked.

What was her approach? That we had information that would link both of them to the scene, and that's how she got Marnie to talk. On the audio tape, as Marnie thought she was confiding in her close friend, she was actually giving police an astounding confession. She told Christy how she put the 9mm Beretta in a bucket of cement and threw it in a dumpster, and explained what she wore the

morning of the murder. Just like the mysterious figure neighbors described seeing near Ronnie's condo the morning of the murder. Then she whispered details it seemed only the killer would know about the shooting itself. and we already had the appointment. Any thoughts that we had about turning back? We've got to finish this now. And it just started emptying. She's described how Ronnie started walking backwards in the kitchen, fell against a counter, and then fell onto the kitchen floor. She took one good kick at me, got me in the shin, like weak. By that time, I was like, ugh, like that.

I just, I took one last shot in the head, the straw. I had to go. Closed the door behind me. All her leg was sticking out into the hallway. I had to kick it inside. I explained to her, took out, that's it. The next morning, after 17 months of painstaking investigation, police headed to Marnie's home and put one of her garbage cans in front of her garage door to block her in.

Started with the garbage and wound up with the garbage. The detective, who logged more hours on the case than anyone else, then wrapped handcuffs around Marnie's wrists. She asked, what's this all about? Even though she knew. Marnie Yang pleaded not guilty, so she went on trial on multiple counts of first-degree murder for killing Ronnie Ryder and her unborn child. The state called the shooting an execution, cold, calculated, premeditated. Prosecutors provided a parade of evidence and witnesses, including Christy Passion, who testified against her once best friend, and the pathologist, who concluded Ronnie died while trying to shield her unborn child from the fatal shots.

Marnie's defense attorneys, who declined our request for an interview, argued she was the victim of an investigation that unfairly targeted her and never found any physical evidence tying her to the crime. But in the end, Marnie's own words seemed hard to ignore. She was found guilty on all counts and received two life sentences, both without parole. Sean Gale, the person at the center of the tragedy, declined as well to speak with Dateline. But after the verdict, he talked about how difficult life has been for him since Ronnie's murder and about his regret about ever knowing Marnie Yang and where that relationship led. The fact that Ronnie's not here and we don't have a three-year-old daughter,

that's going to be something that I live with. For the investigators who worked tirelessly on the case, witnessing the conviction of Marnie Yang was supremely satisfying. Did you see any signs of remorse? No. At the beginning of the trial, she seemed confident. I believe she believed she could beat this. But after Christy Passion testified and after the audios, that look on her face wasn't there anymore. Now she looks scared. And how did you feel about that?

Pretty good. She knew that it was over. As for Ronnie's family, they say a weight has now been lifted, but their sorrow remains. It's something you can't ever get out of your head. It's never going to be over in our lives. We've lost a dear member of our family. It's never going to be over in our lives. We've lost a dear member of our family. This is never going to go away for us. That's all for now.

I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, thanks for joining us.